Literacy through Digital Storytelling

Students will create original, digital storybooks to share online as vodcasts.


1. Students will write an original story using word-processing software in the computer lab. Teachers will determine story content -- fiction/non-fiction, subject, etc. Students will submit a story summary to the teacher for approval before the formal process begins.

2. Once the story is finalized, students will read their stories into the lab computers utilizing Windows Movie Maker software. This will serve as their audio track.

3. Next, students will utilize digital cameras to illustrate their stories. Digital photos will be imported into Movie Maker in the correct order and sequence to align with the students' audio track.

4. (Optional) If there is time, students will add sound effects to jazz-up their stories.

5. Students will output their final stories to WMF files. Once all student files are gathered, the teacher will convert these files to the appropriate file type for uploading to the district podcast/vodcast server to share with the world!

6. Debrief - Once the process is completed, the Instructional Technology Specialist will visit the classroom to interview students on what they learned by creating their digital stories. This session will be recorded on an iPod for posting as an audio podcast to supplement the student stories. The debrief will not only reinforce learning for the students, but also serve as a tool to help other teachers learn from this experience and motivate them to use this project in their classrooms.

7. The Technology Specialist will do his best to present this project to the State and National educational conferences to share with all educators.