CURRI CULUM FORCOLLEGE I NSTRUCTORS
Table of Contents Learning Objectives
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How to Use this Packet
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About Immigrant Stories
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Schedule for a 15-Week Course
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Immigrant Stories Lesson 1
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Immigrant Stories Lesson 2
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Grading Rubric
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet: Steps for Making Your Immigrant Story Writing Assignments What Do I Write About? Helping Someone Else Tell Their Story Topics and Writing Prompts for a Personal Story Sample Storyboard: Mohamed Boujnah How to Record a Voiceover with WeVideo Tips on Sound and Images End Credits Worksheet How to Edit a Digital Story with WeVideo
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Immigrant Stories is a project of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota. This work has been made possible through generous funding from the Digital Public Library of America Digital Hubs Pilot, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Learning Objectives Students will use the Immigrant Stories website [http://immigrantstories.umn.edu] to create a digital story (a brief multimedia video made from a combination of images, text, and audio) about a personal or family immigration experience.
Goal Creating a 3-5 minute video from an original story, voiceover, and still images
Key Skills Writing and editing a personal narrative intended for an audience Multimedia literacy Basic video-editing skills
Guiding Questions What are some common immigrant stories? Who tells immigrant stories? What changes when immigrants and refugees are given the opportunity to tell their own stories? How does someone choose just one story out of a lifetime of stories? What is the purpose of the story that I want to tell? How will I tell it? If I am helping someone else tell their story, what are some of the ethics that I should keep in mind during the story-making process?
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Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
How to Use this Packet Immigrant Stories is a digital storytelling and archiving project run by the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center (IHRC). Our goal is to collect, preserve, and share stories about im/migration, race, ethnicity, and identity in the past and present. This packet is a comprehensive resource that enables college instructors, regardless of their familiarity with digital storytelling and video-editing technology, to assign Immigrant Stories as a cumulative final project using our website: immigrantstories.umn.edu. Each student will create a 3-5 minute digital story about a personal experience or the experience of someone they know. Immigrant Stories is a cumulative final project, not a course, so the project can be assigned in a variety of disciplines. Students will work on their digital stories in several stages. This packet includes everything that an instructor needs to implement Immigrant Stories: a schedule for a 15-week course, lesson plans (one to teach writing and one for technical training), a grading rubric, and a student resource packet. The student packet contains information about writing, basic instructions for audio and video editing that correspond with the website’s tutorial videos, and worksheets to help students stay organized. Instructors are frequently concerned that they lack the technical knowledge to assist their students. However, we have found that although many students have never made a video before, they are largely self-sufficient after their initial training and can easily complete the project by referring to the website’s tutorial videos. You can adapt the project’s assignments. Previous instructors have found that when students receive more feedback, their final videos are more polished. Depending on your workload, however, you may choose not to have students submit a storyboard or first video draft, or to have these assignments receive comments through peer review instead. We recommend that students create their digital story in the free Immigrant Stories website. Students can create an account and make their entire video, from the writing stage through video editing, within the website. It contains five brief tutorial videos that provide clear guidance at each step. Using this tool only requires a computer or mobile device connected to the internet. Students save their work within the website as they go, so there is no need to purchase special software or to use the same computer every time. We do recommend that students have access to a microphone or headset to record their voiceover. Please note that instructors cannot see students’ work in progress or access their accounts. Students may print out their script in order to share them with peers or their instructor. When students finish creating their video, they can download the video file. We suggest that students share their videos with instructors and peers through Google Drive, though you may choose to use another cloud storage service with sufficient space for large video files. The IHRC encourages – but never requires – students to add their stories to the Immigrant Stories collection. (See the next page, “About Immigrant Stories,” for more information about what sharing a digital story means.) Only participants who are at least 18 years old, or at least 15 with a parent or guardian’s permission, may do so. After students export their video, they can share it by completing two simple forms in the website’s final step (Step 7 of 7). If you use Immigrant Stories, please let us know! You can contact us at
