StoryBook Maker!! (( App Review & Giveaway!! ))

Are you looking for apps to help your students express their creativity?  How about a fun way to retell stories they've read or heard?  How about a fun way for students to work together collaboratively to create a story?!  How about an app that allows you to create your own stories to present to your students to meet a variety of goals (answering questions, social skill, auditory comprehension, or build vocabulary)?!  This app is for you!!

Introducing, StoryBook Maker!!!  This app was created by Merge Mobile.  This app was easy to navigate and figure out!  Since I am not with my students yet and I wanted to show you this app, so I decided to work on a fun story to introduce the new school year and work on wh- questions at the same time!

First, I got to pick a title to my story.  Then I got to pick the page lay-out.  You can pick the lay-out per page.  I chose to pick the two images with two spaces for text.

Then, I got to pick my images/text.  You could pull from you photo library or take a photo right on the app.  This is great if you wanted to include pictures of your school, faculty or the students themselves.  Since you can use the photo library, you can easily import images from Google Images or Boardmaker.  I decided to use the cute cartoons in the "objects" tab.  There are TONS of images to chose from.  I used a cute alien, why not?!

You can easily edit the images and text just by following directions (yes, another goal for the students!).

Once you are done with your page there are tons of extras to add to make it prettier, fancier, and more motivating.  The tabs on the top allows you to add borders, backgrounds, and audio (yes, can record your voices, prerecorded audio, or even add music)!

Once you are done, or even if you need to take a break and go back you can easily find your project in the home page.  Just click the blue arrow in the top left corner to get back to the main page.

Once you are done, the app allows you to share the story!!  Yes, share it!  You can e-mail to parents, classroom teachers, or to yourself for safe keeping!

Guess what?!  Not only can you create your own stories, but there are stories already included in this app!  Yes, you can start using it right away!  You can use these stories to work on auditory comprehension, describing, sequencing, and more.  You can compare/contrast as well.  You can use them to introduce what should be in a story to teach key story elements.  You can find these stories in the main page under "public library."

I think I stress all the TONS of goals you can reach with this app!!  Are you excited yet?!  What are some other ways I plan on using this app this school year?

• Use graphic organizers as a planning page.  Show students that stories need a beginning, middle, end, characters, setting, problem, and solution.  We will work together to make a "speech group" story or have group competitions to see who can use the most key story elements.
• Using word wall vocabulary!  After working on new vocabulary, I plan on challenging students to incorporate as many vocabulary words into their stories as possible!  This will also include shades of meaning practice!
• Fun alternative to social stories!
• Way to introduce predicting, what do you think will happen next?  How do you know?

This app is great!  Guess what?!  It is only $3.99!!  Visit iTunes by clicking HERE to learn more about this app.  View their You Tube video by clicking HERE!  Merge Mobile was generous to provide me with 3 codes to give away!!  Enter to win below!!

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