ARTE 343 Education Lesson Plan- by Dr.

Gross in Spring2020

Stop Motion Animation

Central Focus
Grade Level
Time (Number of
Classes and Length of
Classes)
Student Characteristics
Rationale for Lesson:
Students will learn how to curate a narrative from a genre of their choosing through stop motion
animation and video editing.
7th
4:00
45 minute classes
Our 7th graders are well-mannered but at times will get
rowdy when placed in groups with their friends. They have
advanced communication and motor skills. Most students are
appropriately social showing that they can hold
conversations with instructors that are appropriate and
useful. Most students seem to converse well with their
classmates. Their motor skills are fully developed, making
most tasks achievable for students.
Students will learn several skills and concepts throughout
this lesson, such as the process of production when
approaching animation and the technology that comes with it.
They'll understand how to use technology to make a short
stop motion animation. By making an animation, they will
understand how frames make movement. By having the
students work in groups, this builds on their teamwork and
collaboration together to proceed with the project’s goals in a
timely manner, as it would be difficult to complete it without
helping another.

National Media Arts Standards Addressed

MA:Cr2.1.7 - Design, propose, and evaluate artistic ideas, plans, prototypes, and production processes for media arts
productions, considering expressive intent and resources.

MA:Cr3.1.7a -. Coordinate production processes to integrate content and components for determined purpose and meaning in
media arts productions, demonstrating understanding of associated principles (for example, narrative structures, composition).

MA:Cn10.1.7a -Access, evaluate, and use internal and external resources (for example, experiences, interests, research,
exemplary works) to inform the creation of media artworks.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Technical- Given an explanation of the key terms, students will be able to perceive and identify movement in artwork.
MA:Cr2.1.7
2. Formal-Given a demonstration on how to use the technology provided, students will be able to curate a stop motion
animation. MA:Cr3.1.7a
3. Conceptual- Given an explanation of what genre is and and shown professional examples of 2D animations, students
will be able to create an engaging narrative from them. MA:Cn10.1.7a

Teacher Materials

Access to computer and projector to present powerpoint

STUDENT MATERIALS
● Be as specific and include as much detail about sizes, etc. as you can!

Early Elementary grades K-3 , Late Elementary grades 4-6 • Middle School grades 6-8
Early High School grades 9-11 • Late High School grade 12
ARTE 343 Education Lesson Plan- by Dr. Gross in Spring2020

● Large construction paper in various colors.

● Ipads, Stop Motion Application

● Scissors

● Glue Sticks (Optional)

● Color Pencils (Optional)

● Pencils

● Erasers

● Printer Paper (For Idea generation)

● Folders (Storage of Projects/Paper)

ARTISTS IN CONTEXT

Key Artists Lotte Reiniger and Margaret Scrinkl

Key Artworks

https://youtu.be/zrKAhX47LC4?
si=InD_hBmdQTB5vzx0
Margaret Scrinkl,Stop Motion Animation Compilation, 2021

Lotte Reiniger, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926

Key Critical Questions
https://youtu.be/G_9L7r8NIBc?si=n_BtqT_aqaPj0eLn
1. Can anyone guess what these animations were made with?
2. How are stop motion animations made?
3. Does the movement feel smooth or staggered?
4. How are these stop motion animations similar or different from others you've watched
in the past?

VOCABULARY AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Vocabulary
Genre- A category fitting into literacy,musical, or artistic composition.
Narrative- a spoken or written account connecting elements to each other; a story.
Frames- A series of pictures used in films or television programs.
Early Elementary grades K-3 , Late Elementary grades 4-6 • Middle School grades 6-8
Early High School grades 9-11 • Late High School grade 12
ARTE 343 Education Lesson Plan- by Dr. Gross in Spring2020

FPS- The measure of still images displayed in a single second of animation.

Animation- The technique of aligning together frames in a sequence to create an illusion
of movement.
Pre-production- The planning process and execution of every task that must take place
before production begins.
Production- The development of ideas to create various forms of creative content such
as films, music, art, and design.

