Activity 3: Story lining in city neighborhoods

Setting: City neighborhoods

Estimated time: 90+ minutes

Resources needed: Paper or digital maps of the local area; copies of the draft story line showing the route and media

Organization: Participants work in small groups (between 3 and 6) with adult supervision where necessary

Purpose: Groups to experience walking their story line. They should identify whether their route is safe and accessible, whether geo-located media are appropriate to their locations and whether their draft story line is engaging and coherent.

Activity structure: Participants work in their groups to walk their planned story line route. If the group has already created a digital version of their story line then they can trial this technology.

By the end of the activity, groups should be able to make any necessary edits to their route if they encounter safety or accessibility issues. They should also evaluate whether the media they have geo-located is appropriate to tell their intended story line. The final consideration is whether their proposed story line is engaging and coherent to the story followers. Any necessary edits can be carried out either ‘on the move’ or when groups return to the classroom space.

Photograph of participant approaching the downtown Nashville court house holding smartphone — Students testing a digital version of their story line as they approach media located at the top of the steps leading to the court house.

Photograph of participants carrying a historic map as they walk along a city street — Students visiting locations they had identified on a map of downtown in the 1960’s which they had found in the special collections department of the public library.