Paper by FiftyThree

Paper by FiftyThree allows users to draw, sketch, outline, write, and watercolor using their finger or a stylus on a tablet screen. Users can zoom in on their work to add intricate detail with an expand/pinch motion, or rewind and undo strokes with a counter-clockwise finger gesture on the screen. The work produced using Paper by FiftyThree can be shared over email, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and the work can also be saved to the camera roll. Additionally, users can have their creations custom-printed in Moleskin notebooks through FiftyThree’s website. Lastly, Paper by FiftyThree offers users additional tools for creating professional-looking art pieces that can be accessed by making an in-app purchase, and these tools include a mixer for watercolors, different types of pencils, and a paintbrush.

Instructional Ideas

1. Art teachers can use this app to demonstrate how colors are aligned on the color wheel, as well as how colors can be mixed together by using the drawing and coloring tools.
2. Social Studies teachers can have students use this app to create different maps that depict the changing borders of a country or region over time. For example, students could draw multiple maps of the United States during the 19^th Century at specific intervals to depict the belief of Manifest Destiny, which would also visually demonstrate how far families traveled to find their destinies out West.
3. Science teachers could have students use this app to create diagrams of different objects they study. For example, students could draw and label the parts of a human heart or draw and label the different parts of a cell.
4. Students could use this app to keep a journal. The journal entries could be themed around a specific topic or be part of a classroom routine (e.g., each class period starts with a journal prompt that students respond to using this app, and then email their teacher a copy of their journal). Foreign-language teachers could modify this journaling activity. To do so, they could use this app as part of a pen pal activity, in which students compose letters in a foreign language and then email them to their pen pal.
5. After studying a topic, students could use this app to write and illustrate their own book that further explains the topic. Or, students could create their own autobiography or narrative using this app. Once the book has been created, teachers could print out their students’ books and bind them. If teachers decide to keep the books their students create or print two copies (one for the student and one to keep), they could develop an extensive library of student-produced books over time.
6. In an art class, assign students to use this app for creating and storing their daily sketch homework in a journal. Have students share their favorite sketch of the week with the class on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.
7. Instruct students to create a hypothetical company and construct a business plan using Pages and Numbers. Have students use Paper by FiftyThree to create a logo for their company.
8. Throughout the semester, encourage students to create an e-portfolio of art that they have created and colored using this app. At the end of the semester, get the students’ books printed out in hard copy Moleskin notebook as a memento and to share.

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