Blabberize!

**Blabberize** is a free tool that makes images talk. The kids love it! Get a gmail account so your personal account isn’t used. Then set up your Blabberize account. Use something easy for the kids to remember. You need to teach the kids how to save an image as a JPEG. A safe place to find images is Pics4learning.com (or even Bing.com). After they have an image, go to the Blabberize site. It will walk you through making the mouth move, and recording. When you have a finished product, it gives you a web address for the finished product. It will also give you the HTML code to embed them in a web page.
 * Blabberize: An enhanced podcasting tool **

**__Why Blabberize?__** --"Blabbers" motivate students of ALL ages to research, write and speak for a variety of purposes! -- Make inanimate objects tell a story to create perspective or point of view -- Use as a means to debate a topic -- Can be collaborative--create a blabber movie using Windows Movie Maker -- It's FUN!!!!

([]) --See 1st Gr. Research page; --See 3rd & 4th Gr. Technology Projects pages (students have linked Blabberize podcasts to their Glogsters)
 * __View Examples:__**

1. Go to [] 2. Click the [login/sign up] link under the white search box on the homepage. 3. Create your own account. Consider using the same username & password for all web 2.0 accounts you create. __Tip:__ I try to set up a "generic" school account for most web 2.0 tools I am using with students. Here is an example account I set up that you may also use:
 * __Steps:__**

Email: bobcat1@gmail.com
 * Username: bobcat1**
 * Password: robertsk8**

4. Click the "Make" link to begin creating your blabber! (follow the steps listed) (a.) First, find an image on Google images or Bing that you would like to make "talk." JPEG images work best. Click "See full size image" then "right-click" or (on a Mac, "control click") on the image and save it to your desktop or a designated folder. From the "Make" screen in Blabberize, click BROWSE to find your saved picture and upload it to Blabberize. You will see the message, "Loading the Awesome" (b.) Next, use the "mouth" tool to create the mouth on your image. (c.) Use your microphone to record your voice and watch as your image talks!