Teaching sequence

5 minutes - Tune in: Storytime!
10 minutes - Find out: Indigital Edutech and Mikaela Jade
35 minutes - Take action: Storyboarding and concept creation
5 minutes - Reflection: Gallery walk

Tune in: Which Indigenous stories are you familiar with?

Step 1. Give students 1- 2 minutes to Think - Pair - Share about Indigenous stories they’re familiar with. Bring the class together and list them.

Step 2. Explain to students that ‘keeping stories alive’ is very important - especially to Indigenous cultures. Have students watch this video from Wunungu Awara

Wunungu Awara Animation - Wunungu Awara (www.monash.edu/arts/monash-indigenous-studies/wunungu-awara)

Ask students to list 3 - 5 points on why using digital technologies are important in Indigenous storytelling. They may also complete this in the Student Worksheet.

Find out: Mikaela Jade and Indigital Edutech

Step 1. As a whole class, watch the clip on Mikalea Jade and discover how she was inspired to start Indigital Edutech.

Indigital - Using AR for Aboriginal storytelling - Questacon (youtu.be/noPFpWMdWcA)

Step 2. Hold a class discussion with the class. You may like students to enter their answers in the Student Worksheet.

What do you find interesting about Mikaela?
Where did she find her inspiration?
What new technology inspired her blending of ideas?
How can technology help indigenous people share stories?

Step 3. Watch this next clip to see how Indigital is being used in schools in remote and regional areas to combine digital technology with cultural understanding. Bringing the knowledge to the next generation and involving them as content creators.

Indigital Schools in action! - Indigital (youtu.be/txfvXIellrI)

Take action: Creating Storyboards

Step 1. Explain that students will be using storyboards to communicate a simple action-reaction.

Step 2. Watch Mayapa U Budj Bim - Wunungu Awara (www.monash.edu/arts/monash-indigenous-studies/wunungu-awara/animations/budj-bim)

Step 3. Explain that in this film, we see several actions and reactions. For example, one man lays down on the land (action) and then becomes an erupting volcano (1st reaction) which then changes the landscape (2nd reaction).

Ask students to identify other actions and reactions in the film. List them.

Students will be using 6 storyboarding panels to capture:

Actions (man lays down)
Reactions (man becomes a volcano)
Setting (low-lying land that is changed by the volcano and lava)
Feelings (optional - think! How would animals have reacted to lava coming toward them?)

Students should be encouraged to come up with an idea of their own or, even better, tell their own stories! While Indigenous stories need to be shared through generations, and some can be shared with non-Indigenous peoples, it is not good to use stories, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, without appropriate permission. Some stories are sacred, and some are for limited audiences.

Using either the Student Worksheet, some paper, or another digital storytelling tool (teacher’s preference), In each of the panels, try to communicate a simple idea - a character acts and then has a reaction. Encourage creative design!

Step 4 (Extension). If students want to develop their work further, they need to choose a medium to present their work on:

Low technology options: creating a flip book of drawing to animate the story.
Medium technology options: using the storyboard frames (photographing them and using a voice-over to explain the story) in iMovie or a similar program
High technology options: using stop motion, Aardman animator for, claymation or AR to recreate the character and key story events. (this option will require additional time to complete)

Reflection

Step 1. Depending on how students created their storyboards, organise a way for students to share their work - you may consider a gallery walk!

If students used pen and paper, they could put their work up around the room.
If students have used digital tools, they may be able to create a shared folder and review each other’s work using their devices.

Having students guess what the ‘action-reaction’ was is a good way to tell if students were visually communicating their ideas effectively!

Differentiated Learning

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool Australia, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance with positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes long, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Go further:

Look at the Indigital website and investigate winners of the Minecraft challenge, where students use Minecraft to create virtual worlds and share Indigenous knowledge.

Could you create something similar?

Minecraft Challenge Winners - Indigital (indigitalschools.com/minecraft-challenge-winners/)

Indigenous Storytelling Using Digital Technologies

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Summary

Lesson Guides and Printables

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