To everyone in the States: Happy Thanksgiving! And to everyone else: Happy November! Whether you are celebrating the holidays or working with your children and students, we thought you would enjoy these popular storytelling tools.

• Toontastic - “You can easily create your own character or use any of the custom-made characters available on Toontastic. Once you have created your own animation, you can also upload it on ToonTube, and share it with your peers.” - Monika Arora, Online English and Biology Teacher

• Kidblog - “I really like how Kidblog allows students to have a blog to share their personal thoughts… all while under the control and security of their teachers.” - Georgina Chong-You, Teacher/Instructor at School/Home

• StoryKit - Create digital stories with text, drawings, and photos on the iPhone, then share them with teachers, parents, and friends. Includes four public domain children’s books that you can rewrite and rearrange into your own story.

• ComicBook - “I have [asked] students to show a sequence of events in a literature study and to construct a short historical recount. Students really enjoy using this app.” - Rich Prowse, Primary Teacher/Coordinator

• BoomWriter - “A innovative/fun site for students to engage their writing skills by educational competitive writing.” - David Kapuler, Ed Tech Specialist

• SonicPics - “Simple and best tool for creating digital podcasts. Uploads directly to Youtube, which allows students to embed on their blogs.” - Billie Napoleon

Perhaps one of these tools is right for your children and students. Have them recount a historical event in their own words and pictures. Watch them creatively describe a fictional meal with someone they admire. Or ask them to incorporate a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) subject into a story. For evaluating their stories, lots of rubrics exist.

Want to share this list? Here is a handy bookmarkable collection you can use.

If you like (or don’t like) your experience with any of these tools, please share your impressions by leaving a review on edshelf. If you would like to join hundreds of your fellow educators in receiving highlights of new tools, sign up to get weekly or monthly updates.

From all of us at edshelf, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy November! Thank you for teaching and inspiring future generations, and making a difference in their lives.

- Mike Lee, Co-founder of edshelf