Project Plan

The story I would like to tell is the beginning. It is an introduction to characters that will come up again so we are meeting our characters for the very first time. We enter the story through Miss Teacher, the first human from the village to teach at Hemlock Elementary in more than a hundred years. In her class she is introduced to Molly Marsi a trans mummy with lesbian mummies, Sammy Stein a Jewish werewolf living with his mom dad and 6 brothers, George Gillman a lagoon creature of greek descent living with his mother and sister, Gina Gorganna a gorgon who lives with her mother and two aunts her father was accidentally turned to stone and lives in their garden, Alex Abramovici a catholic vampire who lives with his dad. There are more characters to be added down the line, and I can customize it to reflect any students in my class that may feel underrepresented. The intent of these stories (there would be more than one) are multifunctional. First is to develop, nurture, and advance the reading skills of my students. Second is its a tool to teach the kinds of lessons that are one of the primary functions of schools as an institution, training students social behaviors that are acceptable so they are ready to engage in the world after school. Third is teaching lessons about things that are not in the curriculum: kindness, acceptance, manners, how everyone is different and that makes us all the same, morals, ethics, etc. The goal is to help young students to develop into well rounded individuals. 

The story is simple. It is the new teacher’s first day of school. She is nervous. She is human. She arrives to her first class and is happy to see the sea of little monsters before her. She introduces herself and has her class tell her who they are and a little about themselves. One by one they tell her their names and about their families. At the end she reminds them that her name is Miss Teacher and she shares about herself. The class leaves happy to meet Miss Teacher, and Miss teacher is not nervous any more. This is the StoryCore. The Transformation is where the new teacher is nervous at first but after everyone introduces themselves her nervousness goes away. The solution are the introductions and how not knowing anyone can make you nervous but after you introduce yourself there’s nothing left to be nervous about because now you know someone a little. I am unclear if that would constitute the “moral of the story”, maybe I’m splitting a hair between the idea of that and actual morals as in philosophy like Kant. Except for level 4 and 8 there are aspects of the other 6. Because the intended audience is younger the story arc is not complex. The script would be simplified as well since it is intended for teaching newer readers. 

The digital format that the story would be presented in is a tool for pre-visualization for it to be developed into children’s books done in ink and watercolor that would then be published. This provides the opportunity for more stories to come after the first one, for more lessons to be learned, and more characters to be introduced that would reflect the myriad of students in the school/world. I am developing them in my artist tool Procreate and plan on using Keynote (Powerpoint) to minimally animate the story and potentially add voice overs or music for in class presentation. I have already begun character designs. The digital creations can then be used as E-books that can be put onto tablets, computers, phones, and a myriad of other technology devices. I am adapting an idea I had while in my undergraduate at Southeastern where I was studying art (drawing, painting, etc.). There was a cartoon when I was a child called the Muppet Babies which is semi influential in the depiction difference between the children and the adult who’s face will never be shown so that it could be any teacher and the kids can assign how they look in their imagination. 

This story will have many applications in the educational environment. We can tackle real world issues that the students themselves experience day to day. It can provide positive responses to situations for teaching students to modify their behavior. It can just be a fun story the students get as a treat. The only limit to the use of the story is the limit of age appropriate imagination. 

The story meets 1.1.a connecting the students with the content and the goal being we are going to learn to read this book. And the book may be presentable in multiple formats both technological and analog. 1.1.b because I am the creator of this content I can customize it for the environment my students are learning in. This way I can modify quickly for need or representation. We can modify it so the students are engaging with content that reflects real world issues in their own lives either ones they are currently experiencing and some they may face soon. It can meet 1.7.a presenting them with varieties of backgrounds, diverse viewpoints, and expanding their understanding of the world. 

Right now, since I have to build it from the ground up from design to presentation, I intend to utilize my experience with artistic tools I currently have at hand that I have discussed before in prior classes. Procreate is my artistic tool within which I can create line drawings and even add color and really polish each character. With this tool I plan for crude animation with its layering. It is possible I could try to fully animate at 24 drawings per second but that is a lot of work and I wouldn’t have time to teach. For presentation I can then use Keynote, the Mac equivalent of Powerpoint where I would be able to control how long it takes to work through the story especially if there are students struggling with their reading and we can use it as an opportunity to work together and even break off into small groups. 

For assessment of the stories I would be reviewing any research or programs on effective efficient methods of literacy instruction for early grades K-3 which would be the target audience. Do they meet the educational standards necessary for early educational instruction. I would also review child psychology studies to make sure that any of the information presented is correct, responsible, and age appropriate. I would also reach into the past with works such as Aesops Fables and other similar books that have been used for decades or longer teaching children life lessons outside of regular curriculum and either modify or update those kinds of stories that are necessary in a functioning society. 

Oral, written, recorded audio, recorded video, digitally, the only thing that has really changed is the method for delivery. Digital storytelling is vital in the 21st century because of how the world evolved. Dr. Imed Bouchrika provided me with a lot of useful information. I am going to see if BookCreator is the best tool to bring all the elements together, so I’m not having to Frankenstein’s monster this project too much to get it to work the way I would like. I believe Dr. Shannon told me to try it in one of our communications.