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 story’s 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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Examples of Brush Ninja in Education
4th graders at @HarvieElem have been showcasing their knowledge on the different phases of the moon by creating GIF animations using Brush Ninja! 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔
Tweeted by Ms. Raymond
P1-4 enjoyed using Brush Ninja on iPads and chrome books. The children created comic books on class and school rules 📕 It was our 1st time an a lot of fun was had 😆 Using both Google images and our own images representing our rules
Tweeted by St Margaret's RC Primary SchoolFirst graders had a BLAST learning about animation and creating moon phases movies using #BrushNinja 🌑🌒🌓🌔 Who knew learning could be this fun?
Tweeted by Stephanie EconomosTried out a great website for 4th grade Makerspace this week. With https://Brush.ninja you can build an animated gif - great results in a short time! Easy to learn, free & no account needed. Thumbs up from students!
Tweeted by Sarah HooleySs used https://brush.ninja again today to create literal idiom gifs! In a jam, raining cats & dogs, butterflies in my stomach, etc. They shared them with me on their @GoogleForEdu drives and I made this collage.
Tweeted by Kristi Shepherd
🎨 For Digital Learning Day at @Trevvett_Elem, Ms. Lang’s Kindergarteners created animated CVC words using Brush Ninja! 🎨
Tweeted by Jessica Sop
