Book Creation

So I used the Book Creator Free App to create a book about "how to create your own sketchbook".  It was pretty easy to use once I had played around with it a little.  I think it would be awesome to be able to link a website, a file or a YouTube video to my book...this app didn't have that option.  I've bought ebooks before that play video, so I know at least that could be done.  I don't think I would really use the book creator much in my classroom unless all the students had access to iPads.  Here is a screenshot of my ebook:

I've thought about some ideas on what I could use it for if I did, though.  I could make books for each center in my classroom, sort of like a manual on what materials are there, how to use it, ideas and procedures.  It would be a great resource for students who might transfer into our school throughout the year.  It could also be a good refresher for students who need to be reminded of how to take care of the centers. I could also have students collaborate and make a book about something they've learned about a particular artist, culture or style of art.  I think this would be a great activity, and falls under Redefinition in the SAMR model.  Students could pull in examples of the artwork and write together an evaluation of the artist or artwork they are studying.  One other activity that students could do with a book creator is to create a book of their artwork for the year, sort of like a culmination of what they have accomplished during the school year.  They could photograph their work and write captions for their photos as well as write narratives about their artwork.  This could be used as an evaluation and assessment tool in this way.

Comic Life App

For this project, I used the Comic Life App that I had already installed on my iPad. I have used this app before for fun with photos of our family, but I had never thought of using it in the classroom.  For this project, my daughter helped me out and we created a little story she acted out with her dolls.

 

For my art class, students could make a comic that explains how to do something, like how to clean up the painting center.  It could be printed and posted as a reminder to students of the proper procedures for cleaning up. Students could also create their own comics by drawing illustrations either in a drawing app, or by drawing them on paper and then capturing the images and importing them into Comic Life or another similar app.  Students also would then be able to add dialog, speech bubbles and other elements to tell the story.  We could even publish a class comic book. I also think it would be fun to find some narrative artwork and let kids use the comic app to add dialog between the 

subjects in the painting, talking about the artwork from their point of view.  Students could use the 

Comic Life App as a form of evaluating artwork, which easily falls under Modification in the SAMR Model.