[email protected]. 3
Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
About Immigrant Stories Founded in 1965, the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) and its partner, the IHRC Archives, are North America’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary research center and archive of immigrant and refugee life. The IHRC launched the Immigrant Stories project in 2013 to collect, share, and preserve contemporary immigrant narratives through digital storytelling. A digital story is a 3-5 minute video that tells a personal story. The core of an Immigrant Story is a 300-500 word story about a personal or family immigration experience. Participants write their own story, record an audio voiceover, and select images and media (such as personal photos, family documents, home videos, and original music) to create a brief video. A digital story is not an interview or a life history. It is a single, carefully-crafted story. For examples, watch the digital stories in the Immigrant Stories collection: http://z.umn.edu/iscollection The IHRC chose digital storytelling as our methodology because it gives participants complete control over how their story is told. We encourage participants to recount a story that they feel comfortable sharing publicly and would like preserved for future generations. While the project cannot accept anonymous submissions, participants control how much personal information they include in their video. The Immigrant Stories website [http://immigrantstories.umn.edu] provides free tools and training that enable anyone to make their own video. Five brief training videos break the process down into small steps and demonstrate how to use the website and its video-editing software. We teach users to make a simple video consisting of an audio voiceover, still images, and a few special effects. Our training provides enough guidance for anyone to make a polished video without being overwhelmed by technical information. Users with previous video-making experience are still able to make more elaborate videos, even though the training videos do not address advanced techniques. We define "immigrant" broadly. We firmly believe that there is no one way to tell an immigrant story, because there is no single story that represents all immigrants and their histories. Our collection contains stories from first-generation immigrants and refugees – that is, people born outside the country where they currently reside – as well as stories created by their children and grandchildren. Immigrant Stories have been created by international students, transnational adoptees, and people who might not feel that their experiences fit a particular (or just one) category. The IHRC believes that these digital narratives are important primary sources for teaching and research, both now and for future generations. Therefore, all stories submitted to the Immigrant Stories collection will be professionally preserved in the IHRC Archives. The digital stories are also discoverable through the Minnesota Digital Library and the Digital Public Library of America. Through these online libraries, the public can explore the Immigrant Stories collection alongside the collections of many other libraries, archives, and museums. All Immigrant Stories are also shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
Schedule for a 15-Week Course Students will complete a series of assignments that culminate in a digital story. Use this schedule to integrate these assignments into your syllabus. Previous instructors have successfully adapted Immigrant Stories for courses of different lengths. We recommend keeping a proportional distance between assignments.
Weeks 1-3: You may introduce students to examples of oral history, digital storytelling, and/or personal narratives before the first Immigrant Stories presentation in Week 4. Week 4: Immigrant Stories Lesson 1 (introduction to Immigrant Stories and explanation of writing assignments) Week 6: Topic statement due+ Week 7: Written story draft (script) due+ Week 9: Immigrant Stories Lesson 2 (technology tutorial and introduction to Creative Commons) Week 11: Storyboards due*+ Week 13: First digital story draft due*+ Week 15: Final digital story due. In-class screening.
*Indicates an optional assignment + Indicates optional peer review
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Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
Immigrant Stories Lesson 1 Learning Outcomes: Students will learn how to analyze a digital story and how to write their own story using the Immigrant Stories website. Relevant Pages in Student Packet: “Writing Assignments,” “What Do I Write About?” Assignments: Story topic (one paragraph identifying the story topic, the story’s main idea, and images, audio, video, text, or other creative choices) Story assignment (300-500 word draft of the student’s entire written story)
Project Introduction (25 minutes) Introduce the Immigrant Stories project. Show students at least 2 of the 4 digital stories on the website’s main page: http://immigrantstories.umn.edu Discussion questions: What did you learn from this digital story? How did the creator communicate their story? What story and multimedia elements were effective? What would this digital story tell people in the future about immigration?
Using the Immigrant Stories Website (10 minutes) Explain how students will use the website to make their digital stories. (Note: If a student has previously used WeVideo, they cannot use the same email address to create an account on the Immigrant Stories website.)
