“From the Director’s Chair”: Digital Storytelling in the ELA Classroom T.H. Ashe 7 th Grade Reading Teacher Luther “Nick” Jeralds Middle School

What is digital storytelling? Digital storytelling is the practice of using technology tools to tell stories. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights.

The 7 Elements of Storytelling Point of View – What is the main point of the story and what is the perspective of the author? A Dramatic Question - A key question that keeps the viewer's attention and will be answered by the end of the story. Emotional Content -Serious issues that come alive in a personal and powerful way and connects the story to the audience. The Gift of Your Voice - A way to personalize the story to help the audience understand the context. The Power of the Soundtrack - Music or other sounds that support and embellish the storyline. Economy - Using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer. Pacing - The rhythm of the story and how slowly or quickly it progresses.

4 Ps of Movie Making 1. Planning – Planning is a very important step in this process. Students can plan by use of story boards, story maps and script writing. Teachers and students can see the progress of the movie. Student Planning Sheet 2. Production – In this stage students will take and collect pictures, record videos and/or sound and use software to put it all together. Windows Movie Maker Photo Story Imovie 3. Presentation – In this stage students will create their projects for audience. 4. Assessment (assessing with a silent P) - students use rubrics to determine what does it mean to have a good project. My personal suggestion is that the rubric should be based on the 7 elements of digital storytelling.

Copyright Discussion Intellectual property violations are legal concerns and include copyright infringement or trademark violation. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY covers “the properties generated by thought processes, creativity, and organizational capabilities of individuals and legal entities which are fixed in a tangible form” (Caseiro,2000, p.18). There are four kinds of intellectual property. We are most concerned with Copyrights and Trademarks in entries. COPYRIGHT: First, think simply: If you did not write it, draw it, or produce the.gif or applet, etc….then you need to pay close attention to what is OK legally. Copyright means “Original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression “(Caseiro,2000, p.20) “Copyright” means that the author or artist or software developer claims protection for the expression of original work they did. They have the right to have their work used for pay or with permission, and their work cannot be used without permission. You can see this symbol: © on a work protected with a copyright. One Frequently Asked Question is worth answering for all of you: “If something I see says “For Educational Use” or “For Personal Use”, can I use it on my site?” The answer is NO. When you publish on the web, you publish for the whole world. “Educational use” means IN A CLASSROOM. “Personal Use” means for your private use. These are tough ideas to think about.

Copyright Free Images National Archives National Archives Experience Digital Vaults Archival Research Catalog Access to Archival Databases Our Documents FreeFoto.com Pics4learning Public Domain Photos DiscoverySchool's Clip Art Gallery K Clip art FindSounds.com

Reference Page King, B., & Evans, C. (2010). Lights! Camera! Action!: Digital Movie Making in the Classroom. Retrieved Aug. 4, 2010, from New York State Association for Computers and Technology in Education, New York. Web site: %A0+Digital+Movie+Making+in+the+Classroom!. Barrett, H. (2009). Digital Storytelling. Retrieved Aug. 11, 2010, from Center for Digital Storytelling, Berkeley, California. Web site: Caseiro, Chris. Basics of Intellectual Property. GPSOLO, American Bar Association, 17, 3, (April/May).