Implementing Digital Media Writing to Engage Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Implementing D igital M edia W riting to Engage Students with EBD
Implementing Digital Media Writing to Engage Students With Emotional
and Behavioral Disorders
Anne Butler and Lisa M onda-A maya, U niversity of Illinois at U rbana- C hampaign
Preparing students in 21st
century literacies requires that
writing be taught through a
variety of formats. Digital formats are
commonplace in today's culture, from
the range of social media outlets to
Internet navigation and online
activities. In today's world, teachers
should be familiar not only with
technology and its use, but with
applications to the classroom that give
greater access to instruction for all
learners (Sanders & Albers, 2010).
Students with disabilities often
struggle with writing at all stages.
They have been found to demonstrate
low levels of motivation or
persistence, have poor use of selfregulatory
skills, and lack general
knowledge of genres, conventions,
and devices for writing (Graham &
Harris, 2011). Students typically use a
"knowledge-telling" (Graham &
Harris, 2005, p. 14) approach in which
they simply write ideas related to a
topic, thus finding it hard to develop
written products that are well
organized, coherent, and connected to
a purpose and audience. For students
with emotional and behavioral
disorders (EBD), academic
performance across subjects, including
writing, tends to fall significantly
below that of their peers (Trout,
Nordness, Pierce, & Epstein, 2003).
Although writing may provide an
important expressive outlet for
students with EBD (Yell, 2009),
writing instruction is given
insufficient attention in classrooms
(Baker, Gersten, & Graham, 2003).
Many of these students lack the ability
to self-regulate and have difficulty
successfully participating in the
writing process.
With increased emphasis on the
use of technology in classroom, there
is a growing need for understanding
the role technology can play in writing
instruction. Various forms of digital
media can enhance the writing
experience and motivate learners to
become more thoughtful and engaged
in the process, from consideration of
the writing environment to providing
students with specific writing
supports.
In structuring effective
environments for struggling writers,
Graham and Harris (2013)
recommend that teachers set the stage
by: (a) creating a positive
environment, (b) displaying student
work in visible spaces, (c) setting high
and realistic expectations while at the
same time adapting instruction to
reach all students, (d) fostering
classroom routines that allow for
positive interactions among students,
and (e) providing meaningful and
engaging activities. They advocate the
use of self-regulated strategy
development (SRSD; Harris &
Graham, 1996), which combines
composition and self-regulatory
strategies (e.g., goal setting, selfmonitoring,
self-assessment, and
self-reinforcement). For students with
and at risk for EBD in particular, SRSD
has been found to be an effective
practice for increasing writing
performance (see Sreckovic, Common,
Knowles, & Lane, 2014).
Additionally, increasing attention
has been given to the social nature or
context of writing (Tindal &
Crawford, 2002), particularly within
the Common Core State Standards
(CCSS; National Governors
Association for Best Practices, Council
of Chief State School Officers, 2010).
The CCSS require writing instruction
across the curriculum as well as the
use of instructional methods that
encourage collaborative interactions
among students. This has important
implications for students with EBD
who may struggle with social
interactions.
The integration of technology into
the writing process provides a
universal intervention for all students
(Wissick & Gardner, 2011). Various
forms of digital media technology can
enhance the writing experience and
motivate learners to become more
thoughtful and engaged in the
process. This article provides the
fundamentals for using digital media
to teach writing, and narrative digital
writing in particular, to students with
EBD (Butler, Monda-Amaya, & Yoon,
2013). The emphasis is on
incorporating reading, writing,
listening, and collaboration to address
the changing literacy demands for
students (DeVoss, Eidman-Aadahl, &
Hicks, 2010). A question and answer
format is used to assist teachers in
walking through the process for
incorporating digital media into daily
writing lessons.
W hat is D igital M edia Writing?
Digital media writing is defined
as the use of a multimodal approaches
(e.g., books, illustrations, recorded
music, Internet, computers) to engage
in effective writing practice
throughout the stages of planning,
composing, editing, and publishing.
