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American School Psychologist. (n.d.). How digital storytelling can boost child development. Retrieved May 22, 2025, from https://americanspcc.org/how-digital-storytelling-can-boost-child-development/

Benton, P. (n.d.). The power of digital storytelling in the classroom: Telling stories with technology. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/power-digital-storytelling-classroom

Chen, C.-M., & Wu, C.-H. (2019). Effects of different digital storytelling modes on students’ reading comprehension and learning motivation. Educational Technology Research and Development, 67(3), 731–749. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-018-9617-2

McCarthy, J. (2022). Using gamification to ignite student learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-gamification-ignite-student-learning

Rahiem, M. D. H. (2021). Storytelling in early childhood education: Time to go digital. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 15(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-021-00081-x

Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st-century classroom. Theory Into Practice, 47(3), 220–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840802153916

Seesaw. (n.d.). Early literacy. Retrieved May 22, 2025, from https://seesaw.com/early-literacy/

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Engaging Digital Storytelling for Young Writers

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Engaging Digital Storytelling for Young Writers

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Book Creator is a wonderful tool that gives students the chance to become storytellers by creating their own digital books. They can write text, draw pictures, add photos, and even record their voices to bring their stories to life. This blend of reading and writing with multimedia supports students in understanding story structure while making writing feel creative and fun. Research shows that digital storytelling tools like Book Creator increase student motivation and support literacy development by allowing kids to express ideas in different formats (Robin, 2018).

What makes Book Creator especially great for young learners is its flexibility. Some kids who struggle with writing can use audio or images to share their ideas, while others can focus on refining their text and illustrations. Teachers can easily give feedback, helping students revise and improve their work. Book creator allows students to engage with literacy in a way that is engaging and obtainable.

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Book Creator - Love Learning - Book Creator app

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Teachers love it. Students love it. Book Creator is the simplest, most inclusive way to create content in the classroom.

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If you’re wondering how to get started with Book Creator, this resource library is super helpful. It’s packed with easy-to-use lesson ideas for subjects like science, social studies, and even ways to support ELL students with audio and visuals. These examples are perfect to jumpstart your digital storytelling integration!

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Using Book Creator in the classroom - Click to view this library, made with Book Creator

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Building Writing Skills with Multimodal Expression

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Building Writing Skills with Multimodal Expression

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Seesaw is a user-friendly and flexible digital platform that lets students create and share work using text, audio, video, drawings, and photos. It’s especially useful in second grade for digital storytelling and writing practice. Students can respond to prompts, use text boxes to type, record audio to explain their thinking, illustrate their writing, and even give and receive feedback through comments. These multimodal options help all learners express their ideas in meaningful ways.

For teachers, Seesaw makes it easy to support the writing process. Students can revise their work, reflect on progress, and build a digital portfolio over time. The collaborative features also create authentic writing opportunities and build classroom community. According to Seesaw’s early literacy research, platforms like this help strengthen reading and writing by encouraging voice, choice, and frequent practice (Seesaw, n.d.).

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Seesaw is a student-driven digital portfolio that inspires your students to do their best work and saves you time.
∙ Any device, shared or one-to-one
∙ Always free for teachers
∙ Used in over 200,000 classrooms and 1 out of 2 schools in the US

Awards Include:
∙ 2018 Top Pick for Learning by Common Sense Education
∙ Best Website of 2016 by American Association of School Librarians
∙ Richard Byrne's Free Tech for Teachers

How Does Seesaw Help Teachers?
Seesaw's creative tools encourage student engagement
∙ Students express themselves, reflect on their learning and create a portfolio they're proud to show others.

Get ideas and save prep time
∙ Browse thousands of great activities ready to use in your classroom today.
∙ Collect student responses digitally and lug home fewer papers.

Focus even more on your students
∙ Seesaw helps you see and hear what each student knows so you can better understand their progress
∙ Give more differentiated support through comments and feedback.

Other Seesaw Features
∙ Compatible with 100s of other apps, including Apple and Google apps.
∙ Translate notes, comments and captions into 50+ languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese and more!
∙ Seesaw is COPPA, FERPA and GDPR compliant. Learn more at web.seesaw.me/privacy

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Seesaw is a student-driven digital portfolio that inspires your students to do their best work and saves you time. ∙ Any device, shared or one-to-one ∙ Always free for teachers ∙ Used in over 200,000 classrooms and 1 out of 2 schools in the US Awards Include: ∙ 2018 Top Pick for Learning by Common Sense Education ∙ Best Website of 2016 by American Association of School Librarians ∙ Richard Byrne's Free Tech for Teachers How Does Seesaw Help Teachers?

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Seesaw has a built-in Activity Library full of lessons and templates created by other teachers. You can search, customize and assign them to your students with just a few clicks. It’s a great way to find inspiration and save time while still making space for creative digital storytelling!

