BP_8 Kerpoof

Kerpoof Home Page

Kerpoof is a creative tool that might soon become my best friend.  The more I explore it, the more I like it.  You can choose from several options on the carousel on the homepage, including make a drawing or a picture, make a storybook, or make a movie.


With a free teacher account, you can set up accounts (also free) for all your students. The advantage for teachers is that Kerpoof even has a collection of lesson plans that you can use to fit into your own curriculum.  In my class we just finished reading "Grandfather's Journey" by Allen Say.  This story takes place in both the United States and Japan, a perfect introduction to a social studies lesson on Japanese culture that includes a Kepoof lesson plan on writing a Haiku.

After we get familiar with Japanese culture, analyze several Haiku poems included with the lesson plan, and write our own Haiku on the Haiku Information sheet, also provided with the lesson plan, we can go to the computer lab and choose Make a Picture from the item carousel on the Kerpoof home page.










The next step is to choose a scene.  For this assignment, we will use the Japanese scroll background, highlighted in orange in the screenshot on the left.








Here on the scene we can add as little or as much illustration as we want from the images beside the page.  There are also many tool options on the left.  The Haiku itself can be typed in with the text tool (see the letter A on the left of the page) or as a speech bubble from one of the images on the right.  I want to see somebody have the crane recite his or her Haiku.








And, finally, a sample of what a finished Haiku could look like when it is published.  These can be shared and evaluated by a star rating.  


This is definitely a tool I will use with my fourth graders.  I can already see the creativity flowing.