Activity 1: video stories for personal
writing
In this activity, students create a video story using photos and music and use this as inspiration to
write about an interest, passion, or hobby, or something unique about themselves. The video story
can be created using an app such as Flipagram or software such as Microsoft Photostory or IPhoto.
Before you start
Ask students to collect photos that they have taken that show something about themselves. This
could include a sport or hobby that they participate in, a particular style of music that they enjoy, an
instrument that they play, a place they love to go etc.
Photos could be stored on a phone or tablet, or copied to a folder on a computer or USB drive.
Duration
Approximately 1 hour.
Materials
Activity sheet
Making your own video story
Sample texts
Writing about your video story
Skill sheet
Other material
or resources
Access to the internet
Access to social media (not essential)
Example video stories:
I♡bikes flipagram.com/f/68rQoc13Lx
Clouds R Us flipagram.com/f/GMb95IsHQb
Never follow flipagram.com/f/K67eJN8qiJ
Facilities and
equipment
Computers, tablets or smartphones
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What to do
Introduction
Explain to students that they will be creating a video story using photos and music that shows
something about who they are, what they are passionate about, or what they are interested in. Let
students know that they will then use these video stories as inspiration for a personal piece of
writing.
Show students some examples of video stories. You can find three examples in the materials section
above. There are also countless examples on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram (search for
Flipagram or a similar app).
Making the video story
There are a number of ways to make video stories depending on the technology that is available. If
students have access to smartphones or tablets, using an app is a good option. Flipagram is one that
is free and easy to use.
If students are using computers, there is Microsoft Photostory PCs or IPhoto for Macs, among many
others.
Provide the following criteria for students when they are making their video:




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Use at least 10 photos.
Make the video no longer than 1 minute.
Base the video around a passion or interest, or something unique about them.
Use photos that they have taken.
Think about the order they place the photos so that they tell the story in the most
interesting way.
These criteria are outlined in the activity sheet: Making your own video story.
Ask students to arrange their photos and choose the music they will use for their video story. This
should take around 15-20 minutes.
Writing samples and discussion
Give students the three examples of writing on the activity sheet: Sample texts that goes with the
example videos shown earlier. Facilitate a discussion about each of the writing pieces. Discussion
questions could include:



What did we find out about the person’s personality/interest/passion/hobby?
Do you share the same interest/personality trait?
What else would you like to know about the person or their interest/passion/hobby?
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Writing
Ask students to start their piece of writing about their video story.
A series of questions and sentence starters are provided on the activity sheet: Writing about your
video story to guide students with the writing process. The sentence starters may be particularly
useful for Foundation students who have low literacy skills or reluctant writers.
Sharing
When students have completed their video story, ask them to share via social media. One way to do
this would be to establish a twitter hashtag eg. #yourschoolvideostories2014 and ask students to
share their video stories via Twitter. If students are unable to access social media, they could save
their videos and upload them to a folder on the school server.
Ask some students to share their video and writing with the whole class and encourage the class to
ask them questions about their topic.
Reflection
Ask the students:

Did the making the video give you ideas to write about?

Which video and piece of writing was your favourite and why?
Assessment
The text could be further developed to form a part of the student’s folio of evidence for assessment
purposes.
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Sheet
Activity
Making your video story
Your job is to make a video story about yourself using photos and music.
1. Decide on your topic
The video should be about something you are passionate about or really interested in,
or something unique about your personality.
Some ideas might be:

a place you love to go (e.g. a lake, park, street or building)

a sport you are involved with (e.g. surfing, mountain biking, netball, hockey)

something you love doing (drawing, playing an instrument, dancing, writing)

a style of music you love (e.g. metal, r&b, hip hop, punk)

etc
2. Make the video
How you make your video story will depend on the technology you have available. If you
have a smartphone or tablet, you could use an app like Flipagram. If you are using a
computer, you might use software like IPhoto or Microsoft Photostory.
In your video, make sure you:

