Back Alley Goes Evil by the Super 5

Story telling -Voice threading…A Collaborative Creation by
The Back Alley Crew
Director: Jessy Lee
Cinematographer: Zach
Props Manager:Taneshia
Villain: Rebeca
Hero: Taylor
Script Writers: The Crew
Special Effects and Audio: The Crew
Slurpee Provider: Cori

 

The Back Alley Goes Evil  

I love storytelling! But I’m tired of my stories. The task was to reflect on using one of the 50 ways to tell a story tools and reflect on its application to teaching… I remember two things from class, try voice thread, and try telling a story in five frames. I’m sure the two were not related but they stuck in my mind.

There is gaggle of younger middle years kids that live on my street, and they all have far greater imaginations than I do. It was a pretty simple decision to teach the tool, observing its application to learning.

I played with voice thread a bit in the afternoon, and it looked easy to use. After school yesterday, I gathered the crew and set the task. They were to tell a story in 5 frames and the movie script had to be under one minute. I modeled how to story board by writing a quick story about the tree outside our house. I listed the tasks on a piece of paper. I told them that each of had to talk for one segment (the segments being divided into 12 seconds each, but they were soon negotiating among themselves). We talked about the parts of a story and what makes a story interesting. The crew started after school, shot the scenes at 7:00 p.m., and had everything finished by 8:23 p.m with slurpees promised for the next day, my treat.

The project turned into a collaborative creation. They had entire ownership of their project. Capes, costumes and makeup went out the door, down the alley. Halloween decorations where rummaged through. As told to me, these are their titles: Zach is the Cinematographer, Taneshia is the props manager, and Jessy Lee is the director. Rebeca is the villain and Taylor is the Hero. Script was a collaborative effort..

The kids were excited to see it posted to a blog, and to have it sent to each of their emails. Each of them said, “thanks for such a great time.” The applications are endless, in every subject, for introducing topics, for engaging in debate, and for celebrating student success. I also see this tool as mean to give voice to students who are anxious about face-to-face interactions, or students who may require more time to process content. The tool also offers a product that is easy to make and is visually gratifying.

The Crew know that their story will change, that others will add to it, or comment on it. They were OK with that. Their plan is to wait until others comment and then comment again.

the beginning…