Writing Assignments (25 minutes) Explain the topic and story draft assignments. “Writing Assignments” and “What Do I Write About?” in the student packet will explain the assignments and help students brainstorm. You may choose to show the website’s two tutorial videos about writing: “Video One: What should your story be about?” and “Video Two: Tips for writing your story.” They are available from this playlist: http://z.umn.edu/istutorials Writing is the most important part of making an effective digital story. Students should craft a cohesive story with a beginning, middle, and end rather than list a series of events. Selecting a title as they write may help students develop a core message to structure their writing. Emphasize that students will read the story out loud later to record their voiceover, so it is important to write simply. They are not providing an interview transcript or dialogue like a movie. Students will receive feedback on both writing assignments, so writing should be revised at each stage. Note: The topic assignment is not part of the website. The story draft can be written in the website and printed out to submit. Students cannot edit their writing after they have moved on to the video editing stage, so students should stay in the writing section of the website for now. 6
Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
Immigrant Stories Lesson 2 Learning Outcomes: Students will learn how to plan their video with a storyboard, find and cite Creative Commons-licensed media, and record and edit simple audio and video files Relevant Pages in Student Packet: “Sample Storyboard: Mohamed Boujnah,” “How to Record a Voiceover Using WeVideo,” “Tips on Sound and Images,” “Using Creative Commons,” “End Credits Worksheet,” “Making a Digital Story with WeVideo” Assignments: Storyboard, digital story first draft, final digital story Immigrant Stories trains participants to make a simple video from an audio voiceover, still images, and a few special effects. Our training is enough for students to make a polished video without being overwhelmed by technical information. We do not teach students how to record video files and edit video clips because these skills are more technically difficult and require greater proficiency to produce high-quality results. However, if students have previous experience or wish to experiment on their own, they may do so. We highly recommend that you play the website’s three technical tutorials videos for your students as indicated below. The videos are a concise way of providing technical training. Showing students the videos increases the likelihood that students will refer back to them on their own to solve their own technical questions. The videos are available outside the website on this playlist: http://z.umn.edu/istutorials
Storyboarding to Plan Video Production (Optional, 15 minutes) Creating a storyboard is an optional step and not part of the website. A storyboard keeps students organized and provides an opportunity for feedback on the video’s design before editing. Show Mohamed Boujnah’s Immigrant Story: http://z.umn.edu/mohamedb Distribute “Sample Storyboard: Mohamed Boujnah.” Use Mohamed’s storyboard to demonstrate how a storyboard is used to plan the entire video before beginning the editing process.
Using Creative Commons (15 minutes) Show “Video Four: How to select your images” or discuss best practices for sound, video, and images using “Tips on Sound and Images” and the “End Credits Worksheet,” both found in the student packet. It is best for students to use images and audio clips that they own because of copyright restrictions. But if they need additional media, students should search for media with a Creative Commons (“CC”) license via http://creativecommons.org/ Students will keep track of all Creative Commons-licensed items with the “End Credits Worksheet” and include this information in credits at the end of their videos. 7
Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
Recording and Editing Tutorial (30 minutes) Audio Demo: Show students “Video Three: How to record your voiceover” or do your own demonstration of recording a voiceover and editing out mistakes in WeVideo using the guidelines in “How to Record a Voiceover Using WeVideo.” Students should use a microphone for best results. Emphasize that recording under ideal conditions (no background noise, practicing before recording, using a microphone) produces better results than trying to edit a sloppy recording. Video Editing Demo: Show students “Video Five: How to put your video together in WeVideo” or do your own demonstration of creating a video following the steps in “How to Edit a Digital Story with WeVideo.” Make sure to cover importing files, arranging photos in the timeline, adjusting their time on screen, animation (i.e. zooming in and out), and adding text and background music. How to Submit Digital Stories: Explain that students can download their video file from the Immigrant Stories website when they have finished exporting their video in WeVideo. Students should press the “Download Video” button and then upload their video file to Google Drive or another cloud storage service to share it with their instructor. Students may also preview their video and press the “Edit Video” button to return to WeVideo. Students can also return to WeVideo later (and make changes after receiving feedback on their first video draft) only if they have not shared their story with the Immigrant Stories project by pressing the “Share My Story” button. Therefore, students who wish to share their video should wait until the course is over. Sharing a digital story with the IHRC’s Immigrant Stories collection is optional and can only be completed by filling out two short forms on the website. Therefore students cannot accidentally share their story. If they choose not to share, no one, including the website’s administrator, can view their video. But all stories are important, so please encourage students to add their completed video to the Immigrant Stories collection! Website Troubleshooting: 1. Students can use the website on mobile devices, but WeVideo will not launch on smartphones and small tablets. Students will have to switch to a computer or larger device. 2. If a student has previously used WeVideo, they cannot use the same email address to create an account on the Immigrant Stories website. 3. We recommend using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Web browsers should be updated for best results. 4. Students using older versions of web browsers sometimes experience WeVideo opening up to a sign-in page rather than automatically launching the video editor. Students do not need to enter WeVideo login information to use the Immigrant Stories website. Refreshing the browser usually solves the problem, but students may have to update their browser if the problem persists. 8
Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
Grading Rubric Student Name: Category and Comments Story topic
Written Story
Audio
Images
Grade: Excellent
Good
Establishes a topic and message early on, maintains a clear focus, and communicates the topic creatively. The story is wellpaced and an appropriate length. The story has a beginning, middle, and end. It is compelling and told creatively. Voiceover is clear and consistently audible. If music is used, it enhances the story’s mood and matches the storyline.
