Today we used StopMotion to create a short movie which demonstrates a concept for our learners. The concept I demonstrated was working together to overcome challenges. I used play dough to create the characters. The characters were three 'blobs' who needed to get over a rocky hill.
This was a really enjoyable 'create' task. I worried I had not collected enough footage for the movie, but was surprised by how many photos I could use multiple times in the clip to strengthen the storyline and emphasise the concept being demonstrated.
If I was to use StopMotion again, I would increase the number of photos, and reduce the size of each movement between photos. This will create a smoother motion of the characters.
I feel that my learners would be hugely engaged in a task like this. However, I do wonder how long it would take to complete a task of this nature in the class setting. It would be necessary, as with all learning experiences, to question what the purpose would be of creating a StopMotion movie with my learners, and whether the time that would be spent creating it would be beneficial to my learners.
I can imagine that creating StopMotion movies could be effectively used for rewindable learning with learners in the junior school, for example, by using play dough to create numbers and letters. However, I do not know how often I would use this technique for rewindable learning, and in my own reflective practice as a teacher of year 5 and 6 learners.
What a great day we have had! This task required problem solving throughout the whole process and a lot of collaboration and sharing of ideas.
This turned out awesome Hannah, I knew your creation would be great! Working together was a great idea to work with, and an idea which is relevant to every learner. I may even show my Seniors! Look forward to seeing what you create in the future after reflecting upon this one.
ReplyDeleteWow, Hannah, we had a similar concept and I really like how yours panned out. Well done, I think your learners will really get the benefit out of seeing this and it might help inspire some writing or creation from them! Can't wait to see what is coming next :)
ReplyDeleteI really like how we all manage to put our own twist on similar concepts. We are always learning so much from each other!
DeleteThanks! What a great day we had creating these movies! Looking forward to many more creations to come!
ReplyDeleteGood work Hannah and realistic reflections. The long term Pt Englanders in your class will have done this in earlier years using iPads. I can animate is a programme we own for our Macs as well and shortens the process considerably. Good to learn how to do it manually though as you did on Friday. If you are interested in taking it further I could point you to the work of one of our original lead teachers , Jo Day, who did this for a whole year with her year 5/6 learners. Got super shifts in writing!
ReplyDeleteHi Dorothy, thanks for the great tips of how I could incorporate stop motion into the classroom at a year 5/6 level. It will be great to see how Jo Day used it in her class for writing!
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