Edutech for Teachers

Cool Tools for the 21st Century Classroom

Create Fun Fiction with Scholastic’s Story Starters

September23

scholastic story starters logoReady to get students excited about writing? Then check out Scholastic’s Story Starters, a virtual Willy Wonka type machine that randomly generates writing prompts. Yep, from general fiction to adventure, fantasy, and science fiction, this fun interactive is sure to provide students with some writing inspiration.

To create a story using the Story Starters tool, students select the desired theme, enter their name and grade, and then spin the casino-like slot machine theme wheel. Once the contraption comes to a stop, a unique prompt is then displayed. If writing advice for a scatterbrained plumber who is a stowaway on a submarine isn’t adventurous enough—no problem! Give the dial another spin!

Once a suitable storyline is generated, students are then prompted to select from a variety of formats, including notebook, letter, newspaper or postcard. Students also have the option to include a hand-drawn illustration in their project—a feature that encourages students to make meaningful connections between text and visuals. When writing is complete, finished projects can be printed and/or downloaded/saved as a PDF for later use.

Check out a screen shot of the adventure theme below. Pretty visually appealing, eh? Wait until you get a load of the sound effects!

story starter screen shot

Classroom Connection:

OK, so the Story Starters site may sound like a gimmick. I don’t know—maybe it is. But my theory is if a tool is used to engage and motivate students to write using an assortment of fictional themes and formats, then it fulfills its purpose. Plus, it provides students with an opportunity to utilize technology in a fun and meaningful way. How can you go wrong?

Story Starters is a nifty web site for a whole class activity and/or as a writing learning center.  It’s also a great resource to use with an interactive whiteboard or projector to generate ideas for free creative writing time.  When writing assignments are complete, encourage students to share their stories. You’ll be amazed to hear all of the different ideas they come up with from the same prompt.

Need additional ideas for integrating Story Starters into your classroom? Then be sure to check out the Teacher’s Guide.

So, what are you waiting for? Take the writer’s block out of creative writing by surfing on over this “cool tool”. And as an added bonus, Story Starters is now available for the iPad!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
by posted under Cool Tools | No Comments »    

Email will not be published

Website example

Your Comment:

Hey, edu-tech gurus!

Looking for some technology integration ideas to enhance your classroom lessons? Then be sure to check out my "Tech Tips" for the latest and greatest Web 2.0 tools, applications and web sites that can be incorporated into activities and/or projects. Although some posts may not be applicable to your content area or grade level, be sure to check back often as I will be varying ideas in order to provide resources across the K-12 curriculum.

Be sure to add this awesome tool to your tech-box!

Follow Us on Facebook!

Follow Us on Scoop.it!

Where in the World?

Archives

Click on the badge to view the EdTech Magazine article.
Book Creator Ambassador badge
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...


Subscribe By Email

Get every new post delivered right to your inbox.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Skip to toolbar