Shadow Puppet: A Digital Storytelling Tool for
Teaching Elementary, Middle, and High School ELLs
Dr. Christine Rosalia, crosalia@hunter.cuny.edu
Assistant Professor of TESOL at Hunter College, NYC
Rachel Gorman, racgorman@gmail.com
MA TESOL Student at Hunter College, NYC
What is digital storytelling?
A digital story is a short movie that combines audio voice recording, images, gifs, video, and music. In the classroom, students can create digital stories to tell a narrative, inform others about a topic, argue a point of view, explain a step-by-step process (such as a science experiment), display an art portfolio, or make a picture book come to life.
“Research shows that digital storytelling can provide students with rich opportunities: (a) to explore, express, and reflect on themselves; (b) to enhance critical thinking; c) to foster academic achievement; and (d) to build leadership skills” (Angay-Crowder, p. 38).
Digital storytelling is especially effective for English Language Learners (ELLs) because it challenges them to use language in new, creative ways, while recognizing that literacies are multiple and dynamic.
“Not satisfied with having students only read someone else’s words or experiences, I wanted students to struggle with their words and experiences, to work as writers and readers, and to reinvent their understanding of how they functioned within that role” (Kajder, p. 67).
Advantages to using the Shadow Puppet app:
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Includes ideas for projects in all content areas (ELA, Social Studies, Math, Science, Art)
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Aligned to Common Core State Standards
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FREE on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
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Intuitive to use and easy to share or export videos
Comparison to a similar digital storytelling app Adobe Voice
using Chapelle’s (2001) framework for evaluating Computer-Assisted Language Learning*
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Shadow Puppet
http://get-puppet.co/
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Adobe Voice
https://standout.adobe.com/voice/
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Design differences
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Made with schools and younger students in mind. On screen
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Made for more commercial, broad purposes
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Editing
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Once saved, “revising” means making copies of the original (This could be useful for seeing stages of development, but also takes up more room on a device)
Drawing is an option.
Edu image search (e.g., NASA, British Library, Creative commons)
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Offers “projects” that can be edited, duplicated or renamed.
Icon search available
Templates that include music and different background options
Creative Commons image search
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Language Learning Potential*
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Video editing language such as “trim video”, “include audio”, and “reorder”.
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Has built-in story frames (called “story guides”) with embedded “prompts, such as “Promote an idea: with the embedded guide: “Describe the world today. What’s the setting or context for your story? OR show who you’re helping”
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Meaning Focus*
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Open-ended and constructivist
Ideas and samples generally written for teachers to use on the website and within app
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Story frames: Promote an Idea; Tell What Happened; Show and Tell;Personal Growth; Teach a Lesson; Invitation and an open-ended blank template called “Start from Scratch”
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Learner Fit*
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Elementary to middle school
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Possibly better for high school and older students
More advanced reader-writers
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Impact*
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Positive; connections to sharing with schools; publishing and internet safety guides
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Positive; connections to sharing on broad community
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Practicality*
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Free
iPad; iPhone only (Not for Android yet)
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Free
iPad; iPhone only (Not for Android yet)
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Example of a High School Student Using Shadow Puppet (writing an original story) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6EiDwS4mdxOU19MZFVoQVBmeW8/view?usp=sharing
Screenshots of Video Production in Shadow Puppet
1. Students select photos and/or video from 2. Students can drag and drop photos and
their device’s Camera Roll: clips to reorder them:
3. Add text or captions to photos: 4. Record voiceover of student narrative:
Sample of Digital Story competitions
http://www.eyewantchange.co.uk/blog/
http://www.distco.org/rules/
DITSCO rubric
✅✅✅✅
Rubrics used in our language teaching of digital stories:
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4 - Excellent
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3 - Good
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2 – Needs improvement
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Points
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Preparation
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Turned in written
and recorded drafts for feedback
Incorporated feedback as appropriate
Completed by due date
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Turned in written OR recorded draft (not both)
Incorporated some feedback
Completed one week late
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Did not turn in draft
Did not incorporate feedback
Completed more than one week late
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4
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Story
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Created coherent narrative
Evoked emotion
Provided sufficient details
Demonstrated story economy
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Created somewhat coherent narrative
Evoked some emotion
Provided some details
Demonstrated some story economy
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Created incoherent narrative
Evoked little emotion
Provided insufficient details
Did not demonstrate story economy
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4
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Language, Pronunciation
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Used appropriate language and pronunciation
made minor errors that do not interfere with meaning
Used appropriate stress and intonation, stressing content words and important ideas
Paced the story well
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Used somewhat appropriate language and pronunciation
Made some errors in stress and intonation, sometimes losing meaning
Paced it a little too fast or slow
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Used inappropriate language and pronunciation with many errors
Made many errors in stress and intonation
Paced the story poorly
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4
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Yeah!
