Influential, Encouraging People

 I have created an activity and assignment for 5th graders that encourages them to pinpoint and recognize those who have had influence in their life. The activity begins by reading a story as a class on Storybird, an online "short, art-inspired story" generator. This book is about a grandmother who shares creative stories with her grandson; through this storytelling, the grandson becomes a story teller himself. The students will then be asked to examine their own lives and choose someone who has encouraged them in an endeavor, hobby, or attitude and write a Storybird on the person and influence. The assignment sheet depicts the expectations of 8 pages of writing for the story. I created a story about my German teacher in high school, and how her high spirits impacted me. Students will turn in their final story on the assignment's webpage.

I truly believe that this activity will be beneficial for all students. For students have the freedom to choose topics and people that they can really connect to. When students have choice, we all know how much more self-motivated students are. Students will be working at their own paces; it is not a speed competition. Storybird is a site is easily navigable, which limits confusion and encourages creativity. Everyone has at least one person in their lives has someone that has given them hope, so this is a topic than all students can relate to. It will strengthen students' writing skills and storytelling skills.

Substantial time would be given in class to allow equitable access to computers and internet since not everyone has access at home. The class would go to the media center or have the cart of laptops delivered to the classroom to ensure that each student had an individual computer to work on Storybird during class time. If students wanted to spend time outside of school, I would encourage them to use a computer at home, the public library, or the schools' other resources.

Using Storybird instead of having students create their own stories with individual drawings and homemade books comes with trade-offs. Using Storybird helps students become more comfortable with technology and become more technologically literate.  If parents or guardians desired, the final piece of work could be made into a book. In addition, Storybird can be accessed from any computer or device with internet and can easily be shared with the teacher. In the classroom, it is time-saver because it limits the needed amount of time doing rough drafts of writing and drawing many pieces of artwork. It is very neat and can be easily edited. Multiple students can look at a specific story at one time too, and the link can be sent to family and friends. 

However, there are a few negatives of using Storybird versus creating a home-made book. The students do not gain experience writing a rough draft, second draft, and final draft of their story. In addition, students do not have as much freedom with the pictures that they want to use. Students do not experience putting time and effort into creating drawings that fit their story. Also, they would have to purchase a hard copy of their story created.  After the students complete their Storybird, they will complete an online survey and identify trade-offs of using Storybird- the positives and negatives.  
 

Overall, I believe that this activity will spark creativity and encourage thankfulness, allowing students freedom to write about what they are passionate about.