Cool Stuff from OETC
Students Create Interactive Stories with Story Speaker
Created by Scott Aten, February 22, 2019
One of the big themes for this year's OETC was artificial intelligence. This cool idea fits in that
category. "Story Speaker" is an add-on for Google Docs that lets you and your students make
interactive, talking stories, with NO CODING required. If you are unfamiliar with add-ons, they
are little programs that run from within Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, etc. They increase
the capabilities of the app - in this case they allow you to create an interactive story.
Here is a [short video] describing "Story Speaker".
Here are [directions] on how to install the "Story Speaker" add-on
As you can see from the video, students are able to type in story segments that include various "forks" that create different paths where decisions have to be made by the person listening to the story. This opportunity will provide a lot of creative thinking, as well as critical thinking, when students have to plan out the various details and decision points of their story.
The finished story is read aloud through a Google Home Base OR Google Home Mini. The Google Home Mini is MUCH cheaper than the Home Base. I got mine during Black Friday for only $25. The main difference between the two is the Google Home Base has a better "base" sound than the Mini, so for our purposes here at school, that is no big deal.
By the way if you do happen to bring a Google Home into your classroom, there are a lot of other cool things you can do with it and your class.
If you would like to schedule a time for me to come and help you setup one of these or assist your class in getting started, please use my scheduler to pick a time.
[Schedule me to come and help]
Here is a [short video] describing "Story Speaker".
Here are [directions] on how to install the "Story Speaker" add-on
As you can see from the video, students are able to type in story segments that include various "forks" that create different paths where decisions have to be made by the person listening to the story. This opportunity will provide a lot of creative thinking, as well as critical thinking, when students have to plan out the various details and decision points of their story.
The finished story is read aloud through a Google Home Base OR Google Home Mini. The Google Home Mini is MUCH cheaper than the Home Base. I got mine during Black Friday for only $25. The main difference between the two is the Google Home Base has a better "base" sound than the Mini, so for our purposes here at school, that is no big deal.
By the way if you do happen to bring a Google Home into your classroom, there are a lot of other cool things you can do with it and your class.
- Set timers and alarms
- Play trivia games
- Play music
- Answer questions
- Read the news/weather
If you would like to schedule a time for me to come and help you setup one of these or assist your class in getting started, please use my scheduler to pick a time.
[Schedule me to come and help]
For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.
Green Local Schools
Tech Integration Team
