StoryJumper

How do you use this tool?
This tool can be used and incorporated into multiple different literacy lessons where teachers choose the focus of the learning goals and objectives for students. This tool can be used across various curriculum content areas, because students can have the freedom to create a book on many different topics. Students could create books of various genres to enhance social studies, science, etc.

What are its strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths: this site is fun! Students are becoming authors and interacting with the illustrations and creating text that is appropriate for the content area goals. This website is free and can be used across grade levels. Stories can be shared through a link online and even ordered online for fee.
Weaknesses: this is a long process, so student engagement may be challenging. Breaking the story structure up into multiple days for a project would probably best suite the students. Not clear how many stories can be created for free.

How do you customize it for your situation?
This is extremely customizable in the sense that students are creating their own story books. There is the option for students to create their book in 7 steps (characters, challenges, motivation, setting, obstacles, climax, closing) or they are able to start on their own. Teachers can create appropriate guidelines and learning goals and objectives for their students to use when creating their own stories.

Would you recommend it to a colleague? Why or why not?
Yes, I would recommend this website to colleagues, especially those looking to integrate literacy into multiple subjects. Students can create stories for just about any subject and have a lot of fun putting it all together. This is a great way for students to interact with technology in the classroom and provides them with the platform to share their project by link with teachers or even take it home to share with family.

Easy and free to make storybooks with children!

Story Jumper looks like an elementary writing site, but it also proves itself as a fun site for upper elementary students. On Story Jumper, students write and illustrate a story using the wide assortment of backgrounds and clipart available. The stories can be saved to the Story Jumper site and printed. For a fee, the created stories can also be ordered as a hardback book complete with dedication page.