Establishes a topic early on and maintains a clear focus throughout the story. The story is coherent, wellpaced, and the appropriate length (3-5 minutes).
All images are high quality and mostly or entirely original. Images are used creatively and add depth to the story. Credit screen lists all contributors and provides full citations for media not owned by video’s creator. All media is used with permission.
Credits and Citations
Voiceover is generally clear but includes some mistakes or background noise. Music matches the story’s mood but may be too loud at times. Images are good quality and match each part of the story.
Satisfactory There are a few lapses in focus, but the topic is fairly clear.
Needs Improvement It is difficult to determine the story’s topic.
The story is the appropriate length but needs more editing. It may lack necessary details, be repetitive, or drag at times. Voiceover is sometimes hard to understand due to mistakes or noise. Music is distracting or almost drowns out the voiceover.
The story needs extensive editing. It is either too long or short. It lacks necessary details or is unfocused.
Some images are pixelated or poor quality. Images are sometimes unconnected to the voiceover.
Most images are pixelated, watermarked, and/or unconnected to the story.
There is no “in between.”
Voiceover is missing or inaudible due to poor quality or loud background music.
Citations are incomplete or missing. Images, sound, or video clips are used in violation of copyright.
Other Comments: 9
Immigrant Stories College Curriculum | Immigration History Research Center
Immigrant Stories Student Packet Immigrant Stories is a digital storytelling and archiving project run by the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center (IHRC). We collect original stories about immigration through digital storytelling and preserve them in the IHRC Archives. Immigration and migration – the movement of people across international and other borders – is a major focus of the project, but we are equally interested in stories about race, ethnicity, and identity. Students choose a topic, write and edit a story, and create a digital story: a brief video with images, text, and audio about a personal experience or the experience of someone you know. Your Immigrant Story will require writing and editing, video production and editing skills, and the completion of a number of assignments designed to help you complete the final project. You will use the project’s story-making website: http://immigrantstories.umn.edu We encourage you to consider sharing your completed digital story with the Immigrant Stories project to help preserve history for future students. If you are telling someone else’s story, you will need to get their permission.
Table of Contents Steps for Making Your Immigrant Story
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Writing Assignments
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What Do I Write About?
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Helping Someone Else Tell Their Story
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Topics and Writing Prompts for a Personal Story
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Sample Storyboard: Mohamed Boujnah
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How to Record a Voiceover Using WeVideo
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Tips on Sound and Images
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End Credits Worksheet
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Making a Digital Story with WeVideo
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Steps for Making Your Immigrant Story Step One: Choose a Topic Choose a topic, explained in “Writing Assignments” on page 3. If you don’t know where to start, see “What Do I Write About?” on page 4. “Helping Someone Else Tell Their Story” on page 5 provides instructions if you are not creating a story about yourself.
Step Two: Write a Story Writing a good story is the most important part of creating your Immigrant Story. You should write 300-500 words, which will produce a story of 3-5 minutes when read slowly. Write your story in the Immigrant Stories website and print out a copy for your instructor.
