Schools & Districts Toolkit

Blended Learning Coach Holly Clark advises teachers to publish, share and collaborate with one another.

Teachers benefit from sharing tips and resources with one another, so create opportunities for collaboration in person and virtually. You might want to create a shared library for student templates, or another for examples of awesome student work.

Milwaukee Public Schools created these phonics books for teachers to use with students to read, listen, record, write and draw.

"As an instructional tech department, we're really trying to get the teachers to move from sit and get tech and have the students producing something."&nbsp;

Shanna OConnor Digital Learning Coach Milwaukee Public Schools

It's important to keep the momentum going using frequent communication with teachers. You'll receive updates on new features and special events from time to time from Book Creator, which we encourage you to share. Leverage whichever platforms you use in your school district, including the following:

Newsletters Short Clip Videos Email Blasts Social Media Blog Posts Podcasts

"We shared through our monthly Tech Tips, social media, and word of mouth."

Technology Learning Coaches Massapequa School District

https://api.bookcreator.com/users/v2/HS3UqgGKBHRVTAUg2hZkqdh2po83/books/zpEWuT2iSKazPRdJ0KjU5A/assets/Etr1Kyf3TkiwmAvSuLmQhQ.png?width=1438&height=810

FOR SCHOOLS &amp; DISTRICTS

Most school districts start their journey with Book Creator with a particular cohort in mind - be it elementary, special education or science teachers. Don't forget that Book Creator is used across ages and subjects, so a great way to expand usage is to reach out to colleagues in other areas of the school district. 

Using Book Creator in the Elementary Classroom

Book Creator for the High School Classroom

When leading PD or introducing Book Creator to a teacher, Ambassador Rachelle Dene Poth recommends creating a sample book to show teachers the basics and all your favorite features.

"3rd grade teachers at Englewood Public Schools identified an opportunity to increase engagement and accessibility in their ELA lessons. Instead of demonstrating their understanding of the learning target by writing in a workbook or graphic organizer, students created books, allowing for differentiation based on user creativity and ability. Students were able to demonstrate their understanding more clearly, concisely, and most importantly, in a way that highlights off their own creative expression."

Paul Whitaker Instructional Technology &amp; PK-8 STEAM Coordinator Englewood Schools

Example Student Work - Peter Pan EL Education

Find out more in <a href="https://www.englewoodschools.net/connect/posts/~board/district-news/post/innovation-in-action-using-book-creator-to-enhance-el-education">Englewood's Blog</a>: Innovation in Action: Using Book Creator to Enhance EL Education

"When you're ready to take things further, create a communication and PD plan with supports for your teachers aligned to school/district goals."

Emily Elkins Jeffco Public Schools

Your Rings of Responsibility

Creative Digital Citizenship Activities with Book Creator

Pause & Think Online

Resources to learn more about digital citizenship, spotlight classroom stories, and inspire you and your student to get creative as you learn about digital citizenship.

Online Friendships

These books were created in partnership with Common Sense Education, aligned with their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/curriculum">Digital Citizenship Curriculum</a>.

<a href="bookcreator://page/y3frsQCOQ3iqI-vGvnVHOQ">Teacher Training &amp; Support</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/5-Wj9WbXQWSEESRpWUAHhA">Communicate, Collaborate &amp; Share</a>

Book Creator PD Gradual Release of Responsibility Coaching Exemplar Books Create a Sample Book Intro Book Creator to Students Teach your First Lesson Toolkit All About Me Early Years: Use Tech Buddies Ongoing PD

Welcome Email &amp; Books Ongoing Communication Collaborate &amp; Share Social Media Partner Spotlights Staff Communication Parent Engagement

<a href="bookcreator://page/OGEM_ZdVQ0CA7njWOTvOYQ">Ambassadors' Favorite Features</a>

Using Student Templates Feedback Collaboration Design Templates &amp; Themes Apps

"Fifth-grade student "experts" helped the "littles" become skilled in their use of technology. Our Tech Buddies (Kindergarteners and 5th graders) met on a bi-weekly or monthly basis throughout the school year to work on a variety of collaborative projects to share their learning. "

Vickie Ahearn Technology Learning Coach Massapequa SD

Holiday Traditions 

Hillsborough County Public Schools created this set of student templates for use in literacy lessons. Teachers can remix them and adapt them to any content module.