The goal of digital media writing
is to utilize technology in writing and
its many forms. The outcome of a
digital media project might be a
student's persuasive digital piece
about how there should be a change in
cafeteria food. In this example,
students could upload images taken
with a digital camera onto the
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Implementing Digital Media Writing to Engage Students with E B D
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BeyondBehavior
&
computer. Then, students might create
a story using iMovie (Apple,
Cupertino, CA) or another video
application that allows them to
display images of cafeteria food with a
voice-over about why the food should
change. A student may also include
newspaper clippings or health
statistics about the need for more
nutritious foods. Incorporating digital
media into writing instruction allows
teachers to address aspects of good
writing recommended for students
with disabilities (e.g., explicit
instruction in specific skills, providing
feedback, setting clear goals; Graham
& Harris, 2011). Teachers can directly
target digital writing projects toward
specific goals and objectives in a
student's Individualized Education
Program (IEP) and build on a
student's strengths and interests.
What Research-Based Practices are
Associated With Writing?
Digital media writing provides a
framework to incorporate technology
into writing instruction, but its
purpose is not simply the use of
technology. The core components of
digital media are embedded in
research-based practices for writing
instruction. For example, if a teacher is
using SRSD as an intervention for
students who struggle with writing
(Adkins & Gavins, 2012; Mason,
Kubina, Valasa, & Cramer, 2010),
digital media can be integrated into
instruction at the various stages (see
Santangelo, Harris, & Graham, 2008).
The aspects of digital media writing
introduced in the framework below
(e.g., foundational story elements,
graphic organizers, immersion
activities to activate background
knowledge) represent strong
foundational writing practice.
Moreover, the framework provides an
important scaffold to foster student
independence in writing while at the
same time allowing students the
chance to engage collaboratively with
peers (Graham & Harris, 2011).
How Can Digital Media be
Incorporated Into Narrative Writing
Lessons?
While digital media can be used
across different genres of writing,
incorporating it into narrative writing
is a logical starting point. Narrative
writing allows even the most reluctant
writers to express themselves and
even personalize their stories.
Additionally, narrative writing
follows a structure or framework that
guides the writing process and offers
natural points for integrating
technology.
Prior to beginning any digital
media project in narrative writing,
students should be introduced to eight
foundational story elements: (a) telling
a story from a particular point of view,
(b) emotionally engaging the
audience, (c) setting the overall tone of
the story (e.g., humorous, sad,
mysterious, exciting), (d) using
spoken narrative, (e) incorporating
soundtrack music to enhance the
story, (f) incorporating pictures or
video to tell the story, (g) using
creativity and originality, and (h)
being aware of time and story length
(Ohler, 2008). As the digital narrative
project is introduced, teachers can
explicitly discuss the similarities and
differences between digital and
written narrative and, in particular,
address differences across the
elements. For example, in a digital
narrative a writer may choose to
engage the audience through a wider
variety of sights (e.g., colors, pictures,
movement) and sounds (e.g., music,
sound effects). Digital narratives also
tend to be shorter (e.g., about 3-5
minutes) and written in a way that
quickly captures and maintains the
attention of the audience (Miller, 2010;
Ohler, 2008). Teachers can also think
through the types of graphic
organizers that work well for each
student (e.g., adapted to the levels at
which students work independently)
and the specific technology supports
needed.
Once the eight foundational story
elements are introduced, attention
turns to the five steps in creating a
digital narrative. When this model is
first introduced to students, it is
recommended that they be presented
in the sequence listed below. As
students become more fluent with the
model in subsequent projects, teachers
can allow for more variation. Consider
the following scenario for
implementing the project.
Ms. Reynolds is getting ready to plan
her next writing unit, in which students
have the opportunity to share a personal
narrative. As she considers the needs of
the students in her second-grade
classroom, her thoughts immediately go to
Jack ivho was recently verified with
emotional disturbance. In class, Jack is
withdrawn and rarely engages in
conversations with peers or his teacher.
When he does interact with the other
students, the result often ends in conflict.
During writing instruction Ms. Reynolds
has found that Jack has difficulty
generating ideas, is reluctant to share
personal information about experiences
outside school, and easily becomes
frustrated with assignments, even if she
provides direct support. More often than
not, Jack refuses to put pen to paper and
has participated in very few writing
activities during the school year. As Ms.
Reynolds begins to plan and implement a
unit using a digital media writing project
she should carefully consider Jack's
strengths and needs.
