Resources for Digital Learning at the Secondary Level

Digital Storytelling Tools

I have found two different web based creation tools that ELA and Social Studies teachers may find useful.  They have potential for really enhancing your curriculum while engaging your students.  The first one is the Historic Tales Construction Kit.  It is based on the tapestry of Bayeaux, a masterpiece of the Middles Ages.  The second one is Myths and Legends Story Creator.  Storytellers get ten pages to share their stories and may select among a library of characters (some animated), sound effects, backgrounds, and objects, or they may upload their own images. They may scale, rotate, and move objects in front of or behind others. They may narrate by recording audio. They may add text  bubbles and comic bursts. Students will enjoy the impressive sound and image galleries.  The site also offers a library of supporting content. A how-to section supplies both dramatic and technical advice. What are myths, legends and folktales? offers valuable background relating to story genres. A Myth Map locates stories geographically. Professionally told stories serve as models for young storytellers and may be also used for classroom sharing. Text and related images are also provided for these classic tales.

A Guide to Free eBooks

Joyce Valenza is a teacher librarian at Springfield Township High School in Oreland, PA.  She has designed a free eBook pathfinder.  There are lots of resources here for all ages and abilities.  There are also audio book resources listed. 

The Baldwin Online Children’s Literature Project

This online project is officially called “Bringing Yesterday’s Classics to Today’s Children.” The statement of purpose from their site is:

The Baldwin Project seeks to make available online a comprehensive collection of resources for parents and teachers of children. Our focus, initially, is on literature for children that is in the public domain in the United States. This includes all works first published before 1923. The period from 1880 or so until 1922 offers a wealth of material in all categories, including: Nursery Rhymes, Fables, Folk Tales, Myths, Legends and Hero Stories, Literary Fairy Tales, Bible Stories, Nature Stories, Biography, History, Fiction, Poetry, Storytelling, Games, and Craft Activities.

Permission has been granted to:

to print copies for personal and educational uses. The texts are formatted so that attractive copies can be printed easily, in larger type for younger readers and smaller type for older ones, with illustrations included where possible. Teachers and parents can make use of the readers that are already available, or they can construct their own readers by selecting stories from the existing pool.

Included are some well known authors: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Walter Scott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Robert Louis Stevenson.  There are selections in these genres: Science, Nature, Poetry, Mythology, Literature, Legends, History, Geography, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Fables, and Biography.  There are some eBooks available for download also.  This is a very rich resource!