Great curating tool!

The tool is user-friendly and kids figure out how to use it rather quickly. The drag and drop feature allows students to experiment with creative ways of sequencing and structuring material; students can easily revise their work by rearranging the content and/or going into particular sections they want to flesh out in greater detail. Cellphones are not allowed in the classroom at my school. Since students do not have access to cameras, sites like this which allow students to select and use visual media creatively are extremely useful. Many students were most intrigued by the option to search for GIFs and they used these extensively in their stories. Music is a central fixture of my students' lives, so the option to search and include songs from SoundCloud encouraged them to experiment with music purposefully by considering themes, in addition to how the music created a certain mood and tone. The process of searching and selecting images enabled students to brainstorm, develop and refine key themes in their stories and generate writing off of these images without hitting as many frustration blocks (e.g. lack of ideas).

This was a great tool. It was so easy for students to use; they search their topic and just drag and drop into their Storify. Students were engaged and excited, and they produced incredible, insightful stories. It allows them to be creative and critical thinkers. One aspect of it that I didn't realize would be so beneficial until I used it was that students have to filter through all of the results they find when they type their topic into the search bar. It forces them to read closely and think about what they are reading. Storify has a good 'help' function where users can type in a specific question and search the database for answers. Overall, it is a great tool with many applications in the classroom.