One+in+One+Thousand

__Introduction and Overview:__
There are approximately 1,000 students at this school (1,063 at last count) and each one of them has a story to tell. Walking down the hallways, bustling to and from class, big or little, tall or small, each one of them has a vibrant past, an engaging present, and plans for their futures. While we can't hear from everyone, this will be your opportunity to share just one of your stories.

Earlier, I asked you to share a family story. Then I asked you to discuss your personal beliefs. Now you're going to combine your ability to create character and voice (in this case the character is you!), ambiance and atmosphere, and use some of your technological skills to take your storytelling and creative writing abilities to the next level. Digital Storytelling is an art form that is widely gaining ground and becoming more and more recognized for it's creative potential. So what is digital storytelling? In short, it is the practice of mixing multiple technology media in order to tell a story. More complexly put, it is a democratic form of media - just about anyone can create and put up their own digital stories - short and personal in nature, that has the potential to tell some powerful stories. (Visit British photographer [|Daniel Meadows]'s page for more info)

As part of our study of nonfiction texts, you will be studying, appreciating, and ultimately creating your own digital stories and posting them on the wikispace - as well as on your own portfolios. We will start with stories from the Emmy award winning //New York Times// series [|One in 8 Million] - a documentary style collection of digital stories from about 57 people that comprise the population of NYC. Then we'll scour the web for other forms of digital storytelling and discuss how these techniques could be used in our classroom for our benefit.

__Goals and Objectives__

 * Tell a story
 * Use literary elements like alliteration, allusion, and personification
 * Effectively use technology
 * Brainstorm, Plan, and Write a Script
 * Combine character, voice, and setting effectively
 * Research and critique the practice of digital storytelling

__Outline__

 * Step 1: Research
 * Step 2: Scriptwriting and Recording
 * Step 3: Editing and Publishing for the Public

__Materials Needed__

 * iMovie or Movie Maker Software
 * Digital Camera (or photo CD or scanner)
 * Anything You Want to Include
 * Paper and Pen/Pencil
 * Access to Internet
 * Wikispaces Account

__Assessment(s)__

 * Completed script
 * Finished Product