5th graders at my school work on projects throughout the year in their classrooms, but I had noticed that they were getting little practice with validating online sources, following copyright laws, and using Google Apps to communicate what they learned. With those as my goals, I set out to also have them create something that would have an authentic audience. It made sense to pick a topic that would be relevant to students in our building, and the 1st grade team had expressed interest in using more technology collaboratively with me so, in alignment with their curriculum, I had the 5th graders research winter holidays around the world. Each class had about 8 groups working on the 5 iPad minis, and by that time, I had also adopted several hand-me-down iPad 2s. The tech facilitator loaded the Book Creator app on 10 iPads, which only took 2 purchases that allows use on up to 5 devices (ask your IT dept for help with this! They are experts at getting the most bang for your buck). Yes, this is a paid app but for $10 total, it was so worth it!
My prep for the 5th graders included printing graphic organizers for note-taking, a lesson on citing sources and analyzing websites for authenticity, and approving choices of groups (otherwise I'd have 40 eBooks wishing 1st graders a Feliz Navidad!!). Though I did play with the app for about an hour before introducing it to students, I didn't feel pressured to be an expect on it, because I wanted students to be able to navigate and figure it out on their own. Part of them being digital natives is allowing them to teach us how to use some of these tools. Failure happened. Students went crazy saving Google images without citing them. Some groups failed to write down any of the websites they visited. Selfies showed up in the camera roll without any eBook progress being made. It took months rather than weeks (like, by Spring Break I was cutting off groups who clearly weren't able to get it done). Copying work from another group and claiming it as their own.... I learned many lessons in this experiment that I'll apply to other projects!!!! But the good news was the 25 or so eBooks from diverse countries that were created and able to be shared with 1st graders!
Book Creator Resources
- Get the App
- Book Creator Channel on YouTube – several videos available on how to use, support, and ideas
- Getting Started on Book Creator Webinar – This is part 1 in a series {45 min long} with comprehensive overview
- App Overview from EdShelf
- Top 10 Tips for iPad Book Creator
- Review of the Book Creator App
- 4 Amazing ideas – How to books, Collaborative Books, Non-fiction text, Photo Albums
- Using Book Creator for student-published work –Ideas that range from primary – HS age
- Overview including 10 Ways to Use it
- Padlet of Ideas