Step 1: Engage in Immersion
Activities
The first step in the process is to
engage students in immersion
activities that provide concrete models
of a digital narrative. The use of
multiple models is particularly
important for students with
disabilities and struggling writers
(Baker, Gersten, & Graham, 2003).
These models (possibly taken from the
online storytelling communities,
Storybird or StoryCorps, or from
National Public Radio's This I Believe)
provide the opportunity for students
to understand the end goal and
generate ideas about detailed
narratives and storytelling (Butler
et al., 2013). Models selected for
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Implementing D igital M edia W riting to Engage Students with EBD
Table 1 Considerations in Adapting Digital M edia for Students with EBD
Getting Started
• Teach students how to use the technology.
• Provide a list of key words or topics that are of interest to the student to help in generating writing ideas.
• Explain the multiple stages in the project with students prior to beginning the project.
• Recognize potential triggers for the student (e.g., emotionally charged topics, working with particular peers).
Interactions With Peers
• Teach students appropriate strategies for giving and receiving feedback.
• Coordinate schedules for sharing technology resources, if availability is limited.
• Teach students the importance of how to weigh feedback in editing their work with a willingness to make changes (e.g., modeling
how feedback can improve the final outcome).
• Give students strategies to feel confident in presenting their digital media project to the whole class.
Assisting Students in Planning, Editing, and Composing their Work
• Incorporate writing practices that are already familiar to the students (e.g., specific graphic organizers, writing schedules, strategies
like self-regulated strategy development, Writer's Workshop; Graves, 2003).
• Adapt activities based on individual student needs (e.g., allow students to dictate story to teacher or paraprofessional, spend
additional time in the planning phase of writing).
• Model each step of the writing process in a concrete way.
• Provide support to students for managing levels of frustration throughout the process (e.g., provide a 5 min break to a student who
is rerecording a page and unhappy with the outcome).
immersion activities can be highly
engaging and relevant to the range of
student interests. Additionally,
immersion activities can be used to
spark discussions about the power of
narrative, the structure of the story,
and techniques used by authors to
engage listeners.
During immersion teachers
should: (a) generate discussion about
why authors may have selected a
particular topic, (b) encourage
students to share topics that interest
them, and (c) allow students to
brainstorm details that support their
topics of interest. The difficulty in
getting some students to generate
topics of interest could be eased by
providing prompts (e.g., "Describe a
sport, real or fictitious, in which you
would like to compete in the next
Olympics") or asking them to describe
something they love (e.g., food,
animals).
Some discussion needs to occur
around the difficulty people may have
in sharing personal feelings.
Narratives can be a way to relay
personal experiences through the
thoughts and actions of characters.
Throughout the activity, teachers can
introduce skills related to feeling
empathy, reacting respectfully to a
peer's personal narrative, engaging in
positive interactions, and providing
constructive feedback.
One of the first planning steps Ms.
Reynolds takes is determining how the
digital media project can be adapted to
meet Jack's needs (see Table 1); she keeps
these adaptations in mind throughout the
process. She begins immersion activities
by selecting two stories from StoryCorps
to introduce to Jack, one funny story about
a man's happiest memories of growing up
on a farm and a second story that often
yields an emotional reaction of sadness
from students. She knows that both of
these stories will be particularly engaging
for Jack. Next, Ms. Reynolds begins a
discussion to generate ideas about the
techniques used by the authors to tell their
story and emotionally engage listeners.
Ms. Reynolds uses this time to discuss the
difficulty people sometimes have sharing
personal feelings, and how stories can
allow students to document experiences or
talk about feelings of story characters. Ms.
Reynolds also introduces the social skill of
responding respectfidly to another’s
shared personal narrative.
Step 2: Create the Digital Narrative
The next step is to design and
develop the narrative. Three activities
that effectively move this process
along involve creating a pitch, story
spine, and storyboard. These
activities, along with specific graphic
organizers for structuring a
comprehensive narrative (see also
Butler et al., 2013), are described
below.
The pitch. The pitch or story core
(Ohler, 2008) is the idea for the story,
designed in such a way that it hooks
the audience or sparks interest in the
story. A story pitch in narrative
writing has three key elements: (a) a
character or characters, (b) a problem,
and (c) a transformation. As the
student considers the characters,
attention can be directed to the role (if
any) the author may play in the story.
