Storybird

Storybird offers a community for storytelling and a well-designed interface for matching words to compelling pictures. It can inspire student writing and provide opportunities to practice good digital citizenship, but not all students will be inspired by the site on its own. Students and teachers can also read published stories and comment on them. There is a clear distinction between a private classroom community where stories and comments are shared only with users associated with your class, and the public forum. Stories and comments shared with the public are moderated and curated for readers and teachers interested in specific genres.

While there's no cost to set up an account, add students, or create and share digital storybooks, students can buy copies of the "storybirds" (picture books) they publish. There's also the possibility for teachers and schools to set up fundraisers where family can purchase students' work. Artists receive royalties from sales of books that include their art. It may be a bummer for some that students can't put their own art into Storybird creations, or use their own words in the poetry format. Other students, for example those who want to illustrate their stories but lack confidence in their own artistic abilities, will appreciate the variety of unique images in Storybird's collection. It can be a little awkward to browse through all the illustration options in the editor, which may frustrate or limit some. And, in the poetry format, students are forced to use a collection of provided words, which makes it more like a word game than a true opportunity for pure creative expression. Yet, overall, Storybird offers an easy to use format for sparking creativity, encouraging storytelling, and creating professional looking storybooks.