Presentation at SWCOLT in Norman, OK on April 4, 2009.

1. Digital Storytelling Tasks for Language
Classrooms
Donna Shelton, Megan Anderson, Tina Ferguson,
Katrina Gragg, Tina Van Brunt
Northeastern State University
SWCOLT April 2009
Norman, Oklahoma
For more information, contact Donna Shelton at
sheltods@nsuok.edu.

2. Presenter: Megan Anderson
Task Title: La era de Trujillo, part of a unit covering the Julia Álvarez novel Antes de ser libres
Created using iMovie
Image Sources: Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, everystockphoto.com
Music File Source: musopen.com, retrieved from Wikimedia Commons
Level/Grade: Advanced High School Spanish Course
Rationale: Language classes should provide students with an opportunity to practice presenting
information. Through this assignment you will get the chance to present information to your classmates
and to your teacher both orally and in writing.
The following ACTFL standards will be met upon completion of this project:
Goal One: Communicate in Spanish
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas in Spanish to an audience of listeners or
readers on a variety of topics.
Goal Two: Gain Knowledge and Understanding of the Cultures of the World
Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and
perspectives of Hispanic cultures.
Goal Three: Connect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information
Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through Spanish.
Task Learning Objectives:
Language Objectives:
• Students will be able to demonstrate mastery on correct use of the imperfect and preterit forms.
• Students will be able to organize information clearly to make a presentation.
Content Objectives:
• Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the causes of the political revolution of
the Dominican Republic during the 1960s.
• Students will be able to identify key individuals of the Trujillo Era.
Task Instructions:
Task: You will create a Digital Story to present to the class, outlining the findings of your research.
While reading the novel Antes de ser libres as a class, you were introduced to the political revolution of the
Dominican Republic of the 1950s and 60s. Because the novel was written from a young girl’s point of view,
many of the details in the book are vague and personal to the young girl’s experience. In order to get a
broader understanding of that period of Dominican history, you will now complete a research project to
present to the class.
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3. You will begin this task by selecting one of the important figures of the Trujillo Era, or you may select one of
the minor characters from the novel and tell the story from his or her point of view.
This project will begin as any other research project; you will need to find many reliable sources to gather
information on your chosen topic. You will then draft a “script” for your presentation, detailing the findings
of your research. You may write your script from your subject’s point of view, or you may write the script as
a narrator. Once you have compiled your information, you will start collecting images that are
representative of the information you will present. You will then draft a storyboard, matching up your script
and your images. You will submit your rough draft storyboard to your teacher and once you have received
a corrected version you may go on to the final step. You will digitally record your script, and compile your
images to coincide with your words.
Task Requirements:
*You must submit a rough draft storyboard.
*Your story must be 4 to 7 minutes in length.
*You must use 10 to 15 images in the creation of your story.
*You must use a digital platform to tell your story, such as VoiceThread, iMovie, or Movie Maker. (There
are others besides what are listed here.)
Task Suggestions:
*Remember that when writing about the past, you will use both imperfect and preterit tenses (and will be
evaluated on how well you employ them).
*Work should be done neatly and evidence of time and effort spent should be apparent.
*Speak slowly and clearly when recording your script.
*Time images to coincide with your script. Be cautious of leaving one image on the screen for too long, or
of flying through the images.
*Use internet sources as well as books or videos for your research.
*Always use images from public domain websites and include the source of your images at the end of your
Digital Story under Works Cited. (You may also use your own images.)
Task Evaluation:
See the attached rubric. Students may seek assistance from the teacher at any time during the project.
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4. Grading Rubric for “La Era de Trujillo”
Criteria Needs Improvement Approaches Target Meets Target
Quality of Content The story does not address the The story addresses the topic but The story addresses the topic and
assigned topic. The story includes does not fully develop the idea. meets the minimum length
inaccurate information. The story may meet the required requirement. The story is well
length, but may include some developed and contains accurate
inaccurate information. information.
Quality of Presentation The story does not meet the The story contains the required Story contains a sufficient number of
required length and/or does not number of images, but they may images.
include a sufficient number of not coincide with the script. The images are properly cited.
images. Images are properly cited.
