Building Classroom Community through Digital Storytelling
Wondering what you're going to do this year to blend your students together into a real community? Denise Johnson has a great idea in her book Reading, Writing, and Literacy 2.0 that combines writing and technology in an engaging way. For the younger students, she suggests beginning by having them bring a photo (or email it to you) of the student with his or her family or of a favorite activity. You may even contact parents ahead of time to let them know what you will need. Denise likes to use a program or app called VoiceThread, which is not overly complicated and allows the user to post pictures, caption them, and attach an audio file to a picture. The teacher should be begin by modeling how to navigate through the program with a VoiceThread photo she has already prepared. The teacher also models her thinking in deciding how to caption the photo. She explains that the audio file provides additional detail that is not found in the caption.
The teacher will have already uploaded the students' photos to VoiceThread, so the next step is to let the students find them (after the teacher has modeled how). The students then write a caption for their photo. The teacher models how to type the caption, attaching it to the photo and lets the students try it in pairs. It's a good idea to let the students work in pairs to support each other. Finally, the teacher models how to write the script for the audio file and then models recording it. It is important to model good writing techniques for captioning and the scripts for the audio files. The students work in pairs again to complete this step on their own.
Once the VoiceThreads are completed, the class can view and listen to them as a class. This provides a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn about and appreciate the backgrounds of their classmates. There are several ways the students can respond to this activity. The teacher can show them how to comment on the photos of their classmates and note similarities and differences with their own photos. The teacher can guide the students in creating a chart of likenesses and differences that enhance students' understandings of one another. You can use an online program called Create a Graph to do this. Although VoiceThread allows the audience for the threads to be limited, it is possible to allow parents to view the threads and even comment on their child's thread.
If you want to try something like this with older students, consider requiring several photos that relate to each other to allow the students to create real video memoirs. Starting off your year by incorporating writing, visuals, sound, and technology into an activity that increases student awareness and appreciation for each other and reaches out to families has to be a win-win for everybody!
The teacher will have already uploaded the students' photos to VoiceThread, so the next step is to let the students find them (after the teacher has modeled how). The students then write a caption for their photo. The teacher models how to type the caption, attaching it to the photo and lets the students try it in pairs. It's a good idea to let the students work in pairs to support each other. Finally, the teacher models how to write the script for the audio file and then models recording it. It is important to model good writing techniques for captioning and the scripts for the audio files. The students work in pairs again to complete this step on their own.
Once the VoiceThreads are completed, the class can view and listen to them as a class. This provides a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn about and appreciate the backgrounds of their classmates. There are several ways the students can respond to this activity. The teacher can show them how to comment on the photos of their classmates and note similarities and differences with their own photos. The teacher can guide the students in creating a chart of likenesses and differences that enhance students' understandings of one another. You can use an online program called Create a Graph to do this. Although VoiceThread allows the audience for the threads to be limited, it is possible to allow parents to view the threads and even comment on their child's thread.
If you want to try something like this with older students, consider requiring several photos that relate to each other to allow the students to create real video memoirs. Starting off your year by incorporating writing, visuals, sound, and technology into an activity that increases student awareness and appreciation for each other and reaches out to families has to be a win-win for everybody!