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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

5th Grade Stop Motion Animation

At long last, the 5th grade is finished with their stop motion animation project! This project requires dedication because it certainly isn't short at all. In the past, I've split each class into job groups and had each class make one portion of a four part animation. This year I decided to change things up. 

I wanted to give my students more freedom in both the writing and animation process. I dedicated part of my budget this year to purchasing three more digital cameras and tripods. This allowed me to have four separate animation groups in each of my four 5th grade classes. Each group wrote a script, made characters and sets, filmed, and digitally edited their own animation. 

I really liked most of the results this year. I even make a cameo in one! The video you're seeing includes the work of all 16 groups. The major difference between previous animations and the work from this year is that the previous work was designed to have a storyline that made a little more sense to the audience. What makes sense to a 5th grader doesn't always make total sense to the rest of us! 

Check out the full lesson plan here!

4 comments:

Karen said...

Did I miss the video? I'd love to see what you have done with your class! I've done stop motion as well, but with computers and objects, not clay.

Zach Stoller said...

It worked when I posted it yesterday, but something in the code got mixed up apparently. It should be working now!

Mariella9911 said...

I recently stumbled on your blog, from pinterest somehow. I'm a first year art teacher and we do stop motion / claymation with my 5th grade too! Strangely enough I've also shown the nightmare before christmas to explain how to be resourceful with materials. We're in the middle of the unit now and I'm so glad you mentioned "the making of the nightmare before christmas" in your lesson plans because we're about to start filming and that's a great idea! I also will probably show part of wallace and grommit - making of. Hope all is well!

Zach Stoller said...

Awesome. I'd love to see how the and action turns out.