Union+City+Visual+Arts+-+Fall+2011


 * ===**Teaching Artist:**=== || ===**Art Specialist:**=== || ===**Core Group Teachers:**=== ||
 * Jude Shingle, home@judeshingle.com || Camille Dempsey, jcdempsey3@gmail.com  || Andy Pitrone, 2nd Grade, apitrone@ucsd.org

Blaine Walp, 2nd Grade, bwalp@ucsd.org

Dianna Walker, Life Skills, dwalker@ucasd.org || **Documentation:** **Ms. Walker's Life Skills Classroom**

Students in this classroom ranged from K-5 with varying ability levels. Our focus was on following directions, using technology in a responsible way, sequencing and speech.

We first introduced animation using our bodies using a process called stop motion animation. Students posed in a position until we took a picture, then moved slightly, freezing again for another picture and repeated this again and again and again. Throughout the class we shot our animations at 10 frames per second, meaning 10 pictures made up one send of footage. Our first movies, at most 10 seconds long, required 100 pictures. This was a large task for our class starting out, but as you will see, the process became fluid as the residency moved on.



Next we focused on small movements using Popsicle sticks as guides for animating small toy cars. To move the cars, we asked the students to "jump" the car over the stick, move their hands out of the shot, take a picture, then have the car jump the stick again. During this process we allowed students to use the computer and software to capture the images. For many, this was an empowering thing. We also witnessed students teaching each other how to move the cars and use the computer.



After we felt students grasped the concept of stop motion animation, we set out to recreate Eric Carl's, "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" animating paper cut outs. Students first read the story, retold the story while creating their own caterpillar out of construction paper, and finally animated the story. Jude worked with 2 kids at a time; one student would move the figures while another student captured the pictures. When the image capturing process was completed, each student recorded themselves reading the story using Garage Band. The students really responded to hearing their voices and constantly revised their readings until they were happy with how they sounded.



Because the students responded so positively to recording their voices and other audio, we decided to do an auditory exercise where we recreated the sounds of a thunderstorm using our hands, voices and plastic bags. When we finished recording, we crafted an animation of clouds rolling in, thundering, then moving out to make room for a beautiful rainbow. media type="custom" key="11909384" align="center"

In the final days of the residency we created a number of animations using our bodies. This time, the process went much smoother and students were able to work as a group to create a larger animation, something we believed to be impossible at the start of the residency.



In this residency Jude worked with the second grade classrooms of Mr. Pitrone and Mr. Walp. Here the focus was on using video production and animation to help students visually and verbally articulate their problem solving process and empower the 2nd graders to teach other Union City students math and reading skills.
 * Mr. Pitrone and Mr. Walp 2nd Grade **

The first few days of the residency were spent learning the stop motion animation process. The class split into small groups and together chose spelling words to animate. Students first identified helpful spelling rules, then using the words definition, described how the word would walk using animation.



To further emphasize the importance of making small movements, students created their own flip books to take home and created another animation, this time using shapes.



The culminating project was a video production that showcased the second grader's knowledge of math and reading skills. The students created a narrative where Mr. Pitrone and Mr. Walp were pitted against one another in the 2nd Annual Robot Competition. Through the production, the second graders set out to teach other Union City students about reading and math.

media type="custom" key="11910258" media type="custom" key="11910268" media type="custom" key="11910274" First, they wrote a script for the opening scenes. Once the theme of the movie was established (a robot competition) we brainstormed the sequence of events, characters, and setting and came up with each character's lines.

Then, we created storyboards based on our screenplay. Students also created storyboards for their favorite book to practice sequencing.

Next, we learned about video production. We had four jobs, Director, Assistant Director, Sound Guy/Girl, and Camera Person. Each student took a turn doing each job and together we filmed the first scenes of our movie.

Once the story started to take shape, we created our robots!

Our next step was to teach our robots about reading and math. Students chose math and reading concepts they felt the robot should know and using video cameras interviewed each other about their problem solving process. Both students and teachers modeled this process for a few days before our interviews were clear and informative.

Finally we put everything together and had a world premiere for students, teachers, and parents!

**Planning Date:** October 11th **Teaching Artist observes the school culture and classrooms:** October 13th **Residency Dates:** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">October: 17, 18, 19, 25, 26; November: 2, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 30; December: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 **Reflection Date (To be facilitated by an Art Specialist at the end of the residency):** December 16 __ **Residency Planning Documents** __

(Please upload copies of your residency planning documents here. They will include the Residency Planning Guide, Residency Plan Worksheet, Residency Observation for Artists, and Standards Based Lesson Plans. To find blank copies of these forms, visit the Useful Forms page of the wiki.)