Storybird

I've been wanting to have the girls try Storybird for awhile and today was the day. I've used this site for a few years and have taught a creative writing class built around it. The reason I like it so much is that it spurs creativity and reverses the usual writing process. Usually when writing, the story is thought up first and then illustrated. This site pools collections from professional illustrators together and users select which illustrations they will use...and then craft their story from it. I love this idea and the illustrations are beautiful.

Part of the fun of working with these girls is trying new things and seeing how they'll do. I try not to give too many directions or parameters and I watch closely what their thought process is. We read a book I had written using this tool just to get them thinking. They then got started choosing their artwork and adding some text. Some got started right away, others struggled.

One girl kept asking me, "What do I write?" Staring at a blank page is hard for any of us. Part of the magic of today was watching them get going, glance at their neighbor's ideas, take the plunge and start to write. When it came time to wrap things up, most wanted to keep going. They were genuinely proud of their efforts and we high-fived on being published authors.

Here are their books. Not bad for a first draft in an hour's time!