Step Three: Plan Your Story You will create a simple storyboard to organize and plan your entire video before you begin recording and editing later. Making a storyboard saves time in the long run. See “Sample Storyboard: Mohamed Boujnah” for an example.
Step Four: Find Images and Sound Collect any photos, documents, music, etc. that you wish to use in your video. It is best to use media that you own, but if you need additional media, search for media with a Creative Commons (“CC”) license, a special copyright license, via http://creativecommons.org/ Use the “End Credits Worksheet” to keep track of all Creative Commons-licensed items that you include. You will put this information in credits at the end of your video.
Step Five: Put It All Together You will record your voiceover and create your video in the Immigrant Stories website using editing software called WeVideo. You will make your voiceover by reading your story in a quiet room and recording it with WeVideo using a microphone. To put your video together, you will import all your images into WeVideo and arrange them in order, according to your storyboard. You may also add effects or background music. When you are done, press the “Finish” button to export your final digital story as an MP4 video file. You can download the video file and share it with your instructor via Google Drive or another cloud storage service.
Step Six: Share Your Story You may choose to share your story with the Immigration History Research Center. To do so, press the “Share My Story” button after you export your video. You will complete two short forms on the website. You can contact the IHRC staff at
[email protected] with questions. Tip: Watch Immigrant Stories’ five brief tutorial videos for quick, helpful tips as you progress through the website. You can also watch them on this playlist: http://z.umn.edu/istutorials 2
Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
Writing Assignments Assignment One: Topic Statement Assignment: You will write one paragraph identifying the topic of your story, your story’s main idea, and some of the images, audio, video, text, or other creative choices you may use. Read “What Do I Write About?” on the next page for ideas and examples. The topic is up to you. We define an "immigrant story" broadly. Past participants have included recent immigrants, refugees, and international students as well as students who shared their family’s immigration stories and their experiences as people of color. Students have written stories about being the child of immigrants and struggling to find a balance between two identities; important objects like photographs, mementos, artwork, etc. that illustrate a part of their identity; stories about adoption, living abroad, learning and preserving languages, racism, activism, food, dance, and music. You can write about yourself or a family member, neighbor, roommate, or coworker. If you are writing about another person, read “Helping Someone Else Tell Their Story” on page 5. You will not complete this assignment in the Immigrant Stories website.
Assignment Two: Story Draft Assignment: Write your full 300-500 word story. Instructions: The most important part of making your Immigrant Story is writing a brief story. You will make an audio recording of yourself reading this story later to create your voiceover. Writing is important because an improvised voiceover is unfocused and much more difficult to edit. A 300-500 word story becomes a 3-5 minute voiceover when read slowly. You will write your story in the Immigrant Stories website. You can print out a copy of your story and submit it to your instructor. Do not press the website’s “Continue to WeVideo” button until you have received feedback from your instructor and made revisions. Once you press this button, you will not be able to edit your writing. Tips: Remember that you are writing a story for an audience. Effective writing has a beginning, middle, and end and always remains focused on your main idea. Your audience is unfamiliar with your story, so don't assume they know background information. Be descriptive instead of just listing a timeline of events, but make sure all details are relevant to your topic. 3
Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
What Do I Write About? You can write about any personal or family immigration experience. If you need help getting started, consider using one of our four story topics and writing about 1) a journey, 2) family, 3) an important object, or 4) identity and place in society. There are links to example digital stories below. The Immigrant Stories website provides writing prompts for each topic. The website requires you to answer at least three of these broad questions, but you can respond to more if you like.
A Journey
Family
Saengmany Ratsabout describes his family’s refugee journey. http://immigrants.mndigital.org/exhibits/show/ immigrantstories-exhibit/item/508
In this trilingual story, Natasha Reika Gomez recounts her family's immigration stories. http://immigrants.mndigital.org/exhibits/show/ immigrantstories-exhibit/item/572
An Important Object
Identity and Place in Society
Renita Sebastin talks about her mother's wedding saree. http://immigrants.mndigital.org/exhibits/show/ immigrantstories-exhibit/item/506
Eman Elbaeh reflects on the challenges of adapting to a new life in the United States. http://immigrants.mndigital.org/exhibits/show/ immigrantstories-exhibit/item/665
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
Helping Someone Else Tell Their Story An Immigrant Story is an opportunity for an individual to tell their own story in their own words. If you do not have a personal story to share, you can help someone else tell theirs. The person you are helping will be the subject of the story and the story teller. The digital story will be told from their first-person perspective: i.e. “My name is…” You will make the video for them. But they will review and approve your work at each step.