Images are not properly cited or
may be ordered illogically.
Comprehensibility Not comprehensible to an Comprehensible to an empathetic Comprehensible to an empathetic
empathetic listener or a listener not listener, and mostly listener and generally to a listener not
accustomed to the speech of the comprehensible to a listener not accustomed to the speech of the
learner. The listener would be accustomed to the speech of the learner.
confused. learner. May be some confusion.
Language Control Incorrect use of the preterit and Inconsistent control of the use of Generally accurate use of the preterit
imperfect verb forms. the preterit and imperfect verb and imperfect verb forms.
Poor vocabulary selection. forms. Good vocabulary selection.
Sufficient vocabulary selection.
Discourse Information is not presented in a Information is presented in a logical Information is presented in a logical
logical order. order. order.
Little to no use of transition words Some use of transition words Consistent use of transition words
and/or phrases. and/or phrases. and/or phrases.
Little to no paragraph-length Some paragraph-length discourse. Some use of paragraph-length
discourse. discourse.
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5. Tina Ferguson
Task Title: Culture Quest
Created using Photo Story
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons and Flickr (example photos are by Tina Ferguson)
Level/Grade: Secondary Intermediate Spanish
ACTFL Standards:
Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a
variety of topics.
Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and
perspectives of the culture studied.
Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and
perspectives of the culture studied.
Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign
language.
Specific Task Objectives
1. Students will research the culture and history of a Hispanic country using print and Internet sources in
the target language.
2. Students will find photographs and other images related to the culture of the country.
3. Students will write a biographical script narrating the experiences in the country.
4. Students will use PhotoStory to create a digital story with digital photographs and narration.
Introduction
You will be assigned to a team of four persons for this project. Each member will be assigned a role. You
are going to take an imaginary trip to another country and report back to the class about your experiences.
The purpose for the trip is to tell the other students about your experiences, what you learned about the
country or the people, and to convince them of the benefits of visiting there. Here are some things you
could include: What things did you see? How did the people dress? Did you visit a cultural site? If so,
what were you able to learn about its history? What kind of food did they eat? What was the landscape
like? What did you enjoy most?
Task Instructions
Select one of the following Hispanic countries for your trip: Mexico, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Guatemala,
Spain, El Salvador, Dominican Republic.
You will research websites to find information about your country or images about your country. You will
then write a narration and produce the story using PhotoStory. Each person in the group will narrate a
portion of the story. Your team will present this story to the class. The class will vote to decide which place
they would like to visit and why.
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6. The presentation should be about 4-6 minutes long, using 8-10 slides. Include a list of references for the
photographs. Use Flickr.com or Wikimedia Commons for photographs, and choose only photographs with a
Creative Commons license.
It is acceptable to use the present tense for descriptive purposes, but primarily you will use the past tense
to tell about your experiences. (Example: Here you see two women who are dressed in traditional, colorful
clothing. One of the women is carrying a baby on her back. We saw these two women outside of our hotel
one day. They were selling things that they had made.)
Include a beginning for your story, where you introduce the group and tell where you went. Include an
ending, which sums up your experience and states why you think it is a good place to visit.
Task Assessment: You will be graded both individually and as a group. See the attached rubrics.
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7. Culture Quest Group Presentation Rubric
50 points possible
Team members: _________________________________________
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Total Points Earned
0-6 points 8 points 10 points
CONTENT Missing two or more of the Included four of the five Met all requirements including
REQUIRE- required elements listed in required elements listed in length, number of slides,
MENTS instructions. instructions. beginning, ending and works
cited.
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Total Points Earned
0-6 points 7-8 points 9-10 points
GRAMMAR/ Repeated errors in grammar There were a few errors in Grammar and usage were
COMPREHEN- and usage which detracted grammar and usage, but did typically correct and
SION from story. not detract from story. contributed to clarity.
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Total Points Earned
0-6 points 7-8 points 9-10 points
IMAGES Images did not contribute or An attempt was made to Images contributed to the tone
detracted from the tone or match images to the tone and atmosphere of the
atmosphere of the presentation and atmosphere of the presentation.
presentation.
