Standard+7

Stop Animation and Comic Strip Creators

**Standard 7**: Teachers are able to plan different kinds of lessons.  The teacher organizes and plans systematic instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, pupils, the community, and curriculum goals.

**Evidence 1**: Using a Comic Strip Creator and Creating Stop Action Movies

Click here and here to view the Bitsrips Comic Strips



Click here to see the Pivot Stop Animation Movies

media type="custom" key="19139588"

**Rationale 1**: The following two projects were used with a 5th grade class to give students a chance to complete an assignment which met district curriculum standards. The first project the students completed was a comic strip through an online tool called Bitstrips. The assignment was to show the theme of adversity, which was a theme taught in our reading class through a story. The objective was to extend this theme into a situation that the students created in the comic strip. Students were expected to show understanding of the word adversity and also needed to use complete sentences and correct grammar and spelling.

The second project was to use a program called Pivot. The objective of this assignment was for the students to introduce themselves to the class through the use of a stick figure and the letters of their name. Students needed to learn how to use the Pivot program and also how to make a stop motion movie. Students were put into cooperative groups to allow them to converse and collaborate on the completion of their movie.

The use of these two programs in my classroom helped to develop my skills as a teacher by allowing me to learn the programs myself and also to incorporate new technologies with our 1 to 1 computers. The students were very excited and engaged with these two assignements.


 * KSD **

7.K.1 The teacher understands learning theory, subject matter, curriculum development, and student development to plan instruction and to meet curriculum goals based on content standards. //The comic strip creator meets one of our district standards which is: uses strategies to interpret visual media and understands the characteristics and components of the media. These two assignments also meet the district standards: uses word choice, sentence structure, and paragraphing, as well as, uses oral presentation skills.//

7.S.2 The teacher plans for learning opportunities that recognize and address variation in learning styles, learning differences, and performance modes. //Not all students are artistic in nature and many of our special needs students have difficulty with fine motor skills, so by using an online comic strip creator, students are able to produce a very artistic product with ease. The Pivot movies are also artistically pleasing to watch and students are able to make a product that is visually appealing.//

7.D.2 The teacher believes that plans must always be open to adjustment and revision based on student needs and changing circumstances. //Because these projects were new to me and I had not used them before with students, I did not know how long it would take the students to complete the project. Having the flexibility to allow students more time that I had planned was important.// //The Bitstrips comics actually went much faster than I had planned for them and the Pivot movies took longer than I had planned. //