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Discover thousands of teacher-tested classroom activities to inspire and engage your students

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Engaging Students in Writing with Gamified Prompts

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Engaging Students in Writing with Gamified Prompts

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If you love Kahoot for quizzes you will really enjoy WeWillWrite because it is like that but for writing. This gamified platform gets students excited to write by giving them fun timed prompts and challenges. After writing students anonymously vote on their peers stories which makes the experience social and interactive. The platform also provides AI-powered feedback that highlights literary devices and writing techniques helping students notice important writing skills and improve their work. For second graders who often thrive on games and friendly competition this is a great way to build motivation and confidence in writing.

WeWillWrite also supports reading skills because students have to carefully read and evaluate their classmates' stories before voting. The low-pressure environment allows students to experiment with language and storytelling without fear of judgment. According to McCarthy (2022), gamification transforms traditional lessons into engaging experiences where students actively choose to explore and practice content. By earning badges and status rewards, students tap into their internal motivation to deepen understanding and master material, making learning both meaningful and fun.

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Engage students with the collaborative writing game that boosts creativity and critical thinking. We help middle school ELA teachers enhance literacy.

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Boosting Writing Skills with Digital Tools

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Boosting Writing Skills with Digital Tools

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ReadWriteThink Interactives, created by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), offers free digital tools that help students work through different parts of the writing process. Second graders can use tools like the Story Map to plan their characters and plot, or the Persuasion Map to organize opinion writing. These resources break writing into manageable steps, which helps students focus, stay organized, and build confidence as writers.

Teachers can use these tools during writing centers, small groups, or mini-lessons. They’re great for helping students brainstorm, draft, and revise. Many tools walk kids through the process with clear instructions and visuals, making it easier to scaffold writing practice in a digital format.

As Benton (n.d.) notes, this approach helps students develop creativity, improve speaking skills, and better organize their thoughts, which leads to a deeper understanding of the writing process.

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Engage your students in online literacy learning with these interactive tools that help them accomplish a variety of goals—from organizing their thoughts to learning about language—all while having fun.

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The Story Map tool helps students break down the elements of narrative writing. Kids can plug in their ideas for setting, characters, problem, and solution, which gives them a clear plan before they start drafting. It’s especially helpful for second graders who are still learning how to structure a complete story. The layout is simple and student-friendly, so it can be used independently or with teacher guidance.

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The Story Map interactive includes a set of graphic organizers designed to assist teachers and students in prewriting and postreading activities. The organizers are intended to focus on the key elements of character, setting, conflict, and resolution development. Students can develop multiple characters, for example, in preparation for writing their own fiction, or they may reflect on and further develop characters from stories they have read. After completing individual sections or the entire organizer, students have the ability to print out their final versions for feedback and assessment. The versatility of this tool allows it to be used in multiple contexts.

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The Story Map interactive includes a set of graphic organizers designed to assist teachers and students in prewriting and postreading activities. The organizers are intended to focus on the key elements of character, setting, conflict, and resolution development.

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Pixton is a digital comic-creation tool that lets students design characters, add dialogue, and build scenes to tell their stories visually. For second graders, this breaks down the writing process into manageable steps, making it easier and more engaging to organize ideas, develop characters, and sequence events. This visual storytelling supports students in understanding narrative structure, which is key for both reading comprehension and writing skills (Benton, n.d.).

What makes Pixton even better is how it uses gamification elements to keep students motivated. As they create and revise their comics, students earn rewards and get to share their stories with classmates, encouraging collaboration and feedback. Pixton makes writing feel fun and creative, rather than overwhelming, especially for learners who struggle with traditional writing tasks.

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Pixton helps students build reading and writing skills through creative comic-making. Boost engagement, meet standards, and make learning stick in any subject.

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Students can use Pixton to create their own comics retelling familiar stories. This activity helps them focus on key details and basic story elements like character, setting, and plot. It’s a fun way to meet Common Core standards while building both reading comprehension and writing skills.

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Students will be able to retell familiar stories, including key details.

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In today’s world, using technology in the classroom is not just a bonus but a necessity. Digital storytelling is a modern approach to literacy that combines traditional storytelling with digital tools. It gives students multiple ways to express their ideas, helping them connect reading and writing in creative and meaningful ways. Instead of only writing on paper, students create stories that include multimedia elements.

Research shows that digital storytelling boosts students’ motivation and engagement while supporting their literacy development. For example, Robin (2008) highlights how using technology in storytelling helps students organize their thoughts and develop stronger writing skills by integrating multiple modes of communication. Similarly, Chen and Wu (2019) found that digital storytelling promotes active learning and improves reading comprehension by encouraging students to engage more deeply with texts and ideas. Beyond literacy, digital storytelling supports broader child development by fostering creativity, language skills, and social-emotional growth. As the American School Psychologist explains, this method gives kids new ways to express themselves, which builds confidence and communication skills important both inside and outside the classroom (American School Psychologist, n.d.). This approach is especially valuable for diverse learners, including English language learners and students with different learning preferences, because it offers flexible ways to represent knowledge and nurture creativity.