Short Term Planning Year 1 Term 3 Shadows and Stickmen
Resources:Pivot Stick Animator (free download); 2Animate could be used as an alternative
Swiggle search engine
2Count or Pictograph maker
Blog / Objectives:
e-Safety
- Keep my password private.
- Agree and follow sensible e-Safety rules.
- Tell an adult when I see something unexpected or worrying online.
- Describe what actions I will need to do to make something happen and begin to use the word algorithm.
- Begin to use software / apps to create movement and patterns on a screen
- Be creative with different technology tools.
- Save information in a special place and retrieve it again
- Begin to identify some of the benefits of technology
- Recognise ways that technology is use in my home and community
- Recognise the ways we use technology in our classroom
- Use links to websites to find information
- Use technology to collect information including photos
1 / Technology in our Lives
I can begin to identify some of the benefits of technology such as the purpose for using a class blog.
I can recognise ways that technology is use in my home and community.
e-Safety
I can keep my password private.
I can agree and follow sensible e-Safety rules. / Safely using a blog
- Create class or pupil logins on online blogging tool (www.
- Show the children a blog (see Foundation Stage Term 1). Who would be interested to see this blog? What is the purpose of a blog?
- Talk about how the blog will help us remember what we have done what would we use and the way it will let us share our learning with others. Who will be able to see what we have done?
- Model finding the website and then the login process by providing them with a simple username and password. You can choose to share the adding of posts as a class or to support children to do this individually.
- Review the class e-Safety rules (Term 1), which will be important to remember for the blog. Do we need to add any rules?
- Remind children of the need to keep their username and password private. Talk about which photographs can be added to blog.
- If possible use the primary blogger app on tablets or save a shortcut to desktop.
- To add an image children must click the + button at the top of the screen and then click “post”. The children then need to fill in the title of their post (remind children of shift key for capital letters, thumb on space bar for spaces), now children should click “add media”, they should then be able to locate their photo files by following the normal folder path.
- When the children are happy that they have uploaded their picture they can click the blue “publish” button on the right of the screen. This is now live!
- Add the first post together to show a photograph of the classroom and to tell other people about what you are going to do this term.
- Add whole class posts to the blog throughout the term as each planned learning activity develops.
Silver: Can I tell you who will be able to see the class blog?
Bronze: Can I tell you what it would be good to add to the blog?
2 / Technology in our lives.
I can use links to websites to find information.
e-Safety
I can tell an adult when I see something unexpected or worrying online / Finding information about Thaumatropes
- Show “Cartoon Network Montage” (
- Show the children the word animation, does anyone know what this word means or have you seen it before? Mind map with the children a list of their favourite animations, have pictures of cartoon characters available. Animation is a way of playing tricks on your eyes to make you think that a drawing is moving. Show 3D Zoetrope clip to demonstrate this idea. (
- Show the word Thaumatrope to the children. Clap the syllables in the word as you repeat it and encourage the children to join in saying the word. Does anyone know what it means? Model searching for the word using a child appropriate search engine such as Swiggle.org.uk. Tell the children that you aren’t going to tell them what it means yet, ask them not to talk about it yet as you show them a couple of the results.
- Tell them they will be using three search results to see if they can find out what this. Let the children explore three hyperlinks to sites providing information about a thaumatrope. Talk about this being a safe part of the Internet. Emphasise they are following links that have provided by their teacher – an adult they can trust. (While the children do this activity you could repeat the minimise / press home button activity (13) from Term 1)
- What is a thaumatrope? Let the children offer what they have discovered. Talk through what it does.
- What is the algorithm for what is happening? Develop a simple representation – show one picture, show the next picture, show one picture, show the next picture. You could talk about a repeating pattern.
- Show the children a completed Thaumatrope of a bird in a cage. Explain how this is simply two pictures but when we move them fast enough it tricks your eyes into thinking that they are merged together. ( Look again at the videos from the Museum of the History of Science.
