ESL Digital Storytelling

Term 4 Spring 2010

What is digital storytelling? Class Activities

Storytelling is an ancient art. Since the Exercises for practicing and improving
beginning of humankind, people have told your English: grammar, pronunciation,
stories. vocabulary, listening, speaking (conversation /
discussion), reading and writing.
Digital storytelling is the modern expression Storytelling exercises: read-alouds, using
of oral histories, which pairs these stories with music, images, colors, effects, symbols, and
a combination of voice recordings, images, voicing to enhance a story
video, music, and special effects. Computer exercises: find, download, and
Course Content save images, music, and sound effects; use digital
camera; use video camera; use a scanner; use
In this course, Advanced English as a Second
video editing software; edit audio; edit photos;
Language students learn how to find, tell,
burn CDs/DVDs; send attachments in email; learn
create, and publish the stories of their lives to upload video to the internet (optional); use MS
through hands-on projects that foster Word and PowerPoint
development of language skills while building
media literacy and technical skills. Materials
There is no textbook for the course; however, you
Students will use their artistic, language, and will need to purchase the following items:
technical skills to create digital stories about  A three-ring spiral notebook for journal entries.
themselves, their families, and their  A USB device (AKA flashdrive, jumpdrive, or
communities. thumbdrive) with 500 or more MB of memory.
These can be purchased at many stores, and
1. Stude the cost ranges from $10 to $100.
I M P O Rnt
TANT INFORMATION
 A CD or DVD (optional) to burn your digital
Perfor
Instructors story and/or music.
Elizabeth Clarke and Ruth Gay, Charlie
mance
Medina cmedina@miracosta.edu
Object
ives: (instructional aide) Additionally, students will need to print some
Contact info eclarke@miracosta.edu, (760) 795-8702 assignments and documents. Printing in the
Students will computer labs is 10 cents per page. Throughout
be able to rgay@miracosta.edu, (760)795-8734
the nine weeks, approximately $5 will be needed
Listening
Dates March15 to May 18, 2010 for printing. Students may want to invest in a
• View good quality English dictionary, such as the
Days multim Mondays through Thursdays 3 - 6 p.m. Longman Dictionary of American English.
Time edia Mondays and Thursdays room 136
Roomsbroadc Tuesdays and Wednesdays room 133
ast
informa
ESL Digital Storytelling @ MiraCosta College ▲ 1
tion
and following is a list of some common styles and their
listen uses.
 Policies
Let’s make
a movie!
Class Blog
http://esldigitalstorytell
ing.blogspot.com/
Here you will find video
tutorials, a list of digital story
ideas, links to Web sites
that have free audio and
photos for download, and
more. The instructor can
help you upload your digital
stories to this site or will
help you set up your own
blog at www.blogger.com,
upload your digital stories to
a video sharing Web site, or
make your own Google Web
site where you can share
your work after it has been
uploaded elsewhere (all
optional). Just ask!

Help your classmates. Everyone has different skills. Share
your talents and knowledge to assist each other in both
making progress in your English and making an excellent
digital story.
 Give and take constructive criticism with an open mind.
 English is the reason we are here, so please speak only
English in the classroom at all times.
 Show respect to guest speakers and fellow classmates.
 Do not write on any school property.
 Keep the classroom and computer lab clean.
 Return all equipment (headsets, microphones, CDs, laptops,
etc.) to its storage space each day before you leave.
 No food or drinks are permitted in the classroom or the lab.
 Be punctual. Arrive to class on time and return on time from
breaks. Breaks are 15 minutes.
 Regular attendance is required. Absences will negatively
affect students’ progress. The instructor reserves the right
to drop any student who has excessive absences.
 If you are absent, notify the instructor by calling instructor at
795-8702 (Eli) or 795-8734 (Ruth) to leave a voice-mail
message. Here’s what to say: My name is
______________. I cannot come to school today
because … Messages about absences may also be
transmitted through a note, e-mail, a classmate, or another
student at the Community Learning Center.
 If you need to leave early, you must tell the instructor
immediately upon arrival at 3 p.m.
 The computer lab is for educational purposes. Computer
activities not related to class assignments or English
learning are not permitted.
 Cell phones must be turned off. Absolutely no phone calls
are to be made in the classroom or in the computer lab.
 If you can no longer attend the class, you must notify the
instructor to be officially dropped from the class
 If your schedule changes, tell the instructor. You may be
able to take another ESL class at a different time of the day.
 Other: ________________________________________
 Other: ________________________________________

Please note
Accommodations: Students who need special accommodations because of learning or
physical disabilities should notify the instructor as soon as possible so that their needs may be
met in the classroom.

