Digital Storytelling Resources
All resources are free, easy to use, and great tools for both teachers and students. Read more about digital storytelling here.
Pecha Kucha is a presentation style in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (6 minutes and 40 seconds in total). The format, which keeps presentations concise and fast-paced, powers multiple-speaker events called PechaKucha Nights (PKNs).
Go to linkAnimoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows.
Go to linkStorybird lets anyone make visual stories in seconds. They curate artwork from illustrators and animators around the world and inspire writers of any age to turn those images into fresh stories.
Go to linkStorify is a social network service that lets the user create stories or timelines using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Go to linkVoice Thread is a cloud application that allows users to upload, share and discuss documents, presentations, images, audio files and videos.
Go to linkPiktochart is a web-based infographic application which allows users without intensive experience as graphic designers to easily create professional-grade infographics using themed templates.
Go to linkPowToon is a web-based animation software that allows users to create animated presentations by manipulating pre-created objects, imported images, provided music and user created voice-overs.
Go to linkELA-specific Resources
The following sites either provide students unique ways to express themselves or showcase interesting work.
Short fiction zine specializing in stories of 1000 or fewer words ("flash fiction").
Go to linkYoung Writers Project is dedicated to helping youth develop the confidence and communication skills needed to shape their world.
Go to linkSimple. You’ll see one word at the top of the following screen. You have sixty seconds to write about it.
Go to linkThis site is a companion to the book, Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by redacting newspapers with a permanent marker. The book contains my original poems, a 250-year-old history of finding poetry in the newspaper, and a “How-To” section to get readers started making their own poems.
Go to linkWriting in Six Words is a simple, creative way to get to the essence of anything—from the breaking news of the day to your own life and the way you live it.
Go to linkButton Poetry is a Minnesota-based organization dedicated to improving the quality of performance poetry media.
Go to linkMedia Resources
The following sites are great places to find images and films to use in class.
Mobile studios fully equipped with cutting-edge technology that “travels to” First Nations communities.
Go to linkOnline resources for high quality high-resolution photos that can be used for personal and professional purposes for free.
Go to linkThe NFB is a public agency that produces and distributes films and other audiovisual works which reflect Canada to Canadians and the rest of the world.
Go to linkMapping Memories is a collaborative media project which uses personal stories and a range of media tools (video, sound walks, mapping, photography) to better understand the experiences of youth with refugee experience in Montreal.
Go to link