*Find out how to use student templates in our<a href="bookcreator://page/gfssp6GOR8uZD1P4mk4yyA"> Features section</a>

Invite curriculum and department leaders to meet with your TSM to introduce them to Book Creator Share example books and subject-specific resources Create student templates* that complement your curriculum, focusing on upcoming units of work

The following pages contain a mix of example books, lesson plans and student templates* that you can share with your content specialists to kick start conversations about how you can integrate Book Creator into the curriculum.

If you give Students &amp; Teachers a Creation Tool... by Mrs. Horvath "...they will be able to embrace their creativity. ...they will find their voice and begin to write their own stories (even outside of school). ...students will impress you with their enthusiasm for writing, passion for creativity and love of learning. ...they can create #BookSnaps."

Notice & Note Signposts Template

Jamie Horvath Lead Technology Teacher Northampton Area School District

#BookSnaps Examples

Digital Learning Coaches at Newton County Public Schools created these books for students to read, listen and practice their sight words.

Diversity, inclusion and representation are growing priorities in many school districts, as we learn more about the impact on learning. If this is a priority for your district, share Ken Shelton's top tip and blog post about crafting stories that are representationally diverse and equitably inclusive.

Read more in Ken's blog post, <a href="https://bookcreator.com/2023/03/why-representation-matters-crafting-an-equitable-learning-environment-for-all/">Why representation matters: crafting an equitable learning environment for all</a>.

Houston ISD used Book Creator in their Lego STEM summer camp in 2022, allowing students to reflect on and document their learning. 

"Using the BookCreator app was a crucial part of our STEM Summer Camp. It helped cultivate an interdisciplinary approach to our STEM Camp, and even helped tie in Social-Emotional learning. After each challenge, students used their Book Creator to reflect on their challenges."

Brittany Wellborn STEM Instructional Technologist Houston ISD

Shoshana's Journey to Mars

"We want to give students multiple pathways to demonstrate their understanding (UDL). This is a great tool for teachers to have in their toolbox so that they can give students choice in how to respond to reading. Having the templates not tied to specific books or curriculum is key in terms of them being versatile, and teachers feeling empowered to remix them to suit their own needs. To roll these templates out, we included them in our department newsletter. We also published a post on our Issaquah Ed Tech Blog –&nbsp;<a href="https://t.sidekickopen71.com/Ctc/GC+23284/cw-8g04/Jll2-6q7W7Y8-PT6lZ3q4N1lJ2yv_rGJkW4t691W9dv9FSW4fGTGN2gKtj_VH3fpH8fHW8YW1-vdft43LXvlW3jGDGJ6hKQb3W8cZT9p6djpyXMkKH0nzk8vwW3K0M_N4bdk00W6Rt0d08YF5wyN4G_fnnBX7jwW8SwgPy6VzlnmW9fl5WF1h_55TT6fPl6vZ4cCW4rXGhy1gXSt5W99v0VP55tTWFW4SpNTQ7J30DMVLyrs34Try-JW3c1p4x4xLrnqW23HBx56s2xyDW4xMlCJ2K6VQHW8pkFGL6_cHksW6G9zND4zQX_cW6DhVnQ7D3_j_W1myLtz2ssXW_W805q6f44DSFgf7BxQ9z04">linked here</a>!"

Aly Rumberger Instructional Technology Specialist Issaquah School District

Exemplar - Reading Response

Librarians/Media Specialists often meet with the entire population of the school, especially at the elementary level. This is a great way to quickly reach a large number of students.  

WELCOME TO OUR LIBRARY

Book Creator for Teacher Librarians

A remixable library handbook template for Librarians to customize and share with their students.  

Project ideas, resources and lesson tips to make your Library the place where students want to be!

You know who they are. Those incredibly special people in your school district who help teachers make effective use of technology for learning. Instructional Technology Specialist, Library Media Specialist, Digital Learning Coach, Teacher... Whatever their title, they're the ones who make the magic happen with Book Creator in your school district.

