Writing Platforms
Book Creator, the interactive ebook creator that was only available on Apple is now available online in Chrome. (YES, this will work on ChromeBooks!) The free version allows for one educator library and 40 active books. (If an educator is a tech/lab teacher, set up an account for each "home" teacher for your students.) Books can include comics, audio, video, drawings and can be published online. Educators can create their own books for use in the classroom on iPad as well!) They have just added a "Read to Me" mode. Educators or other students can create an ebook for other to listen.
Make Beliefs Comix is a platform to create comic strips with a drag and drop platform from many background choices and a large collection of characters. Objects and characters can be placed and adjusted in size and location within each panel. Users can choose comic size within choice of how many panels to use. The addition of word or thought bubbles completes the creations. No account needed to create....comic can be printed or saved....emailing will require a senders email address.
ProWritingAid is an online tool to improve writing. Free accounts and paid versions. Users do required accounts and email addresses. The free platform allows for 19 writing reports, No interactive editing, Use online only, Max 3000 words.
The platform will - Check for hidden and passive verbs, Identify overuse of adverbs and glue words, Locate repetitive sentence structure, Replace commonly overused words, Reveal repeated words and phrases, Eliminate vague, abstract and complex words, Remove cliche's and redundancies, Check and correct spelling mistakes, Find commonly confused words such as let's and lets, Correct grammar mistakes, Place punctuation correctly, Ensure consistency of capitalization and hyphenation, Avoid plagiarism. |
Ourboox provides the world’s simplest free platform for creating and sharing digital picture books of any genre, in any language. Our page-flipping e-books are easy to create, easier to share. They are highly searchable and promote one another. The books can incorporate text, images, video, maps, games, puzzles and many other features. Authors can keep track of the number of readers and can edit their books at any time. Books can be embedded into class websites using an unique URL.There are many tutorials to get educators started using the platform.
Hemingway App website can be a little confusing at first. The page loads with a sample of what the APP can do, showing a paragraph with highlighted text and a KEY on the right hand side explaining what the different colors relate to as far as editing. This is actually where the user is to type in their writing that they wish to have evaluated. There is a download button on the far left. This allows users to purchase a desktop version of the software. However, you can use a FREE version by simply typing in the text or pasting in the document. Select "WRITE" on the right hand side (See the icon above) and users can erase what is on the screen and input their own text. Font styles and formatting buttons are at the top of the screen. Once the text is finished, select "EDIT" from the location on the right and the APP will evaluate the writing for grammar and readability.
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Public Domain Media - Photos, Video, Clipart
Photos for Class allows photos and clipart safe search that returns images that are appropriate for schools by using filters. **recently added videos*** Downloaded images automatically cite the author and the image license terms. All photos shown are, to the best of their (and Flickr's) knowledge, licensed by Creative Commons for public use. No registration necessary to search and download photos.
Unsplash - Photos for everyone - All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.There is only a small filter system in place, no strong inappropriate photos, but use with caution for younger grades. No account is needed to search, but can be created to save photos. The website also includes a Google Slides add-on that can be added to Google Slides and used while in "Slides".
Pixabay has over 1.3 million images and videos all with a creative commons license for free use. The quality of the photos and videos are excellent. Videos can be used as backgrounds in user created movies for an added touch. The platform does a "safe search" when searching as a default. No login is required to save the files to any location. Users can select the "size" of the file to download and preview what the adjusted size would look like.
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My Cute Graphics provide free clip art for printing, lessons and projects. Creative Commons license for personal or educational use. Clip art is available in over 20 categories. The platform also has backgrounds from shapes to themes. Graphics are in both color or B/W coloring book styles. Graphics of children are "cute" and cartoon styled. No login required, simply select the choice and then right-click to "save as".
Stockio has creative commons and public domain photos, vector graphics, icons, videos and fonts available for download. When searching for one of these you may need to try different words to get what you may want. Once selected there will be a "download" button with the usage rights written next to the photo. No login is required, but can be created to keep a users collections. (The website terms state not designed for students under 13 years.)
Pick Wizard includes creative Commons and public domain photos that can be searched for by keywords or a theme for further choices. There is a small filtering systems in place so some photos may not be appropriate for younger grades, but none are offensive. No account is needed to use this platform.
