While the uses of Digital Storytelling in the Kindergarten classroom came quickly to mind, it was another tool that seemed to stay in the theory part of my brain and not into the practice. This tool could be invaluable to Kindergarten students as so many of them have so much more to say than they are able to write at this point in their learning. To be able to give a five year old a microphone and allow them to dictate their stories instead of struggle with writing, it would open a world creativity and ease for them!
But I am/was still struggling with the down and dirty: how it worked, how students could make it work in the computer lab, etc. However, while I was researching more about it, I found this site that brought this pretty close to practice for me with links to teacher resources, graphic sources, music sources, sound effect sources, as well as examples of completed storyboards. Once I saw the completed storyboards it all became more clear. Now I am hunting for the right programs that Kindergarten students would be able to use to create their own stories.
Here's the site. Keep scrolling down, it gets better and better!
Kelly, wow, this site really has a wealth of information! It even provides sites for free background music :) I love the example story board, too. I will definitely be spending more time exploring all the links. I "diigo'd" it and used a few tags to be sure it doesn't get left by the wayside. By the way, I totally know what you mean when you say the info gets filed in the theory part of your brain vs. practice. I have to actually do a task to understand it and I need time to just play with the tool. I love how this link refers to the new-age students as more or less brave enough to play with technology until they figure it out. Nowadays you have to be!
ReplyDeleteKelly,
ReplyDeleteThis vimeo offers a great resource for students to view themselves as writers and storytellers. I'm sure your students will be very excited about this new aspect of storytelling.