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Score/
0-6 points 7-8 points 9-10 points Comments
POINT OF VIEW- The point of view is not clear. There are a few lapses in Establishes a purpose early on
PURPOSE focus, but the purpose is and maintains a clear focus
fairly clear. throughout the presentation.
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Score/
0-6 points 7-8 points 9-10 points Comments
SUMMARY No summary given or summary Summary not fully developed Group presented a well-
POSITION was poorly developed. or lacked a persuasive developed, persuasive
argument. summary to the presentation.
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8. Culture Quest Individual Rubric
50 points possible
Team member _______________________
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Total Points
0-7 points 8-9 points 10 points Earned
Other team members had Completed tasks with Completed fully and willingly
COMPLETED ROLE
to complete some or all of coaxing of other team all assigned tasks for role.
TASKS
the tasks. members.
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Total Points
0 points 5 points 10 points Earned
INSERTED PICTURES Did not complete either Partially completed tasks. Completed both tasks.
AND NARRATED task.
STORY
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Total Points
0-7 points 8-9 points 10 points Earned
INVESTIGATED Little or no participation. Partial participation or had Fully and willingly participated
WEBSITES FOR to be asked or coaxed.
PICTURES AND
INFORMATION
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Score/
0-7 points 8-9 points 10 points Comments
ASSISTED WITH Little or no participation. Partial participation or had Fully and willingly participated
WRITING NARRATION to be asked or coaxed.
Criteria Needs improvement Approaches Target Meets Target Score/
0-7 points 8-9 points 10 points Comments
CONTRIBUTED INPUT Little or no participation. Partial participation or had Fully and willingly participated
IN GROUP to be asked or coaxed.
DISCUSSIONS AND
DECISIONS
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9. Katrina Gragg
Task Title: Un viaje por la ciudad
Created using Windows Movie Maker
Image Sources: Flickr.com (example photos are by Katrina Gragg)
Level/Grade: 5th and 6th grade Spanish
Objectives:
Goal 1: Students listen and understand the teacher-made digital story.
1.1: Students will fill out a worksheet using what they hear from the story with the vocabulary words
we have covered for this chapter.
1.2: Students will make their own digital story about another Spanish-speaking country. (This will
be done in groups)
Goal 2: Students will learn about different Spanish-speaking cities through the teacher-made story and their
research/story.
2.1: Students will be able to compare some aspects of their culture to that of the Spanish-speaking
countries they research.
2.2: Students will learn about cultural products through the use of maps of the cities.
Standards:
ACTFL: Goal 1.1—Standard 1.2
Goal 1.2—Standard 1.3
Goal 2.1—Standard 4.2
Goal 2.2—Standard 2.2
PASS: Goal 1.1—Standard 1.1
Goal 1.2—Standard 1.3
Goal 2.1—Standard 4.2
Goal 2.2—Standard 2.2
Instructions:
After viewing and finishing worksheet over the teacher-made digital story over a tour of Santiago,
students will make their own story. Students will be placed in groups of three to four. Each group will
receive a different city to research. They will also be given pictures that they will use. NOTE: no other
pictures will be used other than the ones the teacher provides the group. Students are to use at least five
pictures for their story. Students will then use Windows Movie Maker to make their story.
Students will create their tour of their assigned city by using the vocabulary they have learned in
this chapter. Their tour will be a lot like the teacher-made one. NOTE: Students will need to focus on the
uses of ser and estar in their stories.
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10. Student Worksheet over Teacher’s Digital Story
Listen carefully to the story about a tour through Santiago. Fill in the missing words as you hear them. The
missing words will be your vocabulary and the verbs we have been working on in class.
¡Hola, clase! (1) _____________ en la ciudad de Santiago, Chile. Visito a un amigo, Cliff. Hacemos un
viaje por (2) __________________.
Este (3) ____________________ es rosado. Está en una parte antigua de la ciudad. Muchos de los
edificios son muy antiguos.
Esos edificios están muy (4) __________________ la calle y hay árboles delante de los edificios. Los
árboles no (5) _______________ verdes ahora porque está en la estación de invierno.
