Storyteller Scrutiny or Self-Evaluation

Last week, with the storytime link in place on the school library site (http://tinyurl.com/4x74fyx) the 5th grade students at my school were able to watch themselves tell their collaborative folktale with their partners.

For some, it was their first time to really scrutinize their oral presentation style. They were given a task to perform while watching; to write down one positive thing and several areas where they could improve in their storytelling techniques. Some had trouble finding a positive. “Did you look at the audience? Did you speak up clearly? Did you know your story well? Did you and your partner collaborate well during the telling of the story?” I asked as I circulated among them. Finally, most found at least one positive. And all of them had a list of suggestions of ways they could improve. “Don’t play with your clothes. Too many, ‘ums’ and hesitations. Don’t look at your partner. Speak up. Add some expression. Don’t look so bored.” I didn’t have to tell them anything. They told themselves. A video was worth a thousand words.

Now for the second phase…. the students will have the chance to remake their folktale as an iMovie, adding all of the expression and movement that they may have missed at the first go. There are a lot of steps to this one. They already know their stories and most have learned to collaborate very well with a partner that they probably would not have chosen for themselves (all boy-girl assigned partners, poor kids), and they know how to improve. Now they just have to:

1. Learn how to use a video camera. (We have several new Kodak PlayTouch cameras; http://tinyurl.com/3amsvlj)

2. Make a storyboard of their folktale. (Jason Ohler has templates and instructions on his site: http://tinyurl.com/24tjrv2)

3. Shoot the folktale footage with the focus remaining on the student storytellers.

4. Download the footage and begin to work on the final product in iMovie. (Apple’s tutorials are helpful: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/movies/)

5. Post new and improved folktales alongside the original ones on the library “Storytime” website.

Of course, first, I might have to learn to use iMovie. My students will probably end up teaching me. I look forward to the process.