WeGiveBooks.org

So as I was diligently working, searching for resources to put on a Moodle course on Ancient Egypt via Nettrekker, I came across a site that had a great book (History Dudes: Ancient Egyptians) that could be read online. WeGiveBooks.org provides access to children's books that can be accessed and read online for free. There is also the hope on their part that you will make a donation, or get involved with an organization that supports the spread of literacy. Here is a description from their site: We Give Books is a new digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online.  We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, providing a platform for caregivers and educators to inspire children to become lifelong readers and lifelong givers.  We Give Books also helps some of the world's best, most inspiring, literacy organizations by spreading the word about their great work and by providing books to the young people these organizations support.

BitStrips

The Spanish teacher at my school asked me to look into BitStrips as a possible tool for students to use while she taught the vocabulary for parts of the body and articles of clothing to her students.  I did a little exploring and was really impressed.    Once users create a free account for themselves they can start right away creating comic strips using and avatar and or characters they create themselves, or utilizing the many characters, settings, and objects available at the BitStrips site.  Of course, users can add dialogue bubbles, but they can also add text boxes, whispering and shouting bubbles. What sets this online comic creating tool apart from others is that users can not only create their own characters, but they can also change their positions. Notice in the sample to the left that I created, that my avatar is pointing to the board.  I think one of the downfalls of ComicLife is that it only utilizes the pictures one has taken or downloaded and does not have tools for creating characters or scenes. I would recommend that students add the images or scenes you create on BitStrips to their iPhoto library and put them into a Comic Life strip.  Below is a strip set I created to show how BitStrips could be used for showing examples of figurative language.