“Hear a Story, Tell a Story, Teach a Story”: Digital Narratives and Refugee Middle Schoolers

In spring 2013, nine ESL refugee middle schoolers participated in the “Hear a Story, Tell a Story, Teach a Story” project, a digital storytelling unit designed as an extended-hours literacy intervention. Working with a lead instructor and five undergraduate interns one afternoon a week for eight consecutive weeks, the refugees learned about traditional story structures by telling an autobiographical story and then translating the narrative to film, using simple moviemaking software. Though they struggled with reading and writing in English, the students exhibited a sense of academic confidence when presented the opportunity to compose a digital story.