Tech tac toe, Blabberize and Chatterbox!

Blabberize

Talking animals with funny high pitched voices will always grab students' attention.  It doesn't matter what's being said, as long as an animal is talking students will listen.  So I thought Blabberize would be a great new tool to explore.  Blabberize is an online website you can sign into and create a video with talking animals, people or object.  All you need is a photo.  The first few steps were very simple.  First, you upload a photo of your choice.  Then, you add a mouth piece, which is like a frame and is adjustable with moving points to fit the mouth part of your picture.  After that, you just record what you want to say.  However, on Blabberize this part did not work.  I tried several different method but it did not work.  I used a microphone, rebooted etc.  but it did not work.  It was very easy to use and fun to create, but if it doesn't talk, it's just a picture.  So, I abandoned it and tried something else.

Chatterbox

Chatterbox is very much like Blabberize.  All you need is a photo.  You can use one from your photo library or take one on the spot.  Then all the steps are very similar.  There is a mouth piece with adjustable points to maneuver to fit the mouth on the picture.  Then you record whatever you want to say.  All that gets save and when you play it, the mouth on the photo moves in sync with your recording.  With Chatterbox, you can adjust the rate of speech which lowers or raises the pitch of the voice. If the speech is set at a slow pace, then the voice is low and deep.  And if it is set at a fast pace, the voice is high and squeaky.  This makes it especially fun for kids!

This is a great app to use with students.  It is a great way for students to present and share their thoughts in a unique and fun way.  It also supports oral language development as they express their learning orally.  I have used this with my students before and they really enjoyed creating their presentation.  Many of them had to rehearse several times before they recorded but they had fun putting it together.  And for my students who are still very shy about speaking English in public, this is a good way to have them record to present their thoughts rather than talking in front of their peers.