Thirteen Ed Online - Story Time

Story Time

This lesson is meant to be used in conjunction with the online comic book Overboard, a 13-episode, interactive "soap opera" aimed at pre-adolescents and young teenagers. Overboard is part of wNetStation's Web companion piece to MOYERS ON ADDICTION:CLOSE TO HOME, a PBS series on the nature -- and consequences -- of alcohol, and substance abuse.

Story Time will encourage students to make optimal use of Overboard's story lines, its characters, and the complex issues they face. Students will explore the site's many facets, including Overboard's ongoing plot; rich, interactive character biographies; discussion forum; substance abuse annotations; and "Back Pages Comix," ancillary tales based on stories submitted by students.

Story Time will help students identify the elements that make for good storytelling, such as mood and characterization, and plot devices like foreshadowing. Through this lesson's activities, students will have opportunities to analyze, reflect, investigate, and create their own work.

Grade Level:

5-8

Subject Matter:

Language Arts, Health, Social Studies

Curricular Uses:

Creative Writing, Textual Analysis, Drug and Alcohol Awareness

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Identify the elements that comprise narrative stories.

Make inferences about characters based on contextual clues.

Investigate the possible effects of various substances on an individual's body and behavior.

Devise and respond to questions pertaining to issues surrounding substance abuse.

Create their own mixed media comics, demonstrating story conventions such as characterization, setting, foreshadowing, irony, etc., through text, hypertext, and graphics.

This lesson was developed by Sarah Feldman, National Project Director, NTTI.

Overview | Procedures for Teachers | Organizers for Students