An interesting story

Partner schools create an animation story in which the main characters are animals that face a threat or a problem. Each pupil chooses an animal and writes its animal’s role in this story.

Age Group: 5-12 years

Level: Advanced

Duration: 1-3 weeks

ICT tools: TwinSpace, Kerpoof, Tux paint, scanner

Pedagogical Objectives

Through this activity, pupils:

Improve creative writing and ICT skills and develop their imagination.
Become more self-confident by revealing their inner selves while impersonating an animal.
Develop their arts and crafts skills.

Process

Step 1

Pupils work in pairs to decide on the beginning of a story and the characters who will take part in their story. Using Kerproof or Tux Paint, they draw the environment and the characters of their story and provide a step-by-step scenario for the beginning of the story. They then publish the beginning part of their story and wait for their partners to continue it. Alternatively, pupils can sketch their stories on paper and then scan them to their partners.

Step 2

Pupils in the partner school continue the story, following the same process as in Step 1. They can also introduce more characters if they so wish.

Step 3

Steps 1 and 2 two are repeated several times, depending on how many schools are involved and the impact the exercise has on the pupils, until the story is finished or new stories can be created.

Outcomes

The pupils have created a story together which entails a significant role played and written by each participant.

Tips

The story has no defined scenario. The procedure is decided by pupils who write each part of the story as a continuity of their partners’ writing. The key word is interaction. Schools can also use this activity as a final product of a project, e.g., developing an environmental project where pupils express their ideas or what they have learned using the story. This activity is very good for young pupils or for pupils with learning difficulties who cannot easily express themselves in writing.

Links:

- Kerpoof: www.kerpoof.com

- Tux paint: www.tuxpaint.org