Projects

Digital Storytelling

Why Use Digital Storytelling in the Classroom?

When students create digital stories, they can:

  • Integrate social studies, language arts, science, math, visual arts, theater and music.
  • Develop research and critical thinking skills.
  • Expand their information literacy.

Digital storytelling is a way to tell a story using images, video, audio and music. Florida Memory has over 500,000 photographs, audio recordings, videos and primary source documents that can help you shape your digital story. Explore a particular topic in history, literature, science or mathematics by sharing a story about a person, community or idea.

Getting Started

Digital storytelling is an excellent opportunity to partner with friends, community groups, coworkers and family members. Partner with a musical or artistic friend to explore a subject or theme. Connect with a senior center to collect personal accounts of historical events. Work with a colleague to create an informational or instructional guide.

Pre-Production
  • Brainstorm and plan your story. Decide the topic, purpose and length of the video.
  • Do research.
  • Write your script.
  • Create a storyboard. A storyboard is a diagram of how your video will unfold, scene by scene. The storyboard can include the visual elements, text, music and sound effects. Here is a storyboard template.
Production
  • Illustrate the script with photographs or video. Record the dialogue and visual elements together or combine voice-over and photographs.
  • Add music, transition effects, and sound effects.
  • Edit the audio and video.
Additional Resources
  • The Florida Alliance for Arts Education provides a step-by-step module that guides students and teachers through the process of digital storytelling.
  • Florida Youth SHINE's Our Voice, Our Stories is a collection of digital stories from youth around the state.
  • INFOhio has tools and guides for creating a book trailer.

Using Digital Storytelling to Meet Florida Standards

FINDS, Florida's Library Media Research Model, incorporates research skills that are imbedded in the Florida Standards and provides a framework for the application of these standards through a sequential research process. By making use of a wide range of learning resources and the collaborative efforts of the classroom teacher and school librarian, students learn inquiry-based skills that are applicable across disciplines. Consequently, students acquire the dispositions and competencies needed to function successfully in this demanding, information-intense, technology-driven world.

FINDS Research Model
  • Focus on information need
  • Investigate resources to search for answer
  • Note and evaluate facts and ideas to answer the question
  • Develop information into knowledge for presentation
  • Score presentation and search process
Handouts
Grade-Level Charts

Features