StoryMaker 3
Geddes Productions          

Customised for USA and New Zealand.
Available for purchase both as a CD and as downloadable software.

Click for New Features in StoryMaker 3



     Try - 30 days free trial of StoryMaker 3

For a tutorial on using StoryMakerclick here

StoryMaker is an affordable, easy-to-use yet powerful tool for creating sentences and books and for teaching sequences of actions. It can be customised for any child  and makes a natural companion to our “Flashcards” CD.

Highlights of this program:
Sentences or pages of bookscan be directly typed in, entered using an overlay keyboard (such as an IntelliTools IntelliKeys® or Concept Keyboard) or created from a word set chosen for the child.
Creating a page
Alternatively words can entered from a dictionary created for the child or a dictionary of all words in the database (including words added by the user). This dictionary is accessed alphabetically.
The dictionary created for the child can be displayed with thumbnails for the words.
If the appropriate option is enabled, dictionary words will be spoken when the mouse is over the word.
Words can be entered from the dictionary either by clicking on the word or by dragging and dropping the word into position in a sentence. Words in a sentence can then be arranged by dragging and dropping if desired.
Creating a page with a dictionary created for the child. Optionally dictionary words can be spoken on a mouse-over
Words are matched against an existing database of over 3,100 words for the New Zealand and USA versions.
Words not in the database can be easily added. The program helps the user record sounds and associate a picture with the word if desired. The user can replace words in the database with their own words or even just with their own sounds (retaining the database pictures). If a word that is a plural is added without a picture, the program will offer the picture associated with the singular (if one exists) when using that word in creating sentences or books.
A variety of options are available when creating books or sentences. For example, each letter can be spoken as a key is pressed (or the phonic sound for that letter).
Options for creating a sentence. Click for a larger image

Pictures can be selected to be displayed with each page of the book (or sentence). These can be chosen from pictures associated with the words in the page, any picture in the StoryMaker database or from any other picture you have on your computer, on a CD or on a digital camera.
Selecting a picture for a page

Books can be used in a variety of ways, including listening to the book being read, reading the book by the words being spoken when the mouse is over a word, clicking on words as requested and recreating the books. This last option is especially useful in helping develop understanding of sentence structure and as a prelude to writing. You are given the option of using an overlay keyboard (such as an IntelliKeys or Concept Keyboard) with reinforcements - along with other options:
Options when using a book. Click to see enlarged picture.

With an IntelliKeys keyboard StoryMaker 3 will automatically run the "Overlay Sender" program (if installed). If you have "Overlay Sender" installed you can store the names of the overlay files with the sentences and they will be loaded automatically when needed. The right arrow symbol (for "go to next page") can also be on the overlay board.
Books can be created and stored with a title pages (and picture) and up to 60 pages.
Selecting a book

Pages of books can contain paragraphs, pages with or without text and with or without pictures.
Books and dictionaries can be exported to floppy disk, a removable drive (such as a USB flash drive) or hard disk for later copying to a CD, and then imported on other computers with StoryMaker 3 or version 2 installed (only versions 2.1.01 or later installed can import dictionaries and only version 3 can import reinforcements with video sections).
An important part of StoryMaker 3 is the ability to use reinforcements on the successful completion of a page or of the whole book. These can be from videos, sounds or pictures. If videos are used, a different section of the video can be used to reinforce each page. This can be used to teach a child a sequence of actions (such as crossing the road) and also to reinforce the meaning of what is read on each page. This also assists motivation for completing each page.
A number of reinforcements are provided with StoryMaker but personalizing them for the child is the best approach and provides the greatest assistance to learning, especially using videos and specifying different sections for each page.
A sample book with a video reinforcement is provided with StoryMaker illustrating the sequence involved in washing hands.

Reinforcement options. Click to see enlarged picture.

Below shows screens editing a video reinforcement:
Working with a video reinforcement. Click to see enlarged picture.

Determining which section of a video reinforcement will play with a particular page of a book:
Determing video section. Click to see enlarged picture.

Programs for using a book (or sentence) can be created.
Creating a program for working with a book

Books and sentences can be printed out. Many options can be selected to customize this.
Click to see an enlarged version

A date program is also included to assist the child learning the days of the week, months of the year and such concepts as “today", "tomorrow" and "yesterday”. Pictures can be associated with the days of the week or months.
Words added by the user can be synchronised with the added words in "Flashcards 2 or 3" by a simple click on a menu option
New features will be added (and will be able to be available as a free download) from time to time. Keep on eye on the downloads section.

Price: US$15 (approx. NZ$22) to register trial (downloaded) version
             For the CD version, shipping and production charges are added to this.
The trial and CD versions are identical.

Purchase licence (trial version)      Order CD version

Note: The downloadable version requires a download of 155 MB (for US version) or 135 MB (NZ version). If Flashcards 3 or 4 is fully installed only a 15 MB download is required.
Advantages of the Downloaded version:
You can be up and running in minutes
No freight or CD production charges
No CD required to run

StoryMaker 3 System Requirements
Minimum requirements: Pentium with 64 MB RAM, an 8 speed CD-ROM drive and a 16 bit sound card.  The program will run slowly under such a system and some features may not limited.
Graphics requirements: All modern graphics cards are suitable.
Recommended requirements: Pentium II 700 or faster with 128 MB of RAM (256 MB for Windows XP or 512 MB for Vista), and a 24 speed (or faster) CD-ROM drive.
The power of the computer and its graphics card will determine the size you will need to choose to display video clips. A modern PC with a quality graphics card will be able to display videos full screen.
Disk space requirements:
Reduced Installation (CD version only): Requires at least 16 MB of disk space. If you want to add your own sounds, pictures and videos you will need additional hard disk space.
Full Installation (the only option for the downloaded version): 225 MB of disk space is needed (US version) or 185 MB for NZ version - the program then runs entirely off the hard disk. This can be considerably reduced if Flashcards 3 or 4 is fully installed.

The program requires Microsoft Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP or Vista.

The CD version is on recordable-CDs. All modern CD-ROM drives are designed to read these CDs without problems.