Permission: Approach someone who trusts you and who would be comfortable sharing a story publicly. Show them some digital stories on the Immigrant Stories website so that they understand the project. You can read the website’s suggested story topics and writing prompts, listed on the next page, together. Do not pressure them into talking about things that might make them uncomfortable, afraid, or upset. Explain that you will do the writing and editing of the story, but that they will record a voiceover of themselves reading the script with your help. They will also have complete control of how the video looks.
The Conversation: Have a conversation to collect information before you begin writing. Take notes or make an audio recording so that you can use the story teller’s own words as much as possible. This will make the story personal and authentic. You may need to have more than one conversation to ask about certain details as you begin writing.
Writing the Story: Write a 300-500 word draft of the story told from the storyteller’s perspective. You can use the website’s writing prompts if you need help. Use the website’s “My own story” option and write in the first person. You are writing a story, not providing an interview transcript.
Recording the Voiceover: Show the storyteller how to use WeVideo on the website and record themselves reading the story. You will edit the audio file and erase any mistakes.
Storyboard: You will work together to identify photos, images, etc. to use in the video. Editing the Video: Follow your storyboard and put the video together. Make sure to get the storyteller’s approval for both your first draft and final video.
Sharing the Story: You must get their approval if you want to show your video in class or share their digital story with the Immigrant Stories collection.
Telling a Family History Story: Many Immigrant Stories focus on families and the journeys and lives of long-gone ancestors. Some students have interviewed grandparents or another older relative and told the family’s immigration history from their perspectives. Other students have written in their own voice about the process of researching their family history. Whatever format you choose, do not just recount a list of arrivals, births, deaths, and major life events. Your story still needs a main theme and to be organized and focused around that theme. 5
Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
Topics and Writing Prompts for a Personal Story These topics and prompts, found on the website’s “My own story” track, can help you begin writing your story. Choose one topic and answer at least three questions.
1. A story about a journey a. b. c. d. e. f. g.
Describe the place or places where you grew up. What was your life like there? Why and how did you leave? Where did you go? Who came with you? Who did you leave behind? Why? What did you bring with you? What did you leave behind? Why? How did you feel when you left? Describe how your life is different where you live now. Add something else.
2. A story about family a. b. c. d.
Describe the members of your family and their relationships. How did some of your family members meet? Where has your family lived? Did you always live together? What important experiences has your family shared? How did each person feel about these experiences? e. How has your family changed over time? f. What do you want your family to know? g. Add something else.
3. A story about an important object a. b. c. d. e. f. g.
Describe the object. How did you get this object? What does this object mean to you? What people or experiences does this object make you think of? What role has it played in your life? How has its importance to you changed over time? Add something else.
4. A story about identity and place in society a. Who are the people who have most influenced your life and how have they affected you? b. Where have you lived and how have those places affected your life? c. What are the experiences that have most influenced you and why? d. What do you want others to understand about you and your life? e. Add something else.
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
Sample Storyboard: Mohamed Boujnah Media, Text, and Effects
Story
Title slide: “Med Khalil Boujnah Presents: Immigration Story”
One of the main struggles that immigrants face and have always faced is learning how to get around in a new country.
Picture of me reading a map on the University of Minnesota campus
When I first came to America, I had a very hard time getting around. In Tunisia, where I was born, I was not used to walking everywhere, reading maps, or taking public transportation.
Map of Tunisia
In Tunisia, people do not use maps or GPS. The greater Tunis area which is urbanized,
Picture of buildings in Tunis
is less than 100 square miles, in comparison to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul urban area, which is over 1,000 square miles.
Picture of a street in Tunis
The small urban size of Tunis makes it easier for citizens to have mind maps and use reference points when giving people directions.
