UPDATE: Please go to richmondms.ywpschools.net to see some of the kids' Photo Stories.

Some of you had asked me to post this where you could see it. Several teachers have already tried out this idea with great success. Suggestions on how to do this in the classroom are below the picture.

This is my uncle Frank, Frank Glazer. He is 95 years old. He still performs as a concert pianist. He still teaches at Bates College. This year's project was to perform each of Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas in the order they were composed. He started in September and finished April 9. In the background is Frank's 1968 recording of Erik Satie's work; the New York Times called it the Classical Album of the Year. Frank has played with symphony orchestras all over the world. He premiered two of Aaron Copland's pieces. He began his career at aged 13 in a vaudeville show. Music, Frank says, keeps him alive.

-- Geoffrey Gevalt, YWP Director

This is is a very simple idea and form of storytelling. Get a picture of a relative or an elder you know well. Scan it into digital form, if it's not already a digital photo. Write a short -- very short -- narrative that will tell us something about the person or some story about the person. Record your narration as an mp3. Upload the mp3 audio narration to a "create a blog entry"; use Image Assist to upload the photo to the blog's body; add text to the story body and save.

Voila. You've made a Photo Story.

You will note that the power of your digital piece comes from three directions -- the words, the photo and any background sound you might add as an additional track (if you use Audacity or Garage Band). The background sound is by no means required; but if you have a little sound that evokes the person, like I did, all the better. Hope you try this idea out.
 

More details

Essentially this is a simple version of a digital story -- words, images and sound. And the aim is to have a student connect with an elder and learn something about them and learn how their story can be told in the simplest possible way but in a powerful way.

Steps:

1. Have the student choose an elder -- a relative, community member or even a historical figure -- to focus on.
2. Have the student interview the elder or research the elder or talk with someone who may have known the elder. Have them get details about the person and an anedcote.
3. Have the student write a micro story about the person -- 125-200 words (if using our site, "Create a blog." Very spare. For an audio narration. Snippets, something that can easily be vocalized. This helps the student choose detail carefully and choose information or a story that brings the person to life.
4. Have the student record themselves reading their writing. Have them do it several times, with revisions, until they sound conversational. Have the students cut out unnecessary words and go slow.
5. If appropriate, have the student incorporate a music track and make sure the volume is low or is modulated to reflect pauses. (Very easy to do on Audacity)
6. Add, if available or appropriate, recorded snippets from the elder as an additional track -- perhaps the beginning or end.
7. Save sound file. If using Audacity, export it as a mp3 file.
8. Using our sites, go to the blog entry, click edit and upload the mp3 file in the podcast box. Put cursor in "body"  and click "Image Assist" with mouse. Upload Elder's picture and choose preview size and center.
9. Save file.

Bingo!

geoff gevalt