The Greatest Generation: Capturing Their Stories with Digital Images

The Greatest Generation: Capturing Their Stories with Digital Images

This project is planned for high school students, but would work for middle school settings as well. The traditional pen and paper essays of years past are making way for the innovative new technologies which will include a blending of writing with digital images.

Students will be challenged to interview a family member of a different generation, for example, a grandparent, aunt, or uncle. The class will meet to brainstorm on story topic ideas such as growing up, life during the Great Depression, one of the American wars, life on a farm, or moving to a new town. Students will choose the topic, write focused interview questions for their meetings with family members, and will take notes during the interviews. Students will return to class and write essays telling the story of their family member.

Next, the students will design hand-made story boards to sketch ideas for photos to accompany and complement their stories. After in-class instruction on the use of the digital cameras, the students will sign up for time to take home the cameras (about 6 students will share each camera during the project) and take photos for their websites, using the story boards for inspiration.

After taking a series of digital photos and storing them on memory cards, the students will return to school and begin designing their Greatest Generation web site presentations. Using Multimedia Lab V and Whole Class Fresco, the students will create web pages for family, friends, and the community that tell the stories we hope are not forgotten.

This project is one that encourages communication in families while celebrating the diversity and history of our communities.