The primary purpose in making a
pitch is to capture the audience by
revealing an interesting problem,
dilemma, or issue. Finally, a
transformation or turnaround should
occur in which the character realizes
something new, undergoes a physical
or emotional change, or learns a
lesson. In some cases a moral may be
revealed. Concrete examples of each
element of the pitch, along with
brainstorming and peer collaboration,
help students feel more comfortable
selecting the topic for their narrative.
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Implementing D igital M edia W riting to Engage Students with EBD
B e y o n d B e h a v io r
Using a graphic organizer,
teachers can model how to write a
story pitch (see Figure 2) based on
personal experiences, literature from
the classroom, or situations or events
that have occurred at school. When
modeling the story pitch to the class
the teacher should: (a) demonstrate
how to give constructive feedback as
respectful collaborators, (b) encourage
brainstorming, (c) offer examples of
questioning and prompting
techniques (e.g., "I like the way you
"I am confused by , or "It
would be exciting if and (d)
make revisions to the story pitch
based on the student's feedback.
Many students find it difficult to
provide positive feedback. For that
reason, consider spending a lesson
teaching feedback strategies. Another
professional (e.g., paraprofessional,
social worker) could be enlisted to
share feedback with the class about
the teachers' story pitches to
demonstrate effective strategies.
After hearing feedback on the
model pitches, students can vote for
the one they believe will develop into
the most intriguing narrative. Also,
students can be encouraged to pitch
story ideas to peers who will, in turn,
offer feedback through clarifying
questions and prompts. For students
with EBD, it might be beneficial to
work in small groups or pairs,
particularly if they have a history of
inappropriate interactions with peers.
Meet with these students prior to the
activity to discuss personal goals,
structure a reinforcement schedule,
and provide visual prompts (e.g., an
index card with feedback prompts).
The story spine. Playwright Ken
Adams (2007) proposed the idea of a
story spine as a structure for
improvisational storytelling. The story
spine aligns with the creation of
digital narrative by succinctly
incorporating elements of a good
story, such as the platform, catalyst,
consequences, climax, and resolution
(Butler et al., 2013). The story spine
helps students organize their ideas,
begin their writing, and generate
details (see Table 2). It offers a visual
model of elements to include in an
engaging story and sample starters for
thinking through each part of the
narrative. The teacher can adapt the
story spine to the student, for
example, providing a digital or paper
template of preselected starters. This
adaptation might alleviate anxiety or
frustration some students may have
when provided with too many
options. While the teacher is planning
this activity she or he should
anticipate possible triggers of
challenging behavior or tasks that
might cause frustration for students
with EBD.
The storyboard. The final design
activity in Step 2 is to develop a
storyboard (see Figure 2). The
storyboard is a series of pages that
serve planning purposes of (a) writing
the "script" for narrating the story and
(b) sketching out ideas for graphics or
images (e.g., drawings, pictures,
personal photographs, Internet
images). The goal of using a
storyboard is to provide a visual for
creating and organizing the story,
ultimately making final production
less complicated. The storyboard can
be adapted to meet students' needs.
For example, the number of pages a
storyboard contains may vary. One
student may need six pages to write
about the resolution while another
needs only two. Also, the sequence in
which students compose the pages on
the storyboard does not matter. Each
page should include narrative and
illustrations.
Ms. Reynolds models three different
story pitches: “I love my dog," "My best
friends in second grade,” and "My funny
brother." She reads her story pitches aloud
and models how to write pitch ideas on the
graphic organizer (see Figure 1). The
students ask clarifying questions and give
feedback about her ideas. One of her goals
for soliciting feedback is to model for Jack
the following behaviors: (a) giving
constructive feedback while also being
respectful to collaborators, (b)
encouraging his peers to engage in
brainstorming and questioning, and (c)
using feedback to revise the story pitch
(e.g., thinking through details of the story).
Students then are paired to talk
through their own story pitches. Because
of Jack's history of inappropriate
interactions she meets with him prior to
the activity to provide additional
information about the schedule and
activities and to review appropriate
questioning and feedback strategies. She
gives him a specific card with question
prompts that he can use during peer
interaction. Ms. Reynolds then works
with Jack and his peer as they transcribe
ideas for their story pitches. Ms.
