Community Mascot Documentary - Creative Community Research

This Digital Storytelling Unit is designed to be completed over the course of three to four weeks. Students, working in teams of three to four, will explore core curricular content and be required to make an engaging and creative short video about that content. This Digital Storytelling unit is part of a larger initiative called Meridian Stories (www.meridianstories.com).

Each Digital Storytelling Unit:
• Should take three to four weeks to complete;
• Is aligned to Common Core Curricular Standards;
• Contains an Evaluation Rubric that allows the teacher to clearly score and appraise the students’ work;
• Is designed to be integrated into the classroom; and
• Can be assigned as an extra credit project to teams of students that you think would benefit from this kind of alternative, deep learning experience.

This digital storytelling unit begins with that unusual breed of characters known as the Mascot. What are mascots? Generally, they are animated or costumed characters designed to represent the spirit of a community, as well as inspire that community to succeed (usually in sports!). This unit asks each team to design a mascot for their community; to create a graphic character – with a defined look, voice, personality, background setting and ‘mission’ -- that reflects what the team learned from canvassing the community for input.

The final form for their digital story is a short documentary film that showcases the community research and ends with the presentation of their mascot, in still or animated form.

Meridian Stories' Community Mascot by Meridian Stories is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.