Digital storytelling is quickly becoming very popular in classrooms around the World. Storytelling is nothing new and has been around since the beginning of time. Cultures have passed down old folktales and other stories for centuries. Just as technology has evolved so has storytelling. Kids now are exposed to new technology devices and programs that allow them to create their own digital stories to share with those around the World.
I have had some experience working with my class last year as we created digital stories about recycling for Earth Day. I read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss to my class and they then created digital stories to explain the importance of saving our Earth while including portions of text, audio clips they recorded, and photos from the story. My students had a blast creating these digital stories. They put a lot of effort in to their finished project and were so proud to share their projects with fellow peers and their parents. After seeing how my students benefited from this mini digital storytelling project I have put a lot of thought into how I want to organize my next digital story project.
My Plan...
Title of Project: Favorite Vacation
Grade Level: 4
Subject: Writing
I decided after reading Jason Ohler's, "DAOW of storytelling" that I would address his four parts to creating a digital story within my plan.
Part I: Storytelling, Literacy, and Learning
This project will allow students who are technology advanced and students who are technology novices both create something that they love and are proud of. Students will be actively engaged and see how powerful their message can be to their audience. The State of Florida requires all 4th grade students to write expository and narrative essays for their yearly FCAT 2.0 Writing exam. Many students come into 4th grade hating the thought of writing. Allowing students to write an essay and then create a digital story from that essay will really show students that their work is their own creation. Ohler mentions that media literacy and media fluency are both very important parts to any digital presentation. Students must understand media literacy in order to understand how they can effectively persuade their audience.
Part II: The Art of Storytelling
"Telling weak stories is like giving a bad guitar player a bigger amplifier" (Ohler 2013). This statement really hit home for me. Students can create digital stories on their own anytime they wanted but in order for this digital story to really make sense they still need the teachers help in creating an authentic essay. Students will have to work on their writing process and understand those elements before they can turn it in to a digital creation. Students would plan for their expository essay using a bubble map. Once students had planned for their essay they would begin writing. After all essays were completed the teacher would then write comments in order to help correct any major writing issues. In the end the teacher would meet individually with each student before they began to write out their script for their digital story presentation. This script would be in a table format with the major points needed in their essay. Students would begin to practice their script in order to make sure their fluency was accurate and at the correct speed. Students would then be able to start production on their digital story. After the basics were recorded into iMovie students would then be able to incorporate pictures that they had brought from home and I had personally scanned in for them into their project. Students could then insert background music directly from iMovie or from free background music sites. This process would probably take a week to two weeks in a classroom setting.
Part III: Technology, techniques, resources
In order to create a digital story a variety of technology tools will be needed. Some important ones to have will be a computer, recording device, powerpoint or iMovie, digital camera, scanner, items from home, and parent support. Parent support for his project will be extremely important. I will need the parents to be able to email me or send in photos from their vacation. In the end this will be something really nice for the parents to share with other relatives and to keep as a keepsake from their child. Some advanced technology students may want to use other tools for their project and will be allowed to do so. The tools listed above are just the bare minimum to what will be provided for them to use.
Part IV: Assessing digital stories
Ohler mentioned to assess everything and not just the final product. I completely agree that students should be assessed on all aspects of the project. The written essay is one of the most important aspects to look at since this is one large aspect of the fourth grade curriculum. Students should be given a rubric before they begin their digital storytelling project so that they can keep track of what they have accomplished or have not accomplished. I also liked that Ohler incorporated a peer review and a self assessment review. Students should be able to reflect upon their project and see what worked well and what they could improve on. Self reflecting makes them true learners.
In the end, students would have a digital story of their favorite vacation to share with their peers, parents, and others. Students could create a link to share with the classroom blog. This would allow other students to be able to view and give positive feedback to the other student. Students would have seen the full writing process in effect from beginning to end. Students often do not get the chance to publish their writing for others to see. This would allow them to share their story with others for years to come.
Digital storytelling has so many benefits for students to see. The possibilities are endless. Once students see how much their creativity can flourish in activities such as this, there will be no stopping them. Digital storytelling is the way of the future and will open the doors for many students to find their audience and express themselves on a variety of topics.
Please feel free to share any ideas about digital storytelling!
References:
Ohler, J. (2013) Storytelling and New Media Narrative. Retrieved from:http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/index.cfm
Lauren, I really enjoyed reading your blog. You shared great ideas and inspired me to use students' cultural backgrounds as a storytelling project for my classroom. You are right when you say that storytelling has always been here. It just shifted to our new technology today. Great post! Thank you
ReplyDeleteHey Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting post to read. Thanks for sharing your ideas. I think digital storytelling is, like you said, just a reinvention of original storytelling by mouth, which has been around ever since man was. I think it is time to bring in something fun and new.
Amber Flint
Hi lauren,
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of writing a story on an assigned topic and then making it into a digital story. A family vacation is certainly a strong option and it would be necessary to have the cooperation of parents for pictures and other materials; however, I do have some concerns.
Your scenario requires a lot of digital equipment: cameras, computers, etc. and the taking of a vacation. What if your students are not wealthy enough to have access to this kind of equipment and their families cannot afford to take vacations in the traditional sense? I know that there could be inexpensive vacations with a lot of emotional content that would qualify for a very good story, but I would be hesitant about this because the student might not feel comfortable sharing if his classmates could afford dramatically more expensive experiences. Perhaps there could be some alternative topics?
The other thing I like was your idea about peer reviews of the digital story. When taking undergraduate writing classes, one of the most helpful things was to peer review the work of others. I’m not sure how much it helped them, but it helped me make sense of the writing process and improve my own work. The only issue would be to make sure that student’s comments were reviewed before being publicly posted since it would be unacceptable to allow them to make negative or unkind comments that were publicly posted for all the world to see. One wants them to be honest but helpful, not mean. Of course, inappropriate comments/reviews should be deleted.