Creating the Connections
Session plan 2: Recording sound and reflecting on teamwork
Time
2 – 2 ½ hours or 3 – 4 hours with language support activities, depending on need.
Aim
Students will gain skills in writing and recording narration. They will also reflect on learning styles and teamwork.
Preparation

Check ICT requirements are still in place (see Getting Ready) – NB headsets with microphones are needed.

Check that student and teacher storage devices and folders are still accessible.
Procedure
Time
Steps
Resources
Teaching suggestions
20 minutes
Introduction: Narration
Digital story (from
Samples)
After watching one of the sample digital stories,
review its component parts: title, images, text,
narration, music, credits.
Review the components of a digital story and what
more needs to be done on the stories students began
last session.
Note: This step could include literacy development activity
such as sequencing the cut up script for the sample digital
story (from Samples)
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007
Examine the narration, e.g:

What type of text is it, e.g. a report, a recount,
an information text, a narrative?

How is the organisation or person
introduced?

What does the narration tell us about
it/her/him?

How does the narration fit with each photo?

How is the narration concluded?
Page 1 of 4
Creating the Connections
30 minutes
Project skills & ICT skills: Recording
(up to 1 ½ hours
for language
students)
Students work in pairs to:

Negotiate which of their digital stories from the
last session they will continue to work on

Plan and write the narration for the digital story

Record the narration

Create music in Photo Story 3 and add it
Student Task:
Narration

Save the unfinished story (as Photo Story 3.
Document) in folders.
Student Handout:
How to use Photo
Story 3
30 mins
Project skills & ICT skills: Adding music
Student Handout:
Students work in pairs to:
How to use Photo
Story 3

Check out the music possibilities in Photo Story 3

Negotiate which they will use

Add it to their digital story

Save the completed digital story (as a WMV file).
Stress the importance of planning what they will
say before recording it and that the narration
accompanying each photo only needs to be a few
sentences long. Students should prepare by
writing the sentences in their notebooks (and
having them checked by the teacher). Language
students, in particular, may find the Narration
task useful for practising the sentences before
recording.
Demonstrate how to record and/or students can
follow Step 6 in Student Handout: How to use
Photo Story 3. The more ICT-savvy students can
mentor other students.
Demonstrate how to create music in Photo Story
3 and/or students can follow Step 7 in Student
Handout: How to use Photo Story 3. The more ICTsavvy students can mentor other students.
Show selected digital stories and discuss, e.g.

Could the narration be improved? (e.g. tone
of voice, pronunciation)

Is the volume of the narration adequate?

Is the narration a whole text linking the
photos?

Does the music set the mood?

Would editing improve the images?
Areas needing improvement can be focussed on
in later sessions or in other class time.
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007
Page 2 of 4
Creating the Connections
40 minutes
Project skills: Learning styles & team work
Teacher Info:
(up to 1 ½ hours
for language
students)
Students engage in activities to raise their awareness
of the range of tasks involved in making digital
stories and the benefits of working in teams. They:
Learning styles and
teamwork
1. Complete a teamwork styles questionnaire
Working in teams
Student Task:
2. Complete a worksheet about the tasks involved
in doing a digital story and their preferences
Raise awareness of working in teams to pool
strengths, share responsibilities and learn from
each other.
Students work individually to complete the
Working in teams questionnaire (Part A: Find out
your teamwork style).
4. Form tentative teams for their trial digital story.
Students form groups according to their scores
and work together to read their style in Part B:
What your scores tell you. Each group can explain
to other groups about their teamwork style.
Note: Teachers may prefer to do these activities in the
classroom rather than the computer room.
Discuss whether students think their
questionnaire outcomes describe them (NB
students may be a mix of styles).
3. Relate their preferences to their teamwork style
Discuss the things they have already done in
Photo Story 3, which they liked best, and
whether this relates to their teamwork style.
Explain that as well as learning Photo Story 3
skills there are other things (e.g. planning) to do
when making a digital story.
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007
Storyboard from
Samples (to match
the digital story
watched earlier)
To introduce the idea of planning their digital
story project, briefly explain that makers of
digital stories, like film makers, plan their stories
on a storyboard before they make them. Choose
one of the sample storyboards to demonstrate
this (first page only is needed).
Student Task:
Things to do
To raise awareness of effective team composition,
students individually complete the Student Task:
Things to do and compare their answers with
others. They then form trial teams for Session 3.
Page 3 of 4
Creating the Connections
10 minutes
The next session
Students will work in teams to create a trial digital
story. Topic: Our Learning Centre / Our TAFE (or other
appropriate title). The session will focus on students
taking and using their own photos.
Students could bring their own digital cameras if
they have one.
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007
Introduce the idea of a trial digital story project
before beginning the community-based projects.
Students will be taking photos around their place
of learning and using them to create a digital
story. This gives a context for the photo-taking
and introduces students to the idea of planning
their stories. The trial project will serve as a link
between the first digital stories and their final
project, with the students gradually taking on
more responsibility for the planning and
execution.
Page 4 of 4