This book is full of contributions from Book Creator champions working in schools and districts across the world, providing you with a toolkit of resources and tips on how best to support teachers to make the most out of Book Creator to make an impact in your students' lives.

Once you are setup and have considered some of the ideas in this book, it's time to announce to your teachers that they have access to Book Creator. You can use our introductory email template, which includes a link to the book to welcome teachers to Book Creator. This book aims to show teachers why they should use Book Creator, and takes them through the steps to get started. It also includes a toolkit for introducing Book Creator to their students, which you'll find on the following pages. Make sure to add in the dates for any upcoming professional development to your email.

Welcome to Book Creator for Teachers

Types of Communities - Teacher Guide

Social Studies Communities Unit Pack includes Teacher Guide, Student Template and Student Exemplar. This is a great example of curriculum integration, combining content and student activities.

15 Social Studies Projects for Book Creator Classrooms

Ideas for using Book Creator in Social Studies

A number of tech integrators suggested starting by sharing plenty of example books with teachers. Books can be found in the <a href="https://bookcreator.com/2020/08/a-new-way-to-find-awesome-books-made-in-book-creator/">Discover</a> section to inspire teachers with ideas for books by grade level, subject area, and language.

“Give teachers plenty of time to explore the site, especially the "Discover" tab and imagine how they might use Book Creator in their positions" 

Emily Elkins Jeffco Public Schools

2021-2022 Write-A-Book winners

"Providing students with an option to create their books online also supports our district vision of building 21st century competencies. Plus, students love it! Really, we had young authors asking us for virtual opportunities like this before the pandemic. Book Creator has given us the best option to do this virtually.”

Shari Blohm Instructional Supervisor, Library Media Prince George's County Public Schools

Book Creator helped breathe new life into Prince George's County annual Write-A-Book Competition - <a href="https://bookcreator.com/2023/03/how-book-creator-supported-prince-george-countys-write-a-book-competition/">read more in the Partner Spotlight.</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/L_rESAHQRe2HAV7JQqyx7Q">Identify your Champions</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/RL86eWgZQlO0FePSqk7l4Q">Integrate with Curriculum</a>

Meet your Teacher Success Manager Become a Certified Author Get Inspired &amp; Stay Informed

<a href="bookcreator://page/xesQa0ESSn22xHqJPHAb-w">Network with Colleagues</a>

Early Years / Elementary / High School Special Education, Accessibility &amp; UDL Library Diversity, Equity &amp; Inclusion <a href="bookcreator://page/T_tAcnXQQdy4kUtpNFK7PA">Digital Portfolios</a> Special Events: STEM Day Special Events: Writing Competition Special Events: Dig Cit Week Summer Camp: STEM

<a href="bookcreator://page/1EPzOAIdRPCSAM-36p_xYA">ELA</a>: Phonics ELA: Sight Words ELA: Daily Reading Skills ELA: Reading Response Journals ELA: Active Reading (#BookSnaps) ELA: Writer's Workshop ELA: Literacy Templates ELA: Enhancing Curriculum ELA: Performance Tasks ELA: Writing Projects ELA: Writing Templates <a href="bookcreator://page/MvcAMzW3R8uJfhez7xdlWw">Social Studies</a> Social Studies: Choice Boards <a href="bookcreator://page/pFUOy_gvQLydQX3CY96nrw">Science &amp; Math</a> <a href="bookcreator://page/i7hkh73mS_eq_cAe8ogtpg">Social &amp; Emotional Learning</a> <a href="bookcreator://page/PUalivSgSVWY0XJYfKfYlQ">Digital Fluency</a> &amp; Computer Science <a href="bookcreator://page/5JqJEueZRbSrpD2KsqfG5g">Digital Citizenship</a>

As a Book Creator Certified Author, you'll be familiar with most of the features and can think about which ones you think are most important to introduce to your teachers at which stage of their journey with Book Creator. Having said that, it's great to learn about new features, or perhaps see ideas to use known features in new ways. So, a few of our Ambassadors shared their favorite features...

https://api.bookcreator.com/users/v2/HS3UqgGKBHRVTAUg2hZkqdh2po83/books/zpEWuT2iSKazPRdJ0KjU5A/assets/GrAp9eFiQD-ZR6JxTQZSgA.png?width=1080&height=1080

Thank you to all our Tech Champs for sharing your tips with us!

