Stop Motion Animation for Digital Storytelling

Ok, who doesn't love ridiculously simple technology?  Well, this week I have just that for you.  A ridiculously simple stop motion animation tool that is web based and FREE. Parapara Animation from Mozilla offers that on their site. Using stop motion animation in digital storytelling isn't new, but the ease of how quickly you can develop a digital story was compelling enough to make me want to share this with teachers immediately. Of course, you won't have all the bells and whistles other programs offer you, but that's almost the best part. The creativity comes straight from the users... your students.

Parapara Animation's simple interface

After I discovered the tool via Twitter, I immediately introduced it to my 9 year old daughter.  She created a stop motion animation in less than 5 minutes and that included learning how stop motion works. Check out her creation here. So with almost no learning curve, can you envision the possibilities? Did I mention it was ridiculously simple?

This is a great tool for any age, since no registration is needed to use the site.  What a great way for Pre K students to practice their letters and numbers.  No age is too young. Simply choose a crayon and begin drawing your first frame.  Then, click the "+" to add a new frame.  When ready to view your frames in an animation, click on the play button.  Click the large OK button in the bottom right hand of the page to get a shareable link and QR code of your animation.  Simple as that.

Challenge your students to develop a story without using words or have them complement their written story with an animation.  Comment and share your ideas below.  I'd love to hear how you would use it in your classrooms.

Encouragement Notes

It's that time of year.  State testing is already upon us here in Texas and I'm sure in other states, as well.  Even my 3rd grade daughter is filled with nervous excitement about it. I know what you're thinking. Who gets excited about a test? All I can say is that my daughter has an awesome teacher who has passed her confidence on to her students.

For students a little less enthusiastic about long tests, we need to dig into our teacher toolkits to find ways to motivate them for this big week. I've come up with a few FREE printables for teachers to use with their students.  They are small notes of encouragement that can be added to a treat (a healthy one, of course) to motivate students on a long (should I say, boring?) day.  I also found some water labels and knew it would be a perfect place to start.

I used this blank Avery template and started creating some designs.  I purchased my Avery labels at Staples, but you can certainly just print them out on regular paper and then tape them onto your bottles. They are the perfect size for a regular sized water bottle.

The Avery labels worked out great for me.  They adhere to the bottle well and make it easy to label bottles quickly. No scissors needed.

Five labels are printed per sheet, so I decided to come up with 5 different labels to provide a little variety.

You can download my template for these labels here.

I also created a few encouragement notes that can be used as a tag for treats, such as goldfish, cookies, or pretzels.  Click on any image below to download a copy of that tag.  They come 4 to a sheet.

I hope you find these useful.  Let me know what you think. Comment and share your thoughts.

Moving and Learning with QR codes

I have been asked recently by principals and teachers how to incorporate QR codes into everyday lessons.  That started me thinking about teachers' classroom arrangements, student behavior, student motivation, etc.  In addition to our district's involvement and commitment to the the Let's Move campaign, I thought what better way to get students moving and excited about learning than by using QR codes.

So, what are QR codes?  QR codes are those black and white squares that you have seen in stores, magazines, newspapers, stores and of course, at staff development trainings.  With a QR reader app (I use QR Reader by Scan) installed on your mobile device, you can easily scan a QR code to access websites, text, apps, audio, or video.  On the other end of it, there are several websites that allow you to create your own QR codes.  I use QRstuff.com to quickly and easily create my custom QR codes. Once created, you can download the QR code to use in presentations, send via email or post online. You can even print and laminate the codes if you plan on reusing them.

There are so many activities that we can do with QR codes, but I truly believe when we get our students moving it motivates and gets them excited about learning.  Here are a few ideas to get your students out of their seats with a purpose.

Treasure Hunts (Question Reviews): Classtools.net is a site that allows you to input questions and then generate a QR code for each question.  The codes generated on this site don't require an internet connection, so you can place your QR codes outside and really get students moving. Alternatively, if internet access isn't an issue, use Google slides to include audio or videos in your questions.  Make your Google slides presentation public and use the url to create a QR code.  Cut out each of your QR codes, laminate them and place them anywhere to get students moving. Incorporate GPS coordinates if teaching geography.  Learn about QR codes and the Amazing Race here.

Distribute links via QR Codes: Do you teach little ones?  Our youngest learners usually do not quite have the typing skills to get a url typed into a browser in a reasonable amount of time, so what better way to get them where they need to be a little easier. Create QR codes out of useful links and get students moving to participate at a station/center.

Take a Break: Before class begins or in the middle of a longer stretch of sitting at their desks, create codes that asks questions, or gives them a brain break activity such as those found at Gonoodle.com. This is a great time for them to process what they've learned and gets them on their feet.

There are so many possibilities.  Get creative and get those students moving and learning with QR codes.  Let me know how you are using QR codes in your classroom.