Use of the storyboad when children create stories

So far in DigiStory we have experimented with two types of techniques to get children to invent a story. One of them is allowing them to work individually, developing their own characters and drawing the plot up within storyboards. I have developed a little video that illustrates the practice. The advantage of this approach is that the children develop their imagination and zero in on the characters that they like. We have found the use of storyboards highly effective for this because the storyboard presents a sequence where the children can develop a plot in an orderly sequential manner. Using blank pages does not seem to be as conducive to sequential plot development as children seem to then concentrate on doing just one illustration. Story boarding seems to be more conducive for the children to think in terms of small sequences of events tied together which then they can illustrate.





Individual work also allows children to explore the situations that are of importance or relevant to them. I had for example a little girl developing a story about a crab caught in a fishing net, and this story meant something to her because her father took her fishing frequently and her father was abroad and she missed him. Individual work therefore seems to allow children to explore their own emotional issues within a safe environment. Group work seems to do different things.... More about this later on.