Contents contributed and discussions participated by Ellie Brissette
Storybird - 13 views
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Storybird is a really fun, interactive, and collaborative site. I know that I'm not the most creative person and have a hard time getting started with things coming up with a story line, so I love how you can browse pictures or words to get some inspiration. If you see a picture you like, you can start a Storybird with it right away. The pictures also have tags underneath them, so you can search for similar ones to start a story with. Once you begin with a certain picture, other pictures are shown, and it's very easy to drag them onto the pages. I had a difficult time at first with writing on the pages because it didn't seem like you can put a text box wherever you want. It gets easier, though, once you add art and can arrange there to be a picture on one page and text on the other. Storybird is also fun to use because you can look at other peoples' stories and make comments on them. It's great for providing children with an opportunity to work on their literacy and creativity and have fun while doing it.
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As far using this in an early childhood setting, I think there are a few limitations. First of all, it wouldn't be a good idea to let the child explore the site freely because there are some inappropriately themed animations that probably were not intended for children to see. Secondly, you have to be 13 to set up an account. I think that's important because it's obviously the suggested age to use the site based on maturity levels and capabilities. Don't get me wrong--I think this is a really fun, interesting, and interactive site; however, with young children I think adults would need to help out a good bit. One idea would be to allow the child to draw the picture because it's a really simple process and then ask what kind of animations they want to add to it. The animation part is tricky, and I don't think that a child under 10 would be able to figure it out for themselves.