What’s the Story?
Registration for the 2025—2026 academic year is now open!
The Jacob Burns Film Center is thrilled to welcome back elementary classes to its Media Arts Lab for a newly reimagined take on its groundbreaking third grade education program. What’s the Story? sees these young, eager students analyzing inspiring short films, creating detailed storyboards, and sharing back their wild, creative ideas with a supportive group of peers. Plus, they’ll have an absolute blast doing it!
The structure of this program allows classes to return to the Media Arts Lab for up to three visits, each with its own goals, activities, and unique short films.
*This program is for third grade students only.
What’s the Story?
Location: The JBFC Media Arts Lab
Cost: $15 per student per visit (a total of 3 visits) or FREE for under-resourced schools
Time: 9:30 AM–11:30 AM
Capacity: 50 Students (Max)
Grade: 3rd
What’s the Story?: Information for Schools
JBFC EDU What’s the Story? One Sheet
Visit 1
Visit 1 focuses on details, characters, and story sequence, and sees students analyzing two short films and storyboarding their own narratives in small groups. These stories are then celebrated and shared back with the entire class.
Visit 2
Visit 2 highlights the concept of mise en scène, or the idea that every detail in an image is important. Students view two new shorts, discuss them through the lens of mise en scène, and then become production designers as they create their very own detailed settings.
Visit 3
Visit 3 is all about real life and the idea that the most powerful stories come from within. The morning starts with two short documentary viewings, both featuring young protagonists, during which students will learn basic film language and shot types. Next, they’ll choose a personal passion and create three storyboard images that could be included in a documentary about themselves. Finally, the visit winds down with a supportive group share.
Following a successful pilot program in Spring 2025, our What’s the Story creative assessment tool will be officially implemented during the 2025-26 school year.
The assessment is designed to engage students while evaluating their understanding of key program concepts, including visual communication though film elements, incorporation of mise-en-scène details, and implementation of story elements. This innovative approach allows students to demonstrate their knowledge through creative expression while providing educators with meaningful data on student progress in visual literacy and narrative comprehension skills.
If your class is enrolled in the What’s the Story program, we may contact you to request their participation in the assessment process. Please see the interactive display below to learn more about the assessment and view results from our pilot.
Student Assessment Results
Performance Analysis (49 Students Total)
Draw pictures in the boxes and include the information from the bulleted list on the lines.
- Description
- Mise-en-scene
- Dialog/Thought
- Sound
- Description
- Mise-en-scene
- Dialog/Thought
- Sound
- Description
- Mise-en-scene
- Dialog/Thought
- Sound
| Assessment Criteria | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Film Elements
Including shot types, dialog and sound
|
Did not include any film elements in storyboard | Added some film elements in storyboard | Integrated film elements throughout the storyboard | Very creative; incorporated a variety of film elements throughout the storyboard to best support story |
|
Mise-en-Scène Details
In both pictures and descriptions
|
No details in pictures and description | Added some details in picture and description | Ample details included in pictures and descriptions | Very creative; paid attention to details and included them in every area to best support story |
|
Story Elements
Including character and setting descriptions as well as a defined beginning, middle and end
|
Story elements are not included | Included characters and setting descriptions and plot elements, but not always clear | Included characters and setting descriptions and plot elements in a clear manner | Very creative; included vivid character and setting descriptions and plot elements |
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