GROUP+A+Digital+Stories

__ DIGITAL STORYTELLING EXAMPLES __

[|Tortoise RUN!] ​ Fifth grade video on YouTube created by an art teacher's students to retell the classic Aesop fable. Students used "claymation" (clay figures as characters), stop motion, audio to record narration. a Midi keyboard to create music, and video software (iMovie?) to present the final project.

[|Someone Named Eva] Fifth grade student from Texas creates a book review on SchoolTube that combines her reflections on a novel with images, maps, narration, background music, title overlays, and persuasive writing in a video presentation possibly using Movie Maker.

[|Cyber Safety] PSA (Public Service Announcement) about Internet safety from Longfellow Elementary School in California (students look to be fifth or sixth graders). Use of media includes digital images, background music, narration, and title/credit slides (overlays) in a video presentation possibly using Movie Maker.

[|A Hard Decision] Using Frost's own voice as the narration, middle school students in Ramapo Central Schools, NY find their own visual parallel personal story with "The Road Less Traveled" through a new mode of communication, //machinima.// Machinima (pronounced /məˈʃiːnɨmə/ or /məˈʃɪnɨmə/) is the use of real-time three-dimensional (3-D) graphics rendering engines to generate computer animation. This is an interesting interpretation for a couple of reasons; the subject of the story is an emotional one, that of putting down a dog. The second is the use of machinima which closely resembles the graphic novel illustrations that many middle school readers are interested in. I was surprised by both in this creative example of digital storytelling.

[|Tear Drops] In this PSA by a middle school student in Colorado, Ali shares her poem "Tear Drops" in an effort to make others aware of her interest in the environment. This is a personal mission for her and one that is interpreted beautifully through still photos, powerful transitions, music, and the effect of rain.

[|We Are Just Americans] ​In this docudrama (a personal digital storytelling acting as if the author actually lived in the times) is delivered by middle school teacher, Linda, from Florida. She recounts the difficult times of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her foucs is on the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. Visitors to this digital story may be familiar with the 2004 book //Thin Wood Walls// by David Patneaude which also recounts these same events as told through the eyes of a child. The theme of judgement will be illustrated well in both these examples. Still photos and archived newspapers provide the background for this narrative. The sound of bombs, music, and voice-over bring the viewer into the experience.

__[|The Holocaust] __ This digital story is told by middle school students about the Holocaust. The students begin their story by sharing a little bit about what the Holocaust was and when it occurred. The compelling part of the story is the interview they embed with a Holocaust survivor.

[|Welcome to Earth] This digital story was created by a teacher for her students to introduce vocabulary for their current unit about Earth. The teacher is using the vocabulary to introduce the Earth to aliens. The interesting part of the story is the perspective she takes as an "Earthling" and her explanation of the Earth for "alien" visitors.

[|Baseball] In this digital story, a teenage boy is recalling the time his brother broke their front window with his baseball bat. He recalls the countless times that his brother injured him in some way. The compelling part of the story is that no matter what his brother did to him, he is still his brother, and "blood is thicker than water".

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