Taking an idea through the storyboard process
Joe walks into the classroom. The kids are restless.
A voice from the back pipes up, "Where's the chalk?"
Laughter.
"Maybe someday I'll tell you," Joe retorts, grinning. "Last time, remember, we melted your brains and sent you hyperventilating into the story vortex, trying to come up with tons of story ideas in just fifteen minutes. You voted on your favorites, correct?"
The class replies with a collective, "Yes!"
"You've created a monster!" Joe exclaims with a Frankenstein-like voice. "A monster we are going to wrestle and tame today with a storyboard, until it's finished and ready to be a movie."
"Okay, let's review your favorite story ideas. Good? Good!" Joe claps his hands.
"Group number one, what did you settle on?"
A spokesperson from the first group stands nervously. "Our story is about a turtle lost on an icy lake, looking for its mother."
"Excellent! You've got your character, your setting, and a juicy problem!" Joe praises enthusiastically.
"Group two, spill it. What's yours?"
Another student jumps up. "A boy steals a rocket, flies into space, then realizes he doesn't know how to land it!"
"Spectacular! Love the drama," Joe exclaims. "Group three, what’s yours?"
"Our story is about a diaper that's texting while walking down the street, then gets hit by a car."
"Brilliantly bizarre," Joe laughs. "You really can animate anything—no matter how bonkers. A texting diaper, that’s a first. Let's hope it's unused!"
The class giggles.
"Group four, lay it on me."
"Our story is set in a bowling alley. A ball is getting bullied by bowling pins because he can't knock them down."
"Absolutely love it," Joe shouts. "Stories about being lost away from mommy, flying up without knowing how to fly back down, the dangers of distracting devices, and a story from the gutter, about bullying."
Kids look on quizzically with grins.
"Everybody has had - or will have - some form of these problems in life: we get lost, we have hard landings, we get distracted, and we get bullied and laughed at." Joe suggests.
"If your audience has had similar problems, and we all have, they'll be more interested in your movie. They'll want to see how your characters solve their version of the problem."
"So great rough start! But we haven't solved the problems yet. Enter the storyboard!," Joe holds a blank storyboard high above his head and waves it around dramatically. "This is the problem solver!"
Joe sets the storyboard down, and turns to write on the board. "Look, let's back out to talk about the process of making any movie. Filmmakers divide making mocies into three phases," Joe writes on the board.
Pre-production (planning)
Production (filming, animating)
Post-production (editing, sound design).
"We are in the planning phase and your storyboard will become the instruction book. this will be your film’s blueprint."
Joe pauses.
"Here is the tricky part. We have enough time together to make a one minute animation. My experience teaches me that you'll need to plan your movie to play out in about ten scenes." Joe offers. "If you can do that, I'm confident we can finish your movie with the time we have left together."
"We need to get working on this with a sense of urgency." Joe pauses. "Who doesn't like drawing?"
Several hands shoot up.
"Perfect! You non-artists get a pencil. We just need stick figure drawings today. The worse your storyboard sketches, the better. Keep your drawings as simple as Pre-K non-artists."
The class laughs and eagerly accepts pencils from Joe. "We'll do good art later, but getting our ideas in the right order with simple sketches comes first."
"The Animation Chefs demonstrate this in this short clip. We’ll see how they take their idea and map it out. Remember, they chose a story about a remote control falling into a sofa, and old remotes in the sofa are coming at it like zombies - groaning and limping. Let's see how they plan it all out."
Joe plays the 4-minute video.
The lights come up.
"Right," Joe asks. "It's pretty simple. How do we start based on what you've seen?"
"Decide what the audience need to see first?" students respond.
"Exactly!" Joe applauds. "What is going to be the best way to get your audience interested? There is no right answer! Nobody has made this movie before."
The kids' faces grow more serious as they realize the work they are about to do.
"Let's do this," Joe continues. "Discuss amongst yourselves what kind of scene your movie should start with. Will you show the setting? The characters' face? Your call. Take a few minutes, then we’ll discuss."
The kids huddle and figure it out.
Five minutes go by and all the groups are ready with their first scene, sketched out with simple stick figures.
"Let’s see your ideas for the first scene. Group 1: Turtle in the snow missing mom."
"We want the first scene to be way back in the distance during a snowstorm, with a tiny baby turtle crawling along in the snow," the spokesperson for the group offers.
"Group 2: Rocket pilot out of control?" Joe asks.
"We want to show the whole launch pad and the rocket with a tiny animation of boy sneaking up to the rocket."
"Group 3: Diaper crosswalk text-tastrophe?" Joe asks.
