Through the Eyes of a Child: Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

These are my notes from a presentation titled “Through the Eyes of a Child: Digital Storytelling in the Classroom” on February 2, 2008, at the Oklahoma 2008 State Superintendent’s Social Studies and Fine Arts Conference. The theme of this year’s conference is, “Revolutionary Matters.” This presentation by Christine Paradise, a 3rd grade teacher at Steed Elementary school in Midwest City (Mid-Del Public Schools) had the following conference program description:

Children see things in very unique ways. Capture that special view by allowing them to tell the story. Give them the chance to use photographs, videos, and audio recordings to create projects that will combine art and history, as well as reinforce reading, language arts, and research and technology skills.

MY COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. CHRISTY WAS ONE OF TEN TEACHERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE OKLAHOMA DIGITAL CENTENNIAL PROJECT IN MID-DEL SCHOOLS THAT I HELPED WITH LAST FALL. IT IS SO AFFIRMING, EXCITING, AND WONDERFUL TO ME PERSONALLY TO HEAR CHRISTY SHARE ABOUT ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS HER STUDENTS HAVE CREATED AND LEARNED TOGETHER USING DIGITAL STORYTELLING.

Tip from an audience member: Donorschoose.org is a website where teachers propose projects and any donor can support them.
– BestBuy and CircuitCity have grants for teachers

Equipment used
– Macbook lapotop
– iPod Nano Video with iMac recorder
– Nikon digital camera
– digital camera
– iTunes, Garageband, iMovie

for all pictures in this first demo video, all pictures were taken by Christy or by her students

discussion about copyright and fair use

[REFERENCE TO COPYRIGHT 101 FOR EDUCATORS]

Kids have SO MUCH FUN putting together their stories that they lose track of all the things they are learning
– how to use encyclopedias
– how to think and write in proper sentences
– how to put together complete thoughts

this project ranged from lower ability kids to higher ability kids

we had to add this project on top of other curriculum
– while other classes were watching movies on Friday afternoon, we were creating this video project
– my kids are now working on a state project

My kids save their work to the computer they are working on
– in addition to her MacBook, Christy

Christy made a VoiceThread about her educational trip to Jamestown last summer

Get permission forms signed by students who are participating in online projects!
– our district has a form for this
– I explain to my parents about our projects and the importance

We don’t use first or last names or student photos

it is not what you are using to tell the story, it is getting the stories shared and told

these kids don’t know they are learning
– they are having fun
– they are writing, interviewing people, researching things, and sharing about it

My project on DonorsChoose.org is to get some additional digital cameras for my classroom: Through The Eyes Of A Child

[THIS IS SO FANTASTIC! WHAT AN AWESOME WAY FOR TEACHERS TO DIRECTLY GET SUPPORT FOR THEIR CLASSROOM PROJECTS – THIS IS DISINTERMEDIATED FUNDRAISING FOR CLASSROOM PROJECTS AND LEARNING!]

Students using

just by showing the photograph and explaining their thinking, students reveal their understanding
– this includes abstract thought

getting kids to explain their thinking about how they understand a concept or a fact and represented it with a photograph

I print projects at WalGreens, it costs about $5 per project, I don’t have a color printer

When students put stories into pictures, into words, into something the students can see and hear
– it is hard to
– you will be amazed with many of the things they come up with

This is not just social studies, we use this for language arts
– Example of an assignment: take a picture of something around the school and then write a story
– student took a picture of moving swings, and came back and wrote a story about “the ghost of a playground”

Students are putting up pictures and their stories

there is not instructional time and classtime for these writing assignments: students are doing this on their own

World of Adventure program: I have animals that travel around the world

You have to be careful when you get outside participation in your photos, Gilbert has been introduced to maragitas and beer at times:

My mother works with Congresswoman Fallin
– photos of Gilbert with the US Border Patrol
– he comes back to them with all these stories
– people write in his journal like he is speaking
– the amount of information that my kids can get from

Gilbert has been traveling for 3 years
– has almost met the president 3 times

this is a FANTASTIC project

like the “flat stanley” project

the kids will listen more to what freddie is doing (or Gilbert) than what I am doing

half the time what I hear is, “I’m bored. What do we have to learn how to do this. It’s too hard.”

I have never heard them say those things with my photography stories.

As good a teacher as you are, you can’t come up with the creative things these kids will come up with.

I found the acapella version of “Oklahoma Rising” on YouTube

Contact: christieparadise [at] aol [dot] com
also
cparadise [at] mid-del.k12.ok.us

Technorati Tags:
digitalstorytelling, video, differentiated, instruction, learning, visualliteracy, visual, literacy, oklahoma, innovative, teaching, teacher, nonlinguistic, representation

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