Activity 3

Digital Storytelling

Grade level: 8^th through 10^th graders

Language objectives:

• Students will collect information about a social or environmental problem
• Students will write short texts to use in collaboration with pictures to make a short movie

Content objectives:

• Students will organize photos into a short, picture-based movie
• Students will find a social or environmental problem they care about

The activities cover at least two competence aims after year 10:

• Create, communicate and converse about own texts inspired by English literature, films and cultural forms of expression
• Select different digital resources and other aids and use them in an independent manner in own language learning
  (Udir, 2016)

This is an applying activity with the power words collect, use and show. The digital tool used in this activity is called Animoto (https://animoto.com/). It is a way to easily make short movies online for free. Animoto is very user friendly, which makes it less time consuming to introduce to the students and use in the classroom.

Into: 

The into-activity will take place in an earlier class, where the students will read up on either a social or environmental problem they care about. The teacher will divide the students into groups of 4-5 students. They will be asked to gather information, and make a plan for what kind of pictures need to be taken for their short movie. The students will shoot a collection of photographs during this class, and/or during their spare time.

Through:

In this class, the students will be prepared and have already taken the photos. They are now going to use them to make a short film that demonstrates a particular point. The teacher will begin by giving them an introduction on how to use Animoto.

Beyond: 

In the beyond-activity each group will get a computer. They will then log on to Animoto to make a short film of one minute that is conveyed through images and sounds. The students are required to use text to convey meaning, but can also use music to reinforce their message. The students will have the rest of the class to finish their movie.

In the next class, the students will show their movies to each other, and discuss the different social and environmental problems in groups. 



Sources: 

Animoto (downloaded 20. October 2016)

https://animoto.com/

Utdanningsdirektoratet. (downloaded 15. October 2016). English subject curriculum.  http://www.udir.no/kl06/eng1-03/Hele/Kompetansemaal/kompetansemal-etter-10.-arstrinn/?lplang=eng