Storyspinner is an exciting and challenging addition to the teacher / pupil dynamic in the classroom. Over six lessons, aimed at KS3 English students, Storyspinner builds a creative relationship between the students, their teacher and a professional writer. The writer does not need to enter the classroom and can be many hundreds of miles away.

Structure

StorySpinner is structured as a series of six lessons, covering key curriculum areas. The online writer initiates the story and presents the pupils with a series of narrative dilemmas which they have to solve. After each session, their solutions are fed back to the writer who provides comment and generates the next stage of the story. This is sent back to the school to form the basis of the next lesson. A specially developed website acts as a hub for all communications, and sends automatic confirmations or reminders to keep both writer and teacher in pace.

Mixed Media

A significant extra dimension is added by the writer providing a movie-style trailer for each episode. This is made possible by the use of simple software provided. It enables the writer to blend text, images and sound - either drawing on StorySpinners own library, making use of pictures provided by the pupils, or created or sourced by the writers themselves.

Partners

The StorySpinner project was initiated by Teesside University together with Creative Partnerships in the Teesside and Nottingham regions. It was devised by digital writer Tim Wright, in association with KMA Creative Technology Ltd. It has been successfully piloted in Manning School, Nottingham, and Hallgarth School in Middlesbrough, with writers Mark Gwynne-Jones and David Napthine.

To read about how StorySpinner has already been used in schools, click here.