Story Board Overview

Brielle and I decided to do a public service announcement about the importance of washing our hands.

Descriptions of content:

To begin, we focused on the Utah State Curriculum, and chose to base our content on 2nd Grade Health-Standard 1, Objective 1c concerning ways to prevent diseases and having a better sense of self. We combined pictures from the internet, pictures of ourselves, and a childrens song, "Row, Row, Your Boat" for our sound clip.

How digital storytelling will help in teaching this content:

It will helps create an enthusiasm toward reading. It also enhances the child's imagination, while using many senses to relate to the book. They are able to see pictures with demonstrations, or step-by-step processes of washing hands. In addition, it is easier for younger kids to see pictures and follow directions, rather than reading a list of directions.

How the representation of the content will assist students to better understand:

Color and Audio provide a strong visual appeal to the child, and in this way they are more prone to pay attention. Also, the specific pictures we picked are detailed and well-thought out. For example in slide 6, the pictures of the hands soaping-up are pictures of baby (little kid) hands. This will help the child relate to the digital story better. Also, this same slide says to wash hands for 15 seconds, or by singing, slowly, the first verse of "Row, Row Your Boat". Thus, we used this song as the background sound clip. This lets the students make connections to the content and the song. Another thing to note is that we picked activities that specifically pertain to kids, such as playing in the playground, hand games, sports, playing with pets, etc. This helps the reader, which in this case is the 2nd grader, know that he/she is very important, and that they have a role to play in this story-and that this public announcement is directed to them. Furthermore, we also include a bit of biology by giving a brief background about germs. We even show pictures of germs that are animated.

All in all, Digital Storytelling is entertaining and engaging. I bet it is something new for kids- another side to reading they have not discovered. It also gives way for creativity.