Description

The storyboard teaching method helps learners keep track of a narrative’s main ideas and supporting details by having them illustrate the story’s essential scenes. Storyboarding can be used when content is read aloud or when learners read independently. Checking the attention to detail that a learner puts into creating their storyboards is an effective way for you to assess reading comprehension before moving to more analytic tasks.

Implementation

1. Provide a Storyboard Template: Share with learners the storyboard template in the handout section below or design your own. The model must have several blocks that are big enough for learners to draw pictures with space for captions below.
2. Learners Draw Main Ideas: Ask learners to draw the main ideas of a story. Learners could do this after hearing a story aloud or while reading a story to themselves. Each drawing must have a short caption explaining what is happening in the picture. You could also have learners utilize applicable quotations from the story as captions.
3. Learners Share Storyboards: You can ask learners to compare storyboards with a partner or a small group. How are their storyboards similar? How are they different? This discussion can help learners clarify basic ideas in the content and help them analyze which ideas are most important.