2. “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).
3. 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=DPRjr
2aijzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtSLg
YcdfWg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeYS
CNbT--g&feature=related
4. 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.
5. 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/
6. Education Benefits/Objectives:
Thistool 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.
7. 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).
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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).
16. StoryJumper Example:
Iused 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.
21. 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.
