LP Example

Photo Story -- Portrait of an Elder
Grades: 5-12                                       Estimated time:  Three 45-minute sessions

“This is a photo of my great grandfather, Richard Gavin Freeman. The picture was taken in 1997 when he was eighty. I never met him, as he lived across the Atlantic and was quite frail when I was born but I feel I knew him from family stories. My great grandfather was a compassionate, determined man. ...”  http://richmondms.ywpschools.net/node/4915

Preview

Overview: This is a simple digital storytelling project in which a student researches an elder -- a relative or community member; writes a brief narrative about that person; incorporates an image of the elder; records himself or herself reading the narrative; and adds a track of appropriate music to set tone.       

Examples: A YWP example: http://digitalteachers.net/node/482  

Preparation and Resources:

Materials, technology: Digital images, Web classroom, Audacity (or other sound recording software), appropriate music track, computers with microphones (headphone/mic preferable for simultaneous recording in computer room), digital scanner.

Preparation: Explore examples and links to read/hear effective photo stories. Do a photo story as practice. Technical skills: Scanning images; using Audacity (or audio recording program) for simple recording.

Links: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/ for help with audacity
http://www.pictorymag.com/ This site has some interesting non-audio picture stories as examples.

Instructional plan:

Objectives: Students will gain skills in interviewing, narrative writing, audio recording, uploading files to Web to produce a powerful, clear photo story with words, one image and sound. Students will practice writing succinctly, writing for narration and Web uploading and will gain understanding of the relationship of sound and words and learn basic recording skills. Students also will learn how to use anecdotes and details to add to the power of a story.

Session 1:  Choosing the story (45 minutes), brainstorming, interviewing and story focus.

1. Introduction: Play an example photo story. Have students in class talk about the stories and then have them tell stories about relatives or elders in their community that they know.

1. Writing (7-10 minutes): Have students create a blog entry and write very quickly about two elders they know.
2. Feedback (10 minutes): Have students read entries of two other students and pose at least one question about each of their chosen elders.
3. Reflection: What information do students need to tell a better story? What kind of photo should they find?
4. Homework: Choose an elder to write about; research and, if possible, interview the elder.

Session 2: Story creation (45 minutes): assembly, writing and recording.

1. Assign a student to help with photo scanning and put in accessible computer folder.
2. Writing (15 minutes): Have students write up to 200 words about the elder they’ve chosen as a revision to their original blog entry. Emphasize that the writing needs to be tight and include an anecdote that shows something about the person.
3. Recording (15 minutes): Give students a brief tutorial on Audacity and select student helpers. Have students record their piece, export it to desktop as an mp3 and upload file as “podcast” on their blog entry.
4. Feedback (7 minutes):  Assign students a student to whom they will provide feedback to ensure that everyone gets feedback.  
5. Reflection (7 minutes): What did students learn from the process? What do they need to do to make their pieces better?
6. Homework: Read and listen to two other students’ pieces and provide feedback. using feedback to their pieces, students should revise and find a piece of music to accompany the story and set the tone.

Session 3: Completion of story (45 minutes): final revisions and narration, story completion.

1. Writing (20 minutes): Have students make final revisions in their piece to ensure tightness, ease of speaking, power and brevity.
2. Recording (15 minutes): Have students re-record their narration, add an additional track of music and adjust to make sure they end in sequence, export the finished mp3 and upload it to the blog. If it hasn’t been done already, upload image to the blog “body.”
3. Feedback: Students should be assigned a peer to whom they will provide feedback.
4. Reflection: What did students like, not like about the process? What other projects might they do in this way? How can the pieces be shared with the elders or people who knew the elders? How can they be posted for the school community to read/hear?

Extension 1: Have students choose an alternative piece of music for their piece and see how it changes the tone.

Extension 2: Make this part of a larger body of work with multiple parts that could eventually be merged into a more complex digital story about an elder. Or use this style to have the kids do photo stories about themselves that lead to a more complex digital story that might answer these questions: Who am I? Where am I from? What is it like to live in Vermont? (NH?)

Extension 3: This could be done as part of a history project or as part of a collaborative project in which students each focus on a different part of a larger project or piece.

Assessment

Attributes of a good photo story: Succinct, powerful writing; clear narration; strong integration of photo and words; background music complements tone.

Commenting: Student has given specific, constructive suggestions to others on how to improve their work; has considered and/or incorporated suggestions of others.

Rubric: Link here

Standards
State
National
Tech
YWP digital writing skills: blogging (Web-based writing), commenting, revision, collaboration, podcasting, digital images, Web connectivity (hyperlinks), Web research, multimedia applications, video, digital storytelling, multimedia projects, community engagement

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