We're going to take a little jump into technology that may be out of your comfort zone... but don't worry, it will be worth it! You trust me, right?
I think my favorite thing that I've learned in my graduate technology class is how to create a digital story. Digital stories are like little movies, usually about two to four minutes in length. Perfect for an engagment activity with young children. Digital stories "combine narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie with a strong emotional component" (Educause Learning Initiative, 2007). Over the course of my graduate career, I created two personal digital stories and two for use in my kindergarten classroom.
The personal narratives were a wonderful hook for me to play around with and learn about Windows Movie Maker. Most people actually have this program on their computers and don't know it's there! I used to be one of them... and therefore encourage you to explore it! I created a digital story about my wedding and then another to show my chocolate building skills.
Just think about how YOU could bring digital storytelling into the classroom. Students could research a topic, find/take pictures, record themselves, add music, and present their work in one fell swoop. What an exciting way to learn about something! Granted, younger children wouldn't be able to do this independently. You'll have to look at your particular group of students and decide how much guidance and modeling you would need to provide.
Some teachers of children with disabilities have been experimenting with digital stories as a means of embedding social stories and skills into the curriculum, based on the individual needs of students (More, 2008). While digital stories can be beneficial for children to watch, and even create, teachers must educate themselves on how to create and use them first. Many early childhood educators who are learning to use technology have been dubbed "digital immigrants", and are often resistant to using technology in their classrooms (Donahue, 2010). Are you a digital immigrant or a digital native?
I recently showed my kindergarteners the insect movie I created in my grad class. They responded with "Oooooh!" and "You made a movie?" and "Can we make one!?" :-)
So, last week we started brainstorming to choose an idea for our movie. The kids came up with some great ideas including Animals, How to Help the Earth, Colors, and a movie about our school. After voting, they decided they wanted to make a movie called "Animals". They each chose a different animal that they wanted to tell about and then they wrote in their journals about their animals. I've never seen them so focused on their writing! We are currently in the process of finding/drawing/taking pictures of the animals. Most of the children have already recorded the sentences they wrote in their journals about the animals. The next steps will be to put it into Windows Movie Maker, add music, and edit it. I'm thinking I might do this on my computer and let the children help decide what effects to use. Again, this is our first effort undertaking a project like this... but the response and motivation from the children has been fantastic.
Some of the kids are already planning what they want to put into our next movie. I think we'll wait and see how the first one goes...
Maybe the best thing about digital storytelling is that the stories can be about anything you want. Here are some examples I found, but you are only limited by your creativity! How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. The Atypical Animal ABCs. Science Projects.
What do you think about digital storytelling? What would you create a digital story about?
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