Pleasant Street students record stories to send around the world and into the future

This week, the library at the Pleasant Street Elementary School was converted into a television studio manned by fifth graders who filmed all students in the school participating in video storytelling. It was all made possible by a grant secured by fifth grade teacher Sonya Roberts.

The grant Roberts won was a Title II-D technology grant, federal dollars awarded through the state's Department of Education. It was good for $10,000, which purchased three laptop computers, digital cameras and video cameras as well as other accessory equipment. The funding also brought in consultant, and retired integrated arts teacher Larry Frates, who set up the studio and is oversaw its operation.

The equipment will be used, Roberts said, "having each student in the whole school tell a digital story." Each class can select its own topic for a story. A second grade class chose to tell what they've learned about rocks. Another grade recited poetry.

Roberts' students are "e-pals" with fifth grade students in Kodama Elementary School in Japan, so they've decided to produce a documentary about Pleasant Street School and send it to their friends on the other side of the world. Their e-pals are working on a reciprocal project.

Helen Tautkus, a student of Roberts, said for her part she chose to document the food that Pleasant Street students eat. "I thought the people in Japan would want to know about the food in America just like we want to know what kind of food they have."

Tautkus wrote a script for her portion of the documentary and took pictures of food served in the cafeteria: pizza, macaroni and cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and carrots. She then sat in the studio and read her script while the producers incorporated her photographs into the background.

Hunter Wyatt, a fifth grader, is one of the 14 students acting as producers of the video stories.

What does a producer do?

"We're working together to make everyone's story perfect," she said. How do they do it? "Doing digital storytelling, composing videos with their picture behind them."

The producers direct the presenters, operate the cameras and improvised teleprompter, and digitally place the background art created by the students.

Kate Persson, a producer, said a copy of the finished product will be placed in a time capsule at the school to be opened by a future generation of students.

For Abigail Crowell, being a producer is a unique opportunity. "It's fun because no other fifth grader gets to do this but us, it feels awesome."

"Awesome" and "fun," but also educational, according to Roberts. The students engage with technology in various forms, which they use to further develop their language fluency. Students have to write their own scripts, practice reading them, read them in front of the camera, and then watch and listen to their recordings.

A notable aspect of the grant's design is that it provides the school with equipment and expertise that can be applied to nearly any learning going on in the classroom. Roberts said, "You can really structure it however you want to fit it into the curriculum."

Principal Charles Dodson liked watching the project take shape. "We talk a lot about twenty-first century skills, here they are in action. Practice writing, practice speaking, to see fifth graders sitting at a mixing board, these are skills they'll use in the workplace."