Storybird and StoryJumper – two web 2.0 tools for telling illustrated stories

Storybird is a free web tool for creating art-inspired stories. Users choose from art hosted on the site and build a story around those images that can then be shared with others. Storybird encourages creativity and supports working collaboratively. Final Storybirds can be printed, read on the screen, or shared via their unique URLs.  Storybirds written in a second language are automatically saved as a private story. Private stories are not reviewed by Storybird moderators.

StorybirdScreen

The beauty of Storybird is its ease of use – students simply drag and drop images onto the blank pages of their story. According to where they drop each image, a text box appears to the left, right, top or bottom of the page.

How to get started with Storybird

  • Create a Storybird account. If you intend to use Storybird with students, use their free Class Accounts to set up classes for your students. A class is a private learning space on the Storybird platform that lets you create student accounts without email, issue assignments, build libraries of Storybirds and easily track and manage the activity of your students.
  • The free version enables you to use Storybird with up to 75 students. Beyond that number you will need a paid annual subscription. Once registered, customize your avatar and  add your students! Unless you have Pro membership, you will have to add students one at a time.
  • Storybird will allocate each student a username and temporary password to login. Your students will be prompted to create a new password when they login.
  • Once you’ve added students to your class, Storybird creates a “class graph” that knows who’s connected to whom. When your students want to collaborate, they’ll have a class list of collaborators from which to choose. They’ll also see each others’ work in their class library and through search, so they can easily find stories and comment on them.

How to make your first Storybird

  • The first step is to search for suitable artwork. You can search by theme or by artist.
  • Once you’ve selected your images click on Use this art for a story.
  • Your images are then arranged around a blank storybook.

Story1

  • It’s then just a matter of dragging an image to your first page. According to where you drop the image, a text box appears to the left, right, top or bottom of the image. Check this out by dragging your first image around the page.
  • To create additional pages click on the plus sign (bottom right hand corner of the screen).
  • Likewise click on the minus sign to delete pages (bottom left hand corner of the screen).
  • You can click and drag individual pages in the black task bar beneath your story, to reposition them in the story.
  • Don’t forget to add an image and title to your cover page! Only the “classic” Style comes with the free account but you can customize it by changing the border colour.
  • Remember to save your book regularly as well!
  • If you want to invite someone to work on the Storybird with you, click on Menu and then on Invite Collaborator. Select someone from the class list or another person entirely.
  • Once the story is finished click on publish. The Storybird will be stored in the class library.
  • Parents can view Storybird’s via their child’s account.
  • You can also email the URL for each story or put the embed code in a wiki, blog or website.

StorybirdEmbed

How to post a Storybird on a wiki

  • Click on your published Storybird.
  • Click on the Share button.
  • Copy the embed code. The copy shortcut is Ctrl+c (PC) or command+c (Mac).
  • Go to your page on the wiki.
  • Click “Edit Page”.
  • Click on the embed widget in the edit tool bar – this looks like a TV set.
  • In this widget menu click “Other (other html)”.
  • Paste your Storybird code in the html box on this page. The paste shortcut is Ctrl+v (PC) or command+v (Mac).
  • Click Save and a widget will now be on your page.
  • Click Save again to go to the normal page view!

The Storybird site has a useful help page for users.

Consider using Storybird for the following purposes:

  • Primary and secondary: Rehearsing vocabulary by theme, practising tenses etc.
  • Secondary: Creating stories to share with primary students as a transition activity.
  • Teachers: Creating stories to emphasise certain grammatical points.

Check out some teacher developed French, German, Italian and Spanish stories here and an Indonesian story here.

How to get started with StoryJumper

Like Storybird, StoryJumper has a classroom edition that is designed to:

  • give teachers an interface to manage and review students’ work.
  • enable students to share stories between the classroom and home.
  • maintain strict privacy controls over student information.

The classroom edition section of the site has a detailed step by step guide for teachers to create an account and setting up a class.

Support for using StoryJumper is provided through a tutorial, and the following video:

In any event, it’s very intuitive to use:

  • Click on create and either select an existing (theme based) template or start a story from scratch.
  • Themes like Space, Under the Sea, Trucks, and Treasure inspire young writers to make their own books.
  • Students can also explore the finished stories online and personalize them by deleting the text that is already there, and adding their own words in the target language.
  • The benefit of this is that students spend less time on the art work and more time on the use of language!

Although there is an option to buy the finished story in print format, this is not necessary to use the site.

Click here to see some published French and Spanish StoryJumper books. 

StoryJumper-French

Stories published online through StoryJumper have a realistic book appearance and a papery “whoosh” sound when pages are turned.

Consider using Storybird for the following purposes:

  • Primary and secondary: Rehearsing vocabulary by theme, practising tenses etc.
  • Secondary: Creating stories to share with primary students as a transition activity.
  • Teachers: Creating stories to emphasise certain grammatical points.

Although the sentences and graphics available appear juvenile, the fact that writers can delete the text and add their own original text, photos, and drawings makes this site flexible enough to use with older students, as well.

The MakeUseOf team have written a great article on StoryJumper if you need further inspiration.