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Creatively Connecting Curriculum to the Digital Learner
Message From the Executive Director
Next week is National Media Literacy Week.
In support of assisting schools to embrace curriculum-driven digital storytelling as a vital form of literacy and a persuasive form of assessment -I am offering participation in the annual Meridian Stories Competitions to schools for $150. That is a savings of $100.
First time schools only. From this moment of reading until October 25th, only.
This is an easy risk to take. This buys your entire school access to fifteen digital storytelling projects (download featured project below to experience the depth of support) – 5 each in STEAM, LA and History. They are designed to deepen student engagement, and deliver curricular content skill sets that are fundamental to students’ post-secondary school success.
The Competitions are all due in the spring, so now is the time to start thinking about which ones to integrate into the curriculum and when. All entries are scored and commented upon by professionals in the fields of media and education (including Sesame Workshop, National Geographic and PeaceTech Lab among many other organizations).
Check out the summaries of this year’s Competitions here to see if there is a fit, then write to me and say ‘I’m in’ (or ‘I’m game’ …or whatever!) and we’ll make this happen.
– Brett Pierce brett@meridianstories.org
Under the Radar
BookTube – Are you aware of this phenomenon? I wasn’t until recently. It’s this subset of YouTube where youth and adults review books. It’s an eclectic community of traditional book reviewers and young vloggers: those who talk about books with that full mix of editing antics and oversized personalities that breathlessly shoot through time. And while this may not be the best way to reach me, if it works with kids, long live the BookTubers! It’s digital storytelling about …reading. Win-Win.
I haven’t found one place that is at the center of this universe, so I would recommend just exploring on your own. But here is one of my favorite BookTube stops that focuses on the works of CSLewis, as understood through the lens of …doodling.
Featured Meridian Digital Storytelling Project – A Book Without Beginning or End
Cue the dramatic theme music: in this Challenge, your team is going to create a Show Open for a new fantasy series – one that takes place in a world of books, laying the fictional foundation for a new fantasy universe inside of which characters will flourish. To get a sense of what we are talking about, think of recent serialized book series, which then become feature films: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Game of Thrones.
For the full, free 12 page Curricular Challenge, Click HERE
Featured Meridian Resource – Creating Characters
Creating good characters can be easier than it first appears. One of the first ideas to consider: create a character based on someone you know. It’s really hard to ‘make-up’ humanity. The results are rarely believable. But if you start with a real person and embellish and imagine from there, the results can be compelling.
Check out this simple, focused resource about Creating Character HERE.
Featured Student Work – “Finding Sempiterno“
| This week’s featured Digital Storytelling Challenge showcases an example of an entry in response to the above Challenge, A Book Without Beginning or End. These High School students create the foundations of a fantasy world that is informed by the components that make literature soar. Check it out and think of the decisions they made to create the contours of this world. |