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

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