This is an article that I was asked to write which was sent to the parents and friends of the school:

A students learning to write and speak has been one of the hallmarks of a North Shore education. Over the past fifty year, transmission of ideas has shifted to include more visual information, including pictures, images, movies, and videos. Over the past four years, we have made a concerted effort to develop a student’s visual literacy not only as a consumer, able to properly decode and interpret the information being consumed, but also as creators of new digital stories to share understanding and new ideas.

Students, from Senior Kindergarten through 12th Grade have been creating  digital stories as part of the their curriculum. In each of these cases, students are asked to answer a question. Students then are challenged to create a narrative that will answer that question by transferring their own passion and emotion. After planning using a script or a story-board, students then assemble the images, movies, music, and text that they will need to be able to create and craft their story. Through this process, they are learning to develop this aspect of their voice.

Amy Kenyon, third grade teacher, and I recently showed highlights of several of the projects at the Illinois Computer Educators conference last week in St. Charles, IL.  These projects include:

First Grade – Community Unit
Winnetka
North Shore

Third Grade
Classroom of the Mysteries
Colonial America

Eleventh Grade
13 Days that Changed American History
What Did Vietnam Mean?

There are several other stories in process, especially in the Middle School, that are not quite ready for public viewing.