Stories

I'm experimenting with making stories using digital storytelling apps.  Below are a few of the videos that my students and I have made in the last two weeks.

The stories are ones that students help to create by contributing ideas for names, places, events, reasons why people do certain things, etc.

After we create a story in class, I ask for a volunteer to sketch the story on the iPad.  The two stories below were sketched using the Educreations app.  After the students finish the sketches, I record the story and add it to my "lessons" on Educreations. My goal is to speak clearly and slowly enough that beginner students understand the story.

I'm definitely still in the beginning stages of this endeavor and welcome any suggestions you have


El problema con Edgardo el elefante
Focus Words:  no puede encontrar, no está, busca
Spanish 1 - Day 22




Josh no trabaja mucho
Focus words: no trabaja, la jefa, es perezoso






El Señor Mono Tiene Hambre
10.26.12 - Spanish 2
Focus Word: no cabe; trata de poner; tiene una solución, 
Even though my goal was to focus on the words above, the class-created story didn't end up with many repetitions of those words.  However, it was a success for my students because they learned some structures and vocabulary that I had assumed they had learned in the previous level, but found out during the storytelling time that they didn't know.  Sometimes I choose the words to focus on, and through interaction with the students, it becomes clear which words THEY need me to focus on.  


 

Austin busca un regalo
1.14.13 - Spanish 1
Focus Words:  está cerrada, está abierta, cuesta, cuestan, está desilusionado, está desilusionada

22 comments:

  1. I love your idea!!

    I was just wondering, what are your plans for the videos after they are done?

    Nancy

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  2. My original idea was to put them some place online, possible a wiki, so I other Spanish teachers at my school and their students, and other teachers and students also could have access to them. My problem is that the majority of the time I forget to ask a student to sketch during the story. Next semester I have a Spanish 5 class and a Spanish 2 class so my goal is to be consistent in having students sketch them and then set up an online place to store them.

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  3. Hi Cynthia, these are amazing. Thanks for sharing with us. I would like to know how do you post it online? I registered on their website but after the video is created I couldn't figure out how to share.

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  4. Thank you. Below are instructions for finding the embed code.

    Log into your Educreations acount ON A COMPUTER and go to your Dashboard. On the left side of the screen, click on Your Profile. You should see shots of the videos you have made. Click on one of them. On the right side of the screen there is a URL and a button to click on to get the code to embed it. In Blogger, I can only use the embed code when writing in the HTML tab (not the Compose tab). I type in the Compose tab, switch over to the HTML to paste the embed code, and then switch back to Compose.

    When I go into my Educreations account on my iPad, the share button does not show an Embed Code. I'm not sure you can embed directly from the iPad, at least I don't know how to do that.

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  5. These are really cool! I see that your first comment was made over a year ago... did you end up making a wiki to collect your class stories made with Educreations? I am definitely going to be using these in class.

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    1. Hi Mike
      I've used Educreations on and off when creating stories with my students but unfortunately I never set up the wiki with the stories. I usually go into my Educreations account and pull the stories from there.

      I am full of great ideas - it's implementing them that is challenging for me. :-)
      Cynthia

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  6. Which digital storytelling app did you use for these?

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  7. livebinders might be a good place to store them...simple, clean

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  8. have you seen "Storyboardthat" ? similar idea to what you are doing. GREAT idea! thanks for sharing

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    1. I went looking for the app you mentioned but cannot find it. Is it really an app?

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    2. I can’t seem to find this app.

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  9. Thank you for this! All of my classes have been moved to video conference format and I had let go of my storytelling lessons for face-to-face classes. My students don't have Ipads, but this has given me a place to start thinking about possibilities for the technology that we do have.

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  10. Thank you for this! All of my classes have been moved to video conference format and I had let go of my storytelling lessons for face-to-face classes. My students don't have Ipads, but this has given me a place to start thinking about possibilities for the technology that we do have.

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  11. I love your stories however I do not understand Spanish. I speak English. So I had to translate what I could pick up. Is it possible to read them in English somewhere?

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    1. Sorry - at this point they are only in Spanish. Maybe in the future when I find some extra time (what's that, right?) I will translate them to English and post them.

      Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. :-)

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  12. Sra. Hitz, ¡Me encantan los videos! Si quieres usar la voz de una persona nativa para ellos, estoy a la orden. ¡Muchísimas gracias por compartir tus recursos!

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    1. I really liked these stories in your blog I found them useful for little students and I would like to tell you that I have also started my blog but the subject is different Spanish my life I have to tell I have a community in my city that we call a story club there we daily tell experiences and stories and I found your stories useful. Now these days we do not conduct our club because of COVID-19 but we do that online all members come online and share them. And I would like to say thank you so much for writing such stories and to spread knowledge. Really appreciated.

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  13. Sra. Hitz, I am interested in reading the:
    Writing/Subjunctive (18 pts) - I wrote the first clause of 9 sentences followed by "que", related to the collage on the left. (The collage is currently only available by e-mailing me.)
    Are you willing to share?

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    1. Hi Azalea; You're asking for the 9 picture collage that I use for the Spanish 4 final, right? Sure, I can email it to you when you tell me your school email.

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  14. Hello Cynthia

    These are really amazing and helpful for us. Thank you for this.


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  15. Sra. Hitz, me encanta el idea de escribe historia en espanol. En mi clase, tenemos escribir muchos historias en espanol. El historias tengo muychos comico y mu interesante. Yo ser en once grado y espanol tres. Gracias por tu blog!!

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