Mrs. Neptune's third grade- country research projects, time zones and clock making

 This project was one of the highlights of my year. Mrs. Neptune's class was working on a research project about countries- each kid picked a country to study, compile information and present to the class. They each gave a powerpoint presentation, replicated a popular game and also made food from their country for their classmates to try.

For my part I thought it would be neat to teach them about time zones and create clocks that used their researched information to portray their country. Learning about time zones was actually really informative for me! I had no idea when and why time zones were created- interesting!! We also studied traditional Cuckoo clocks to get them thinking about how a clock could possibly be a work of art. I found great clocks at Ikea and bought one for each student.

The outside was plastic so we painted them with acrylic paint. Some of them used their flag's colors and others used colors in their country's landscape. Then they drew images related to their country on the face of the clock (which is paper). They drew popular foods, sports, games, places of interest and particular clothing. It was so cool to see what they were learning and have them relate that visually!

For the finishing touch I gave them air dry clay. They modeled and painted little images to glue around their clocks. They turned out incredible!!!

Each child needed to find out the difference in hours between their country's time zone and the time here in Tampa. We all set our clocks to the same time and I hung them outside of their classroom, ticking away!!!

Ireland

Israel

Mexico

Italy

Greece

"Mermaids and Me" claymation

Another group of kindergartners (I know you agree with me that these kids are such talented, hard workers!! How incredible are they??)- this group is four girls. They left no detail unexplored.....everything that they could think of that they would see in the sea they included. Details are important so I was very pleased! These kiddos only come to me on a part time basis so you can see how efficient they were- super proud of you guys!!

"Aliens vs. Humans"..claymation

Ah- this epic battle was invented by two kindergarten boys ;). Listening to them talk out their idea was so great! They decided that their film would begin on the moon and that eventually the aliens would defeat the humans, although I think they changed that while they were filming and the humans won. I adored all of the characters they made and how well the two of them bounced ideas off each other- such a great team!! Enjoy!!!

Here is another one!- Red Riding Hood claymation

Ah! This is so adorable! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!! Three girls made this one....they are all insanely talented and so much fun for me to work with. Two of them are in 4th grade and one is in second grade. I know these films are short but pay attention to the details if you can....the glasses on the wolf after he eats grandma are so cool! The detail and hair on the wolf are incredibly life like. The eyes on Red Riding Hood and the little pants on the woodcutter----I love it all!

The second grader gave me the music choices and when she wanted the songs to enter into the film- I had to use her spelling for Beethoven since I didn't remember how to spell it ;).

"BFF" claymation about puppies!

Ah- this one is so sweet!! It's named "BFF" and it about girls and their dogs ;). The craftsmanship is insane- notice the flowers and the crazy detail on the puppies! These students are 2nd and 3rd grade.

Claymation- "The Big Race", second graders

This one is an energetic, fun Claymation portraying an intense car race. The group includes my 2nd grade son and his friend J, also in 2nd grade (love them!). They knew each other in preschool and both liked hot wheels back then....their interest hasn't waned ;)). Every once in a while, since this is an after school class, I have to bring my younger son over from our school's preschool. On the days he was there J and R made him feel so included and special- they even wrote his name on every paper ;). Very well done boys!

Minecraft Claymation by two hard working 4th graders!

I'm very excited to finally start posting the Claymation videos! This first one is from my two spectacular 4ht graders- A and J. They not only produced their own awesome film- they also shot most of the other student's films as well as edited them (added music, titles, split frames, etc.) in Windows Movie maker for me. I'm so impressed and thankful!! Thank you A and J!!

Claymation enrichment class

 I got home tonight from our fourth class out of the five Claymation classes in this session thinking about how busy today's class was ;)....but also just how wonderful the learning opportunities are when we are making these mini-movies. It is really neat to watch!

We started the session in week one by viewing a few Claymation movies and explaining to them how stop motion animation works. Then we began to develop our characters and stories on brainstorming worksheets. After their idea was developed, I had them illustrate/sketch their characters before they manipulated the clay. I feel like sketching first is such a great way to sort through and gain new ideas!

By the time they got to the clay there was so much fabulous energy in the room! Listening to each group discuss their plots and what details their characters would have was great!

Here are many of the characters produced.....

 

The following week I gave them blank storyboard worksheets and we worked through 9 "stages" of their story that would eventually become their movie. They sketched and wrote notes covering their story from beginning to end. I'm hoping that this will help them when they are animating to use as a guide if needed. The following pictures are some of the absolutely precious storyboards and more completed characters. LOVE!!!!!

Terrariums! enrichment class

Every second of my enrichment class this afternoon was pure fun! We learned about how terrariums are mini eco systems. As we added each layer we discussed why we were using pebbles, charcoal, etc. and why they would care for our plants. Then they began to create their miniature "world". They used paper clay today to form the characters in their world. Next week we will paint the clay pieces and add even more details. I am uploading what feels like a thousand pictures because I'm so in love with what they made and I can't seem to edit myself!!