Sketchcast

What: Use simple sketches with overlaid audio to create a story.

Ease of use:

Simple registration and some practice required! This exercise is particularly effective if you have access to a Wacom tablet to do the drawing, but it's not essential.

Writing application:

Building a story using a sketch and overlaid audio is certainly different. Stories produced using Sketchcast have a very immediate impact on an audience.

A trial run with students first is essential to give them time to get used to the mouse to draw, and linking it with audio. We suggest students move on to building a simple story draft and then produce the story in pairs. One to read, the other to draw.

Using Sketchcast is a wonderful way of explaining show, don't tell in a narrative! For example, if you are describing a character, you might depict him as unpopular, while revealing him through your sketching as having saucer eyes and sharp teeth.

Suited: Secondary school.

Teaching with an existing text:

Exploring or explaining a concept is particularly suited to Sketchcast, and has many applications. If you're reading a story that includes a map, you might ask students to draw a simple recreation, explaining the important features as they draw. Another approach is to ask students to draw a timeline and explain the events as they mark them on the timeline.

Combining drawing and audio can be difficult, and requires concentration. Students that know the material they are explaining will finding this task a challenge, those that are not as familiar as they should be will find it very difficult!