Talkies are animated magic stickers that read text, read a text object, or play a recorded sound. Imagine an interview with an animal, or person from history, where the answers are animated responses or perhaps an element talking about how it acts when bonded with another element.

Click the sound button to see and hear an example of how talkies work.

How talkies work

To add a talkie to a project, select the Widgets button on the Standard theme toolbar. 

Choose the Magic Stickers option at the Widgets dialog.

At the Magic Stickers dialog, choose the Talkies folder.

Find the talkie you want to use and select the Add button.

Once the talkie is on the page, the options panel provides three ways you can make it speak.

The default option is to simply type text into the text field on the panel and have a device voice read it back.

Use the Voice and Speed pull-down menus to change how the voice sounds on your device.

Use the text object option to have the talkie speak the contents of a text box you have added to the page.

Select the Record your voice option and then click the Record button to add narration using your device's microphone. 

Use the Try It button to test your talkie as you are working.

Use the Show button on the toolbar to watch your project. Share the project URL with a friend and they can click the object or speaker button to activate the talkie.

Talkie project ideas

Use the different ways talkies speak to meet the needs of different learners.

Older students can type text, or copy and paste from research and notes they have already recorded in a word processing file. For example, these students can use talkies to interview a figure from history.

The primary interface does not have a Widgets button on the toolbar, but these young learners can use an assignment that includes a talkie. You can use this to have them tell, retell, or adapt a story. 

At the start of school, you could have students use a talkie to share an important school rule or share ideas for being a great friend or classmate. Students can use a character from the Talkies library or add one of the mouths or faces to their own image or painted artwork they have created.

Many of the files in the Wixie Curriculum and Templates libraries include talkies. There are talkies in each Month-by-Month folder as well as others you can use that ask students to:

• personify an object to tell a story or explain information
• create cartoon-style step-by-step how-to guides
• build social-emotional skills in a safe and fun environment

We can't wait to see what your students create!

The Wixie team