One of the more memorable events of Gr. 2 happens in the spring each year as school starts to wind down.

As part of the process of finishing the school year, Gr. 2 classes spend time working on a short skit or play to help build their public speaking and collaboration skills in a creative way. Students perform their plays for different classes and grades, along with inviting parents into the classroom. These events have always been a fun way to celebrate the Gr. 2 year.

This past spring, however, Ms. Klintworth started to wonder if there might be an opportunity to evolve this project for her 2K class. What if there was a way students could show more of the skills they learned? What if the project’s output could allow students to better demonstrate their progress against curricular core competencies of communication and collaboration?

With these thoughts in mind, Ms. Klintworth decided to assign students the task of creating a stop-animation movie based on one of their favourite learning experiences from the year. During this month-long assignment, students working in small groups would create a storyline with characters, setting and narrative, pulling together elements of the language arts, science and social studies curriculums. They would then film the movies using iPads and mini desktop studio sets. “The goal of this project was to provide students with an opportunity to highlight their learning from the year while further building on key skills such as communication, collaboration, problem-solving and creative thinking,” said Ms. Klintworth. “Each step of the project was fully student-designed, from idea creation right through to filming/drawing and adding in voiceovers and music.”

Interestingly, all of the groups picked the same learning experience as their favourite—the salmon life cycle and taking care of the environment. The curricular big idea for Gr. 2 socials is that local actions have global consequences, and global actions have local consequences. The class was particularly excited and passionate about raising salmon fry in the classroom and then later releasing them into a local creek.

Completely in charge of their project’s direction, the groups had the creative freedom to take their stories wherever they wanted to go. Once they had written their stories and roughly storyboarded out their film, it was time for production. Again, students had a lot of choices in terms of the tools and approach they took to making their movie. For reference, a stop-motion animation typically requires approximately 500 photos to create 2-3 minutes of video. Most of the student movies were 1-3 minutes in length.

As you might anticipate, there were challenging moments during production for all of the teams to overcome. There were competing creative visions to manage. There were teamwork issues. There were also lots of challenges with technical practicalities. Through trial and error, many of the teams learned how to adjust their expectations. For example, one group wanted to make an eagle fly. But how? After several unsuccessful approaches, the group settled on using a piece of fishing line. “The students’ dedication was tremendous.” said Ms. Klintworth, “I found it so exciting to learn alongside them, exploring the technology we were using, discovering what worked well, and identifying areas that needed adjustments.”

The project culminated in the 2K’s Movie Screening. This especially memorable event included a red carpet walk, complete with paparazzi. While what was screened in the 2K Theatre might look like fun little movies, they are so much more from the perspective of how these developing skills can be used to express your ideas and connect with others.

We are hoping for sequels this upcoming premiere season!

“I was so impressed by what each of the groups created and the perseverance and excitement with which they approached this project. There was a buzz in the room each time we worked on this, and it was wonderful to see how proud the students were to share their animation movies with their peers and parents.”

- Ellie Klintworth, Wentworth Gr. 2 Teacher