Creating the Connections
Session plan 4: Storyboard as planning tool
Time
2 – 2 ½ hours. Language students may need additional time.
Aim
Students will plan and produce trial digital stories, using a storyboard as a planning tool.
Preparation

Check ICT requirements are still in place – NB headsets with microphones are needed.

Check student / teacher storage devices and folders are still accessible.

Make sure students’ photos from last session are accessible.

Read the Teacher Info: Project Portfolio to be sure of the purpose of storyboard as a planning document.

You may prefer to modify the Student Handout: How to use a storyboard so that the locations of the photos reflect the locations students will
use when saving their own photos.
Procedure
Time
Steps
Resources
Teaching suggestions
10 minutes
Introduction: Locating resources
Student Handout:
How to manage files:
Copying and moving
files
Encourage peer mentoring.
Students make sure they can locate their files.
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007

Can the students find their own files?

Are they located on the correct drive and in
appropriate folders?

Are files named clearly?

What to do if they are not where they
should be? (i.e. copy and move files)
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Creating the Connections
10 minutes
Project skills: Storyboarding
Review and extend the idea of planning a digital
story using a storyboard.
Develop understanding of narration
Storyboard from
Samples (to match
the sample digital
story, below)
Reintroduce the sample storyboard to
demonstrate how the makers of the sample
digital story had planned it before building it.
Discuss the advantages of doing this.
Teacher Info: Project
Portfolio (Storyboard
section)
Discuss how the makers could have got their
information, i.e. interviews, brochures, internet.
Digital story from
Samples (to match
the storyboard,
above)
Play a sample digital story and examine how
the makers put it together. Students need to
understand that the end product is not a series
of isolated pictures and comments but a linked
story. This could be done through:
The digital story
script (from Samples)

A discussion of each image and its
accompanying text and narration

Sequencing a cut up narration script (from
Samples) while listening to the digital story.
30 minutes
Project skills: Planning the trial story
Choice and ordering of photos
(possibly integrated
with next step)
Using storyboard as a planning tool, students
negotiate with team members re:
In their teams, students:

Choice and order of photos

Narration to accompany photos

Text to accompany photos

Title and credits

Music (from Photo Story 3 or copyright-free
websites).
Note: If students become restless with the planning,
integrate it with the next step. It is advisable that they
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007
Student Task:
Storyboard

Begin a new story in Photo Story 3

Click on Import pictures and navigate to
where their photos are stored

Decide which photos they will use for their
trial digital story and import them

Edit them if necessary

Decide on the order of the photos

On blank Storyboard sheets, record the
order they have decided on by writing the
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Creating the Connections
work together to construct the narration but after that
the following (see next step for details) could be done by
individuals or in pairs and taken back to the team for
approval:

Writing text on photos

Recording the narration

Choosing the music.

Designing the title and credits screens
name of the picture and its location. This
will make each picture easy to find again if
necessary.
Teams continue to work together to complete
their storyboard, i.e. deciding on the narration
and on the text to write on photos. Students
need to draft these on their storyboard and get
the draft checked before they write the text or
record the narration on their trial digital story.
I hour
ICT skills: Building the trial digital story
Students negotiate who will do each task:
(possibly integrated
with previous step)
Using Photo Story 3, students:
Adding the text

Write text on photos

Record the narration
Student Task:

Add music
Narration

Add a title and credits.
Recording
It is recommended that students practise their
narration before recording. Language students,
in particular, may find the Narration task
useful.
Remind students to check and adjust volume
levels of the recording and redo if necessary.
Music
Students create music from the music supplied
in Photo Story 3 or select from the copyrightfree websites (see Web Links).
Title and credits
Student Handout:
How to use a scanner
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007
Students can design titles and credits screens in
Microsoft Word using WordArt. Printouts can
be scanned and then imported into their digital
story.
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Creating the Connections
20 minutes
Reviewing digital stories
The class group watches and critiques each other’s
trial digital stories.
10 minutes
Reflecting on teams, tasks and styles
In preparation for beginning their communitybased digital story project, students review tasks
involved in making a digital story and reflect on
their own skills and aptitude.
Students discuss their interests re making their
community-based digital stories and form teams.
As a class group, watch some or all of the trial
digital stories. In preparation for the major
project, students can comment on what works
well and why/ what could be improved and
how.
Bring the discussion around to what this means
in terms of:

Completing the project

Team formation

Learning from the skills of others.
Assist students to decide on their team
members and project focus (ideally teams have
a combination of the ‘Team Work’ types and a
maximum of 4 people).
Student choices of community organisations
and individuals will need to be made from
among those who were supportive of the
project when previously contacted. Some
students may have also contacted people.
5 minutes
The next session
Students will finalise teams and start to plan for the
major project about a community-based
organisation or person in the community.
Students under 18 years of age should take home,
and get signed, a permission form to participate in
the project (i.e. leave the premises).
Customisable materials, © Commonwealth of Australia 2007
Before the next session, teachers will need to
confirm the participation of the organisations
and individuals nominated by the teams. If
necessary, alternatives will have to be found.
Participation needs to be confirmed so that
teams can plan their project knowing they
won’t be refused when they phone to make the
interview time.
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