KS1/2 Art - 3D Animation
This is an excellent Teachers TV resource to support teachers in making genuine cross-curricular links and using ICT in an imaginative way, but it is difficult to understand why Design & Technology is missed from the list of subjects, especially since mechanisms feature strongly in the QCA scheme both in KS1 & 2.
Animation requires and develops understanding of mechanisms and materials and provides a springboard for imaginative use of ICT equipment – digital cameras and video recorders as well as computers. Animation projects encourage team-work, problem-solving and creativity. They are ideally suited to the cross-curricular project-based approaches that are being developed in many schools currently and can be used to help student teachers to plan suitable open-ended problem-solving opportunities for children.
The video shows children at work, supported by a very able Teaching Assistant who encourages their ideas and assists in the development of the animation. Links to other parts of the Teachers TV site enable teachers to plan for progression (2-dimensional work into 3-dimensional) across a scheme of work. There are links to other useful sites that show a range of creative ideas that could be developed, both on-line resources and purchasable books.
Some of the recommended techniques on these sites are, however, beyond the capabilities of first-time animators. For adults or children approaching animation for the first time, Windows Movie Maker as easier to use than almost any other animation package (even Year 2s could use it) and it is already on all PCs as part of the Windows bundle, which makes it very attractive for schools. Making links to QCA scheme units could enable teachers to think about these schemes in a different way and, hopefully, move out from them into more creative ways of teaching.
Use with ITE students:
I ran an animation project last October-November with Year 3 BA(QTS) D&T Specialists, who had no previous experience of animation but high level skills in mechanical control. This resource would have been extremely useful for them and enhanced their engagement with the animation work, not just to watch the video and to see how animation can be tackled in school, but also to follow the links to other animation resources. They may well have critiqued the approaches taken in the video clip, but so much the better, as this would enable them to develop their own ideas about how they would tackle such a cross-curricular project.
Reviewed by:
Gill Hope
Keywords
animation, three dimensions, 3D, ICT, information communications technology, design technology
Article published to :
Topic Area
Enjoy and Achieve, Teaching and Learning
QTS Standards
Q17 Know how to use skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT to support their teaching, Q25 (a) use a range of teaching strategies including ICT to take account of diversity and promote equality and inclusion, Q26 (b) Assess the learning needs of those they teach in order to set challenging learning objectives, S 3.3.3 Teach structured lessons/sequences of work which interest/motivate pupils, S2.5 Use ICT effectively, both in teaching and to support wider role, S3.1.1 Set challenging teaching and learning objectives
Type of Resource
Hope, Gill, Teachers TV, Video
Education
Art and Design, Design and Technology, ICT, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2
Authors :
Teachers TV
Source :
http://www.teachers.tv/video/2744
Publisher :
Teachers TV
Article Id :
12736
Date Posted:
13/10/2006