Pinepoint tells the story of the death of a Canadian town. In reality, though, it is a story about memories and how those memories contain both truth and falsehoods. The story’s theme is stated explicitly: “If we’re not careful, though, we grind it down to raw superlatives, with none of the banalities or complications that make truth feel true” (Simons & Shoebridge, 2011). The banalities and complications are what made this story feel special. This digital story is a quirky combination of photos and child-like drawings; sound effects and voice-over interviews; videos and government documents. The combination of drawings overlaying real images supported the theme of the ephemeral nature of memories. It invites the viewer to experience the town, its residents, the historical time frame, and the local industry in a way that felt tangible, as if being invited to sit down at a kitchen table to thumb through a scrapbook of the era. The story auto-played, but it also included an interactive table of contents, allowing you to choose specific elements to revisit. Interactive pieces within the pages also allowed the viewer to interact with the story, much like flipping the pages of an album or journal.
This digital story is an incredible exemplar for narrative writing and for showing alternative ways to organize and sequence that writing. It also helps middle and high school students understand the value of publishing their written work and to see what teachers mean when they refer to an “authentic audience.” This story, and ones like it, can be connected to a wide variety of content and ISTE standards.
ELA Writing Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 focuses on writing narratives using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 focuses on using technology to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.9 speaks to drawing evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
ELA Speaking/Listening Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.2 asks students to integrate multiple sources of information using diverse media or formats.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5 focuses on the strategic use of digital media in presentations.
This digital story is also a great example of ISTE Digital Citizen 1.2.b as the authors contributed to their community by creating a tribute to their town and the many ways that they and their community members existed within it. Students also would meet ISTE Knowledge Constructor standard 1.3.c as they curate information to demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions. A digital story should always meet ISTE Creative Communicator standards, allowing students the freedom to communicate their ideas using digital media.
Pinepoint is a story about a place. The story shares insights about the characters in the town, the type of life they lived, and the eventual death of the town. These insights connect more broadly the value of community and how it shapes us (Lambert, 2010). Ohler’s Story Core was evident throughout (Ohler, 2012). The DST introduced the problem of the town, PinePoint, that died. Throughout the exploration of the town’s life and death, the DST examined the transformation of the peoples’ lives who had been touched by the town as well as the geographic transformation of the land itself. The solution focused on the insights that the memories led to, with particular emphasis on the “banalities that make the truth true” (Simons & Shoebridge, 2011). I think what made this story so powerful to me was the fact that the storyteller clearly owned their emotions concerning PinePoint, but those emotions also extended to me. I was able to relate to the story of a town and the impact it had on the people living it and that that impact invariably differs as widely as humans do.
References
Lambert, J. (2010). Digital storytelling cookbook. Digital Diner Press.
Ohler, J. (2012, October). Story making tools. storyconcepts. https://storyconcepts.blogspot.com/2012/10/story-maps-shapes.html
Simons, M., & Shoebridge, P. (2011). Welcome to Pine Point [Interactive documentary]. National Film Board of Canada. https://pinepoint.nfb.ca
Hello Robin, I really enjoyed reading your post! I also chose Pinepoint and thought it was such an interesting way to tell a story. I loved how the pictures, drawings, and sound effects made you feel like you were actually experiencing the town and its memories. I also agree that this would be a great example to show students how creative they can be with digital storytelling. It really shows how technology can bring a story to life!
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