Monthly Archives: May 2011

Click on the Capzles logo.

For all practical purposes, Capzles is a storyboard/timeline application, allowing students to tell a story, detail a person’s life, or chronicle an historical event, with pictures, audio/visual, and text.  Once a “capzle” is created, a student can share his/her creation with an email link or by inviting other students or teachers to join the site.  Capzles can also be posted on Facebook.

Take a look at a few Capzles to see the potential of this Web 2.0 tool.  Click on one of the links below.  When the “capzle” loads, click on the first picture to start the slideshow.  A toolbar with left/right arrows will appear above the slideshow to move from slide to slide.

• Paul Revere’s Ride
• Koko
• Why Learn History

Ready to create your own Capzle?  Select “Join Now, It’s Free” in the upper right hand corner. Complete the short registration.  (Make sure you record your user name and password.)  Once your registration is complete, select “Create” at the top, middle of the screen and begin adding photos, music, videos.  Steps for creating a Capzle are located on the left side of the application interface.  Users should find the application is very intuitive.

Click to go to GoAnimate

NOTE: If you are using YouTube in the classroom, you are aware some content is not always appropriate for students. This is the case with Go! Animate, as well. Discourage students from randomly viewing some of the animation. Perhaps, direct them to a few of the examples I have provided to see the potential of Go! Animate.

There is no doubt the program is powerful for students to convey knowledge, create stories and share information.

• Consider having students create PSAs about Internet Safety, Bullying, or Playground Safety.
  
• One of the examples below shows how vocabulary can be defined and explained with this application. No doubt, your curriculum will determine other creative ideas for this application.

Here are a few examples, including My First Effort.

• Teaching Vocabulary
  
• PSA-Washing Hands
  
• My First Efforts

Once you sign in and create an account (and it is approved), you will receive a verification email. Follow the link provided in that email to sign in to your Go! Animate application.

View a Quick Animation Tutorial

Click on the link “Make Your 1st Cartoon.” There is an interactive video to help you begin that first animation. Simply follow the directions. First, you will select a background for the animation. Click on a background and it will be applied to your desktop screen.

(Do not select a background that has a number, on it. Those are backgrounds for the “subscription” piece or the reward points of this application.)

√ UPDATE (Thanks, Lisa!)  Go Animate has a special 100 accounts feature for teachers and their schools.  Check out GoAnimate for Schools and Educators. 

Smilebox

A quick, FREE download of this application will provide multiple uses in the classroom.

• Students can use their own photos from field trips, botany excursions into the woods, or photos harvested from the web on the Civil War, biomes, or geographical destinations to create engaging presentations.  As a teacher, use Smilebox to create story starters, introductions to curriculum units, or perhaps, review content studied.
  

After selecting a theme template, and adding a selection from the music gallery, students only need to upload their photos to complete the slideshow.

Click to go to Smilebox

Sample Smileboxes
Love of Water (click on each bubble)
First Grade Smileboxes
Promote Your School

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you go to the Smilebox site, music will be playing in the background.  If you find the music distracting, click on the Speaker Icon, located at the top, right of the page. 

At the Smilebox homepage select,”Get Started;” a prompt appears to start the download. When the program has downloaded, check your computer’s download folder for the application and select “Run.” This will install the program. Usually a shortcut is placed on your desktop for easy access to the program. Double-click on the Smilebox icon to start the program. (Even though this is a FREE, limited program, create an account so that you can email or post to FaceBook, a blog, or website, etc. your Smilebox creation.)  More options are available in the subscription package.

Once you have your SmileBox account set up, all you need to get started is this introductory video: A Tour of Smilebox

For Qualified Teachers – check out opportunities for a FREE premium subscription @ Smilebox Teacher’s Corner

Suggestion:  To see for yourself the simplicity of this application, consider making a Smilebox to share with your family.  If you have photos of a recent graduation, summer vacation, Christmas, anniversary, etc., use those photos for your first Smilebox.

Timetoast Timelines Creator

Click to go to Timetoast

Create engaging timelines to provide visual representations of events, developments, discoveries with TimeToast. Here are a few examples.

• Moon Landings
• Civil Rights
• Edgar Allan Poe
• 1967 Timeline

To begin, select the Timetoast Timelines Creator link above. At the homepage, select the SignUp link. Once you have completed the registration information, you will receive an email to verify your email address. Select the link in the email to verify your account; then sign in with your user name and password.

NOW, let’s create a timeline. 

Get started with TimeToast

 Click on the image to see a set of step-by-step directions. Once you have created the timeline, select Publish. There will be URL with the TimeToast address and a number. That is the link that students can share with others to see their timelines.

Students can create plot lines for stories.  In social studies, students can create social events and political events that overlap one another.  Science students can create timelines for various scientific discovers, map technology, or perhaps develop a timeline for a particular scientist’s inventions. 

If you have other ideas for using a timeline to enrich or reinforce a particular subject, please share your ideas in the Comment section below.