Stop Motion Animation
What is it?
Stop motion animation is where you create a video, or movie where you repeatedly stop, and start the recorder in small increments, then move the manipulatives a small amount. This is an alternative way to create videos, clips, and movies. Stop motion animation can be created using illustrations, Lego, and several other things.
Tips for creating stop motion videos:
-Before you begin, it is helpful to create a story board containing characters, setting, events, and what happens in each frame.
-If possible use a tripod for filming the stop motion video. This prevents the camera from moving, if you do not have a tripod set your camera against something sturdy.
-Set the background as something still.
-Taking several frames, and moving manipulatives slightly makes a more fluent stop motion video.
Zing Studio 
This week in class we used Zing Studio, which is an app for creating stop motion videos! Below I attached our video creation! In our group we communicated effectively to assign roles for each person in our group. It was fun and effective to bounce ideas off one another for what we wanted our story to be, what manipulatives we used, where the setting is, and who got to move what manipulative. Zing studio was easy to navigate, and it had a function where you could add sound to your video creation!
Here is a short tutorial I found on youtube for using the app Zing Studio
Creating Stop Motion in the Classroom
Creating stop motion videos in a classroom is super engaging and fun for children of all ages. It is a hands-on learning experience and allows them to create any story they want; it also requires students to work collaboratively in a group, or effectively alone. As a teacher I would bring in several manipulatives for students to choose from, but I would also encourage students to bring in their own from home! Additionally stop motion animation does not have to be limited to just using objects, or toys. Students have the freedom to create stop motion videos through drawing, stickers, clay, natural materials and many other things. In my classroom I would allow students to work with groups while creating stop motion videos or alone. Stop motion video is a fantastic way for children to showcase their learning through project based assignments. In my classroom kids could create stop motion videos in all subject’s language arts, science, social studies, or mathematics. The opportunities for creating stop motion videos are endless.
