Create a Story and Make it a Video

Objective: Students will write a 15 sentence story in the past, present and future. They will then turn their video into a movie using flip cameras.

Lesson 1: Students will use the Internet to find a picture that they like (this could be any picture or it could be a picture that relates to what is being done in class). Students will then work on writing a rough draft of their story. They will write 5 sentences about what happened before the picture (in the past tense), 5 sentences about what is happening in the picture (the present tense) and 5 sentences about what will happen after the picture (the future tense). ( This part of the lesson may take several days.)

Lesson 2: After students have finished writing their story and the teacher has edited it. Students must now decide how they are going to depict their story as a movie. They will have time to plan out their video. Students may act out what happens in their story, ask classmates to help them act out the story, use a series for pictures, use toys/figurines, etc.

Lesson 3: Once students have decided on how they will depict their story they can start to record. Students will use the flip video cameras to record their movie. If they are acting out their story they will be able to use the tripod or ask a class mate to do the recording for them. **It is important that the students are also recording themselves reading the story as the depiction is occurring. (This part of the lesson may take several days)

Lesson 4: When all the students have finished recording their movie, we will watch them as a class. Students will have questions to answer about each others' videos. (The questions will be created by the student that wrote the story.)


Students are graded on their written story, the creativeness of their video, their speaking as they read their story through the video



NYS ESL Standards covered in this lesson:

Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding.

Standard 2: Students will listen, speak, read and write in English for literary response, enjoyment and expression.

Standard 4: Students will listen, speak, read and write in English for classroom and social interaction.


ISTE NETS Standards for Students in this lesson are:

1: Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

2: Communication and Collaboration:Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media.
b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media
and formats.

6: Technology Operations and Concepts: Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
a. understand and use technology systems.