Picture of Coffman Union on the University of Minnesota campus
Here in the Twin Cities, it is much harder to do that, so paper or digital maps are used.
Picture of two streets signs in Minneapolis
When giving directions in Tunisia, they tell you the name of the street and what is close by. Here, in the U.S., people give you the cross streets and show you a map.
Picture of me pointing to a map and asking someone for directions
This was a major problem, since when I first came to America, I did not know how to use a map.
Picture of me standing alone on a street corner in Minneapolis, looking at a map
Unfortunately, I was too shy to tell people that I did not understand maps. For a time, I carried a map around since people would reference it so often,
Picture of me throwing a crumpled up map into a trash can
but I ended up disposing of it, since I still did not understand how to use it and asking people was much easier.
Picture of a bus in downtown Minneapolis
Taking public transportation posed another struggle. I did not know the names of the streets or the bus stops,
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
but I knew some landmarks around Minneapolis to help me navigate through the city. Picture of me talking to a bus driver on a bus
I would ask the bus driver to tell me when the bus arrived near a certain landmark, but more often than not the driver did not know where that landmark was.
Second picture of me talking to a bus It was hard for me to distinguish between certain buses, driver on a bus like the 3A, 3B. I would often get on the wrong bus and have to find my way back, which made getting around even more complicated. Picture of me driving a car
Lastly, in Tunisia, I would drive everywhere and I knew where everything is. But here, I have no car and so I have to walk everywhere. Since at first I did not know the city very well,
Picture of me lying on a bed, looking exhausted
I would always get lost and walk for a very long time. It would cause me to become very frustrated.
Picture of an intersection in Minneapolis
When I did have a car to drive, I was not used to all of the driving regulations and rules here. My very first day of driving I got a parking ticket. Wrong way parking.
Picture of a parking ticket on a car’s windshield
I did not even know that that slip of paper on my car’s windshield was a fine. It was very upsetting for me to receive a punishment for something that is legal in my home country. I did not understand what I had done wrong.
Graphic of an unfamiliar road sign
It took me a while to get used to all the different rules and signs in America.
Picture of someone holding a map
After considering all of the obstacles and challenges I faced while trying to get around, it was very hard for me to assimilate to American transportation, maps, and directions.
Another picture of me standing on a street corner and reading a map
Now, after three years, getting around is way easier and I finally learned how to use maps…
Scrolling credits with the title, author, and license type for all Creative Commons-licensed photos I used
but not actually. Thank you very much for watching!
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
How to Record a Voiceover Using WeVideo A voiceover is a sound recording of you reading your story like a script. You will record your voiceover in WeVideo. Follow these four tips to make recording a high-quality voiceover easy.
Recording Tips One: Use a microphone. A microphone will make you sound clearer and eliminate some background noise. You can use a simple USB microphone or a headset. Two: Practice reading your script out loud before you record. If you keep making the same mistakes, consider changing those words. You can read your script on screen as you record by clicking the "View Script" button. If you prefer reading from a piece of paper, you can print your script too. Three: Record in a quiet room. Make sure there are no people talking nearby and no noise from fans, lights, or your computer. If your computer is noisy, move your microphone away from it. Four: Speak slowly and pause between sentences. If you make a mistake, stop and repeat the sentence from the beginning. You can cut out your mistakes when you are finished.
How to Record Open WeVideo and press the microphone icon at the top of your screen. Start reading when the countdown finishes. When you are done reading, press the stop button. WeVideo will save your file when you click on the green check mark.
Erasing Mistakes If you want to remove a mistake at the beginning or end, trim the file by moving your mouse to the edge of the box. When your mouse changes shape, click the edge of the box and move it until you do not hear your mistake when you play the file. If your mistake is in the middle, find the spot and click the scissors icon. Your file will split into two files but everything will sound the same. Trim the two new clips to remove your mistake.
Using Other Software If you prefer to record and edit your voiceover in another program, you can upload your finished voiceover into WeVideo by pressing the green Upload Media button at the top of your screen.