Reynolds has provided all student pairs
with multiple examples of prompts they
can use to give each other feedback (e.g.,
"2 like the way you ...", "I am confused
by ...", or "It would be exciting i f ...").
These examples help the students
understand how to use positive feedback
and clarifying questions in
constructive ways.
Step 3: Create Media
Once storyboards are developed
with tentative sketches, the students
begin to create or "capture" media
that most effectively tells their story.
Media elements could include digital
photographs, scanned artwork,
personal photographs, musical
soundtracks, voice-over narration,
sound effects, animation, and video
(Ohler, 2008). One student may select
images and sounds effects from the
Internet, while another may choose to
illustrate the images and scan them
into the story. A third student, who is
musically inclined, may decide to
create his own soundtrack to
accompany the story. Using programs
like GarageBand (Apple, Cupertino,
CA), students can record their own
music or sound effects (e.g., a baby
crying or a door slamming) to
accompany their story. Additional
resources for capturing and creating
media can be found in Table 3; some
resources even provide specific
materials designed for educators for
ready implementation in the
classroom.
Once Jack finishes his storyboard, he
works with a partner to brainstorm
possible ideas for media that would make
his story more captivating or interesting
Vo l.24, Iss. 3, 2015 17

Implementing D igital M edia W riting to Engage Students with EBD
F ig u re 1
An Example of a Story P itch
Title: Characters: Problem: Transformation:
1love my dog Me (Ms.
Reynolds)
Sheila
Sandy
Brendan
Marty
Whenever 1put
my food on the
kitchen table, it
seemed to
magically
disappear!
1can't trust my dog
Sandy.
My funny
brother
My Best
Friends in
Second
Grade
Brendan
Me (Ms.
Reynolds)
Mom
Me (Ms.
Reynolds),
My friends Kelley
and Molly
My mom was
taking a nap. My
brother Brendan
and 1were
supposed to be
taking a nap
too, but we
decided that we
wanted to play
in the basement
with our new toy
horse Rawhide.
We were
camping and
we went on a
hike. Kelley,
Molly and 1were
telling jokes and
laughing. All of
the sudden, we
realized that the
group was
nowhere to be
found!
Sometimes it is
better to do what is
right, rather than
listen to my brother.
OR
1should speak up
when 1know
something isn't
right.
What's right isn't
always the cool
thing to do.
1can trust my
friends to make me
laugh in any
situation!
to the listener. Since Jack has begun
illustrating his story on the storyboard, he
tells Ms. Reynolds that he would like to
use his time thinking about sound effects
and coloring his illustrations. Jack works
with his partner to discuss different places
in his story in which music or sound
effects seem to fit.
Step 4: Draft and Revise Story
After selecting the images and
media, students draft the story on the
storyboard, adding content and
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I m p l e m e n t in g D ig it a l M e d ia W r it in g t o E n g a g e S t u d e n t s w i t h E B D
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58
Table 2 The Story Spine
Story Section
The Platform (setup)
The Catalyst (problem)
The Consequence (builds)
The Climax (change)
The Resolution (take from the pitch transformation)
Begin w riting the story!
Sample Starters
• Once upon a time
• Everyday
• One time
• Every now and then
• Each summer, week, month, year ...
• But one day ...
• Then something changed ...
• But this time ...
• However ...
• Because of that ... (repeat as many times as you wish)
• And then ... occurred
• And then ...
• Until finally
• Then suddenly
• Ever since then ...
• And the moral of the story is ...
• And the funny thing was ...
• I realized that ...
• From that day on ...
additional detail(s). With the draft
content on the storyboard students
can practice digitally recording their
story (i.e., the script) onto a device (e.
g., computer, iPod). The process of
drafting and revising should be fluid,
with students continuing to add
details, make decisions about story
flow, and adjust the narration as
needed. Once adjustments are made,
students rerecord the story.
Structuring opportunities for
partner, group, and teacher feedback
is critical at this stage. Once again,
partners should ask clarifying
questions, help the author add detail
or delete unnecessary information,
and offer feedback on the effectiveness
of the images and sounds for creating
a powerful narrative.
