StoryBird

What is StoryBird?

StoryBird is a place where anyone can create a visual story in a matter of seconds.  StoryBird collects artwork from artists and animators around the world.  They allow anyone to access these images and create a story using them.  People of all different backgrounds, jobs, and ages have created over 5 million stories, thus making StoryBird one of the world's largest storytelling systems.  The different sections of StoryBird are create, discover, learn, connect, sell and chill.  The two biggest parts to StoryBird are the create and discover portions.  The create option is where any one can make their own visual story using the images and artwork on the system.  This can be used for fun, work, school, etc.  The discover option is where any one can go into the system and find stories about different topics that others have made on StoryBird.  This can also be used for many different purposes.  They have a specific page for professional writers and artists to either publish work through StoryBird or use StoryBird to create their work.

How can this be used in middle grades science? 

Story Bird can be used in any most levels of education.  It allows students to create a visual story with captions.  The teacher could require the students make their story on a specific topic or a general topic and let the students be creative.  I love the idea of using StoryBird in my classroom, because it gives students the freedom to be creative and use what they know to create a story.  I would use this type of assignment with some guidelines.  For example, I would have the students incorporate at least "x" amount of facts into their story and create a topic that forces the students to make their story about something that is at least somewhat relevant to the unit.  Another interesting thing about StoryBird is that it will allow the analytical, visual, and reflective learners a chance to utilize their talents and comprehension.

Final Thoughts:

This is a cool tool to use to assess comprehension and reading levels while allowing multiple learning styles to be engaged.  I have created a couple of StoryBird books and I have enjoyed each one.  They allowed me to be creative and have fun with an assignment.  One of the parts of StoryBird I didn't know about was that you can look up and read any one else's published stories.  That means as a teacher, this can be another simple tool that we borrow someone else's story for our class or our students can search and find a fun story that relates to the unit or lesson.

https://storybird.com/chapters/raindrops-3/1/