Language Tasks and 1. Students will answer questions asked to them by instructors.
Activities 2. Students will describe aspects of providing professional artwork that made animations
enjoyable.
3. Students will present their animations by stating what their narrative was, what they
liked, and finding hard about curating an animation.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND LEARNING TASKS

Launch (Day 1) Instruction Methods
● Asking the students about Stop Motion animation, primarily if they could ● Instructors will provide a PowerPoint,
recognize or recall anything from their experience to be an example of 2D ask students to define some key
animation. Listing off examples myself and interacting with their own, I will relate terms before giving out the definition
these back to the question of if any students know how they were made. from the presentation.
● Instructors will share examples of the
lesson from sources like YouTube.
● Group Discussion
Instruction (Day 1) Instruction Methods
● Instructors will state this lesson is a group project. Instructors will allow students ● Students will be working together in
to choose their partner. If there is a case where students feel left out, instructors groups to share their ideas of what
will step in to solve the issue by selecting people to be in a group. they want to animate. This project
requires collaboration.
● Instructors will pass out materials to the group. Each group is given a piece of
paper, a pencil, an eraser, and a pencil sharpener. ● Group work time

● Students will discuss with each other in their groups what kind of scene they
want to recreate for their animation. They will generate ideas and create a small
storyboard, or sketch ideas for the project.
● Instructors will come around to observe the student’s ideas and ask them more
about their projects.
●
Closure (Day 1) Instruction Methods
● Students will work together to
● Instructors will announce at 2:40 p.m. that students will wrap up their ideas
clean the classroom by throwing
before art class ends. away scraps and moving chairs
● Students will need to finalize their ideas and have it all down on paper. back to their original positions.
● Small group work
● Instructors will announce it is time to wrap up and collect materials by walking ● Direct Instruction
around the classroom with the bin.
● Students will place their materials and paper in the bin.

● Instructors will announce to the students the plan for day two. Instructors give a
farewell and depart from the classroom.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND LEARNING TASKS

Launch (Day 2) Instruction Methods

Early Elementary grades K-3 , Late Elementary grades 4-6 • Middle School grades 6-8
Early High School grades 9-11 • Late High School grade 12
ARTE 343 Education Lesson Plan- by Dr. Gross in Spring2020

● Starting off day 2, I will begin by asking the students what we had spoken ● Students will begin class following a
of the day prior, reviewing the terms and what we looked over so it’s fresh PowerPoint, answering prompted
in their minds with an emphasis on the excitement of their ideas. Asking questions and participating in
questions such as: classroom discussion.
“What were some of the terms we spoke about last week?”
● Group discussion
“What are some examples of 2D animation? It could be anything new we
didn’t discuss or something we already have!”
Instruction (Day 2) Instruction Methods
● Instructor Hathway will provide the materials used for the second part of the ● Students will be working in their
lesson. groups to design and craft the
background, the characters, and
● Students will be using construction paper to create their background, their
objects used in their animation.
characters, and objects in their animation.
● Group work time
● Students will use a variety of colors for their animation.

● Students will use pencils and scissors to trace their objects and cut them.

● Instructors Hathway, Panzer, and Valdovinos will walk around the classroom to
observe the group’s works.
● Instructors will ask students more about their project regarding how they plan to
film their animation.
● Instructors will offer suggestions to students who are unsure how to create a
good animation.
● Instructors will remind students the objective of the assignment, and the goal for
the day.
Closure (Day 2) Instruction Methods
● Before five minutes til the end of class, instructors will make an announcement ● Students will with instruction clean up
that students have five minutes to wrap up what they are currently working on. their materials properly and be left
with a closing statement of what
● Students will try with their best ability to finish their crafts.
we’re to do next time.
● Instructors will create folders for each group during those five minutes for the ● Direct Instruction
students to keep.
● Instructors will announce it is time to put things away. Students will return the
materials they borrowed from the instructors. Instructors will pass out folders to
the students and the students will put their crafts in the folders.
● Students will hold on to these folders until next lesson.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND LEARNING TASKS

Launch (Day 3) Instruction Methods
● Instructors will ask students if they remember the term “pre-production”. ● Students will review presentation key
terms from the previous day,
● Students will offer their answers and instructors will ask with a follow up question
answering questions and
if they can list the four stages of pre-production. participating in group discussion
● If students are unable to answer the question, instructors will remind them what throughout the shown powerpoint.
the stages are in pre-production.
● Instructors will begin a PowerPoint presentation for day three introducing new
key terms that will be used throughout the day. In this PowerPoint, students will
watch a demo video the instructors have prepared for them to understand how to
use the app Stop Motion.
Instruction (Day 3) Instruction Methods
Early Elementary grades K-3 , Late Elementary grades 4-6 • Middle School grades 6-8
Early High School grades 9-11 • Late High School grade 12
ARTE 343 Education Lesson Plan- by Dr. Gross in Spring2020

