Storybird is a free web-based tool, which allows you to let the students write stories based on pictures. The tool allows students to work alone on writing texts, and to work together on a common history. It is suitable primarily for use within the dialogical and the polyphonic form of teaching.
In the dialogical form of teaching Storybird can be used as a tool for students' creative work. The teacher can create and organize students in classes in the system, and can then ask them to solve a common task, which is based on a picture. It is possible to upload a photo from your own computer, as a basis for this sort of writing task. You can also let the students create their own stories in Storybird. For such more free writing tasks, the many pictures in Storybirds database can serve to inspire the students. The student chooses a picture in the Storybird collection, as the starting point for the story, and then builds a story around a series of images, which relate to the first selected image.
It is possible for students to write part of a story in Storybird, and share it with someone else, who can then continue writing on the story. This feature is well suited for use within the polyphonic form of teaching. Students may for example be organized in pairs, and alternately write two different stories. This gives both the opportunity to inspire each other in the writing process, and it becomes possible for the students to edit, what the other has written.
To use Storybird one must have an account. Such can be created here. In order to be able to create classes and make common tasks for students, one must create a Teacher/Class Account. The teacher can very easily create students as users, so they can begin to write stories immediately. It is free to use Storybird, if you don't create more than 3 classes and 75 students.
If you need help getting started using Storybird, it can be found here.
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