Website Review: Draw a Stickman

DRAW A STICKMAN is a website that encourages users to contribute drawings to a dynamic story.

Users begin by choosing an episode. The player then draws pictures that become part of an animated story. The stories can be downloaded and shared. A gallery is available for ideas. An app version is also available.

Librarians will find this to be a fun way for students to apply their skills at drawing and creative writing. It’s also a effective way to practice mousing and track pad drawing skills.

To visit the website, go to http://www.drawastickman.com.

Website Review: The Story Starter

THE STORY STARTER is an easy-to-use website that randomly generates story starters.

Developed by Joel Heffner, the idea generator is appropriate for all ages for projects that range from short stories to novels.

Users simply press “CLICK HERE FOR A RANDOM STORY STARTER SENTENCE” and a sentence is displayed in a box on the screen. Users can then copy and paste the starter sentence into their favorite word processor.

For those interested in ideas specifically for children, go to the Story Starter for Kids area. This website generates short, interesting story starters for youth.

As an added feature, the website also contains a fun word game for all ages. The Scribble page randomly generates ten letters. Users then create as many words as they can using the ten letters.

Librarians can have lots of fun with this website. It’s an excellent way to help youth begin the writing process and the Scribble game is a great word activity for free time.

Go to the website at http://thestorystarter.com/.

Website Review: NBC Learn

NBC LEARN is a website focusing on news and information of interest to K-12 students.

Thousands of standards aligned stories have been digitized from the NBC News archives dating back to the 1920s. Both subscription-based and free resources are available.

The subscription-based option is connected with the Pearson Online Learning Exchange (OLE).

The free resources include over a dozen video projects. While some collections focus on event-specific topics such as Pi Day, the Summer Olympics, and the Winter Olympics, others are connected to sports topics of interest such as the Science of Golf, Hockey, and Football. Topics specific to science include water, innovation, chemistry, and climate change.

History topics include a video series on the Civil Rights Era and one on the Titanic.

The Writers Speak to Kids is a video series containing over a dozen interviews with award-winning authors talking about the craft of creative writing. Librarians will be specifically interested in these short, quality videos.

To learn more, go to http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn.

App Review: Magnetry: Express Yourself

MAGNETRY: EXPRESS YOURSELF by Gebo Kanois an app that encourages creativity, playing with words, and writing poetry. This powerful and easy-to-use tool has endless possibilities across the curriculum.

Students begin by starting a “new collection” and a “new book” containing 16 pages. After choosing a page, users are able to select from eight different categories. Words are randomly generated to get the page started. When a word is clicked, users see usage options and have the opportunity to select a variation of the word. Students can reorganize these words, add words, or delete words. In addition, stickers, backgrounds, and paint tools can be used to enhance to expression. Projects can be saved, shared on social media, and printed.

The Help section provides tools to add, remove, or rename a collection, as well as start or save a new page. The app also allows users to move, customize, delete, and add words, backgrounds, and stickers.

Although many “magnet poetry” apps exist, this one is exceptional. Magnetron’s versatility and user-friendly features make it an excellent resource for library tablets and iPads.

To download it for the iPad, go to https://itunes.apple.com/…/magnetry-express-you…/id846619946.

A publisher provided copy was used for the review.