Back to SRL Storymaker Resource Library

Challenge | 4-6 weeks

Living through a natural disaster


OVERVIEW

Living through disaster

This assignment is for young people living through a natural disaster who have the desire and ability to tell a story about the event and its aftermath. Safety is paramount, so do not put yourself in harm’s way, however if you have a smartphone or another camera/device to record what’s happening around you, Student Reporting Labs wants to hear your story.

Review this short tutorial on how to film using your smartphone, and this tutorial about how to record a video diary.

ACTIVITIES

Tell your own story: If possible, before the natural disaster or extreme weather event, describe how you and your family, friends and/or neighbors are preparing. What steps are you taking? How are you finding good information about what to do and where to go? Do you have to evacuate, gather emergency supplies, or shelter in place? How are you trying to stay safe during the event? In the aftermath, what has changed and how are you feeling? For inspiration check out Amira’s story about how Hurricane Maria affected her Puerto Rican community in 2017.

Tell a story about someone else who is helping: How are family, friends, community members pulling together? What kind of help are you receiving (or not receiving) from the local, state, and/or federal government? Are there community organizations, faith groups, and/or nonprofit organizations stepping in to provide support? What kinds of informal networks have popped up to take care of your community? How are you getting good information about what’s happening?

When telling your own story or interviewing another person, think about both the emotional and practical challenges of living through a natural disaster. How are you and those around you dealing with fear, uncertainty, loss, and change? What concrete steps need to be taken to keep people safe and get back to a sense of community healing or normalcy.

Extension activity: Several months after a natural disaster has occurred, interview someone working to re-open a school, business, place of worship, recreation center, or other community gathering place that was damaged. How are things going? What obstacles have they faced? Did they receive help? How are they feeling and what do they want others to know about their experiences? Capture their story.

NEW THIS YEAR! PITCH YOUR STORY

This year, instead of submitting fully produced stories, SRL invites students to pitch their story ideas first.

PRO TIPS BEFORE BEFORE PITCHING YOUR STORY:

  • RESEARCH: Spend time doing research, talk to people you’d like to interview and shape your story idea.
  • WATCH: this short video about pitching
  • REVIEW: this pitch example before submitting your idea.

SUBMIT YOUR PITCH:

SUCCESSFUL PITCHES WILL:

  • Show clear evidence of research
  • Tell a compelling story
  • List specific people you intend to interview

If your pitch is selected, you will work with an SRL Youth Media Producer to further develop your story for publication. If selected, a team member will contact you within three weeks of your submission.

Issue

​​A subject or problem that people are thinking and talking about

Source: Cambridge Dictionary

Community

A group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, or neighborhood). It can also be a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race, etc.

Source: Merriam Webster

Timeliness

Immediate, current information and events are newsworthy because they have just recently occurred. It’s news because it’s “new.”

Proximity

Local information and events are newsworthy because they affect the people in our community and region. We care more about things that happen “close to home.”

Solutions

Investigating and explaining, in a critical and clear-eyed way, how people try to solve widely shared problems. Solutions journalism focuses on responses to problems.

Source: Solutions Journalism

Human Interest

People are interested in other people. Everyone has something to celebrate and something to complain about. We like unusual stories of people who accomplish amazing feats or handle a life crisis because we can identify with them.

Interview

A conversation between two or more people where the purpose is to gather information and facts. The interviewer asks questions and the interviewee provides information based on their knowledge about a specific topic or issue.

Empathy

The term “empathy” is used to describe a wide range of experiences. A generally definition is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. In media-making, creators can have empathy for their subjects and the audience can empathize with the characters.

A-Roll

The primary video and audio that drives your story from beginning to end.

Montage

A selection of separate sections of video that form a continuous, edited piece.

Expert

A person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.

Broadcast News

Non-fiction video or audio communication about topics of public interest disseminated through broadcast or digital methods including tv, radio, streaming, and social media.

Historical Sources and Evidence

Historical inquiry is based on materials left from the past that can be studied and analyzed. (NCSS D2.His.9.9-12 - D2.His.13.9-12)

Determining Helpful Sources

Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of the sources. (NCSS D1.5.9-12)

Engineering Design

Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants. (NGSS HS-ETS1-1)

Earth and Human Activity

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity. (NGSS HS-ESS3-1)

Language - Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 9–10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.6: Acquire and use accurate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Change, Continuity, and Context

At its heart, chronological reasoning requires understanding processes of change and continuity over time, which means assessing similarities and differences between historical periods and between the past and present. (NCSS D2.His.1.9-12 - D2.His.3.9-12)

Demonstrate the use of basic tools and equipment used in audio, video and film production.

  • CCTC AR 2.1: Assess workplace conditions with regard to safety and health.

Gathering and Evaluating Sources

Whether students are constructing opinions, explanation, or arguments, they will gather information from a variety of sources and evaluate the relevance of that information. (NCSS D3.1.9-12 - D3.2.9-12)

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence. (NGSS HS-LS4-1)

Demonstrate writing processes used in journalism and broadcasting media.

  • CCTC AR-JB 2.1: Demonstrate how to cultivate sources for stories.
  • CCTC AR-JB 2.2: Demonstrate how to obtain information to use in writing a story.
  • CCTC AR-JB 2.3: Develop written stories for print and broadcast.
  • CCTC AR-JB 2.4: Demonstrate how photographs support the development of stories.
  • CCTC AR-JB 2.5: Employ knowledge of the similarities and differences among editorial, feature, and news writing styles.
  • CCTC AR-JB 2.6: Define the terminology associated with journalism and broadcasting.
  • CCTC AR-JB 2.7: Develop a complete radio project.
  • CCTC AR-JB 2.8: Develop a complete television project.

Speaking and Listening - Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Writing - Research to Build and Present Knowledge

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Writing - Text Types and Purposes

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Reading - Key Ideas and Details

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Topics

Climate Change

Video Production

Science

STEM

Levels

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Materials

Mic

Video Conference Software. IE: Zoom or Google Meet

Camera or Mobile Phone

Notebook

Estimated Time

4-6 weeks