retelling with Toontastic

Supporting their development of the reading skill of oral retelling, the First Grade Butterflies were introduced to the Toontastic app on the student iPads.

Together, we read Hermit Crab (Rigby PM Reader). 

Throughout the reading, we stopped and retold the story to the point of reading, to support our understanding and check for our understanding.  Post reading, we retold the story in it's entirety.

Butterfly Reading Partners using the Toontastic iPad app
to create a retelling of Hermit Crab

The Toontastic app was "mirrored" on the SMARTboard through my (teacher) iPad and students accessed the Toontastic app on the student iPads with their Reading Partner.

Guided instruction was provided to introduce the Butterfly Readers to the Toontastic app.  Supporting learning for independent application, the students were guided and supported through "creating a new cartoon", "drawing your own setting", and "drawing your own character(s)".

A demonstration was then provided (through "mirroring" on the SMARTboard) on the process of "animating" and "recording" each part of the retelling.

Students then actively engaged with the app using their (Reading Partners) voices, setting illustrations, and character illustrations to create a retelling of the shared story, Hermit Crab.  Support and reinforcement was provided to Reading Partners during their independent application.

A demonstration on titling the retelling and including "Directors" (the Reading Partners' names) was provided prior to Reading Partners completion of retellings.

Reading Partners viewed their "animated" oral retelling of Hermit Crab for accuracy and meaning.

Next...
Toontastic will continue to be used for reading retellings of partner readings and for independent readings and the Butterfly Readers will learn how to "share" their retellings with other readers.

Butterfly Readers collaboratively creating the "setting"
for their retelling of the story, Hermit Crab,
on the iPad with the Toontastic app

Butterfly Reading Partners cooperatively "animating"
an important event in their retelling of the story Hermit Crab...
recording their voices to orally retell the story
and using the setting and characters they collaboratively created
on the Toontastic iPad app