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
Tips on Sound and Images Recording Audio
Start with a story. Practicing reading the story out loud to find awkward phrases and to make sure you stay within your time limits. Record in a quiet space. Try to avoid interruptions and background noise from fans, buzzing lights, and keeping your microphone too close to your computer or camera. Avoid pops and hisses. The letters P and S can make distracting sounds, so point your microphone slightly away from your mouth. Speak slowly and pause between sentences. The pauses will make it easier to cut out flubbed lines and edit good lines together. Do your best to speak well, but edit your final audio file. You can cut your mistakes out of your voiceover file by using WeVideo.
Gathering Images and Music You may use still images, video clips, and music to tell your story. Images: Use your own photographs and documents when possible. Scan them at a high resolution so that your digital story will not look blurry when played on larger screens: at least 400 DPI (dots per inch) is best. You can adjust this setting in your scanning software. Music: Music files should support the mood of your story. The volume should be soft enough to hear your voiceover. When you need additional media to tell your story, get permission to use someone else’s photos, or look for media in the public domain or shared via a Creative Commons license. You cannot use everything you find on the Internet because of copyright laws.
Finding Images, Sound, and Video via Creative Commons
The Creative Commons website helps you find media with Creative Commons licenses on a number of popular websites, including Google Images, Flickr, and YouTube. To search, visit: http://search.creativecommons.org Select "modify, adapt, or build upon" Do NOT select "use for commercial purposes" Type keywords into the search bar When you find something you want to use, record the following information for your credits: (1) creator’s name (2) name of the work (3) type of Creative Commons license Ex. Paul Welmer, "Minneapolis Skyline," CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
End Credits Worksheet Your digital story must include end credits that list any images, video clips, or sound files you do not own or make yourself. Use this worksheet to record each work’s author, title, and license.
Finding Authorship and Licensing Information Flickr: The names of the image and its creator appear below the image on the left-hand side of the screen. Click on the blue “Some rights reserved” link or the “More Details” button on the right-hand side to find the license information (if it is not already displayed).
YouTube: The video’s name, creator’s name, and license are displayed under the video. Google Images: Any webpage may be discovered through Google Images, so citation information will vary widely and require some detective work. Google Images often brings up results from Flickr, YouTube, and Wikimedia (where all items are in the public domain). Tip: While your initial search results will have Creative Commons licenses, Google’s suggestions for “related images” usually do not.
Author
Title
Type of License
Example: Steve Lyon
"Minneapolis Skyline"
CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
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Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
Making a Digital Story with WeVideo Adding Photos and Other Files Your voiceover should already be in WeVideo’s timeline, the area at the bottom of your screen. You can view the screen in storyboard mode, which is very simple, and timeline mode, where you can play multiple audio, image, and video files at the same time. We recommend timeline mode. Import your pictures and other media into WeVideo by clicking on the green Upload Media button at the top of your screen. You can add files from your computer or social media accounts.
Arranging Photos When two or more files, such as your voiceover and a picture, are stacked on top of one another in the timeline, they will play at the same time. Place your images on top of your voiceover by clicking on a photo and dragging it into the timeline. Arrange your images in order. Then set the length of time that each picture appears onscreen by clicking on the edge of its thumbnail image and dragging it. A pop up window shows how many seconds the picture will play on screen.
Special Effects: Zooming and Movement Double click on your photo and WeVideo will open an editing menu. Adjust a photo’s size and position in the Transform tab. Use the Animations tab to make the camera zoom in or out on your image. Select a starting and ending point. Preview the effect by pressing the play button in the preview window. When you are finished, press the “Done editing” button.
Add Text Click the Text button at the top of your screen and choose a template. Drag the text slide on top of an image on your timeline to create a caption, or place it at the end of your video to create end credits. Double click on the text slide to open an editing menu. Write the text you want to see and adjust its size and style.
Background Music Drag your music file into the timeline and put it under your voiceover so that the files play at the same time. Adjust the volume of your music so that it does not drown out your voiceover.
Finishing Your Video To export your video, press the Finish button and WeVideo will create your video file. When your file has finished exporting, you will return to the Immigrant Stories website. There, you can download your video file and choose to share it with the project. 12
Immigrant Stories Student Packet | Immigration History Research Center
