My students want to tell their stories of living and learning in an area hugely impacted by COVID-19 while learning the craft of stop motion animation (SMA). Since distance learning began, most students have school Chromebooks, however, the fact is that many do not have regular access to physical art materials of their own---even having plain paper available for class is a struggle for some.
Stop motion animation is a perfect platform for these young heroes to communicate their unique experiences and viewpoints during this unprecedented time. SMA fuses content areas and artistic media, and as projects unfold, learners develop and extend important visual and language arts skills ranging from drawing, to building claymation characters and sets, to narrative storytelling. SMA lessons also teach important 21st century skills like digital image/audio capture and editing while also integrating other content areas such as human perception/anatomy/physiology, physics, math, and exciting students about STEAM.
Our unit explores the history and techniques of animation with students making thaumatropes, flip books, claymations, and whiteboard animations, while also providing a space where they can tell their stories of living and learning through the pandemic. Project-based lessons combine digital artmaking and more familiar, tactile 2- and 3-D artistic media, offering learners multiple entry points of engagement. In this unprecedented distance learning environment, ALL students need equitable access points to content and an equal chance to engage with learning materials and tools, and my goal is to provide tactile art supply kits to these amazing, resilient, and creative students.
About my class
My students want to tell their stories of living and learning in an area hugely impacted by COVID-19 while learning the craft of stop motion animation (SMA). Since distance learning began, most students have school Chromebooks, however, the fact is that many do not have regular access to physical art materials of their own---even having plain paper available for class is a struggle for some.
Stop motion animation is a perfect platform for these young heroes to communicate their unique experiences and viewpoints during this unprecedented time. SMA fuses content areas and artistic media, and as projects unfold, learners develop and extend important visual and language arts skills ranging from drawing, to building claymation characters and sets, to narrative storytelling. SMA lessons also teach important 21st century skills like digital image/audio capture and editing while also integrating other content areas such as human perception/anatomy/physiology, physics, math, and exciting students about STEAM.
Our unit explores the history and techniques of animation with students making thaumatropes, flip books, claymations, and whiteboard animations, while also providing a space where they can tell their stories of living and learning through the pandemic. Project-based lessons combine digital artmaking and more familiar, tactile 2- and 3-D artistic media, offering learners multiple entry points of engagement. In this unprecedented distance learning environment, ALL students need equitable access points to content and an equal chance to engage with learning materials and tools, and my goal is to provide tactile art supply kits to these amazing, resilient, and creative students.
Read more