ChatterPix {My New Favorite App for the Classroom}

I can't take credit for discovering this app.  I found the idea on the brilliant Jen Jones' blog, Hello Literacy, over winter break and I knew that I wanted to implement it in the classroom when we returned.  I would click over to her blog to see how she used it (so cute!) but first let me show you how we're using it in our classroom right now.

ChatterPix can be found in the App Store on an iPad.  There are two versions, with one being for kids, so that is the one I downloaded to use in the classroom.  The best thing - it's FREE!

ChatterPix is a simple app that lets you take a picture of a person (or any object) and make it talk!  The possibilities for the classroom are endless and let me tell you, students LOVE it!

We're starting our biography genre right now, so I thought it would be the perfect chance to integrate this app into our unit.  Each student in my class is becoming an expert on a famous person in preparation for our Living Museum.  Their first task is to find out the most important thing about their person.  In other words, what was their big accomplishment...why are they famous. We used ChatterPix to summarize these accomplishments in a fun way!

Here's a peek at the final product and then I'll walk you through the steps.


When students first open the app, they'll see this screen.


They have the option to take a photo or visit the gallery (where all past projects are stored).  They will want to choose to take a photo.

 
  I told them to find a picture from their book that showed their person's entire face.  You also have the option to upload photos from the camera roll though.  That's what I did with the Washington photo for this example.  I found it online, cropped it, and saved it to my camera roll so I could use it in ChatterPix.


The next screen will prompt students to draw a line (with their finger) over the mouth (or where they want a mouth to be on inanimate objects).  Look closely at the photo above and you'll see a white dotted line over Washington's mouth.  Then, the student will hit the red record button.  I found it helpful to have my students write down what they wanted their person to say (in this instance what is most important to remember about them).  The recorder will count them down - 3, 2, 1 - before starting.  When students are finished talking, they will hit the stop recording button.


Then, students will see a green "play" button.  This gives them the chance to preview their project.  They will eat this up.  Seriously, they wanted to watch it over and over and over.


Next, students had the option to add frames or text to the picture (as seen with the "George Washington" above).  There are several fonts and colors to choose from; however, once you make a selection it is stuck as far as I can tell (so make those choices wisely...I wish the text above had been white to show up a little better).  When finished, students can select the "save to ipad" button at the bottom right corner to save their project to the camera roll.


When it is finished saving, it will let students know.


Students then click the green circle where it says "export complete."  After which, they can go back to the home screen to start a new project, or visit the gallery to see saved projects.


How cool is that?  It literally takes students 5-minutes or less to create one of these little projects so whether you have a class set of iPads or just one iPad, it is a realistic way to put them to use creatively in the classroom.

I plan to let all of my students create one, then have them all playing as a slideshow during our Living Museum so parents can see one of the ways we're integrating technology into the classroom.

I have so many ideas in my head of ways that I will put this app to use this year, so you'll probably be seeing more about it here on my blog!

How would you use ChatterPix in your classroom??  Leave a comment to share with others!





11 comments

  1. My students are LOVING the Chatterpix app as well! We're using projects we created in art class to write a narrative paragraph on Laurel Burch and then uploading them into Chatterpix to add the audio component! I like the living museum idea! Thanks for sharing!
    Mrs. Samuelson's Swamp Frogs

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  2. I love learning about new technology/apps! I think even my middle schoolers would love this app - just have to think how I might incorporate this into argumentation essay writing...

    -Lisa
    Mrs. Spangler in the Middle

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  3. This is a fabulous idea for my team's project on recycling and plastic waste. I think I will suggest it to them. They would love to make the plastic bottle (or other plastic item) talk about what happens to it after it is tossed aside.

    Thanks for sharing and getting my creative juices flowing!
    Mrs. D
    The Third Wheel

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  4. I am loving this!!!! I can't wait to get to work tomorrow so that I can download that ap!

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  5. This is great! I'm thinking of using it for open house with QR codes and their gingerbread stories. :)

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  6. How fun is this!? Love it, thanks for sharing! My kiddos will love this when we get our learn pads soon!

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  7. I love this! We are studying inventors during the Industrial Revolution and this will be perfect for us to use! This will become apart of their inventors research presentation! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. I can't wait to download this app. I think my kids will love it, plus there are so many ways to use it. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  9. I love Chatterpix!! We used it on Earth Day. Students researched ways they could help the Earth, drew a picture of the Earth and then created these Chatterpix!
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbZCR8eaiHB1LJcMBl6RDsA/playlists

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