Using Primary-Source Documents As the Basis for Digital Storytelling

Using Primary-Source Documents as the Basis for Digital Storytelling

Related IRA/NCTE Standards: 1, 3, 7, 8, 12

Materials: Big Book version, projector version or multiple copies of Dust for Dinner (Turner, 1995)

Research Basis / Reading Theory: Role of motivation (one of the key ingredients in developing reading skills), accessing background or prior knowledge, varied literacies, quality teaching, varied instructional strategies (modeled think-alouds, small group work, mentored practice, technological inclusion), information synthesis, authentic/practical application, cross-curricular connections, text features, reader comprehension skills, collaborative skill development, visual engagement, personal engagement, listening, speaking, viewing, reading, writing and critical thinking.

Set the Stage: Objective – Use of Primary documents as a motivational catalyst for the evaluation of literature elements, text-to-self connections, critical thinking, evaluation, synthesis, analysis, reading, writing, and the creation of personal digital stories.

BEFORE: Building Background Knowledge / Making the Thinking Visible: Create an Animoto, IMovie, or another audio-visual presentation presenting information on the Dust Bowl. You may decide to focus on vocabulary, dates, concepts, characters, or personal accounts. You might also consider using a previously created WebQuest at this point to begin building background knowledge. Explain that Oral Histories, interviews, personal accounts, diariesCapture student reaction to the presentation. Use a read-aloud to tap into or provide a bit of background knowledge &/or engaging motivation prior to the start of a new unit of study. In this case we will use the Dust Bowl (Social Studies) as the cross-curricular connection. You will also use this activity to set the purpose for listening / viewing / reading. “Students, you will need to listen carefully, use your detective skills and perceptive abilities to make connections to gather information about what it would have been like to live during this era in US history. Look at the four question listed in your table-top pocket charts. 1. How are the children in the story like me? 2. What do you think their daily life is like? 3. What similarities do you see between their life and your life? 4. Would I have liked to live during this time?- why or why not?”

BEFORE or DURING: (Model the Text-to-Self Connections process) [Before – if a part of a Primary Document lesson; DURING if a part of a Comprehension Strategies lesson] Begin reading the book aloud as the students follow along (Big Book, projector, or individual copies). Stop at several points to model strategies that proficient readers use to build comprehension when reading. Use the think-aloud to model information-gathering, to highlight a main idea or detail, to make a personal connection, or to comment on the meaning behind an illustration. EX: “I used to spend summers in North Carolina at the family farm that my mother grew up on. It was a lot greener on our farm than it is in this picture but I remember passing farmhouses that looked very similar to the one in this picture as we drove through farmland on our trip from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. I wonder if there are any other similarities between our farm and the one where Jake and Maggielive. Continue asking relational questions or crafting scenarios to prompt possible connections and stimulate ideas for writing.

BEFORE or AFTER: [Before – if a part of a Primary Document lesson; AFTER if a part of a Comprehension Strategies lesson] Once the story has been completed invite students to share their observations or questions. Compile the thoughts on chart paper or an overhead for future reference. Decide on a Primary Document artifact that you would like to use as a story starter and to further support the process of critical thinking and analysis. “Let’s use our senses to help us understand what we see in the picture. Tell me what you actually see when you look closely at the picture. I’ll start by telling you that I see. The truck really captured my attention because it’s the main object in the photo. It looks old, not the Ford F-150’s that I see a lot of today. Then I noticed what I thought was smoke behind the truck. But, the title of the picture gave me a clue. Black Blizzard was somewhat confusing but I usually think of snow when I hear the word blizzard. But, this isn’t winter. What I remember from my reading helped me to determine that the huge cloud behind the truck was the dry dirt being whipped up by the wind. When I look at this picture I wonder if the truck gets captured by the cloud; what are the people in the truck thinking; will they make it safely home? If you were in this picture what do you think might you hear? Feel?Smell?Taste? I think that I might hear the wind roaring behind the truck. Or the wind might be so loud that it would seem quiet enough in the truck to hear my heart beat in my ears. Since the air was so dry and dust was everywhere I might taste and feel gritty dirt in my mouth. I also be able to smell the fumes from the motor of the truck. What do you think?”

Teaching the Lesson:Place students in heterogeneous groups of three or four. This will provide support to struggling readers (pairing them with more proficient readers). Provide students with additional Primary Document photographs to prompt thought, discussion, and connections to background knowledge. Ask adult volunteers to capture observations if working with young children; to monitor thinking and provide additional modeling if confusion arises. Pool (jigsaw) the information. Inform students that they will be able to draw upon this information when writing their individual Dust Bowl stories.