"We want to see a text thread on a text screen with a message saying ‘hurry up, you’re late’ on the screen, and then, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming…’ and you can't tell who is texting because it is just a hand holding the phone."
"Group 4: Bowling bullies?" Joe urges.
"We want to show a bowling ball sitting on a rack with other bowling balls, and a big hand comes in to grab it."
"I love those messy drawings! Non-artists rule!" Joe continues. "You’ve all got me interested in what comes next."
"You’ve got 9 more scenes to invent. Ask yourself this question: What happens next?"
A messy stick-figure storyboard
Joe suggests, "Simple as that. And after you've sketched your idea, ask 'then what happens?' and sketch that. Keep asking what happens next until you get about 6–8 scenes in. This is when the storyboard starts to grind your idea into an ending," Joe frets in a worried voice.
"Remember, there is no right answer. All you have to do is decide as a group on how it ends. Your story’s ending is going to gradually reveal itself to you."
The groups seem puzzled.
Joe continutes, “This is going to take brainstorming, negotiation, and talking things over. You’ll have a bunch of ideas for an ending, but you’ve got to pick one for today. We may change it later, which is why we are using pencil. But pick a good clear ending for that tenth scene.”
Joe pauses, then continues with a corrective tone. "BTW. A big BTW! Two rules about the 'ending' in our stories." Joe turns to write on the board.
1 - No 'to be continued' endings. "This movie is not the MCU or any other franchise. It is a one-time thing. In our case, 'to be continued' means you gave up thinking about how your story ends. Not allowed."
Joe comically scrunches his eyebrows into a mean look and writes the next rule.
2 - No 'waking up from a dream.' "One of the oldest endings in the book. Nope, not going to let you do that. It’s another cheat. Unless you are Bob Newhart," Joe looks at the teacher in the back with a smile.
With the kids wondering who Bob Newhart is, Joe continues on the board.
"To review:
What comes first?
What comes next? (asked many times)
How does it end?
"These are the basic questions we are answering."
Joe puts the marker down.
"Simple—and challenging!"
"Remember in kindergarten, when you sorted a pile of mixed-up pictures into the right order? That is kind of what we are doing here. We are experimenting with the sequence. Take your messy mixed up imaginations and let's make some order, a plot, a story, You can erase when you change your mind. Don't press too hard with those pencils." Joe encourages.
"If your character has to speak, just make a speech bubble in your storyboard. We will polish up the dialogue later, so just jot down the words in the speech bubble as a placeholder today.
"You’ve got twenty minutes for your first draft," Joe declares. "Drawings in all ten squares! Ready? Set… Go!"
The groups panic. Twenty minutes seems to short, but they huddle as Joe holds the stopwatch high.
Twenty minutes later, Joe calls time.
"Wow! As I’ve walked around, I've loved the messy sketches, erase marks, your bulging eyeballs, and dialogue ideas scribbled all over the place."
"Put away your storyboards. Let them incubate for next time. Then we’ll plan some more."
"What does ‘incubate’ mean?" one student calls out.
"Has anyone raised chickens in here?"
One hand goes up in the back.
"Is that when you put the eggs under the heater lights to help them hatch faster?" the young voice ventures.
Joe smiles. "Exactly! Instead of a heater, though, we’re just going to put these storyboards into your group folder. Then we’ll let them sit. And like little chicken eggs, they will hatch into better storyboards next time. You'll have new eyes to raise them into a fully grown story."
"Awwwoohhh," the class groans. "Let’s do it now!"
Joe nods toward the teacher. "No, I think that’s enough for one day. We’ve mapped out your blueprint. And I think you’ve got math to do. See ya next time!"
Joe tiptoes out of the classroom.
Who is this Joe fellow?
Meet Joe Summerhays: The Storyteller Who Makes Classrooms Cinematic
Joe Summerhays is the creative force behind Animating Kids, the globally adopted media literacy platform that turns traditional learning environs into movie studios and students into visual storytellers. With over 25,000 kids and educators trained across 20+ countries, Joe has redefined what it means to be literate in the 21st century — reimagining stop motion animation, storytelling, and digital production into a media making skill set for the next generation.
An award-winning creative executive in software, TV, publishing, and advertising, Joe brings a seasoned eye and playful spirit to education. Through his signature colored Animation Chef Hat Levels (inspired by karate belts), students and teachers alike progress from animation basics to full-on film production — all while hitting ISTE, AASL, and P21 standards for digital fluency and creative communication.
Animating Kids isn’t just a curriculum — it’s a movement. A toolkit for schools. A legacy for media coaches and tech specialists. And it all flows from Joe’s belief:
Media skills literacy is the new reading and writing for the Tiktok/Youtube generation.