“We quickly realized that teachers needed to see how to add these (CS &amp; DF) standards to their classrooms without it being ‘one more thing’. Over summer, I decided to create activity books in Book Creator to help teachers see fun ways that these standards can be implemented without it being a heavy lift in their classrooms.”&nbsp;

Laurie Guyon Coordinator of Model Schools Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES

"I would suggest connecting with content area teams as soon as possible to find ways Book Creator can be integrated into current lessons, projects and assessments. When teachers see how the tool fits into a lesson or a final project, they will want to learn to use it and won’t see it as something extra. Keep a focus on the goals of the department, then find ways to connect the tool to what they are working on. After this first step, bring those different departments together to share best practices for their content/grade level for others to learn from."

Julie Garcia, Director of Instructional Technology San Diego Unified School District

Some individuals in the district will have already met your Teacher Success Manager. It's a great idea to schedule some time for all your coaches and Book Creator champions to meet them. It can be a 'Train the Trainer' session, during which they share their tips on how best to introduce Book Creator to teachers. It's also a great opportunity to ask questions and brainstorm ideas for how best to roll out Book Creator in your district, in a way that resonates most with your goals and curriculum. Once they gain an understanding of your district goals, they can also point you to the best pages in this book, based on the where you are in your Book Creator journey.

Technology TOSA Michelle Hearn recently took time to tell us about how Middletown City School District is using Book Creator for middle school students' digital portfolios. Teachers previously kept a physical folder of quarterly skills checks, which travelled with students throughout their middle school journey. They moved this into Book Creator this year, significantly improving the impact of this practice by becoming a student-centered activity.

Exemplar Digital Portfolio

Power up your teachers' and students' experiences with Book Creator with Canva, Bitmoji, 3D Models, Feedback Stickers and more... straight from within Book Creator

TEMPLATE - All About Me

All About ME JK/Primary

"It's a great idea to use an 'About Me' book to get students and teachers familiar with Book Creator."

Jennifer Hopkins, Technology Integration TOSA Portland Public Schools

In addition to sharing published student work with parents, Book Creator is a great platform for parent newsletters and manuals, meet the teacher books and parent-teacher conferences.

High School Staff Manual

Jeffco Open Library & Technology Guide

ELA: Daily Reading Skills Practice

Kerry Ginn, Book Creator Ambassador and Intervention Specialist at Cincinnati Public Schools, tells us about the impact Book Creator is having with her students with special needs. She creates differentiated books like these for students to do daily independent practice to build their literacy skills.

A book to give students practice with reading short vowel syllables smoothly.

Nonsense Word Practice

BETA FRIDAY SPELLING CHALLENGES

Differentiated spelling review books that prepare students for weekly spelling challenges.

Red Word Playbook

Finger Spelling Practice

Each student tries to learn 5 new rote memory words each week. They play with designing pages featuring their chosen words and then listen to the playback.

Practice splitting and spelling words that follow phonemic rules (based on Wilson's Fundations curriculum). 

For National STEM Day, HISD had previously never done a celebration. Equity was a key factor: with one small (but mighty!) STEM team and almost 200,000 students, the STEM department faced a challenge in how to provide something that could be used by all teachers, grades, and all types of learners.

HISD National STEM Day Activities

&nbsp;“The REMIXABLE template option in Book Creator was perfect to provide campuses a full wealth of activities, while they could pick and choose from this remixable template to fit their style of learners.” 

Instructional Technology Team Houston ISD

Social media can be a great way to shine a spotlight on a particularly innovative or impactful classroom practice, congratulating your coaches and teachers while inspiring others. 

Milwaukee Public Schools had such fun at their Book Creator PD that they shared it out on TikTok

Book Creator PD Menu

Speak to your Teacher Success Manager about a PD plan, kicking off with some Getting Started sessions and then moving on to subject-specific or other options to suit the needs of your district.