Internet Use: Part of this class is conducted in a computer classroom with Internet access.
Because MiraCosta College supports the concept of academic freedom, there are no filters
blocking Internet access to electronic content.

As you may be aware, some Internet sites contain material that is not appropriate for the
educational setting. If you should find yourself subjected to offensive content of any nature, you
should inform your instructor immediately.

If the requirements of an assignment or legitimate educational research require you to access

sites that could be considered offensive, please contact your instructor or a computer lab aide
so that accommodations can be made to assist you.

ESL Digital Storytelling @ MiraCosta College ▲ 2

Tentative Schedule:
03/15 –
1 03/18 Getting to know each Present continuous; Project 1: Self Introduction
other, What is digital Nouns, active verbs,
storytelling? adjectives

03/22 –
2 03/25 Autobiography Chapter 1 Past tense; Esperanza Continue and finish project 1;
– The Early Years Rising – Ch 1& 2 Start Project 2: The Early Years

03/29 –
3 04/01
SPRING BREAK NO SCHOOL
04/05 –
4 04/08 Continue autobiography - Past tense; Esperanza Continue project 2
chapter 1 Rising – Ch 3 & 4

04/12 –
5 04/15 Autobiography Chapter 2 Quiz simple past; Past Continue and finish project 2;
– My Life Now with past continuous; Start Project 3: My Life Now
Esperanza Rising – Ch 5
&6
04/19 –
6 04/22 Continue autobiography – Past with past continuous; Continue project 3
chapter 2 Esperanza Rising – Ch 7
&8

04/26 –
7 04/29 Autobiography Chapter 3 Quiz past with past Continue and finish project 3;
– My Future Hopes and continuous ; Quoted and Start Project 4 – My Future Hopes and
Dreams reported speech; Dreams
Esperanza Rising – Ch 9
& 10
05/03 –
8 05/06 Continue autobiography Quoted and reported Continue project 4
chapter 3 speech and quiz;
Esperanza Rising – Ch 11
& 12

05/10 –
9 05/13 Autobiography Chapter 4 Conjunctions; Esperanza Continue and finish project 4; Start
– After the End Rising – Ch 13 & 14 Project 5 – After the End

10 05/17 – Continue autobiography Quiz conjunctions Finish project 5: Present

05/18 chapter 4 ESL Digital Storytelling Festival

ESL Digital Storytelling @ MiraCosta College ▲ 3

Student Performance Objectives:
Students will be able to use the following language skills to …

Listening
• View multimedia broadcast information and listen to narratives, descriptions, and other
passages read aloud or recorded to identify main ideas and details, infer moods and
points of view, and draw conclusions
• Respond to verbal instructions/procedures

Speaking
• Participate in face-to-face conversations and discussions on familiar topics Use a
variety of language functional strategies (e.g. ask for and give clarification, ask
relevant questions) by participating in formal and informal class discussions and group
work
• Retell a familiar story based on personal experience or reading materials from various
sources

Reading
• Interpret main ideas and identify key passages of various types of authentic readings
(e.g., short stories, nonfiction, manuals)
• Make inferences from a variety of authentic reading passages
• Interpret vocabulary words and phrases using context clues

Writing
• Demonstrate pre-writing strategies (e.g., brainstorming, listing, mapping, outlining,
clustering)
• Revise and edit scripts for content, organization, grammar, and mechanics

We’re here to I am sure you’ll

This is going
help you! enjoy this class!
to be fun!

We look forward to working with you!

ESL Digital Storytelling @ MiraCosta College ▲ 4