REVIEW: Story Patch

December 28, 2014

Simon Moore

CONCEPT:

A scaffolded story telling App that moves from guided to independent story writing.

DELIVERY: This little known App is one that I have had on my iPad for a while but haven’t had the opportunity to use in class. The thought behind its delivery is obvious as it is structured to assist students in moving from supported writing to independent writing. Two options are afforded to students; 1) Choose a theme and build a story and 2) Write your own story without any help.

The first caters for beginning writers who require assistance in structuring and building a story. They choose a theme and then press the red buttons that appear and select from the options provided. Based on the selections made a story is constructed with blank pages. Students can edit the story and add pictures to illustrate it.

The second option is for more advanced students who are developing their ability to write independently. They write their own story with no assistance from the App. As above they can select images to illustrate their story. It must be said that images can be added from the camera roll also.

It is important to remember that the images added are layered. Start with the background first and move towards the foreground when adding.

A thorough tutorial is available in the main menu. It will require teachers to work through it with students, as it is a bit wordy for younger students.

Stories are exported as a PDF with a safety system imbedded to ensure an adult assists the student when sharing.

LIMITATIONS:

The App itself can be overwhelming at first look. The menu options are extensive once you start poking around. For example, the images are separated into three categories; story characters, animals and objects, and scenery.

Pinching and manipulating objects is not as responsive as required. It will continue resizing after your fingers have left the screen.

CONCLUSION: If you are an Early Years to Grade 3 teacher this is well worth a look.