Project Name Animate This: A Look at History
Student benefit:
Students benefited from learning how to manage a long term self -directed project. They enjoyed being able to make choices and having greater control over their learning experiences. Their participation in this project leads to greater involvement and a deeper understanding of content area. Students developed life skills that will be necessary in the work force.
Subject - Social Studies, English, Art
Ten weeks
Curriculum/State Standards
English/Language Arts
ELACC5RL Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
ELACC5RI5 Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.
ELACC5RI7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
ELACC5W4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
ELACC5W6 With some guidance and support from peers and adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single setting.
ELACC5W9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a.Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]”).
b.Apply grade 5 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and ELACC5SL2evidence supports which point(s).
c.Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
ELACC5SL4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
ELACC5SL5 Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Math
MCC5.MD.3 Recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand concepts of volume measurement.
a. A cube with side length 1 unit, called a “unit cube,” is said to have “one cubic unit” of volume, and can be used to measure volume.
b. A solid figure which can be packed without gaps or overlaps using n unit cubes is said to have a volume of n cubic units.
MCC5.MD.5 Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.
a. Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with whole- number side lengths by packing it with unit cubes, and show that the volume is the same as would be found by multiplying the edge lengths, equivalently by multiplying the height by the area of the base. Represent threefold whole-number products as volumes, e.g., to represent the associative property of multiplication.
b. Apply the formulas V = l × w × h and V = b × h for rectangular prisms to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole-number edge lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems.
Social Studies
Standard SS5H1:The student will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of the Civil War.
b. Discuss how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased tensions between the North and South.
c. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Appomattox Court House.
d. Describe the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.
e. Describe the effects of war on the North and South.
Standard SS5H2:The student will analyze the effects of Reconstruction on American life.
c. Explain how slavery was replaced by sharecropping and how African-Americans were prevented from exercising their newly won rights; include a discussion of Jim Crow laws and customs.
Standard SS5H6: The student will explain the reasons for America' involvement in World War II Germany's aggression Europe and the Pacific; include Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, D-Day, VE and VJ Days, and the Holocaust.
a. Describe Germany's aggression in Europe and Japanese aggression in Asia.
b. Describe Major events in the war in both Europe and the Pacific; include Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jim, D-Day, VE and VJ Days, and the Holocaust.
c. Discuss President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
f. Explain the U.S. role in the formation f the United Nations. Identify Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, Hirohito,Truman, Mussolini, and Hitler, in Europe and Japanese aggression in Asia.
e. Describe the effects of rationing and the changing role of women and Africa-Americans; include "Rosie the Riveter" and the Tuskegee Airmen.
SS5H8 The student will describe the importance of key people, events, and developments between 1950-1975.
a. Discuss the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War.
b.Explain the key events and people of the Civil Rights movement; include Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and civil rights activities of Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
c.Describe the impact on American society of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr
Art
VA5CU.2a Views and discusses selected artworks.
a.Identifies elements, principle, themes, and/ or time period in a work of art.
VA5CU.2bViews and discusses selected artworks.
b.Investigates how art history shapes contemporary life.
VA5CU.2cViews and discusses selected artworks.
c.Discusses how social events inspire art from a given time period.
VA5C.1a Applies information and processes from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of artworks.
a.Makes interdisciplinary connections applying art skills, knowledge, and ideas to improve understanding in other disciplines.
VA5C.1bApplies information and processes from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of artworks.
b.Researches, describes, and discusses various art-related careers (e.g., art historian, art critic, curator, web designer, game designer, fine artist).
VA5PR.1c Applies information and processes from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of artworks.
VA5C.1c Applies information and processes from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of artworks.
c.Describes and discusses design in daily life (e.g., clothing, houses, cars, furniture).
VA5C.1d1a Applies information and processes from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of artworks.
d. Identifies how and why skills (e.g., observation, perception, imagination) impact art and enhance non-art endeavors
VA5PR.1a Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes.
a.Interprets visually the big ideas (community, identity, nature, justice, conflict) and broad themes (mother and child, love, war, loss, family) in open-ended ways that resonate with personal meaning.
VA5PR.1b Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes.
b.Makes design decisions as the result of conscious, thoughtful planning and choices.
VA5PR.1d Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes.
d.Generates artworks to express individual ideas, thoughts, and feelings from memory and/or imagination.
VA5PR.1e Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes.
e.Creates representational art works from direct observation (e.g., landscape, still life, portrait.)
VA5PR.1f Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes.
f.Produces artworks emphasizing one or more elements of art (e.g. color, line shape form, texture).
VA5PRUnderstands and applies media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art processes (drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed-media) using tools and materials in a safe and appropriate manner to develop skills.
h.Creates art works using available technology (e.g., computers, cameras, digital/video recorder).
VA5PR.1g Creates artworks based on personal experience and selected themes.
g.Combines materials in new and inventive ways to make a finished work of art.
