Online+Content+Construction

**ONLINE CONTENT CONSTRUCTION** media type="custom" key="9884439" align="center"
 * Final Session Link: [|UDL Guidelines]**

“Making videos. Very cool.” ~Josh, 8th grade student

Josh’s positive sentiment is representative of a growing trend among youth who embrace video as a natural mode of communication and self-expression. The seductive nature of the video medium for students and the potential for subsequent engagement in content driven curricular outcomes, when students generate their own productions, is exponential. There is a growing need for innovative instructional practices with reading and writing that are aligned with student interests and the activities they engage in outside of the classroom (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010; Lenhart, Arafeh, Smith, & MacGill, 2008). There is also evidence that links the use of technology to improvements in curricular outcomes for learners (Kulik, 2003). Educators are familiar with the transition students go through from “learning to read and write” to “reading and writing to learn” (see Vacca & Vacca, 2010). As a result of emerging technologies prompting new avenues for teaching and learning, students are now positioned to be engaged in “creating to learn," with video and multimedia being important tools for literacy development. Connecting video production to reading and writing experiences in school taps into a student’s natural predisposition for media consumption and production. The stage is set for students to create their own content as a dynamic mode for learning in conjunction with explicit instruction provided by teachers in how to effectively locate and synthesize web-based (and print-based) information (Lawrence, McNeal, & Yildiz, 2009; Spires, Hervey, Morris, & Stelpflug, under review).

In this session, we will explore ways for students to "create to learn" through digital storytelling, with a focus on video production.

In this segment, you will consider what you know about storytelling as you understand it; specifically, you will:
 * __ Activating Background Knowledge __ (20 minutes)**
 * 1) In table groups, using the guided questions provided, discuss the use of storytelling both culturally and academically. By the end of your discussion, create a list of the ten most important words that summarize your discussion.
 * 2) Look at the Wordle created using your ten most important words, what conclusions and/or generalizations can we draw? What are our collective new ideas and understandings?

//7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.// //2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.// //3**:** Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.//
 * __College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards from new MA ELA and Literacy Framework__**
 * //Reading//**
 * **//Integration of Knowledge and Ideas//**
 * //Speaking and Listening//**
 * **//Comprehension and Collaboration//**

In this segment, we will add to, enhance, and/or clarify your understandings of storytelling and the potential of digital resources to support students’ comprehension and composition. //“Artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big-picture thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys…meaning is the new money…stories matter.” – Daniel Pink// //4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.// //6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.// //8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.// //2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.// //3**:** Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.// //3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in a different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.//
 * __ Setting the Context __ (20 minutes)**
 * 1) Cultural Shift of and for Storytelling
 * 2) Shift in Access and Production of Information
 * 3) Academic Shift for Students and Teachers
 * __College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards from new MA ELA and Literacy Framework__**
 * //Reading//**
 * **//Craft and Structure//**
 * //Writing//**
 * **//Production and Distribution of Writing//**
 * //Speaking and Listening//**
 * **//Comprehension and Collaboration//**
 * //Language//**
 * **//Knowledge of Language//**


 * How Could You Tell Your Story?**
 * 1) Twitter, Facebook
 * 2) Blogs, Podcasts
 * 3) Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel //A Visit From the Goon Squad// features a chapter in Powerpoint: [|__http://www.slideshare.net/JenniferEgan/rockandroll97-2004cppt__]
 * 4) Interactive narratives and poems, gaming, hyperlinked narratives, and non-linear narratives; for example, [|__http://vectors.usc.edu/issues/4/publicsecrets/__](Non-linear documentary exploration of life in the California Prison System -- Language/Content advisory) and Edward Picot's Interactive page for Wallace Stevens' Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird: [|__http://edwardpicot.com/thirteenways/blackbirdsinterface.html__]
 * 5) Transmedia (see examples at bottom of page)
 * 6) Animoto or Xtranormal movies/ “plays”
 * 7) ** Video Digital Storytelling Video ** [|__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP6CeGLPuOY&feature=player_embedded__]

//7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.// //6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.// //8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.// //2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.// //5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.//
 * __College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards from new MA ELA and Literacy Framework__**
 * //Reading//**
 * **//Integration of Knowledge and Ideas//**
 * //Writing//**
 * **//Production and Distribution of Writing//**
 * //Speaking and Listening//**
 * **//Comprehension and Collaboration//**
 * //Language//**
 * **//Vocabulary Acquisition and Use//**

//4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.// //8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.// //3**:** Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.//
 * What are the elements of effective Digital Storytelling?**
 * 1) Point of view
 * 2) Dramatic Questions
 * 3) Emotional content
 * 4) Voice
 * 5) Soundtrack
 * 6) Economy
 * 7) Pacing
 * __College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards from new MA ELA and Literacy Framework__**
 * //Reading//**
 * **//Craft and Structure//**
 * **//Integration of Knowledge and Ideas//**
 * //Speaking and Listening//**
 * **//Comprehension and Collaboration//**