2 Extra Points
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Turned in more than one written and recorded drafts
Did extra work at home on the project
Went the extra mile
Showed creativity or innovation
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TOTAL SCORE
(out of a possible 12)
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12
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Another example of a digital story task and rubric used in an Advanced ESL Classroom:
Digital Storytelling Project
Task: Pretend you are an expert on the Syrian refugee crisis. President Obama has asked for your advice on what to do about this problem. Your job is to help President Obama by presenting your position (backed by claims and evidence) on the question below:
Should the United States be doing more to help Syrian refugees?
You will make a 2-5 minute digital story to persuade President Obama to follow your advice on this important topic. See the rubric on the back of this page for what to include.
What is a digital story????
A digital story is a short movie that combines audio (voice recording), pictures, and music to tell a story or express an opinion. We will create digital stories using iPads. You will learn more about this in class and we will watch examples of digital stories.
Digital Storytelling Project Rubric:
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3
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2
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1
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Hook
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Digital story begins with an interesting hook to engage the audience
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Digital story has a hook, but it is not very engaging.
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No hook
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2. Description of the problem
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Clearly describes what is happening in Syria and why refugees want to leave
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Description of problem is unclear or incomplete
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No description of problem
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3. Position
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Clearly states position (yes or no)
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Position is unclear or difficult for audience to understand
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Does not say position
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4. Claims
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Contains at least 2 claims to support the position
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Contains only 1 claim, or claims are unclear
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No claims
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5. Evidence
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Contains at least 2 statistics to back up claims
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Contains 1 statistic
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No statistics
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6. Rhetorical Questions
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Uses at least 2 rhetorical questions
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Uses 1 rhetorical question
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No rhetorical questions
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7. Vocabulary Phrases:
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Uses all 3 vocabulary phrases correctly:
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Syrian Refugee
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Seek Asylum
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Humanitarian Aid
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Uses 2 vocabulary phrases correctly
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Uses 1 or no vocabulary phrases
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8. Conclusion
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Summarizes position at the end of the video and lists important claims
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Summarizes position without listing claims
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No conclusion
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9. Pacing and Tone
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The speaker speaks slowly and clearly so audience can understand. Uses tone to emphasize important points.
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Speaker talks too fast or too slow, always with same tone. Sometimes hard for audience to understand.
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Impossible for audience to understand
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10. Images and Pictures
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Uses powerful images that relate to the topic
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Images do not relate to topic
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No images
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References
List of scholarly articles to guide your practice in implementing
digital storytelling in your classroom
Angay-Crowder, T., Choi, J., & Yi, Y. (2013). Putting multiliteracies into practice: Digital storytelling for multilingual adolescents in a summer program. TESL Canada Journal, 30(2), 36-45.
Doering, A., Beach, R., & O’Brien, D. (2007). Infusing multimodal tools and digital literacies into an English education program. English Education, 40(1), 41-60.
Dreon, O., Kerper, R.M., & Landis, J. (2011). Digital storytelling: A tool for teaching and learning in the YouTube Generation. Middle School Journal, 42(5), 4-10.
Chapelle, C. (2001). Computer applications in second language acquisition: Foundations for teaching, testing, and research. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Hull, G.A. & Katz, M.L. (2006). Crafting an agentive self: Case studies of digital storytelling. Research in the Teaching of English, 41(1), 43-81.
Kajder, S. B. (2004). Enter here: Personal narrative and digital storytelling. The English Journal, 93(3), 64-68.
Karchmer-Klein, R. & Shinas, V.H. (2012). Guiding principles for supporting new literacies in your classroom. The Reading Teacher, 65(5), 288-293.
Sadik, A. (2008). Digital storytelling: A meaningful technology-integrated approach for engaged student learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 56(4), 487-506.
Sylvester, R. & Greenidge, W.I. (2009-2010). Digital storytelling: Extending the potential for struggling writers. The Reading Teacher, 63(4), 284-295.
Vinogradova, P., Linville, H. A., & Bickel, B. (2011). “Listen to My Story and You Will Know Me”: Digital Stories as Student‐Centered Collaborative Projects. TESOL Journal, 2(2), 173-202.
Yoon, T. (2013). Are you digitized? Ways to provide motivation for ELLs using digital storytelling. International Journal of Research Studies in Educational Technology, 2(1), 25-34.
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