Our elementary librarian recently invited me to collaborate with her and our fifth grade classes to create readers theater productions. This was just the opportunity I needed. I have been looking for a chance to introduce the Toontastic app to our elementary students and thought that this might be an fitting way to do it.
| Photo Credit: launchpadtoys.com |
Have you ever heard of this app? It was created by Launchpad Toys. Last year, Google and Launchpad Toys joined forces and decided to release this app along with Telestory (an equally fantastic creation tool) free! This tool has so many amazing features. It is still hard for me to believe that it is a free resource. At first glance, it appears to be extremely primary. It is in fact very engaging for even our youngest kiddos and easy to navigate as well (I am currently teaching it to our kindergartners too). The learning curve for using this tool is virtually nonexistent due to the tutorials that are built right into the design process. But please don't be fooled. Even teenagers and adults will find this tool useful and captivating. Try it yourself to see!
Toontastic is a digital storytelling and animation tool, but if you are willing to think outside the box, it can be used in SO. MANY. WAYS.
I asked our kindergarten students to help me think about some ways this tool might help us learn our classroom skills and concepts. Here are a few of their ideas, along with several of mine:
- animate and solve a math story
- recreate a historical event
- summarize a chapter/concept/story
- work on character dialogue
- practice foreign languages
- create math symbols that explain their own purpose
- creatively recite your ABC's, multiplication facts or state capitals
- narrate poetry
- animate the steps of a science project or experiment
- this blogger shares how she uses the app to conduct test prep
If you are looking for engaging ways to have students learn required content and skills, you may want to give this tool a serious look. It is available for ios at this time. Students can use their personal devices or even share devices to create. Finished work can then be uploaded and shared with the teacher via Google Drive or Dropbox.
Do you feel that asking students to create encourages engagement? How do your students create in the classroom?
Please share your comments and thoughts below.
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