PBS Storyboard

Today I was able to play around with the PBS Storyboard. I have to admit that when I first began to explore the PBS Learning Media I was really missing my science classes. This is my first year not teaching science. I am all ELA now. 

I quickly searched for some content on adding detail to writing for our department's PLT lesson and I was a bit bummed at the lack of stuff I found. My frown quickly turned upside down when I found Lesson Builder and Storyboard. I only spent a brief moment on Lesson Builder just to see how it worked.  I will definitely be revisiting it especially after working with the Storyboard feature. 

Storyboard is just an awesome interactive multi-media poster where students can get their learning on! In the current 8th grade ELA Narrative Reading unit we are focusing on historical fiction with the book Nightjohn by Gary Paulson. I quickly created a Storyboard with a video of the Nightjohn movie trailer, links to PBS's amazing Slavery, The Making of America, other video clips from PBS, and a video I downloaded from YouTube.  I have placed some basic captions and instruction so far, but I plan on adding more once I work out the whole plan. 

Putting the board together was easy and fun. I love the concept, the ease of use, and I am excited that the students can obtain and retain the information on their own at their own pace. There are no lost papers or lack of resources. My students will be able to see the Storyboard if they are on iPads in the classroom, on PCs in the labs, or at home. 

I will publish the Storyboard and blog more about the lessons that accompany it as well. 

Please let me know if you have used Storyboard or any other questions or thoughts. Thank you! 

Check it out:

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/tools/