use at least 10 photos

make the video no longer than 1 minute

only use photos that you have taken

stick to the topic use chose

think about the order that you place the photos so that you tell your story in
the most interesting way.
3. Share the video
Discuss with your teacher how you might share the video with your classmates. You
could use social media, or upload it to a folder on the school’s server.
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Sample texts
Each of the example texts below are written about a video story.
I ♥ bikes flipagram.com/f/68rQoc13Lx
Bike riding is pure freedom. There’s no waiting around for the bus to arrive, no need to
hassle your parents to take you to where you want to go, no getting stuck in traffic.
Just jump on your two-wheeler and off you go.
Vintage bikes are cool. I’m fixing up a cool old Malvern Star that I picked up for next
to nothing from the trash and treasure. I’m converting it into a fixie just to cruise
around town. Where I live is pretty flat so I don’t really need gears anyway. Also, I
have my mountain bike if I want to do some more serious riding.
My favourite picture in this video is of the old abandoned bridge. It’s on the rail trail
between Bairnsdale and Orbost. You are riding through the forest and this giant,
decaying bridge just appears out of nowhere.
Clouds R us flipagram.com/f/GMb95IsHQb
I’m always off in my own little world. My friends call me the space cadet. That’s why I
chose the shots of the clouds and sky, and the trippy music. I like to think and
daydream about things and I reckon that is a good quality to have. My parents and
teachers don’t always think so though.
I can switch on when I want to but I think people are too fixed up with achieving things
and they don’t take the time to chill out, let their mind wander and use their
imagination.
When you are so focussed on your career or getting good marks or whatever, you also
miss out on appreciating cool things around you – like clouds. How awesome are clouds?
Never follow flipagram.com/f/K67eJN8qiJ
I’m a bit of a wall explorer. I like to check out alleyways, abandoned buildings and
overpasses – pretty much anywhere where people make street art. I like the idea that
anyone can make street art. You don’t have to buy a canvas or get a gallery to show your
work.
Everywhere you go, you are bombarded with advertising billboards. Why shouldn’t
everyone get to express their ideas not just big corporations that can afford the
advertising space? Most street art is way more interesting than an underfed model
trying to sell you jeans or sneakers or perfume or whatever.
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Writing about your video story
Questions to give you some ideas:
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Why do you love this activity/sport/interest so much?
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What kind of feelings do you get when you do it?
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What was your most interesting/exciting experience doing this
activity/sport/interest?
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Who do you usually do this activity/sport/interest with?
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Why is this topic important to you?
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What does your video say about your personality?
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Are there any particular photos that you would like to explain?
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Why did you choose that particular song for your video?
Sentences to get you going:
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I really enjoy _______ because...
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When I do this I feel....
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An exciting thing that happened was when...
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I usually do this with...
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_______ is important to me because...
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This video shows that I am...
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One of the photos in the video shows...
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I chose the song _______ by _______ because...
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Sheet
Skill
About descriptions
A good description creates a vivid picture of a person, place or thing and, sometimes,
how the author feels about it. Often the author will describe what happens or what
something or someone is like as well as expressing their emotions. To do this they need to
create an image, feeling or emotion in words.
Descriptions are found in many different types of texts: narratives, reports, persuasive texts,
biographies, etc.
The key to a good description is in capturing the ‘mood’ through describing details – not just
what you see but what you can hear, smell, taste and touch.
Techniques to create a picture in words
Below are some of the common techniques writers use to create a picture in words. Writers of
good descriptions wouldn’t use all the techniques in the one description. They would use
ones that suited what or who they were describing.
However, the more techniques you are familiar with
and know how to use, the more ‘tools’ you have to
write good descriptions.
Using descriptive words
Writers use descriptive language to express feelings
and emotions or to create pictures.
This may mean using adjectives to modify or add detail to a noun (see Skill sheet 1: What’s
a .....? if you’re not sure about adjectives and nouns).
For example,
The man wore a neat, chocolate brown business suit, shiny from wear.
tells you a lot more about the man and the suit than -The man wore an old brown suit.
Adverbs can also be used to add detail to verbs but telling how something happened, not
just what happened. There is more information about adverbs in Skill sheet 1.
For example,
The woman carefully considered her options before jumping nervously into the river.
Using your senses
If you wanted to create a picture of something you have seen or an experience you have
had you need to recreate it as vividly as possible for your reader.
A good way of doing this is to use your senses:

sight

sound
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
touch

taste

smell.
When you experience something you experience it with your senses. There are very few
things you do that you experience with only one of your senses. When you eat something
you see it, smell it and taste it. When you walk along a beach you see the waves, the sand,
and possibly the seagulls, you hear the waves and the wind and the cry of the birds and you
smell, and sometimes taste, the salt.
For example, when you eat an apple you:

See:
the green skin of the apple, the white flesh.

Hear:
the crunching sound as the crisp apple is bitten in to, chewing, swallowing.
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Touch: smooth skin of the apple, the sticky drips of juice.
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Taste: sweet taste of apple.
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Smell: the soft and subtle smell of the fruit.
When you walk along a bush track you might:
 See:
tall, slender trees reaching high up into the sky, leaf-littered track, dappled
patterns of sunlight on the leafy floor, wildflowers, lizards
 Hear: birds chirping, leaves rustling, the incessant scream of cicadas, feet falling on
the rough ground

Touch: the rough/smooth bark of the trees, smooth leaves, prickly grass or bushes

Taste: hints of dust, perhaps salty taste of sweat
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Smell: heavy smell of eucalyptus, clean country air, sweat, sweet odour of sun cream.
Using figures of speech to create images in words
Using similes
A simile is when you liken or compare something to something different. Usually a simile uses
the words like or as.
For example,
Her mouth snapped shut like an iron trap.
His personality was as scarred and marked as his pock marked face.
Using metaphors
A metaphor is saying something is something else completely different – not saying it is like
something completely different.
For example,
Your brother is a pig when he eats.
The test was a breeze.
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Using personification
Personification is giving human qualities to things.
For example,
The breeze played with his hair.
The waves caressed her hot body.
Using alliteration
Alliteration is using the same initial sound for a string of words
For example,
She is a bright and bubbly baby.
… the whispering of the wind.
Using symbolic objects to suggest ideas or emotions
Some objects are associated with emotions or ideas.
For example,
white doves are associated with peace;
the devil is associated with evil;
prisons and zoos are associated with lack of freedom,
stones and rock are associated with strength or coldness.
Some colours are also associated with ideas and emotions. In western society black is often
associated with evil or death and white with purity and weddings. Different cultures may
associate different things with these colours.
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