Digital Storytelling 101: Using Brush Ninja for Narrative Storyboarding and Creation Lesson Plan
Learning Objective
Students will learn how to use Brush Ninja, an animated GIF maker, to create a narrative storyboard and produce an animated GIF.
Materials
- Computers or tablets with internet access
- Brush Ninja website
- Paper and pencils for sketching storyboards
Procedure
- Introduce the concept of digital storytelling and how it can be used to convey ideas and emotions using animation.
- Explain that students will be using Brush Ninja to create their own animated stories.
- Show students the Brush Ninja website and demonstrate the basic features of the software.
- Explain how they can use different brush strokes, colors, and frames to create a moving story.
- Ask students to brainstorm ideas for their own stories on paper before beginning their digital creations.
- Instruct students to sketch out a storyboard detailing their storyβs events on paper before starting their digital creation.
- Encourage students to use their storyboard as a guide while creating their animation using Brush Ninja.
Assessment
Student animations will be assessed based on creativity, quality of artwork, clarity of storytelling, and effective use of animation techniques.
Extension
As an extension activity, students can share their final animations with classmates or even post them online for others to view. They can also explore other digital storytelling tools and create more complex animations.
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How to animate with Brush Ninja
This video teaches the basics of using Brush Ninja
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Tweeted by Pamela ReeceThanks @hreitDIS for coming amd doing brush ninja with out kiddos. Kids read an article and created a gif to represent the main idea.
Tweeted by Chad PhillipsSo much fun with @TechCoachRobles this morning as we challenged these ALPHA students to learn about an environmental justice hero and create a representative gif using Brush Ninja. They were fabulous!
Tweeted by Rachel FriedrichKids blow me away!!! Itβs absolutely incredible how they take an idea and run with it. Check out this Brush Ninja GIF where this student explained an idiom. Wow!
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