- As part of Design and Technology experience, let the children cut out and make their own Bird in a Cage Thaumatrope. Children should first colour in the pictures and then cut the circles out. If possible, mount these pictures on card, back to back. Children to loop string through holes on the side. When this is then twisted quickly the pictures should merge together. Children can then be given the opportunity to design and make their own.
- Support children to add photos of their Thaumatrope’s to the class blog.
Silver: Can I look at websites to discover what a Thaumatrope is?
Bronze: Can I talk about pictures on a website to discover what a Thaumatrope is?
3 / Programming
I can describe what actions I will need to do to make something happen and begin to use the word algorithm. / Simple animations
- Show children “Wheels on the bus” ( Are the characters we’re seeing real? Why are they able to move? Explain that these characters are animated, they are a series of pictures that have been drawn to trick your eye into thinking they are moving.
- Play a sample of a DVD cartoon, pause the video and use the software controls to move the image on frame by frame, explain that each change they see is a new drawing, when they are put together it makes us think they are moving.
- Show children how you can make a flipbook of a flower growing or other examples of a flip book animation. By changing the picture ever so slightly on each page we can create our own animations. What is the algorithm to make the flower grow? (Draw the same background on every page. Draw a small seed on the back page. Draw it longer on the next page. etc.
- If possible buy small blank flip books for the children to use, if not, use work books. Children to draw a dot on the last page in the corner, and then put the next page over the top, draw the dot again but moved slightly. Repeat previous steps until the children have used all pages. When finished the children can use their thumb to fan the pages and show their dot moving around the page. What is the algorithm to make a dot move around a page?
- What helped the person to make their book? Draw out the words to describe attitudes such as perseverance, keeping going, taking care, check it out as you go along.
- Show the children the Smart video of a stickman. What is the algorithm to make a stickman wave? It will help some children to raise their arm and wave themselves. Describe each step.
- Ask children to go back to their flip book and draw a stickman on the first page by their dot. Can they make the stickman wave as the pages go on?
- Ask the children what has helped us to make a flipbook. Talk about the websites that have helped.
Silver: Can I move my arm and use it to tell you the steps needed to make my stickman wave?
Bronze: Can I show you each movement that will make my arm wave?
4 / Programming
I can describe what actions I will need to do to make something happen such as adding 'frames' using Pivot Animator.
I can begin to use software / apps to create movement and patterns on a screen.
Multimedia
I can be creative with different technology tools. / Introducing Pivot Stick (2Animate could be used as an alternative)
- Revise previous learning and look again at a flip book animation, explain that each picture that we have drawn is called a 'frame' and when we put all of these frames together we create an animation. Look again at the stickman animation that has been drawn. Remind the children of the list of things which helped to make a good animation.
- Today we’re going to try and make our own frames for an animation using software called “Pivot Animator” ( or if blocked in school try Instead of drawing each frame we can now just move our characters using the red dots.
- Allow time for the children to work in pairs to see what they can discover about this software. Draw the children’s attention to the first person to discover the “New frame” button and what it does. Draw attention to the play button. See what the children create.
- Stop the children and ask them to make a new animation using the algorithm we wrote to make a stickman wave.
- Review with the children the use of the “New frame” button on the left side of the window. Tell the children that this button takes a photo of the frame and adds it to the top of the window. Model adding more frames to the animation. We can now watch our animation back using the “play” button on the left side. This button is like us flipping the book back with our thumb.
- Children to work in pairs to use the Pivot animator software to experiment with adding frames to an animation. Allow the children to try out different movements with the stickman. Encourage them to talk through what they will need to do to make something happen.
- Children can then share their animations with the rest of the class by either showing on the whiteboard or by children moving around the room to see each other’s screens. What do we notice about each other’s animations?
Silver: Can I add a series of frames to create a simple movement?
Bronze: Can I use the add frame button?