Special Education, Accessibility &amp; UDL

Using Book Creator for Differentiated Learning

"Book Creator allows for multiple means of expression where students can create their own books for an authentic audience using a choice of media (drawing, text, audio and video). Universal Design drives what we do in San Diego Unified and Book Creator supports that goal."

Julie Garcia Director of Instructional Technology San Diego Unified

Writer's Workshops Supports for Special Education Students

This books offers a wealth of ideas for teachers using Book Creator to create differentiated lessons for their students.

<a href="https://read.bookcreator.com/">Resources</a> Discover loads of ideas and example books in our Discover section and Resources pages. <a href="https://bookcreator.com/resources-for-teachers/webinars/">Book Creator Webinars</a> Learn from Book Creator's Teacher Success Managers, Ambassadors and other experts in the field by signing up for their regular webinars. <a href="https://twitter.com/BookCreatorApp">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/bookcreator">Facebook</a> Follow Book Creator on Twitter and Facebook to hear about new features, read regular <a href="https://bookcreator.com/blog/">blog posts</a> and get inspired by the great work that teachers share regularly on social media. Regular Meetings with your Teacher Success Manager Schedule in regular meetings with your TSM to share feedback on how things are progressing and brainstorm ideas on how to maintain the momentum.

In addition to using Book Creator across curriculum, from pre-K up to 12th, Newton County Schools staff have found countless creative and impactful ways to use Book Creator within their community.

Media Specialist Portfolio

Meet The Instructional Technology Team

T4T Newsletter December 2021

Get inspired by these Writing templates created by Book Creator to celebrate Be an Author month. Remix them and use them today, or make changes to adapt to your learning environment.

Write Your Story Day - First Start 

Write Your Story Day - Intermediate

Daily Writing Prompts (for younger students)

Write Your Story Day - Beginner 

Write Your Story Day - Advanced

Daily Writing Prompts (for older students)

Write Your Story Day Book Creator lesson plans for Write Your Story Day. Choose the lesson plan that suits your students.

Writing Prompts For each school day in Be an Author Month.

Teach Your First Lesson Toolkit

Book Creator has created lesson plans and student templates to help you get teachers started and develop their confidence using Book Creator while learning how fun, engaging and inclusive it is.

Teach your first Lesson

Book Creator & Me (K)

Book Creator & Me (1-2)

Book Creator & Me (3-5)

Book Creator & Me (6-8)

Book Creator & Me (9-12)

The Outsiders Explore Board

Women's History Month

Increase classroom engagement with choice boards - Book Creator app

Empowering students to take control of their learning increases motivation, engagement and the quality of work. Check out Holly Clark's Explore Board where students choose between a curated set of content for doing research on a topic, and Sandi Dennis' choice board where students choose from a set of options to demonstrate their learning. <a href="https://www.hollyclark.org/">Holly</a> is a digital learning pioneer and author, and Sandi is a Library Media Specialist at Fulton County Public Schools.

Taking the themes in the Digital Citizenship Week curriculum, we worked with&nbsp;Hillsborough County Public School’s Technology Training Team&nbsp;(Florida) to create a set of extension activities that their district is going to run as a competition. They have kindly made these templates available for you to use too, if you wish.&nbsp;These templates will work district-wide with all ages.

Digital Citizenship Week

K-2: Say Goodbye to Technology

3-5: The Words We Choose

6-8: Digital Drama Unplugged 

9-12 Teacher Version: Who Are You on Social Media?

Book Creator is a great tool for Writer's Workshops, with students creating a digital Writer's Notebook. Students can personalize their Notebooks and add their voice, images and text. They can do their planning and brainstorming, first drafts ... and when they are ready to do a final draft, they can publish their books online! One of the great benefits to teachers is being able to give students feedback more frequently. With physical notebooks, teachers may only find time to take student notebooks in to review them and provide feedback once a week or every two weeks. Using the comment tool, teachers can provide feedback with their voice, video, text and images. They can also provide links to learning resources.

Book Creator for Writer's Workshop

This book shows how a teacher uses Book Creator with Writer's Workshops and showcases some example teacher and student books.

