Using Storyboards to Develop Lesson Plans
Visual Tool for Planning Multimedia Classroom Activities
Jul 5, 2009
Teachers have a large variety of multimedia and interactive options available for classroom activities and lessons. It can become confusing or overwhelming when trying to decide which ones to use and how to get these to flow well throughout the lesson time or from day to day. Creating a storyboard during the planning process can assist with determining what activities to do, when to do them and how to sequence the events.
Storyboards Help Plan Classroom Lessons
A storyboard is a combination of visual sketches and descriptive notes that help organize the details of a series of events. Though primarily used in film, animation and web design, their flexibility makes using a storyboard for lesson planning convenient.
Storyboards provide a visual aid to the traditional lesson plan. They typically combine a picture or scene with a description of what is happening at that time. Some of the same questions a teacher asks while lesson planning are also valuable when extending lesson preparation to a storyboard. These questions include:
- What do students already know?
- What should they know by the end of the lesson?
- What tools, traditional or multimedia, should be used?
- What tools can be optional or might be useful for extending the lesson?
- What activities are required for students to understand the material?
Perhaps the most important lesson planning question that relates directly to using a storyboard is, “What is the best sequence for presenting the lesson.”
How to Use the Storyboard When Planning Lessons
A storyboard will not take the place of a good lesson plan, but can enhance it when different types of media are in use. For example, a lesson might start with some necessary vocabulary which is followed by a PowerPoint presentation, short video or audio clip, more of the presentation, and some online research. Including a small visual component and a short description in the lesson plan document will help with quickly identifying or remembering the order. Pictures, especially if the same ones are used consistently and throughout various lesson plans, can be faster and easier to identify than a sentence or even a brief text description.
Though storyboards will not replace lesson planning, they can enhance it. Sequencing events, especially when using various media forms, and providing an easy to identify image with a short description can help the teacher quickly identify what should be done and when it should happen. This allows for easier and smoother transitions during the lesson, thus helping to keep students on task and ready for the new information.
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