Digital Storytelling Rationale

Jaime Erickson
Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling Rationale
Christopher Columbus, as well as many other European explorers, greatly influenced the way in which we live. His voyages led to the idea that land other than Europe did exist. He believed that those other lands were possibly rich in resources that appealed to the Europeans. Christopher Columbus is known to have endured successful journeys to discover new land.
Fourth grade students study European explorers in social studies. It is important for the students to become familiar with the time periods they explored, the country they sailed for, lifestyles of the explorer, goals, and discoveries. In order to expose the students to these points, teachers attempt to bring history to life by role-playing, conducting interviews, going on field trips, and showing movies that capture the overall feeling of their voyages.
The members of our group created a lesson plan that requires the students to put themselves in the shoes of Christopher Columbus. The students are first asked to listen to a short passage that describes the words Columbus used to describe his various actions while on his journey. “I, Columbus, decided to write down everything I do, see, and experience on this voyage from day to day, and very carefully.” Student will then jot down several ideas pertaining to the things they think Columbus did, saw, and experienced while on his voyages. The goal of this activity is for the students to become engaged in the lesson and to give them insight into the upcoming tasks.
The students will then view the movie “Christopher Columbus Begins a Journey”. As the students are watching the movie, they will be asked to use sensory words to describe the voyage of Christopher Columbus. Students will complete a graphic organizer describing what they think Columbus smelled, heard, saw, tasted, and touched while on his voyage. Next, the students will write a journal entry from the point of view of Christopher Columbus. The students will use the sensory descriptions from their graphic organizer.
There are many student and teacher advantages to watching the movie. The movie, created and run on Windows Movie Maker allows the students to feel as though they are on the dangerous expedition with Columbus and his crew. The audio that is heard throughout matches to the images that the students see as the movie is being shown. The narrator is describing the photographs and pictures in detail and therefore the students are able to create a more vivid picture of the hardships and accomplishments Columbus made on his journey. Showing the movie also has its advantages for the teacher. Having saved this movie, it is able to be played repeatedly, reinforcing the concepts taught during the lesson. It can also be used by the teacher to familiarize the students with additional concepts about Columbus, not necessarily taught in this lesson. Finally, a movie or video can be used as a reference or review of ideas at the end of a unit.
Daniel Pink and Thomas Friedman’s books can and do relate to digital storytelling. Overall I feel that their ideas of creativity driving technology and the future are accurate. Creative and motivated people analyze notions of “things” in everyday life and take them to another level. They are able to see what can be, rather than what is, and actually make it happen. Digital storytelling takes what is, perhaps information about Christopher Columbus, and upgrades that “boring” information to real life experiences that the students can learn from. With the adequate instruction and guidance students can import images, videos, and audio snippets to create a learning experience that can be extremely effective. The children can use their creative ideas and put them into action to impact their learning as well as other students learning.