Digital Storytelling

“Coming to know others whether they live on the other side of the tracks or the other side of the millennium requires the education of our sensibilities. This is what history, when taught well, gives us practice in doing. Paradoxically, what allows us to come to know others is our distrust in our capacity to know them.”

~ Sam Wineburg (from Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts)

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION PRIMARY SOURCES COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ASSIGNMENT RUBRIC PROCESS CHART

For this assignment you will choose a historical event and after exploring primary sources connected to that event, you will use your understanding to create a digital historical first-person narrative, 2-3 minutes in length. This first person narrative will be told by someone (real or fictional) who lived (or could have lived) during that time. Fictional characters will be based information derived from your chosen primary sources and will be presented as authentically as possible. Your assignment will be to collect information and retell it, restructuring it to create new understanding of the historical event.

A digital summary recaps the facts surrounding topic, person or an event in story form. You will take the information beyond stitching together the existing and known facts. Using Windows movie Maker, iMovie or PhotoStory, you will illustrate and narrate your stories using audio (sounds/music), still pictures, video and text.

An example of a classroom produced digital historical narrative can be found at http://tinyurl.com/rk96t (A New Life, A New Home)

ASSIGNMENT STEPS:

"A story becomes a story when it moves past the facts, past the details, to the description of a sequence of events, in which some character is driven by a clear desire, acts to realize that desire, and discovers something in doing so."

~ from These Stories From These Pictures

Step One

Decide on a historical event. Decide if your story will be based on a real historical character (ex: Martin Luther King) or a fictional character (a homesteader during the Great Depression).

Step Two

"When a digital story is finished it should be remembered for its soul, not the bells and whistles of the technology tools."

~ Bernajean Porter, 2004

Research your topic (making use of as many primary sources as possible- see suggested resources listed on the project resource page) and begin writing your narrative (your script ). It is important to remember that your digital project will "stand or fall" on the narrative content of the project, not the technology. In view of this, give this part of the assignment adequate attention. The finished digital story presentation will be 2-3 minutes in length. Your goal is to narrow the story down to a single "nugget" or one central idea. Consider the following questions when writing your narrative:

What happened to the narrator?
Why it was this event significant at the time? Why is this an important story to tell?
How did it affect the person's life and the lives of those around them?

Plan an accompanying storyboard. You can use the following resources to help you do this:

Scripting Worksheet (Developed by Stacey Beamer, Iowa State University)

Storyboard Sample (Developed by Bernajean Porter)

You will need to cite all your sources in your presentation credits.

Step Three

Using the Historical Resources below, locate the audio, pictures, for your digital story. You may also use your own pictures (digital or scanned) and copyright-free pictures from your primary sources. If you plan to publish your work online, ensure that all images used in your project are free from copyright restrictions or that you have obtained proper permission to use them. Be Aware that digital images require the same copyright compliance as written material. If need be, use the permission templates provided in the Copyright section below:

Using Windows Movie Maker 2, iMovie or PhotoStory, begin work on creating your digital historical narrative. Sequence the images into the video editor. Add the narrative track and add special effect, transitions and soundtrack.

RETURN TO TOP

What is a Primary Source?

A firsthand, participant or contemporary observation of a time, person or event, or elements of the material culture associated with a time, person or event.

Primary Source Sites to Get You Started