● Instructors will pass out iPads to each group. Students will begin to animate. ● Students will be shown how to
animate on the ipads through the
● Instructors will be walking around the classroom to assist students who are
Stop Motion application, taking
having trouble with the iPads. several photos of the materials
they’ve already constructed and
piecing their frames together.
● Teacher demonstration and
assistance as needed
Closure (Day 3) Instruction Methods
● At 2:30, Instructors will announce to students they have about ten minutes to ● Students will take their last photos of
finish their animation. the day and put the ipads away,
ending small group work for the day
● Students will do their best to complete their animation.
and being prepared to finish their
● Instructors will do their best to help students wrap up their animation. work on our remaining day.
● Direct Instruction
● At 2:40, instructors will collect the iPads from students.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND LEARNING TASKS

Launch (Day 4) Instruction Methods
● Instructors will reintroduce students to key terms given in the prior days for this ● Students will participate by sharing
lesson, relating them back to the real world and examples that students provide their knowledge on the key terms
in their daily lives and media they see involving stop motion animation. they have learned throughout the
four day art lessons.
● Instructors will show the students the remainder of the powerpoint outside of the
review given, illustrating the workflow expected for today and how to export their
videos to a class collective google drive.

Instruction (Day 4) Instruction Methods

● Instructors will approach students and ask if there are any questions in regards ● Students will finish their animations
to the application we are using. and may include audio in their short
Students will be provided ipads that have access to the stop motion animation stop motion film. Students will need
they’ve been creating, allowing them to take the last remaining frames they need to record their audios in a quiet area
and export it to be shared as a group discussion. to not disturb their peers.
● Students are working on finishing their current stop motion animation, ● Instructors will assist students how to
experimenting with the application and starting another, or editing and finalizing use applications such as iMovie to
the first animation in iMovie. download sound effects.
● Students will export their animation and prepare to share it with the class by ● Students who finish early may have
placing the file into a shared google drive. the option to add an opening and
closing credit to their animation or
work on a new short animation.
Closure (Day 4) Instruction Methods
● To signal the activity is coming to a close, instructors will announce verbally with ● Students will share with their
an attention getter (clapping, turning the lights on and off, etc) directing the classmates and their instructors two
students to return to their seats and be prepared for the remaining review section things they enjoyed with the project
of the class and one thing they wish could be
improved on.
● Instructors will showcase students' animations on the board, asking the students
as a group to describe 2 things that they enjoyed with the project and 1 thing that ● Students will explain the process of
they’d change next time upon approaching difficulties or their work ethic. their animation and what they
learned while making the film.
● Students will participate in group discussion with the instructors, introducing their
work and ideas to the class and sharing what they created together with their ● Students are encouraged to share their
Early Elementary grades K-3 , Late Elementary grades 4-6 • Middle School grades 6-8
Early High School grades 9-11 • Late High School grade 12
ARTE 343 Education Lesson Plan- by Dr. Gross in Spring2020

classmates. thoughts on their classmates’

animations.
● At the end of presenting all of the stop motion projects, it will be time for
dismissal and a closing statement will be presented, thanking students for their ● Students will return the iPads to the
hard work. instructors and return all supplies in
the art bin.

OBJECTIVE-DRIVEN ASSESSMENTS

1. Summative assessment: Rubric assessing students' finished projects accuracy, movement, creativity, and narrative
(objectives 1,2,3).

REFERENCES

Maio, A. (2023, May 7). What is Animation — Definition, History and Types of Animation. StudioBinder. Retrieved December 9,

2023, from https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-animation-definition/

Lockwood, D. (2019, October 16). Overlooked no more: Lotte Reiniger, animator who created magic with scissors and paper.

The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/obituaries/lotte-reiniger-overlooked.html

Reiniger, L. (2017, August 29). The adventures of prince achmed [1926] trailer - lotte reiniger. YouTube.

https://youtu.be/G_9L7r8NIBc?si=PIyYzUaX-H0zZj_i

Scrinkl, M. (2021, June 30). Stop motion animation compilation: Relaxing: Margaret Scrinkl. YouTube.

https://youtu.be/zrKAhX47LC4?si=5lTN2sAA-x171x0r

* Developed and written by (your name goes here), Art Education, Northern Illinois University, 2020 *

Early Elementary grades K-3 , Late Elementary grades 4-6 • Middle School grades 6-8
Early High School grades 9-11 • Late High School grade 12