Chris Toy was a presenter at our school’s annual BTG conference. He presented on digital storytelling. What’s digital storytelling? View this video and then continue to read my notes on his presentation below.
Title: The First Pedagogy and the 21st Century
Why tell a story?
Goals for this session:
Model sharing of stories
Reflect on why digital storytelling is engaging to an audience
Transfer activities to classroom practice
Change and Leadership: How will you prepare yourself and your school for the 21st century? “You must be the change you see want to see in the world.” (Gandhi) – What do you want from a child? What situations will you put your students in? What choices will you offer your students? How will you empower your students? What sustenance will you provide?
Digital Storytelling is a rich and deep teaching medium
If you had to use a story in your classroom in the next month, how would you adapt it to your use? This is the most challenging aspect for teachers.
Teachers need to make it relevant to themselves and their students
An intro video example on digital storytelling from this Educational Uses of Digital Storiessite
Students become more engaged and learning is more meaningful – ask them to interact within curriculum – Students will become the curriculum
Another form of storytelling is music (ex. Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start the Fire”- social comment from 1949-1989)
Example story of “How Paul Bunyan became a Champion” (photos taken from Creative Commons)
(C.Toy always stops before the end of the story and asks the audience to predict the ending in pairs – He then asks a reflection question related to the story)
Point of View story example from elementary students on The 3 Little Pigs (example was a narrated photo slideshow – some stop motion animation applied with photos – some YouTube examples here)
What are some things or practices that are made of straw, sticks and bricks in our classrooms and schools? (Reflection question related to story)
Musical Stories are another possibility: Social studies example
How might you use music to reach and teach more students?
Chris Toy then concluded with some stories about student work regarding problem/project/challenged based learning
What can you share about your school’s initiatives through Digital Storytelling?
Poetry and the Parable: Blind Man & Elephant example using simply Keynote style
Go here if you need further info regarding the use of video in the classroom. The site offers student examples, lesson ideas and rubrics. I also have some film and video lesson ideashere on my wiki too that may be of interest. But the mother of all ideas may come from Alan Levine’s 50+ Web 2.0 Ways To Tell a Story.
Aardvark: Need a fast answer from someone who knows what they’re talking about? Aardvark discovers the perfect person to help with any question in minutes.
Storybird:Collaborative storytelling for families and friends
TuxPaint is a free drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, key stages 1 and 2). It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.
I couldn’t help it. I know I am on holiday. I promised myself not to use a computer. Having drafts available was just too tempting.
Here are some articles that may be of interest.
Data Visualization Is Reinventing Online Storytelling
Today’s consumer seems to have an insatiable appetite for information, but until recently making sense of all of that raw data was too daunting for most. Enter the new “visual scientists” who are turning bits and bytes of data — once purely the domain of mathematicians and coders — into stories for our digital age.
Wikipedia: Exploring Fact City
“Contributors to Wikipedia have wondered aloud lately if — perish the thought — they are running out of topics.”
And have a look at SearchCube. It is a “…visual search engine that presents web search results in a unique, three-dimensional cube interface. It shows previews of up to ninety-six websites, videos and images.”
Lurid.com has an all-new series with acclaimed illustrator P. Craig Russell discussing graphic storytelling and sequential art. In the debut installment, he looks at the opening page of his comics adaptation of Pelléas & Mélisande. Check back for a new segment every Monday!
When students retell a book, their words are captured in Comic Life. In a guided reading group setting I want students to be able to reflect on and see their retell in a tangible way. Typing the retell words a child says into a Comic Life document helps them see their thoughts and reflect on them. It gives the teacher the opportunity to revisit what they said, to notice their strengths in the retell and point out and train the student in the areas where they are weaker. The Comic Life retell is sent home with the student so the child’s parent can be informed of the retell skills their child focused on that day and to continue practicing those skills at home.
I use ComicLife all the time with my elementary students. Have a look. There is more to do than the above.
Recently, grade 1s at my school were inquiring about transportation. They have just finished this unit. The reason I am writing is because the teachers gave the students choice on how to present. This provided a much more interesting form for assessment and was an excellent vehicle for creativity. Students needed to examine and share what a transportation system needs and how it works etc., regardless of how they presented. Some chose plastercine models, some drew large illustrations, some drew their work via computer and some created slideshows within KidPix. Students were motivated and engaged during the tasks as it possessed a stronger connection to themselves and offered differentiation. When complete, students then planned a field trip to a local area and discussed how they could get there with the knowledge they gathered. Parents were also invited into the class to view the work.
Our grade 2s were examining retelling stories. Some chose to record audiobooks using GarageBand. The group below rewrote a popular story, recorded it and added sound effects. They then used the mp3 as the soundtrack for their shadow puppet performance. Watch below or click here. The point is, the teachers discussed the ideas and outcomes first, and then decided on the tools alongside the students. Make the technology fit you, instead of vice versa
