Process

Create your Story:

Step 1:

The first step to creating a story is to pick a topic and do some research.

With your partner, decide what your story will be about. You now need to find three of four facts about that topic to include in your story. For example, if you were writing a story about a sloth, you would need to find out some information about sloths. Where do sloths live? What do they eat? What eats them? These are all things you can put in your story.

To research your topic, print off this worksheet - Use this worksheet to help you on your search. Before you start searching for information on the web, brainstorm some words that will help you find good information. For tips on search terms, check out the Resources page. Once you have your search terms, go to your search engine and type them in.

When you find your facts, don't forget to write down the website where you found them. You need to cite your sources.

Here are some good search engines to use: To return to this site when you are done, be sure to open these in a new window. "Right Click" on the search engine you want to use and click "Open in New Window".

[|**kids.quintura.com**] [|askkids.com] - ask for kids [|**kids.yahoo.com**] [|www.grokker.com] [|www.clusty.com]  [|www.google.com] http://cybersleuth-kids.com/ http://www.kids.net.au/ http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/

Step 2

Now that you have found some interesting information about you topic, it is time to build your story.

Here is a sample flow chart.

Layout your story using Microsoft Word. Each square of your flow chart equals one slide of your story. This will help you see how your story links will work.

Also, use Word to write the text for each slide of your story. Your story must have an introduction and at least two choices for your reader.

Step 3

It is now time to find pictures to go with your story.

You can create your own using Paint. (To open paint, go to the //Start// Menu and look in //Accessories.//) Or you can find some on the Internet. Try these image search engines:

[|**kids.quintura.com**] http://picsearch.com/ http://pics4learning.com/ http://commons.wikimedia.org/ http://www.eol.org/

Don't forget to write down where you got your images, you need to site them in your story.

For more information on getting pictures off the web, go to the Resource Page

Step 4

Time to put it all together into an interactive digital story.

Use Microsoft PowerPoint to create your story. Your story should have a title slide and a credits slide. The number of slides in between depends on your flow chart. Use hyperlinks to connect you slides and create the story branches.

For more information on how your story will be evaluated, click here.

Step 5

When your story is complete, upload it to the Library section of our wiki space. Click here to get to the Library.

Continue to the Conclusion.