Digital Storytelling in the WL classroom

Blogging is a common way to share your thoughts and experiences, on everything from what you wear to your most recent vacations. There are many that have made a living out of blogging, so it is important that students understand how to write an appropriate blog. Weebly for education is the perfect tool for teachers, as they support their students to build a protected blog that is simple to use. Being able to have students express themselves through blogging may be exactly what the struggling students need because they are really able to just be themselves. Weebly is not only completely free and protected, but it also offers over 70 different template types that students can choose from, allowing them to be innovative and creative in how they present their blog. Through Weebly for education, students will have the opportunity to view and comment on each others' blogs, asking questions that will continue and promote additional conversation. Oftentimes, students are accustomed to always answering the questions and do not have the necessary strategies and structure to ask questions in the target language. Blogging is the perfect writing approach that plays such a big role in today's World.

Piktochart is an easy-to-use infographic maker. This program is perfect for students who are looking to present information using a variety of different themes and layouts. Piktochart is engaging and eye-catching for students when they are reading or analyzing information and even interesting when they are creating the piktocharts. Specifically in my classroom, we have read many different tips from the choosemyplate.gov website in Spanish following a unit on healthy living. Students were to gather information and create a chart for students at our school on "the top 10 ways to be healthy in the New Year" which will be displayed in the school's fitness center. Piktochart allows students to import pictures, but also has a variety to choose from on the site. This user-friendly site is a great way to help students learn about how to give advice in Spanish, using commands and short statements. Students also need to think about a eye-catching title and look, to ensure that students read their advice! This free tool is perfect for providing information in a fun and engaging way, while still promoting student creativity and innovation!

Tellagami is a free app that allows students to create short animated movies. As a teacher of students that are just beginning to learn the language, speaking or presenting in the target language in front of their classmates can be very intimidating and difficult for students. Tellagami allows you to customize your background and character to remove the insecurities that come with most presentations. Students can use the text to voice and have up to 30 seconds of recording time, even giving the options of a male or female voice and different accents and languages. Depending on the type of assignment, there is the opportunity to share this video clip on twitter or Youtube. Especially for a first presentation, this is a perfect way to practice the skills needed to present information to an intended audience without the pressures of public speaking.

Pixton is an online comic making tool that allows students to tell stories without having to draw. An important piece to the World Language curriculum is reading of all kinds; short stories, current even articles, children's books, and whole class short novels. While reading a novel, there is so much opportunity to use comic strips to assess students on their comprehension while practicing their writing skills in a fun way. There are so many different ways that teachers can use comic strips, whether it be to create an alternate ending, summarize a chapter or major event, or even to write a prequel to the book, there is something for all students. This engaging tool also forces students to think creatively, while creating a concise 6 to 9 panel comic strip. As stated by Troy Hicks in Crafting Digital Writing; Composing Texts Across Media and Genres, it is important that teachers help our students understand that the "presentation has to contain some sense of passion and purpose". This is the perfect tool to help our students write with a different purpose.

StoryJumper is the perfect story making tool for all students. This tool allows students to show their creative side while practicing their writing skills in a fun, engaging way. Students in the World language classroom spend about 30 minutes a week participating in a silent sustained reading activity. During this time, students get to choose different children's books with no assignment attached to it. This is purely for enjoyment. Throughout the school year, they will make natural connections between what they read independently and the different units. At the end of the school year, they will have the opportunity to use their creativity to make a children's book of their own. What makes Storyjumper more exciting is the possibility to publish and print this book in soft or hardcover. Whether it is sharing your project with other classmates or your family, it is always exciting to see a project all the way through. A future goal is to actually send our children's books to a school in the Dominican Republic, where less fortunate students do not have access to a variety of different books.