Category: Weekly Reflections

In this week’s class, we explored the world of creating stop-motion animation films. Stop-motion films utilize a technique of taking hundreds (or thousands) of photos while making small changes to figures in the scene to depict movement. Once the pictures are stringed together chronologically, the figures appear to move! I remember making flip books in elementary school and being amazing by my creation of a ball bouncing across the pages. I think stop-motion films can take this wonder to an entirely different level.

Stop-Motion Filmmaking in the Classroom

There are a number of different cross-curricular connections that can be made for stop-motion filmmaking. Here are a few connections I made to the curricular competencies found for grade 5:

• ADST (Applied Design Skills and Technology)
  • Students will design, ideate, prototype, test, and make a stop-motion film.
  • Improving their digital literacy (applied technologies) by using stop-motion applications and devices.
• Arts
  • Create artistic works collaboratively and as an individual using ideas inspired by imagination, inquiry, experimentation, and purposeful play
  • Adapt learned skills, understandings, and processes for use in new contexts and for different purposes and audiences
• English Language Arts
  • Use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create texts for a variety of purposes and audiences (making a script)

While researching this subject, I found a great comprehensive guide to planning and implementing a stop-motion project in the elementary classroom. Alecia Kaczmarek provides a how-to for getting started, how to introduce the topic, steps for students to follow, and worksheets to help them draft a script and plan their scene.

During our class, we created stop-motion films using the mobile app ‘Stop Motion Studio’. This app was very user friendly, making it a great option for student projects. Here is our creation:

I am looking forward to implementing this project in my future classroom. It is not only a great way for students to learn how to create a stop-motion film, but also a way for students to show what they have learned. For example, if you are doing a unit on Shakespeare, students can recreate a famous scene of their choosing. The possibilities are endless!

This week we watched a short documentary film titled ‘Most Likely to Succeed’, which explored a progressive and innovative new way of teaching at a school called High Tech High. Located in San Diego, California, High Tech High is a school where there are no standardized tests, no traditional homework, and no worksheets. Teachers here are given the discretional freedom to teach what they want and how they want. The lack of worksheets and tests made some parents feel nervous – “how do they know what information my child is retaining?” one parent had asked. Which, rightly so. As a parent, you should be invested in your child’s education, and generally the goal is to ensure they are prepared to live an independent and fulfilling adult life. “I just want her to be happy” the same parent remarks. 

   One of my key takeaways from the film is that students learn best when they have choice, autonomy, and the ability to use their hands to create things. Instead of a test to pass the class, students were tasked with creating and designing a project that they would present to their community at the end of the school year. It was inspiring to see the amount of work the students put into their creations. One group of students designed an elaborate wheel and cog system showing the multiple interlaying reasons behind the rise and fall of a civilization. One part of the project was not working in the way the student intended it to, leading to many late nights. “It’s challenging not to step in and help them find the answer”, their social studies teacher remarked.