Lesson - Digital Storytelling:Explain to the students that they will be creating a digital story. They will use a historical photograph as their story starter. In preparation you will explore a few previously created digital stories. The examples will be autobiographical stories. Explain that the students will be writing stories about the children in the pictures. (Again, this would be an ideal place for a WebQuest). You may decide to have the students write their stories individually or in their previously assigned small groups. This process may last for approximately 3 weeks. Additional fiction and nonfiction books may be made available to students to support the process. (This would be a perfect opportunity to introduce students to a Shelfari account filled with reviews of additional Dust Bowl books. REFER back to Dust for Dinner. Ask the students if they remember how the story had a problem, how the author developed the setting and the plot of the story; how the author developed the characters; finally how we were able to determine the author’s point of view through the word choice and images that they painted through the words used. Now might be a good time to visit or revisit an Oral History site with Dust Bowl transcripts to help students get a feel for authenticity and dialogue. ( Refer back to the picture of the two children from the Dust Bowl. MODEL the method for plotting out a storyline. You may want to provide students with a story map graphic organizer at this time.

Characters: Provide the characters with names , establish their relationship to one another, and provide them with likes, dislikes, habits, hobbies, pets, friends, and fears. [EX: Cousins named Jennie and Sean who are both 9 years old and have not been able to attend school since the dust storms began; they are cousins because their moms are sisters; both of their families live over the General Store in town since losing their farms because of the drought; they both help out in the general store (owned by the parents of a longtime friend from school) by sweeping the floors and dusting the dry goods containers. Their mothers earn a bit of extra money by doing the laundry for a few families in town. Their dads earn money by taking government-funded (WPA – Work Project Agency) odd jobs building fences or Roosevelters. They had to leave their cats & kittens behind when the families decided to join others on the move west to California

Setting: This picture was taken when the families stopped to rest along a long and dusty road in the state of Arizona after leaving their homes in

Oklahoma. The families have decided to make the move to California in search of a better life for Jennie and Sean. They earn money or work for food in towns along the route to California.

Plot: The story will begin two days after the families sold everything they owned to earn money for their journey to California. The cousins had to

locatehomes for their kittens and cats. It is a very sad time for both families. Now they have stopped to rest in a tent camp and a stray dog has

befriended the cousins. The problem is that the twins want to convince their parents to let them keep the dog as a pet despite a lack of food. The problem

is solved when the dog finds and leads search parties to two missing children in a dust storm. The families traveling together in the caravan decide that

they will each contribute what they can to feeding the hero dog.

CREATE: With the assistance of adult volunteers or older students and the Digital Storyboard Graphic Organizers, each group begins the process of creating their digital stories. Explain that storyboards are like a map that helps you to reach your final destination in an efficient manner. The goal is a smooth flow of pictures and text/narration. They search for digital images of Primary Documents or create original works of art to serve as the focus of their story frames. Frame by frame each group adds a picture and then writes the narration for the digital storytelling. Each member of the group should complete the narration for an assigned number of frames. After writing has been completed members listen to and critique each other as they read their assigned segments. Once everyone is satisfied with their writing and narration students work with volunteers and tech support personnel to create their original digital stories.

Adapted from: Moss, B., & Lapp, D. (2010).Teaching new literacies in grades k-3: Resources for 21st century classrooms. New York: Guilford Press.

Storyboard - Digital Storytelling Graphic Organizer

The GOAL: Smooth flow of pictures, text, and narration. Which of the Language Arts might you use as the focus for this activity?

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Storyboard - Digital Storytelling Graphic Organizer

The GOAL: Smooth flow of pictures, text, and narration. Which of the Language Arts might you use as the focus for this activity?

The Storyboard for teaching the lesson on Digital Storytelling:

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Storyboard - Digital Storytelling Graphic Organizer

The SAMPLE Digital Storytelling Storyboard:

My story begins here, on the side of a ______

dusty, dirt road somewhere in Arizona. ______

That’s me on the left, Jennie, with my ______

cousin Sean. Our moms are sisters. We ______

are watching our parents set up camp for ______

night. We are a part of a caravan of ______

families heading west to California. We ______

are all running from the dust blizzards of ______

Oklahoma and the memory of lost lives. ______

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