Submitted by: Merle James
Collaborators: Beverly Brown, Mike Gettings, Parent volunteers
School: Echo Lake Elementary
Summary
Students collaboratively worked to create a claymation movie titled, ‘Life Before Jamestown,’ celebrating Henricus’ 400th birthday. It is about a day in the life and culture of an Arrohattoc Indian family prior to when the explorers arrived in the spring of 1607, in what would become Henrico County. Using a variety of resources and activities, students explored and interpreted the life and culture of the Arrohattoc Indians and illustrated storyboards based on their research. The storyboard diagrams helped students plan and prioritize their ideas into a written story/script with fictional characters using authentic Native American names. Art Specialist, Mike Gettings, brought his claymation and technology skills to our classroom and assisted students in bringing to life their written story.
The end product was a 6-minute animation movie created in iMovie, consisting of over 1500 still photos. The students will document this process with a multi–media presentation.
TIPC Ratings
Students wrote a researched based story/script based on Native Americans.
Students with diverse backgrounds effectively worked together and collaborated in teams to create a Historical-Fiction story/script that was visually brought to life in a stop motion clay animation film. Students were responsible to complete their part during the entire process of this project, making the end product a five star production!
Through the entire ‘process’ of this project students were challenged with open-ended questions and higher level thinking skills. They used technology to collaborate and solve problems.
Students applied critical thinking, research methods, communication tools, and collaborated effectively to create a story/script and iMovie.
Student Artifact
ELES Art H21 Entry from Jessica DelMonte on Vimeo.