Jackson's Writer's Notebook

Teacher's Notebook

Introducing Book Creator to Students

"When introducing Book Creator to a classroom, school or district I would say have an intentional plan to introduce the tool in the classroom. For some classrooms, it may be starting with an "All About Me" book just to get students and teachers familiar with the platform and tools. For those with some knowledge of how Book Creator works, take it a step further and demonstrate a Book Creator activity connected to a curricular component to showcase accessibility features which ensure all students can show what they know!"

Jennifer Hopkins Technology Integration TOSA Portland Public Schools

My Data Story

Unit 5 Geometric and Algebraic Connections

My Garden Walk

13 Math Projects for Book Creator

Math projects spanning grade levels &amp; tied to Common Core standards. Projects can be modified to meet your teaching styles. 

Unit 4:  Circles and Volume

Teacher created resources to bring math concepts to life. 

"We created an Elementary Digital Fluency Deck which highlights the skills and resources essential to each grade level. Book Creator online is an expected tool for our teachers to utilize."

Instructional Technology Department Downey Unified

Digital Fluency in action: students choose the right tool for the learning activity.

Teach with a template

Discover how to use our Student Template books to introduce Book Creator to your students

1. <a href="https://intercom.help/bookcreator/en/articles/2398701-create-a-new-library">Create a class library</a> and choose settings 2. <a href="https://youtu.be/jrz47t3JjUk">Remix the student template</a> into your library 3. <a href="https://intercom.help/bookcreator/en/articles/2398623-how-students-join-your-library">Invite students</a> to your library 4. <a href="https://intercom.help/bookcreator/en/articles/4153849-how-do-students-make-books">Students copy template</a>

10 Book Creator Projects to Support Social-Emotional Learning

All About Me Journal

Wellbeing Journal

Structured lesson ideas to help your students focus on their physical and mental wellbeing.

An activity book for younger students to help them think about their physical and mental wellbeing.

This book is aimed at middle/high school students. Help them focus on their social and emotional wellbeing.

Try a Gradual Release of Responsibility coaching approach:

1. Lead an intro to Book Creator lesson for students, with their classroom teacher learning through observation. 2. Co-plan a lesson or unit of work with the teacher, developing a student template to be used, then co-teach. 3. Support the teacher as they carry on with Book Creator in future units of work.

“I’ve been struggling to get into classrooms. Once I started sharing Book Creator, my schedule has been packed! I do Book Creator several times a day. It has been a game changer and completely opened classroom doors for me and I’m finally teaching classes, integrating curriculum, and being a tech coach and I owe it all to Book Creator! Completely turned my job around!!!”

Michelle Manning Technology Integration Specialist Smithtown Central School District

Dr. Monica Burns loves using audio &amp; video for feedback, which can be more efficient for teachers and also enables teachers to convey emotion, improving the way the student receives the feedback.

European Explorers 

Colonial Times ABC Book - Grade 4 Group 5

Superhero's of Western Hemisphere

Book Creator is an essential tool for students to demonstrate learning in science, with students being able to take photos and videos and record their hypotheses and observations during experiments. Take inspiration from our 15 science projects book, and get tips from Book Creator Ambassador and ESL Specialist Melissa Eaton on how to improve literacy skills by using Book Creator in science.

15 Science Projects for Book Creator Classrooms

Science Lab Notebooks in Book Creator

My Inquiry Journal

Use this adaptation of an All About Me book to introduce your learners to Book Creator with a science twist!

Many of our customers use EL Education's ELA curriculum. Each module culminates with a student performance task, requiring students to synthesize and transfer their knowledge and understanding from the unit of work - in terms of both content and literacy—in an authentic and often collaborative task. This is scaffolded with models, drafts, critique, and revision to lead to high-quality work. Book Creator is the perfect digital tool for many of the performance tasks, so we created a set of student templates to accompany them, along with a teacher guide.

Design Templates and Themes

Use templates in Book Creator

Tech Integration Specialist Newton County

18 templates and themes to help you get creative with Book Creator!

"My advice is to provide plenty of examples of how and where Book Creator fits into the curriculum for your district.&nbsp;The examples shared by Book Creator and our own teachers were very helpful in demonstrating the power of Book Creator."