Web 2.0 Tools:

StoryJumperMegan Woltmann

“What’s Your Story?”:

StoryJumper is a safe, educational, and fun site to make writing stories more engaging for children/students of all ages.

Personal photos or drawings can be uploaded as illustrations to the text.

Stories can be for personal (family memory books, photo albums) or educational reasons (class review, writing process).

How Do I Get Started?:While StoryJumper is fairly easy to learn, it

is important to understand the different features before implementing this tool into a classroom lesson. Visit the following links for web tutorials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPRjr2aijzM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtSLgYcdfWg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeYSCNbT--g&feature=related

Is This Tool Worth It?:

Several testimonials can be found online of real teachers implementing this tool. Below is one of the reviews:

”We used StoryJumper for our computer/writing time yesterday afternoon. The kids loved it, and were REALLY quiet. When I asked them why, they said they were having so much fun that they didn’t want to annoy me lest I end the computer time!” –Sylvia S. 4th grade teacher, CA.

Reviews- Continued:

Other reviews can be found at:

http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2

010/11/08/publish-your-own-childrens-book-

with-story-jumper/

http://www.40tech.com/2010/10/14/create

-and-publish-your-own-childrens-book-with-

storyjumper/

Education Benefits/Objectives:

This tool provides several benefits within the classrom.

Relatable/Real-World/Authentic: Digital storytelling can happen anywhere- a business owner promoting a company, a grandparent looking to share memories, or a teacher wanting to ensure comprehension of lesson materials. Therefore, this tool is relatable to basically any society or community.

Continued:

Strengthens/Hones Technology Skills: "Like

traditional storytelling, digital storytelling

helps to build conceptual skills like

understanding a narrative and using

inductive reasoning to solve problems, but

the creation of digital stories also requires

the creator to build technology skills

through the use of software and other

tools," (How Digital Storytelling, 2009).

Continued:

Collaborative: Students can work in small

groups or as a large class to create a

story. This allows students to interact with

others and strenghthen communication

and interpersonal skills.

Continued:

Reflective: Students can reflect on

classroom content and apply objectives

learned to creating the story. This allows

for a greater understanding of classroom

lessons and objectives and helps achieve

content literacy.

Continued:

Student-Centered: This tool provides a

unique way to learn the writing process

without a long lecture. Students are taking

responsibility for their own learning, and

are allowed to be creative and

experiement with new modes of creation

and implementation.

Other Benefits: Teacher can manage and review student

stories.

Students can work from both school and home (if he or she has Internet access).

Classroom editions can be created, giving a sense of accomplishment to the students, allowing the final step of the writing process to be met, and provides examples to future students.

It is a great organizational tool.

It helps students who struggle to write find enjoyment.

It showcases student work.

It provides a creative outlet.

Pros to Using StoryJumper: It makes classroom learning more interactive.

It can make the writing process more engaging and fun.

Students feel a sense of accomplishment when they realize they have a published story.

Students and teachers can work together to complete a task. Similarily, it can help form a bond between family members.

It provides a forum for communication.

It can be applied to authentic, real-world tasks.

Students can upload their own photos and drawings.

It’s free and easy to use.

Cons to Using StoryJumper: Though StoryJumper can be used by students of

all ages, the interface appears slightly childish, which could turn off both educators and older students.

The example stories given are for a much younger audience; books for older students do not appear as examples to view.

Some students may find it too easy and get distracted.

Some students may prefer to handwrite stories and struggle with successfully completing the technology portion of the assignment.

While signup and creation are free, the books created are not and cost.

If you use clipart from online sources, the pictures aren't always transparent for layering.

Lesson Plan Ideas (ILA): The following list is a compilation of lesson

ideas using StoryJumper in an English Language Arts classroom:

Create a personal narrative story.

Have older children create a children’s story teaching them a lesson about life.

Create a myth about our society.

A unique take on a book report

A current spin on an old classic story- making a fable, Shakespeare play, etc. more modern.

Lesson Plan Ideas: Other

Content Areas: Social Studies: Make a map and have the

character go on a journey of the different places studied in class.

Science: Create a story of a science concept and chronicle the events (cell, atom, body part, etc)

Gym/Phys. Ed: Make a book explaining the rules of a particular game and give examples.

Family Living: Explain the steps of sewing, laundry, balancing a budget, or make a book of family recipes brought in by students.

Math: Create a story that uses math concepts in every day life(building a deck, traveling a distance, checking out items at the grocery store).

StoryJumper Example:

I used StoryJumper to create my own

story about learning to appreciate life. I

set the story in the ocean and added all

of the text and graphics. The main

characters are Gary and Joy. This story is

mainly for children, but it can teach

anybody a lesson.

Gary’s Grumpy Day:

Final Thoughts/Opinions: I enjoyed creating my story. The program

was relatively easy to learn and could be

used for a variety of reasons. I think my

students would enjoy this tool for the

simple ability to be creative. I am looking

forward to implementing this tool in our

narrative unit. I will ask the students to

create a book instead of writing an

essay, and I am anxious to see how it turns

out. I am also going to recommend this

tool to the other teachers in my

department.