Classroom Ideas
If you’re searching for a fun, creative way to kick off the online school year, look no further than Book Creator! On Book Creator, you can easily use Bitmojis to create free, shareable flipbooks or comics that give your online lessons some extra flair. Here are eight simple steps you can follow to make your own virtual classroom booklet.
Step 1: Create a Book Creator account.
Go to Book Creator and click “Sign in.”
Be sure to sign in as a teacher, not a student. For quick access, select the option to “Sign in with Google”.
Step 2: Create a new book.
On your new account, click the “New Book” button in the upper right of the screen to start a new flipbook or comic.
You will have many formatting options to choose from. Select the dimensions that work for you. If you’re following along closely with this article, you will want to choose either the “Square” or “Landscape” formats for best results. However, feel free to play around with the other formats!
Step 3: Format and set up page backgrounds.
Open a blank Google Slides in a new window. (More hacks on how to use google slides here!) You will need to adjust the slide settings to match the booklet format you have chosen. To access your slide settings, go to “File,” then “Page setup.” If your booklet is in Landscape format, leave it in the Standard 4:3. If you chose the Square 1:1, select “Custom” and set the dimensions to either 10 x 10 or 20 x 20.
To finish setting up the slides which will eventually become your book pages, select your first background. Click on the slide, select “Background” in the taskbar, and explore your options. You can change the background to a solid color or search for usable clipart images by selecting “Choose image.”
Because the first slide is for my book cover, I chose clipart that related to online learning expectations, the topic of my booklet. When you have chosen your first background, click “Done.”
You can change the background for each slide as you go or keep the same background by right-clicking on the previous slide in the preview bar and clicking “Duplicate.”
Step 4: Add text, images, and Bitmojis to slides.
Time for the fun part! Use Bitmojis, text boxes, and callouts to construct the pages that tell your story. To add Bitmojis to your slides, simply click and drag Bitmojis directly from your Bitmoji keyboard onto the slide.
To construct the story, add text boxes or callouts from Google Slides taskbar to your slides. Click “Insert” and then “Textbox” for text boxes; you can find callouts by going to “Insert” and then “Shapes.”
Step 5: Add your slides to Book Creator.
You will need to start by downloading the slides to your device one at a time. Right-click on the slide preview and select “Download.” For highest resolution, download each slide as a PNG file. JPG files are also acceptable.
Back in Book Creator, upload your saved slide images to the story pages by selecting the “+” icon at the top of the screen and then “Import.” To add pages to your flipbook, simply click the “+” button on the far right of the screen. Import your slides to each page until your book is finished!
Step 6: Record your voice reading the slides.
This easy but optional feature allows struggling readers to understand your booklet. It also gives the booklet a personal touch that feels like you! To record yourself, go to the slide you want to read over. Then go back into the “+” menu and select “Record.”
To start recording, select the recording button in the upper-righthand corner. Don’t worry—You can make a new recording if you need to!
After reviewing and approving your finished recording, a megaphone icon will appear on your screen. Click and drag it to a spot where it will be visible but not distracting to your audience. Viewers will be able to select the icon to hear the recording for the page.
Step 7: Preview your booklet and adjust settings.
Press the play arrow to see how your booklet will look to students. Adjust the settings using the wheel icon at the top of the page. If you notice any errors in your booklet, you can always go back and change it by clicking “Edit” in the upper lefthand corner.
Step 8: Send your booklet to students!
When you’re ready to publish, go back to your Book Creator home page. You should see your booklet cover and title listed there. Adjust the title or author name by clicking on the section you wish to edit.
Select the share icon, which is the middle icon below your book, and click “Publish.” Confirm the book details and then select the blue “Publish book” icon.
To get a link for your booklet, copy it to your clipboard.
Paste the link into your search bar. From there, you can share the booklet on Google Classroom, your teaching website, and more!
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