We talked about how the camera was stable and discussed ideas for editing and improvement today. From the Lego Movie Maker app, you can easily upload a movie to YouTube, so I projected the movies to the big screen for the class to see. When we started the third day’s session, we watched two movies that kids had made the previous day. Some realized that the pictures were framed too high or too low and wanted to edit their films.ĭay 3: The final day for editing and finishing the movies. Some wanted to try taking smaller steps with each picture to make the movement more realistic. They were quick to realize that if they could keep the camera more still, it would improve the film. Then I asked them how they thought the movie could be better. The excitement was building as they started replaying their sequence of pictures! As they came to show me, with pride, their first movies, I would ask them what they liked about their movie. The most common question was, “My hand was in the way.
Kids very quickly figured out to use the app and only needed me to get them started and got minimal assistance as they took pictures.
We used a free app called Lego Movie Maker. As soon as kids were ready, I gave them an iPod touch to begin filming. The kids who needed to add a bit more to their scene were given an opportunity to do so. Some kids used Legos to make the iPod stand and some used play dough. They also made a stand to hold the iPod touch in an upright position for filming the next day. We connected the movie to reading and writing by talking about beginning, middle, and end, and how their movie should show a story sequence.įinally, the kids began working on their “sets”, creating a base and background where their story would take place. We talked about key vocabulary, such as lighting, stability, frame, and position.
We then watched a video tutorial that showed the kids tips for how to make a lego stop motion movie. “The base, wall, and trees are not moving.” “You could see the background the whole time.” “Only the Lego guy was moving.” Here are the clues the kids used to determine if the camera had remained stable throughout the video: “The video looks like it’s shaking.” “The house was tilting.” “It was changing the angle.” Here are some of the observations that the kids were able to make about how they knew the camera was changing position: This was important because I wanted them to be able to recognize in their own movie whether the camera had moved a lot from picture to picture. They had to verbalize clues that they could see (observations) that told them that the camera was moving or not moving. I asked the kids how they knew whether the camera stayed in the same position or not. We watched some examples where people did a really good job of keeping the camera in the same position throughout the movie and then some examples where the camera clearly jumped around a lot.
We created a three-day stop motion introduction project so that all 120 third graders could participate! In the end, we accomplished all the goals that we set out to achieve! Here was our three-day plan and the results!ĭay 1: Introduce the idea of stop motion and show some examples. With these goals in mind, I collaborated with two other third grade teachers, Carrie Oertel and Sue Harris, and the GRT at Cale, Susie Golden. Connect stop motion movies to reading and writing (since I’m the language arts teacher). Give kids a chance to work together (collaboration), be creative, plan, problem solve, and reflect (use critical thinking), and have fun!ģ. Introduce the kids to stop motion for future projects related to science/social studies/math curriculum.Ģ. I had several goals with this assignment:ġ. This week I wanted my third graders to try their hand at making stop motion movies.