Stop Motion Animation Storytelling

A piece I wrote recently about motivating and encouraging boy writers with stop motion animation has been published by Creative Educator Magazine in a feature article.

Here's a direct link:  Creative Educator Magazine.

During the last school year, I experienced success in motivating boy writers with the use of stop motion animation storytelling.

There is something magical about how imagination, a story, and technology can all come together to provide an engaging learning experience. In fact, just yesterday I continued to use stop motion animation storytelling as a motivator for a group of five boys at one of our school locations.

Boys - Literacy and Identity

Article Review:

"Boys who seem uninterested in literacy in the classroom may be enthusiastic readers and writers in different contexts.

Yet the literacy practices that appeal to some boys are not always valued in the context of institutionalized school literacy and may be overlooked, to the frustration of both student and teacher."

Quote: Page 512 Column 1 - Bronwyn T. Williams - Article

B.T. Williams presents a case in this article for boys and what some of them prefer to write about: action, adventure, violence and popular culture.

The author speaks to the fact that "some of our boy writers, who may be creative, passionate writers are being told, explicitly and implicitly, that the reading and writing they are drawn to not only has no value but is also potentially dangerous" -

Page 511 Column 2.

The author describes how the violence in boys' stories is not always about violence for the sake of violence but is included as part of a representation of violence during the story.

The second to last segment of the article talks about Action and its appeal. She says, "action-oriented literacy practices for boys is the way they can use them to make social connections" These type of social connections are very important for our boy learners.

Some larger questions are posed at the end of the article including:

Should I dismiss or prohibit the writing and reading that many boys are drawn to, and if so, why?

References:

Newkirk (2002)
Smith & Wilhelm (2002)
Booth (2002)
Maynard (2002)

Boys and Writing - Action Research Reports

"the students displayed increased motivation to excel with class assignments and exhibited improved confidence with their perceived writing ability.

Source - Volume I: Page 43, " Visual Image Writing Prompts"

"the opportunity to share opinions and ideas globally provided motivation to write more powerfully and with increased confidence in this context"

Source - Volume II: Page 97, "The Power of Blogs"

The International Boys' Schools Coalition has put together over 20 action research papers all about boys and writing and has posted them in two separate volumes.

There are many hours of reading here. Lots of learning ahead as we read the research.

Writing on Personal Devices

Dr. Elliot Soloway asks a teacher whether using a personal device will benefit boys more in their writing.

Using Moving and Still Images

"Many teachers in the project found that giving boys access to visual images, both moving and still, had a significant impact on their engagement with, and understanding of, texts. This often led to increased motivation to write and a higher standard of writing."

Sally Wilkinson in her journal article "Encouraging Boys' Writing" writes about how the use of film and visual and still images encourage and motivate boy writers.

Here's a sample issue of English 4 to 11. The English Association and UK Literacy Association.

Ontario teachers can read "Encouraging Boys' Writing" on the EBSCO database.