Curated and Reviewed by
Lesson Planet
Invite your kids to tell all sorts of stories with this interactive app. Learners view images and record their own voices as as they create short narratives to go along with the images. The app provides plenty of customizable scaffolding and the option to save stories.
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App Overview
When you first open up StoryBuilder, you will be prompted to enter a first and last name to create the first profile for the app. With this profile, you can create and save stories to play back at any time. Once you've entered your name, you'll see the Settings page. Along the bottom are five icons:
Info:
- Tap this button to read instructions for the app
- These are detailed and intended for the teacher
Settings:
- Choose a level of play; as you move higher, so does the level of abstraction by inference and creativity required of the student
- Decide on the level of question reinforcement you want; when this is on, the question text is always on the screen, and when it's set to Intermittent, the text appears only when the audio clip is playing
- Decide on the level of color code reinforcement you want; similar to the question reinforcement, this will put a red highlight behind the text when it is turned on, and show only when the audio clip is playing when set to Intermittent
- Decide if you want story introduction reinforcement or not; when this is turned on, the app provides a sentence starter for each image to help the student get started and to prompt a complete narrative-style sentence
Play:
- Select this icon to start the main function of the app
- The app will show a series of images one at a time and ask a question about each image
- Learners tap the Record button and answer each question orally in narrative form, using the sentence starter if available
- The app will then stitch together all of the sentences and images to create a complete narrative that students can watch, save, and e-mail
Archive:
- Here you can find all of the saved stories for the profile you are on; these do save to individual profiles rather than the app as a whole
- You can also delete stories from this page
Instructions:
- Pupils can tap this button to hear instructions for the story building part of the app
- While the audio clip plays, the app also shows a visual of how to play by showing each button kids will need to press one at a time
Other Features:
- Create multiple profiles on one app
- Includes 50 different storylines for kids to follow
- Import photos into the app from your camera or camera roll
Curator Rating
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Adherence to task
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Worth the money
StoryBuilder is on the more expensive side, as far as single-purpose apps go, but it does allow for multiple users, adjustable scaffolding, and archived stories.
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Fun factor
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Scaffolding of learning
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User safety
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Control and feedback
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How techie do I need to be?
Novice
Instructional Ideas
- Since there are so many storylines to follow, invite pupils to explore several of these at a time
- Teach your class about the narrative voice before introducing them to the app
- Snce there are different levels, have kids move up levels with the same story, creating a more complex and original narrative as they move up
Classroom Considerations
- At least the first time, and with some students every time, an instructor will need to set up the app settings for learners based on each individual's abilities
- There are quite a few buttons to press along the way when using the app, so you may wish to walk learners through it the first time
Pros
- Provides oral instructions and cues
- You can scaffold the app for each individual with the color, sound, and text settings
- Stories can be saved and shared
Cons
- StoryBuilder doesn't save settings for individual profiles, so you will have to adjust those with each individual; however, saved stories are attached only to the profile of the student who created them
- Threre is some overlapping of text with the operatin system information along the top of the screen