Reshot is a platform that selects the photos that are housed within it's platform so they do filter content and do not allow inappropriate items. When users search for photo there is an "extra" selection of photos at the bottom of the screen that are housed on a PAID site so selecting them will take users to another platform.
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Posters, Puzzles....many, many more creations
Cube Creator gives students a creative way to design a story, biography report, map the key elements of a story or create their own cube on any topic. Math cubes could be creating with student definitions, science processes or hypothesis broken out into steps. All creations can be saved, printed or emailed upon completion. Instructions are on the printout on how to "fold" and build the cube.
Sumo Paint is an online photo editing platform similar to PhotoShop. (medium difficulty level) Students can upload photos and edit using the same "layer" concepts that are used in the other photo editing programs. Many tools are available to create morphed and modified photos. Accounts can be created to save files online, but are not necessary to save files on thumb drives or just to create and print out. Images can be sent via email from the platform as well. Email is required to sign up for an account for password recovery.
Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an image editor, free - open source platform for creating and modifying photos and graphics. High level of detail and creative tools available within this resource. Fantastic for not only the artist, but the game developer, coder or animator and graphic designer in any student. Program does need to be downloaded to be used, but then is available offline and therefore is faster in rendering detailed images. Many tutorials on the website and YouTube.
Crello - Create designs animated posts on websites or digital portfolios, social media or digital ads. Easy drag and drop interface with multiple free templates that can be customized to fit any need. (Some content is restricted to "paid" users.) Users will need an account to download the creations.
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WordArt - create text with a graphic flare, shapes, layouts and styles can be create on this platform. No login required to create your text design. Designs can be saved and downloaded as a JPEG, PNG, SVG and others. Color choices can be either selecting on a pallet or input the codes, such as RGB numbers. Words can be made into word clouds with any of the shapes shown or upload a user image.
Big Huge Labs is a website that has many publishing creation templates available. Educators can sign up for a free full account by sending in a scan of their school ID or a picture of with school ID. Students can create many items with templates built in such as magazine covers, POP Art posters, PhotoBooth strips, jigsaw puzzles, trading cards (like Yugioh or Pokemon or Magic) and even photo cubes. Creations can be saved as jpgs and printed out. The website has the option to order (purchase) high resolution copies of any creation if users want to publish class work for specific projects.
Blender is a 3D image creator and editor. Open Source, downloadable program that also allows animation creation in 3D. Software can also be used in 3D printing. Many examples and resources available for teachers and students to get inspiration on the website and via YouTube.
Block Posters is a website to create posters from any picture file that can be printed on a standard printer. The website platform allows the user to upload any picture file and converts it to a PDF that is made of multiple pages that can be assembled to create a large poster. Users have control of the final size of the poster prior to the conversion and instruction are saved with the created PDF.
Venngage is a drag and drop platform to build Infographics. This tool can easily be used to create posters to show causes of conflicts and ways to resolve those conflicts. The website allows for many creative avenues with built in graphics and the ability to upload student created content as well. Statistical data can be used in some of the templates to show data gathered in surveys done by the students or gathered in research.
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Word Clouds
Taxedo is a word cloud generator that allows for the cloud to be placed into several shapes. Shapes templates can be chosen from a list of more than 25 ranging from basic to animals. Colors can also be adjusted. Content for the word cloud can be pulled from a website or copied and pasted into the platform from any document. ***Taxedo currently does not work within CHROME ****
CHROME ALTERNATIVE*** DRIVE WORD CLOUD Chrome App is a word Cloud generator that can be added to Chrome or accessed through Chrome web browser. The platform produces a basic word cloud from any document or website and can pull form Google drive as well. Very basic choices within the platform, the word cloud can be printed or saved from the website.
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Wordle is a word cloud generator that allows for reverse color selection and horizontal and vertical orientation choices. The platform allows for website address connections or copy and paste for content entry with randomizing sorting to switch the words around until a visual representation is achieved that meets the needs of the user. ***Wordle does not work on CHROME****
TagCrowd is a word cloud generator that allows for "pasted text", file upload or a website URL to create a cloud. The cloud created is a rectangle with a few options including language, number of words shown and exclude unwanted words. Users can create an image or PDF file from their creation.
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