Ms. Reynolds has taught the students
to practice digitally recording their story
into a computer. As they do this, she
works one-on-one with Jack to check the
recording, providing immediate assistance
to minimize any frustration he may
encounter. She also provides feedback to
Jack about the images he has selected and
the types of sound effects he woidd like
to use.
Step 5: Story Production and
Presentation
Following final revisions the
digital narrative product is ready for
production and presentation. At this
stage, students should have
everything prepared for the final
production recording:
• Use software such as iMovie
(Apple) or Microsoft Photo Story
3 (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) to
record the story and insert
selected images.
• Select music to accompany and
set the tone for the story.
Programs like iMovie and Photo
Story have readily accessible
music samples that might be
used or students can embed other
selections.
• Review storyboard pages to
ensure the story reads fluently.
As previously noted, writing
through this project should be a
fluid process. Students may
record their stories and after
hearing them back decide that
specific sections need revision.
For students who struggle with
writing and/or reading, there are
significant benefits to being able
to edit, revise, and rerecord the
stories as many times as
necessary to reduce frustration
levels.
The final activity in Step 5 is a
class celebration emphasizing the
importance of presenting the final
product. Once the stories are
complete, the students can present
their work through a movie premier
party or special screening. They may
even choose to invite guests such as
other classes, parents or guardians, or
school administrators.
Ms. Reynolds reflects back to the
beginning of the project and notes that
Jack was able to complete the storyboard
and digital media project with minimal
assistance. This activity allowed her to
easily embed specific social skills
instruction into her lessons. Jack engaged
in effective, positive collaboration with his
project partner. She found it easy to
engage in explicit lessons and could
directly address his fears about writing
Vol. 24, Iss. 3,2015 19

Implementing D igital M edia W riting to Engage Students with EBD
F ig u r e 2
An E xample of a Student’s Storyboard S ection
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Implementing Digital Media W riting to Engage Students with EBD
f
A
B e y o n d B e h o v io r
Table 3 Digital Media W riting Resources for T eachers
R esource N a m e
This I Believe (National Public Radio)
h ttp ://thisibelieve.org/essays/age/underl8/
StoryCorps
http://storycorps. org/anim ation/
http:/ / storycorps.org/storycorpsu/
National Writing Project
http://w w w .nw p.org/cs/public/print/resource_
topic/Digital_Writing
PBS: Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century
http:/ / www.pbs.org/parents/
digital-media / coolTools.html
Apple: iPad in Education
http: / / www.apple.com/education/ipad/resources /
Microsoft Photo Story 3
http: / / www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.
aspx?id= 11132
Pics4Learning
http: / /pics. tech4Iearning.com/
FindSounds
http: / / www.findsounds.com/
FreePlay Music
http: / / www.findsounds.com /
E x p la n a tio n o f R esource
Provides examples appropriate for students under 18.
The essays may be played aloud or read.
Provides examples of animated short stories to
demonstrate and immerse students in digital media
stories.
Provides teachers with resources on how to implement
digital writing in the classroom.
Provides resources and a list of "cool tools" such as
Google Voice and Yodio.
Provides different resources for using an iPad in the
classroom.
A free download application in which students can add
images and sounds to their spoken story in a
slideshow format. Each slide can be rerecorded so
students can edit each slide individually.
Copyright friendly images available for students to use
in their stories.
Both sites allow students to search for free music and
sound effects to use in their stories.
E d u cato r
R esources
A v a ila b le ?
(Yes o r N o )
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
and cater specifically to his needs. Jack
successfully completed his project and
following his presentation, asked to start
another storx/.
Conclusion
While many students struggle
with writing, production for students
with EBD may be even more difficult,
as they often lack self-regulation skills
and experience high levels of
frustration and low levels of
motivation for writing. Digital media
writing is a strategy for incorporating
technology into writing instruction in
a meaningful and motivating way.
This article details a strategy for
incorporating digital media into
narrative writing. The step-by-step
process, use of graphic organizers,
systematic instruction, and
opportunities for individualization
provide the type of structure that can
benefit students with EBD. At the
same time, the use of student voice
and choice throughout the process
(e.g., selection of story topic or
images) offers students a level of
independence. The final product is
completed in small steps, helping
teachers anticipate and accommodate
for potential problems, both academic
and behavioral. Digital media writing
is one way to engage students with
EBD in a positive writing experience.
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