Scaffolding Digital Storytelling Part 2

Scaffolding idea #2. Now that I have created a script for a digital story on Thomas Jefferson (see previous post), I thought it would be helpful to break that down to illustrate the questions that I answered in creating the script. These could be used for any type of digital story on a historical person.

• What idea or event connected to this person stands out most to you? [Words of Declaration of Independence]
• How does this person's life (ideas, accomplishments, etc) influence your life today? [War in Iraq, Holy Wars near and far]
• What do people overlook about this person's life? Is it important? [Contradictions; democracy is an experiment; its success rests on the citizen]
• How does this person's life help you understand an idea or historical event in greater detail or from a different perspective? [These words were radical for that time and set the course of history to follow]

The other scaffolding idea was to gather images for a digital story on Ben Franklin, but as I started to do that it became clear that you really need to know what you want to say before gathering images to tell a story about a person. It may work for other types of stories, but I found that when you have a dozen portrait style pictures that's not really going to help you write a script. It will help with the later stages of producing the story. If I were telling a digital story about the attack on Pearl Harbor that's different. You'd have maps, graphic images of the aftermath, FDR's reaction. With a historical person like Ben Franklin, it might be harder. I can still do it. He was involved in so many things. I wonder why he never ran for president. Was he too old by the time we needed someone with his wisdom and experience?