Storybird stories

Last spring I worked with a group of 1st graders who didn't need extra phonics or comprehension work during our Reading RtI time, so we did projects, research, read books, studied authors, and wrote stories.  I found Storybird to be a great tool for writing stories, particularly for this age group.

Storybird has sets of illustrations available for students to choose from, then they write text for each page.  Students can change the layout of the page and put the images in whatever order they choose to illustrate their story.  This allows them to focus on their writing and not illustrating a book.  I encouraged them to think beyond what was in the pictures and tell more of the story, not just describe what the picture showed.

Another fun aspect to Storybird is that students can invite each other to collaborate on a story together.  The teacher creates logins for all the students, and then they can choose one of their classmates to work with them on a story they have started.  They had a lot of fun working together, taking turns writing text and choosing pictures for their collaborative story.

Examples:

The Seasons by Teja on Storybird

Friend Ninjas by Newton on Storybird

I love Spring! by Reza on Storybird