Esta (6) ________________ está en el centro de la ciudad de Santiago. Es muy antigua. La calle esta a lo
largo de la iglesia.
Este edificio (7) _______ el capitolio de Chile. Hay personas (8) ______________ del capitolio.
Hay una estatua en (9) ________________. Los peatones están en la calle y en la esquina. Esta esquina
(10) _______________ cerca del capitolio.
La ciudad de Santiago está en las montañas Andes. Esas montañas están muy (11) _______________ la
carretera. Hay muchas señales en esta foto.
Ahora, (12) ____________ el fin del día en Santiago. Vamos al aeropuerto para mi vuelo a los Estados
Unidos. ¡Hasta luego!
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11. 5th and 6th grade Spanish Location Total points 75 points Student earned:_________
Student-made Digital Story: Students will make their own story/tour of an assigned Spanish-speaking city. This project will be done in groups of
three to four students. Students will use pictures that the teacher has provided them.
Criteria Needs Work Getting Close You’re There!
Using Vocabulary: How well did 0 to 5 points 6 to 10 points 11 to 15 points
you use the vocabulary words we What did you say? Some of the words you used are Sounds good to me.
have learned? not correct.
Comments:
Comprehensibility: How well are 0 to 5 points 6 to 10 points 11 to 15 points
you understood? It is hard to understand you, please You have some difficulty making You can be understood pretty well.
repeat. yourself understood
Comments:
Accuracy: How well you are able to 0 to 5 points 6 to 10 points 11 to 15 points
make sentences in Spanish? You are having trouble with the Some items out of place. Few to no items out of place.
formation of sentences.
Comments:
Correct use of ser and estar: How 0 to 5 points 6 to 10 points 11 to 15 points
well did you use these two verbs? You still need a little work. You are having a little trouble still You have few errors. Good job.
but you are very close.
Comments:
Presentation: How well is your 0 to 5 points 6 to 10 points 11 to 15 points
project is put together? Your group did not spend very Looks pretty good. Looks great. Great job.
much time on this.
Comments:
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12. Name: Tina Van Brunt
Title of Task: Mi ciudad
Created using Windows Movie Maker
Image sources: Flickr.com (example photos are by Tina Van Brunt)
Level/Grade: Novice, 5th and 6th grades
ACTFL Standards:
Communication: Standard 1.3 Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience
of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
Cultures: Standard 2.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the
practices and perspectives of the culture studied.
Cultures: Standard 2.2 Students demonstrate and understanding of the relationship between the
products and perspectives of the culture studied.
Oklahoma PASS standards:
Communication: 1.3 Students will present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of
listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
Cultures: 2.1 Students will demonstrate and understanding of the relationship between the
practice and perspectives of the culture(s) studied.
Cultures: 2.2 Students will demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products
and perspectives of the culture(s) studied.
Specific Task Objectives:
Students will be able to write a story that describes people and activities in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Students use Windows Movie Maker to make a digital story that describes different places of
cultural interest in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the culture of Guanajuato by choosing
pictures that represent important activities and buildings in the city.
Task Introduction
Pretend you live in Mexico, and you are preparing a video postcard for your cousin who lives in the United
States. He wants to know what it is like where you live.
1. Choose five pictures from the ones provided that represent the things or places you have chosen to tell
him about. The presentation should have five slides. 1. Title and name on a picture 2. Picture 3. Picture
4. Picture 5. Picture 6. Credits (source of pictures).
2. Write a story, and tell him about a typical Sunday—the things you do, places you go, and things you
might see. You will need at least two sentences for each picture.
3. Open Windows Movie Maker. Acquire pictures from designated file. Pull photos unto the story timeline.
Using a microphone, read your story slowly while recording. Adjust the length of time each picture is
displayed to match your description on the recording. Add slide transitions. Preview. Adjust timing on
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13. pictures if necessary. Save to computer. (For best resolution, save to recommended setting for your
computer.) Burn to CD and turn in to the teacher.
