Students can create an original book or start from a template where they fill in the blanks in a story already created. Once they fill in all the blanks, they then illustrate their story. Another neat feature is there is clipart they can use, lots of different marker colors and tip sizes, stamps, and they can even use the iPad2 camera to take a picture and include it in their book.
When I first downloaded the app, I was disappointed because students needed an email address to create an account. I contacted the company and shared with them that I work with 1st-3rd graders who didn't have email accounts. I mentioned sites like Kerpoof that allow teachers to set up an account and then create student user names and passwords so students can login without an email. The people at ScribblePress are amazing! Within a few days, they contacted me about helping Beta test their new groups feature. I was able to create an account and set up multiple classes. I created a student user name and password for each student.
I have used this with 1st and 3rd grade classes. They have all loved it and seeing the excitement on their faces to hear their book will be published on the bookshelf of the ScribblePress site is wonderful!
After the students finished their books, we emailed the link to the teacher and the teacher then forwarded it to the students' parents. When the parents click the link, they have the choice to read in browser or download it for iPad/iPhone, Nookcolor, or Literati/Kobo. Parents can also share on Facebook, Twitter, and email the link to others.
Here are links to a
1st grade class bookshelf (books made using a template),
3rd grade class bookshelf (books made using a template), and
3rd grade class bookshelf (books made from original stories).
I also think this would be a great way to "show the learning" at the end of a unit...students create a book sharing what they know (for example) about the Solar System.
If your students blog, copy the link and paste it into their blog post to share it with their followers.
One minor thing to note: if you are going to share the books to iBooks, I recommend only putting 3 sentences on each page to prevent text from being cut off the bottom of the page in iBooks. This isn't a problem if you are only reading the books online.
Give it a try...all of our teachers that have used it have LOVED this app!
