Dave Floyd and John Skrynecki

December 14, 2014

ET 610
Lesson Redesign Two
When we learned about StoryBird in class this year, I began to think about how I could use it in the
classroom. I knew that my class was going to be writing a narrative in the upcoming weeks and I thought that
StoryBird would be an interesting resource to use to complete this project. After talking with Dave, we came
up with a plan to incorporate StoryBird in my classroom while using other resources in his technology class.
During the past few weeks in fourth grade we have been using mythology to teach theme. Within this
unit, we work on analyzing multiple texts or stories on the same topic. One example of this was when we
worked on Pandoras box. After reading the traditional myths from a narrators prospective, we read a story
from Pandoras point of view.

After discussing what this means and reading other examples, the students

chose a myth and wrote from the point of view of a character whose perspective is not usually heard. Instead of
writing the story on loose-leaf paper, I decided to use StoryBird. After creating their story on StoryBird, the
students used Pixie or Wixie to create and narrate their story.
This addition of StoryBird allows the students to take control of their learning. The students needed to
analyze the characters in the story, put themselves in the mind of a character and think about the myth from the
perspective of a character of their choosing. When using StoryBird, the students needed to apply their thinking
to create a story and select images that are relatable to the myth. The students were required to apply critical
thinking and technology skills throughout the lesson. StoryBird will also allow the students to share their work
and collaborate with each other in addition to analyzing their peers work. It will also allow the students to
select artwork to illustrate their story with.
This lesson adds to the student learning experience by giving the students control over their learning.
The students need to choose the myth, choose the perspective they would like to write from, think of a story and
plot, use StoryBird to complete the assignment, and select images to accompany their story. The students also
need to demonstrate a strong understanding grasp of Pixie/Wixe to complete the final steps of the assignment.
The use of StoryBird takes the lesson from pencil and paper to a digital storytelling platform that allows the
students to create a dynamic and vibrant story to share with their peers and others.

When reflecting on this lesson, Dave and I thought that this lesson fell under the modification level of
SAMR. This activity takes a lesson that is traditionally done using paper and pencil to the computer. Instead of
having the students type up their work using a word processor, the redesign provides the students an
opportunity to create a digital story. Not only must the children generate a story from an atypical point of view,
they must create a storyline, add images, and put it all together in an online story. Once that is finished, the
students must go one step further and create another version of their story. Using Pixie or Wixie, the children
will create unique images to illustrate their story in technology class and read and record their story. We
believe that this takes the lesson from a substitution level lesson to the modification level, which allows the
lesson to be significantly redesigned using technology.
After thinking about the ITSE Standards that were used during this lesson redesign, Dave and I came to
the conclusion that one of the more prominent Standards was Standard 1: Creativity and Innovation, more
specifically Standard 1a, which states that students will Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas,
products, or processes. After students generate their new idea of a traditional myth, they are going to use
Storybird to bring it to life. After completing the Storybird component of the lesson, the students are going to
use Pixie/Wixie to create another new project that can combine their voice and artwork with their own story.
Throughout the lesson, the students are applying their ideas to various technology tools to bring an ancient myth
to life while adding in a different perspective.
This lesson redesign meets the various other ITSE Standards through the various components of the
lesson. It aligns with Standard 2a despite the fact that the students will not be working on their projects; they
will have the opportunity for them to share their online storybooks with each other. When the students were
learning about the myth they chose to work on, they were working on ITSE Standard 3. The entire lesson
redesign meets ITSE Standard 4 due to the amount of critical thinking that occurs throughout the lesson. The
students are expected to show digital citizenship throughout the lesson, which addresses ITSE Standard 5. The
students also need to demonstrate the ability to successfully navigate Storybird, and if the students were able to
do this, it would fulfill ITSE Standard 6. The lesson meets the majority of the ITSE Teacher Standards. The

lesson facilitates student understanding and creativity by allowing the students the freedom to control their own
learning. The teacher is allowing the students to develop unique thoughts and to apply these ideas using
Storybird. By using technology throughout the lesson, this redesign meets ITSE Standard 2. There are various
technology components and activities that can be adjusted to fit a variety of diverse learning levels. ITSE
Standard 3 deals with skills regarding technology and modeling the technology. This is addressed when the
teacher models both the Storybird and Wixie/Pixie assignments and is there to guide the students throughout the
lesson. Throughout the entire lesson, the teacher is promoting digital citizenship, which relates to ITSE
Standard 4. The students are expected to use strong digital etiquette and contribute positively to the learning
environment.
One of the obstacles that we encountered when doing this lesson was access to Storybird. Storybird is a
free website that allows students to work on their projects. Unfortunately, each student needs an account to
access the website. This is not an obstacle that can ruin a lesson, but it is a time consuming piece of the lesson
that needs to be accounted for. Another hurdle that we faced when attempting this lesson was the lack of
computers available in school. There are not many computer labs available in our school and it was an issue
when attempting to complete this lesson. The way we avoided this issue was to book the lab multiple times in a
row. We accomplished this by planning it out ahead of time to ensure that the labs would be available when we
needed it.
This lesson redesign took some time to set up and implement but the end result was a unique and
creative online story that each student was able to create. The openness of this lesson allowed the students to
personalize the content and use technology to bring their myth to life.