I love the idea of transforming STEM education into STEAM education. First of all, it makes me feel like I could be teaching herbology at Hogwarts. More importantly, it makes a better curriculum. The extra “A” is for art. And the more we learn about cognitive science, the more we see that the interplay of science, technology, engineering, and art is undeniable. Antonio Damasio makes a compelling case that our emotional states determine which logical options occur to us when we make rational decisions. Similarly George Lakoff and Mark Johnson have done an excellent job of showing that comprehension and problem solving boil down to our ability to mentally juxtapose metaphors.

Meanwhile, back in the trenches, I find that teaching students to create video games can be an extremely valuable way to take advantage of this interplay.  My 7th grade students created these projects as part of a unit on WWII.  In each case, it was fantastic to watch them become more interested in accuracy, more willing to revise, and more excited to share their work with others.

Click a game to give it a try.

I wrote this guide to help my students create stop motion animation with Scratch.  The annotated screen shots guide students through Scratch’s user interface and explains what each block of code does.   Once again, kids are able to produce high quality work without investing enormous amounts of time learning a complicated new application.  In fact, on a very basic level, they are programming their own application.

This example was produced by on of my students using the techniques in the guide.

Once they’ve got the basics of this technique, students can enhance their animations with special effects by drawing on the photos they took using Scratches built-in image editor.  These animations can be converted movie clips using screen recorders like Quicktime Pro or the open source Camstudio.  The clips can then be compiled and edited even more using iMovie or Windows Movie Maker.

Please feel free to use this guide with your students.  As always, I’m glad to answer questions and welcome suggestions for improving this resource.

Download (PDF, 87.62KB)

I created these videos to introduce my students to a simple method of computer animation using Scratch.

I designed the tutorials keep students from feeling overwhelmed and to help them succeed with very little effort.   I demonstrate each step of the process in detail, giving extra emphasis to the details that students most commonly overlook.  Text labels clarify the major steps and make the tutorial easier to review.  The rapid review at the end of each video reinforces the sequence of steps and helps students consolidate the new information they have gained.

And then

This simple and effective introduction has been the launchpad for many exciting projects that I’ll be sharing soon.

What concepts could you share through animation better than text or simple illustration?

What could you ask your students to represent through animation?