Overview of the project in two or three sentences
Students will research a conflict (presented in Social Studies) of their choice in this interdisciplinary unit. Students will apply acquired knowledge to conquer the challenge of animating the key events from their historical conflict. The hands on activities utilized to achieve this goal will foster creativity; responsibility and personal growth through the production of small group stop motion animation as it increases performance in the core content areas and develops a love for lifelong learning.
Objectives. (Focus on student achievement, not teacher achievement. Please begin each objective with “The students will . . . “)
The Students will research a person from a conflict studied in Social Studies.
The Students will create a timeline of events from their person’s life.
The Students will weave the events from their timeline into an imaginary play.
The students will create a storyboard of events from their play.
The students will create a 3-D model of their character.
The students will create backdrops for their play.
The students will create a stop motion film.
The students will share their finished project with family and friends.
Materials (Include all materials one needs to conduct this project.)
Sculpey, Armature wire, Reference books, Kids Discover , historical novels, Webcam, computer, yarn, Acrylic paint, doll hair, colored card board, construction paper, Tacky glue, hot glue, hot glue gun, brushes, mixing trays, assorted 9x12” and 12x18” construction paper , animation software ( I used Jellycam because it is free) , pencils, scissors, cloth, tools for cutting Sculpey cleanly ( I used a clay working tools), dowel rods cut at an angle on one end and drill on the other end for working Sculpey, pipe cleaners, found objects, tape.
Optional The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit produced by the BBC
Readiness: Students need to have adequate research skills. They need to have had opportunities to work in small groups to complete a task. They should have practice using life skills including: managing time and goals, leading and guiding others, persistence. Students need to learn some background information on stop motion photography and be given a chance to play with the equipment.
Teacher preparation that is useful but not necessary: Cut wire for head ( 6”), cut wire for the arms (6”), cut wood for body, portion out Sculpey (2.5 ounces) into ziplocks along with head and arm armature. ( I had my head and arm armature already twisted and ready to go).
Necessary preparation: Cut 3/4”x1 ½”x5”’ blocks and drill holes to receive wire arms and head. Cut poster board down into 12”x25” sheets.
Strategies/Activities in appropriate order, providing enough detail for the project to be replicated
Activity
1.Students need to choose a person from a conflict (Civil War, WWII, Civil Rights) and research six significant events from their life.
2.They then need to weave these six events into an imaginary story. I told students their person couldn’t fly because we didn’t have the technology to film this.
3.Have students use their script to create a storyboard. I spent 30 minutes doing the storyboards with my students but they would have benefited from having more time to complete this step of the project. This can be simply done with stick figures and a minimal background or more elaborate depending on the ability of the students. The more planning they put into the backdrop the easier it will be to do subsequent steps. There are examples of both simple and complicated storyboards available on line if you look up animation. http://www.ersoz.com/storyboard/storyboard_main.htm
4. Students should be organized into small groups of no more than five students. I let students choose their own groups. Each group will look at their storyboard and decide what story board the group would like to use. They will need to consider what each member of their group would make in order to produce a quality stop motion film. They need to think about all of the props that will be needed for each cell. Some students may benefit from making a list of everything that would be in both the background and the foreground.
5. Cut a poster board into 25”x12” sheets. Most of my students had their story taking place outside so I gave them either a blue or a green sheet of poster board. I showed students how to create a horizon line using torn construction paper. If their story takes place inside they cut a 12x18 “ piece of construction paper in half to create a floor and the wall.
6. Each member of the group chooses an item from the storyboard to make out of construction paper. They can use both sides of the cardboard if they wish to. It will be helpful to show students how the backdrop will be used in filming as some may think it will be the floor.
7. Later students added more details in construction paper that added to the story of their character. It took my students three 35 minutes sessions to complete this step. I had to carefully monitor progress of the students because some had trouble managing their time and goals. To help facilitate this I used a rubric and took an in progress grade each day. Being held accountable added their use of time.
8. It is helpful to suggest students use pipe cleaners and other found objects such as scraps of wood to construct 3-d props. This allows students to devise creative solutions to the problems presented with very little direction from me. One group came up with a way to use a pipe cleaner to make it look like their person was dribbling a basketball.
9. Have pre-portioned bags that contain 2.5 ounces of Sculpey, two 6” wires for the arms. (I bent the tip of these to form a looped armature for the hand.) The bag also contained a 6” piece of 14 gauge wire that had been twisted in a large loop for the head armature.( I wrapped the wire around a piece of PVC pipe that was 1” in diameter).
10. We did this step in teacher directed small groups. Because students had trouble creating joints at the shoulder, elbow and wrist. Building the character took 35 minutes.
Have students create the Sculpey head using 1.25 ounces of Sculpey and forming it into a sphere. Slice the sphere open and insert the wire head armature. Then blend it so that it is closed. Have students pinch out the nose. Use a dowel rod stamp for the eyes. More advanced students may want to add ears and spend more time sculpting the eyes. Show students how to roll a small coil (about the length of their thumb nail) for the lips. They can also open the mouth using a blunt tool. We used a tapered dowel rod.