5 / Programming
I can describe what actions I will need to do to make something happen and begin to use the word algorithm. / Planning the story
- Today we’re going to plan our own animation. Show an example of a simple stickman animation involving key movements, wave, walk, and jump. Talk through the algorithm to make it happen.
- Explain that this animation can be broken into key events like when we plan a story, but instead of writing about each part we can draw a picture to show what is happening in each part.
- Show the animation again, how could we draw a picture to show what is happening at the beginning? Draw picture on the whiteboard. Repeat the process for the next series of movements to create our story board.
- Children to be given a blank story board frame with a minimum of 4 blank frames. Children to then draw out their plan or algorithm for their stick man animation, drawing key parts of their story.
- Allow children to think of their own story but provide well known traditional tales to give inspiration.
Silver: Can I draw key events of a known story?
Bronze: Can I break a story into key events?
6 / Programming
I can be creative with different technology tools.
Multimedia
I can save information (my animation) in a special place and retrieve it again. / Using Pivot Stick
- Re-cap previous learning and vocabulary from the week. Show the children your example of a story board / algorithm from previous activity.
- Demonstrate using the “add frame” button to start creating your animation come to life. Reinforce vocabulary as you are moving the stick figure. What do the children think will happen if we make the movements very small in each frame? We will create a smoother looking movement; model this process as we don't want to have a very jumpy animation as this won’t fool our eyes. Remind the children of the list of attitudes to make a good animation.
- When we have made a quick animation use the “play” button to loop the animation back, what do we think will happen if we move the slider on the left hand side? This changes the speed in which the frames are played back, like moving our thumb at a different speed when using a flip book.
- Children to use their storyboards from last week’s session to start to create their animations. Children should be encouraged to use very small movements to make sure that our eyes are fooled!
- Near the end of the session demonstrate the saving process to the children to make sure they keep their work.
Silver: Can I create an animation and save it with support?
Bronze: Can I create an animation?
7 / Programming /
Multimedia
I can save information(my animation) in a special place and retrieve it again to edit it. / Continuing and improving animation
- Show the children the pivot animator software, allow children time to talk to their peers to identify all the buttons we have learnt to use and what they do. Model the way that we can “open” our animations from last week and simply carry on from where we were.
- Allow children time to continue with their animations from the previous sessions. Encourage children to use small movements to animate their storyboards.
- When children have finished their animation they should watch back frame by frame to see if they can add any more frames to make their movements smoother.
- All children to be given time to circulate round the class to view each other’s animations.
- Extension: Show children that you can save as gif. This will create an animated gif which can be uploaded to the class blog.
Silver: Can I open my animation with support and add frames and movement?
Bronze: Can I open my animation and play it for my friend?
8 / Technology in our Lives
I can recognise the ways we use technology in our classroom.
Handling Data
I can use technology to collect information including photos. / Measuring shadows OR recording weather
- When we read a book how do we know what things look like? Explain that pictures are a great way to share what things look like with other people. What could we use if we don’t have time to draw a picture? What devices do we find cameras on? – Tablet / Phone / Camera (write a list on IWB.)
- Show children pictures of rain gauges; explain that the person who took the photos wanted us to know what they looked like. We are going to measure shadows OR record weather. We will take a photograph of how we will measure shadows OR We will take photographs to record the weather each day.
- We are going to measure the length of a shadow at different times of the day, to do this we will need something that will stay the same size.
- Children to work in groups. Each group will have a camera (Size of groups depends on cameras.) Each child to make a shadow stick at their table (2 litre drinks bottle filled with sand, stick poking out of the top.) Model the process of taking a photo of my shadow stick when it has been finished. Turning the camera on and looking through the viewfinder or at the display screen. Make sure the children see the image being captured so they know that is has been saved. Place shadows sticks at different locations around school and collect measurements at different times of the day before next session.
- We are going to record the weather each day. Decide where photographs will be taken each day. Decide on the names of the weather types you will record.