Skype Story Time

I've received quite a few emails about the Skype Story Time I did with my class last year.  I set this up for the month of May -- for 2 consecutive weeks, we had story time via Skype with friends from all over the U.S. (and Canada)!  The kids loved it so much, that I'm planning on making this a weekly addition to our schedule. 

I'm planning on asking parents at the beginning of the year for names of people that would be interested in Skyping with our class. I will encourage them to think of people in other states, maybe countries. The students were so excited to learn what the weather was like and what the time was in place our reader was skyping us from. Sometimes the reader would show us outside by aiming their camera out the door or window. 


The kids interacted great with the readers. They laughed, asked questions, and were really interested in this type of read-aloud. The readers enjoyed it too! 

Some tips for starting your own 

Skype Story Time:

1) Patience. Sometimes, especially with technology, things don't go as planned. Be patient and work through the problems. Front load your class that if you are working on a technical problem, they should sit quietly until it gets worked out. 

2) Tell your reader to hold up the book so the kids can see the illustrations. My readers did a great job at this. 

3) Connect your computer to the internet via hard wire. It seems to be more reliable and faster than wireless. 

4) Set a time with your reader and stick to it. Coordinate around their schedule, especially if they are in another time zone. 

5) Experiment with your webcam and how you can capture most of your kids in the frame. 

6) Use your projector to project the Skype story time on your wall/Smart Board.

7) Take screen shots during the reading to add to your class blog!  Like this:

My friend in Seattle, reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

My high school teacher and coach reading to the class.

My friend, Ryan in Calgary, used conferencing software for his reading. It was awesome!

This was a screenshot that Ryan took of my class. They just love hearing the stories!

Are you interested? I hope I encouraged some of you to use this awesome tech tool in your classrooms next year! I plan on typing up a tips sheet for my readers to help them get connected, etc. I'll post this once it's completed.