Focus: How can digital storytelling help teach explanatory and persuasive writing?
 * __ Activity __ (30 minutes)**
 * How can we use digital storytelling to support student achievement within the new MA ELA and Literacy Framework?**

//1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.// //2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.// //4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.// //5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.// //6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.//
 * __College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards from new MA ELA and Literacy Framework__**
 * //Writing//**
 * **//Comprehension and Collaboration//**
 * //**Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas**//

Using Flipcams, write and film a 2 minute persuasive or explanatory video. Choose from below: Here are some FLIP camera directions and tips. In your group, each member selects a role to play during the activity: Short introduction to editing with iMovie. With support and guidance from facilitators, begin the editing process of your short video using iMovie, Movie Maker, or other video editing software.
 * Step One:**
 * 1) Write and film a video for an audience of teachers convincing them of the benefits of teaching digital storytelling in an ELA classroom.
 * 2) Write and film a video for an audience of administrators convincing them of the need to include in their budget money for a proposed digital storytelling lab.
 * Facilitator - Guide the group to complete the process and collaboratively answer the question within the designated time frame.
 * Time Keeper - Keep the group on schedule.
 * Provocateur - Help provoke the group to think deeply about what they are learning.
 * Scriptwriter - Take the lead in creating the group's constructed response.
 * Videographer - Take the lead in directing/recording the group's two-minute video response.
 * Researcher - Take the lead in finding some facts to support your response and check for copyright and fair use.
 * Step Two:**

Check out this great tutorial on iMovie by Wesley Fryer. It will get you up and running in no time. Reflect with your group on your learning and application to your teaching. Homework: Edit your video and find John, Stephanie or Polly tomorrow. We'll store it on a flash drive and post them on the wiki!
 * Step Three:**
 * Step Four:**

__ **Extending Learning and Application Across Digital Tools** __ In this segment you will work with a partner to create a content related short video using [|__Animoto__] (Animoto automatically produces well-orchestrated, unique pieces from your photos, video clips and music) or Xtranormal. Go to [|__Animoto__] or Xtranormaland register. Here is an example of a content clip. media type="custom" key="9884947" With a partner(s) create a 30 second video related to academic content that you teach. You can use Flickr Commons ([|__www.flickr.com/commons__]) to find photos with no copyright restrictions for your video. Some suggestions for content clips are: Reflect with your partner on how you can use this type of exercise for students to view and/or produce academic content.
 * Step 1:**
 * Step 2:**
 * Step 3:**
 * Book Trailer
 * Public Service Announcement
 * Literary Elements
 * Grammar Mini Lesson
 * Dramatize a poem
 * Favorite scene from a book, play, or movie
 * Story Remix
 * Other ideas?
 * Step 4:**


 * Google Custom Search Stories Click Here**

__ **Reflection** __ What did you learn? What are you still thinking about?

__ **Wrap Up** __ Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

__ **Additional Resources** __ Transmedia Example Books

Website Harry Potter Website Parodies media type="youtube" key="B77MxjIWixk" height="349" width="425" media type="youtube" key="MahTKZDHXaA" height="349" width="560" Fan Fiction (Transformation of Harry Potter stories into original fiction pieces) __[|Harry Potter Fan Fiction]__ Online Communities __[|Harry Potter Role Playing]__ __[|Harry Potter Fan Chat]__ Physical Experience __[|Universal Studios]__

Google Search Stories __[|Search Stories]__

Storybird This site supplies the artwork, you add the words.

Google Maps: [] Associate steps of your stories with locations on a map. Editing each one allows annotation of locations with mages (e.g. using links from flickr), and other rich text features. Now they provide cut and paste code (via the "Link to this Page") so you can embed the maps in any web page. Examples: [|America's Highway: Orak Histories of Route 66] and [|Whirligig Lit Trip]

MANew Lit 2010 Content Collaboration Page: __**http://newlitinstitute2010.wikispaces.com/Digital%20Video**__

Greg McVerry's Resource Page: __@https://sites.google.com/site/mcverrydigitalstorytelling/home/pedagogy__

Common Craft and Public Domain Sites (Resources cited from Free Technology for Teachers -a fabulous resource!) Google Advanced Search, [|Morgue File], [|Wylio] , __ [|Animal Photos] __, and Yahoo Images (similar to Google's Advanced search)

Free Digital Books/Texts: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page


 * Required Reading:**

===Spires, H., Hervey, L., Morris, G., & Stelpflug, C. (In press). . Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. ===  Young, C. A., Long, S., & Myers, J. (2010). Editorial: Enhancing english language arts education with digital video. //Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education//, //10//(1). Retrieved from []