Port of Menteith Primary School learns to animate

ICT in the school

The school has two classrooms both equipped with interactive whiteboards and teachers have been trained to advanced level to make sure effective use is made of this resource. The staff have a good level of ICT skills and knowledge and are proactive in keeping them up-to-date. The school uses a structured programme of ICT, Smart Learning. This programme contains both computer-based and pupil book activities that aim to embed ICT across the curriculum through fun and interesting tasks. Headteacher David Scott comments that although ICT is already integrated into the daily learning and teaching of the curriculum, some skills may be 'glossed over' and having a structured approach means that everything is covered.

In other areas of the curriculum they use databases, spreadsheets and software in maths and word processing in language for redrafting work. Staff are encouraged to include ICT during the planning stages, where they think it will have an impact on children’s learning. The headteacher recognises that schools have to keep pace with the changes in technology and he is making every effort not to be left behind, but equally is making effective use of what ICT the school already has and what they can get access to.

Active learning

Mrs Young was looking for a project that could be carried out inside the school. Port of Menteith Primary is a rural school and most of the active learning took place outside, but during the winter months, access to the outside was slightly restricted. After reading an article called Storytelling with Digital Animation in Connected magazine, Mrs Young was inspired by the imaginative use of animation in the classroom and was motivated to try out something herself. She contacted Margaret Cassidy, an ICT Curriculum Officer, to get suggestions on how to take this forward. The school did not have the available resources to carry out such a project but was able to get laptops and cameras on loan for an 8-week period from the Riverside ICT Centre.

Aim of the project

The aim of the project was to produce a piece of animation and develop a series of ICT and critical skills whilst doing so. There was no specific theme to follow other than that the final product should contain certain elements such as a title, credits, have music added and be filmed from more than one angle. Children were motivated into completing the task to a high standard knowing that their work would be viewed by an audience.

Learning objectives

Once a week, pupils worked through the various stages of animating from storyboarding to putting the animation into Movie Maker for editing. Margaret Cassidy supported the class teacher on a fortnightly basis, allowing the class teacher to build confidence in using the ICT with and without Margaret's support.

Literacy skills were an integral part of this project involving the school in collaborative group work and storytelling skills. Although the project was focused on active learning and developing ICT skills, it covered many curricular areas. Problem solving played an important role, as children had to create and develop characters, work out how to make objects fly without having hands in the shot and look at the various effects that could be achieved with different camera angles. By making the children aware that they only had access to the laptops for a certain period of time, this meant that they had to produce their animation in a limited time and to a deadline. This applied a certain amount of pressure to the learning situation resembling life in the real world and developing necessary life skills.

Developing critical skills

With only 25 children in the school it was decided to have the children working in mixed aged groups, except for the P1s, who received the majority of support from the teacher. Having this mix in the groups allowed the older children to develop leadership skills and become responsible citizens and effective contributors. The older pupils were able to take the lead and offer support to the younger members of the group, whilst respecting their opinions and being able to make decisions. They also became more aware of passing their skills on. This approach allowed the teachers to stand back and look at other aspects of the children’s learning such as their collaborative skills and how they interact with one another. However, the teacher did notice that some of the older children held back in reaching their potential and it was during ‘Golden Time’ when pupils asked for the laptops to work on the animations with their friends that it became apparent that they produced a much higher level and quality of work as well as a different style.

Assessment

At the end of the project, pupils were given the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the learning process. They were able to highlight the difference between their formal and friendship working groups and assess their work accordingly. Each child was able to discuss the learning that had taken place and critically review their work.

Using this method of assessment, children were able to understand the processes they went through in order to achieve their end product, and it gave them a better awareness of how they learn. Mrs Young commented that the children related better to this type of learning rather than just producing a piece of writing or a report, as they could physically see the process that went into producing the animation. Even though every child in the school went through the same process, they tackled it at their own level of understanding.

To celebrate the work the children had produced, the school held a film premiere, inviting the parents to come and view the final animations.

Next steps

The school would like to do another project using animation but with more of a focus on the content rather than the skills in producing it. Last year the school created a DVD to help parents understand the transition between nursery and primary and they have plans to build on this, getting the children to add in titles, credits and music. The teacher also wants to look more at the storyboarding element of the process and have the focus on a language based project.

Now that Mrs Young has completed this project she feels more confident in her own ability to tackle this type of activity again. Initially she found the prospect of using animation with the children too adventurous a task to do on her own, but with the support and help of Margaret Cassidy, she now feels she has built up the necessary skills to undertake something like this on her own.

She also felt that a lot of her confidence came from the children when she saw how confident they were in using the ICT. Mrs Young saw herself as a learner as well as teacher. She felt it was a ‘leap of faith but a very worthwhile one at that'.

Watch the pupils' animated movies

Short animations made by pupils at Port of Menteith Primary School

Short animated movies made by pupils at Port of Menteith Primary School
Movie 1	Windows Media video: Dragon Attack (22 seconds)
Movie 2	Windows Media video: Chicken Disaster (34 seconds)
Movie 3	Windows Media video: Shark Attack (34 seconds)
Movie 4	Windows Media video: Invasion of Battle (22 seconds)
Movie 5	Windows Media video: Jungle Run (31 seconds)

Note on copyright for music extracts used in these animated movies

The music extracts used in this video animation were taken from the Kitjunkie website, which contains a collection of film and TV theme music. It has not been possible to trace the original source or owner of these extracts or to seek copyright clearance. If you are the copyright owner of any extract used in this video clip and you do not wish it to be used on this website, please contact Learning and Teaching Scotland.

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