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a set of 54 non-fiction stories from Scholastic for K-2 students. The stories are feature pictures and short passages of text that students can read on their own or have read to them by each story's narrator. The collection of stories is divided into eight categories: social studies, science, plants and flowers, environmental stories, civics and government, animals, American history, and community.

a neat site for introducing elementary school students to making simple animated video stories. On the Zimmer Twins site students can create a story from scratch or complete one of the "cliff hanger" story starters. Students do not need to have any drawing skills in order to create a story as all elements are added to the video through a simple drag and drop interface. Students select settings, characters, character actions, emotions, and text styles then drag those elements into the storyboard. Students then arrange those elements and type words into the conversation bubbles where appropriate.

"My StoryMaker lets you control characters and objects - and creates sentences for you! Once you are done with your story, you can print it out. You cannot go back and edit a story once you have ended it but, if you click "yes" when asked to share it with others, you can print it out again by entering the magic number it gives you in the box on the right. Since lack of space forces us to delete story files older than 1 month, please save the .pdf file that prints to your own computer."

Common Sense Media has launched a new version of its free digital citizenship curriculum, Digital Literacy and Citizenship in a Connected Culture. The new version adds student, teacher, and parent resources, including comprehensive lessons on cyber bullying, for fourth and fifth graders. The program, which empowers students to think critically and make informed choices about how they live and treat others in today's digital media world, covers topics from internet safety and security to privacy, with a deep focus on cyber bullying and responsible digital behavior. Recent stories of the tragic consequences of cyber bullying highlight the need to teach kids how to prevent and respond to digital harassment, beginning at a young age, Common Sense Media says. The curriculum, which is based on the digital ethics research of Howard Gardner and the GoodPlay Project at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, uses content that ranges from print and video materials to interactive components and real-life student stories to inspire kids to be responsible digital citizens.

WeVideo is a free web-based video editing program that lets students and teachers upload video and photos to the WeVideo media library. This library can be shared or private, which is great for classroom projects. Users can add titles, effects, animation, music, narration and more to create their own video story. WeVideo makes it easy to share a video story or publish the finished video to a social-networking or video-sharing website. This looks to be a rather full-featured and well designed video editing option that is similar to Creaza or the recently departed JayCut, but with the collaborative media library as a big plus!

isten to classics and poems through the generosity of this site's creators. Download story files to your mp3 player or listen to the files on your computer.

Students write & record themselves reading story, then upload to share.  

The Zimmer Twins is a site devoted to kids and creative storytelling. Since 2005, the Zimmer Twins has invited children to create and share their own animated stories.

Ever wondered what happens when you send an email? How does an email travel from your computer to your friend's smartphone across the country or around the world? Take a journey with Gmail and find out. In this short video you will follow an email on its journey to see what happens once you send a message. Along the way, you will learn about some of Google's efforts to minimize its impact on the environment.

Excellent cartoon depicting story mountain. Middle and upper elem reading teachers should see this.

America on the Move is a great online exhibit produced and hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. America on the Move showcases the evolution of transportation in the United States. America on the Move is divided into three main sections; Exhibition, Collection, and Themes. The exhibition section is essentially a timeline tour through American history. The exhibition section begins with the construction of the first National Road and chronicles each phase of transportation development through the 21st Century. The collection section of America on the Move features images of artifacts related to various forms of transportation used throughout US History. Visitors to the site can browse the collection or search by era, region, or form of transportation. The themes section of America on the Move arranges artifacts and stories into eight different themes. Each theme contains narratives related to various eras in the transportation history of the United States. Applications for Education In addition to the great online exhibits America on the Move offers three well-designed educational games for students. Each of the games is requires students to analyze and process information about the history of transportation. In the first game, Where's Everyone Going? students match vehicles to their proper era to learn about transportation in that era. In the second game, Drive Through Time, students spin a clock to select a year. Then they select a scenario and mode of transportation appropriate for that scenario's era. In the third game, Be a Movie Director, students select a storyline and the modes of transportation necessary for the storyline. At the end the students will see the movie they created. America on the Move also offers teachers some free classroom guides to use while students explore the exhibits.

Included in the roster of graphic organizers are templates for word webs, KWL charts, flow charts, story maps, and idea wheels.

PhotoPeach is a tool that allows you to turn photos into a slideshow with music and captions.Completed PhotoPeaches can be embedded on your blog or shared via email, Facebook, Twitter etc. We like PhotoPeach because it: ● is free (for basic accounts*).● is easy to use.● allows you to make your PhotoPeaches "public", "unlisted", or "invitation required".● has many uses across all age groups and subject areas.● is a medium for students to reflect and demonstrate their understandings.● allows you to make your slideshow into a "story", "spiral" or "quiz".● can be shared with an authentic audience.

Explore Cartoons Made by Children Across the Globe Designed in partnership with Stanford University's Graduate School of Education and Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum, Toontastic inspires the artist and writer in every child while teaching key storytelling principles that help to promote creativity at a young age. Toontastic's drawing tools bring children's wildest ideas to life alongside virtual playsets chock full of pirates, princesses, faraway galaxies and many other characters and settings to spark the imagination. Students' cartoons can be shared online via ToonTube, Toontastic's Global Storytelling Network, to help children connect to friends and family and learn about other cultures, customs and lifestyles through stories created by their peers around the world. The app is available for the iPad. Download it from the Apple iTunes App Store for $1.99.