Task Assessment:
Checklist
Yes No Inconsistent
1. Does the story match the pictures? ________ ________ ________
2. Comprehensibility
--pronunciation ________ ________ ________
--vocabulary correct ________ ________ ________
3. Length
--opening slide with title and name ________ ________ ________
--four pictures ________ ________ ________
--two sentences per photo ________ ________ ________
--credits ________ ________ ________
4. Used technology correctly ________ ________ ________
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14. Donna Shelton
Task Title: Los personajes históricos de España
Created using VoiceThread, http://voicethread.com
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons and Flickr.com
Level/Grade: University-level Spanish civilization or culture course
ACTFL Standards:
Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a
variety of topics.
Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and
perspectives of the culture studied.
Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and
perspectives of the culture studied.
Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign
language.
Specific Task Objectives:
1. Students will research the events associated with an important figure from Spanish history before the
year 1700 using print and Internet sources in the target language.
2. Students will find photographs and other images related to the historical figure and the events and
places associated with the figure.
3. Students will write a biographical or autobiographical script narrating the events of the life of the
historical figure to be researched.
4. Students will use VoiceThread to create a digital story incorporating photographs and images and a
narration using the prepared script.
Task Instructions: Select one of the following figures from Spanish history.
Isabel la Católica Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar Felipe II
Alfonso X el Sabio Miguel de Cervantes Santa Teresa de Ávila
Cristóbal Colón Diego de Velázquez El Greco
You will begin this task by researching the life of the historical figure you have chosen, the places
associated with the person, the events in which he or she participated, and any literary or artistic works he
or she created. You will then locate photographs, maps, and other images related to the person, places,
and works involved. Using VoiceThread, create a digital story in which you play the role of the historical
figure or a witness to the events of his or her life. You will narrate the historical figure’s life story from this
point of view, using the images to illustrate your narration. You must tell the story using the appropriate
past tenses. Your story must be 4 to 6 minutes in length, and you must use between 7 and 10 images.
Task Assessment: See the attached rubric.
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15. Grading Rubric for “Los personajes históricos”
Criteria Needs Improvement Approaches Target Meets Target
Content and Length The story of the historical figure does not The story of the historical figure is the The story of the historical figure is the appropriate
meet the length requirement and/or it is appropriate length, but it lacks development or length. It is well developed and accurate and
incomplete and/or inaccurate and does not contains inaccurate information and/or does not provides the listener with an interesting perspective
hold the listener’s attention. consistently hold the listener’s attention. on historical and cultural events during the person’s
lifetime.
Point of View The point of view is not identified and/or is The point of view is identified but is The point of view is clearly identified and is
very inconsistent inconsistently developed throughout the story. consistently and creatively developed throughout the
story.
Images Images may not be logically arranged or Images are logically arranged and are of All images support the narration, are logically
they may not be of sufficient number, or they sufficient number, but a few may not support the arranged, are of sufficient number, and are varied in
may not support the narration. narration. type.
Images may not be appropriately licensed or Images are appropriately licensed and sources Images are appropriately licensed and sources are
sources may be missing. are provided but there may be inaccuracies. accurately provided.
Not comprehensible to a native speaker not Mostly comprehensible to a native speaker not Comprehensible to a native speaker not accustomed
Comprehensibility
accustomed to the speech of a language accustomed to the speech of a language to the speech of a language learner.
learner; the listener would be frustrated or learner, but there may be some confusion.
confused.
Narration is not consistently in the past Past tense narration with an inconsistent level of Past tense narration with a good level of grammatical
Language Control
tenses or there is a low level of grammatical grammatical accuracy. accuracy.
accuracy.
Adequate vocabulary for the story, but there Appropriate vocabulary for the story.
Inadequate vocabulary for the story, with may be a few errors.
Accurate pronunciation and fluid speech.
several errors.
A few pronunciation errors.
Several pronunciation errors.
Complete sentences, but inconsistent
Discourse Consistently connected sentences and some Consistent paragraph-or near paragraph-length
connection between sentences. Little evidence of paragraph-length discourse. discourse with connected sentences and some
evidence of paragraph-length discourse. cohesive devices.
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