Flat Stanley Visits....Your Imagination in Claymation!

Students will read Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. Students pair share ideas how Flat Stanley can travel. They will work in teams to brainstorm imaginative places Flat Stanley could travel (ex. center of the earth, space, etc.).

Students then work in groups to come up with 4 characters for a story...one Flat _______(insert a name), the other characters can be anything they can imagine! Students collaborate to create a storyboard for a claymation movie. After creating the storyboard, students work in the same groups to paint a posterboard size backdrop for their movie.

Students create their clay characters using wire and clay. It is helpful to watch claymation videos on utube to brainstorm the effectiveness of characterization using clay.

Students collaboratively work to film a claymation movie using their characters and storyboard. Note special claymation features...it takes 6 digital pictures for 1 second of film. Using math/multiplication, students will decide how many pictures they need for a 10-15 second claymation movie. Discuss using word cards during the movie (word cards need 18 pictures for 3 seconds of play time to read the cards!).

Tips on filming the animation:

1.Using a digital camera take a photo or 3 second shot of your characters in the beginning pose. (This is 18 pictures)
2.Slightly move the characters and possible the moveable background parts.
3.Take a picture
4.repeat step two to capture the story’s theme.
5.Approximately 60-90 pictures should be shot for a very short claymation


If available, use Podcasting system to add sound to the video. Have students write a scrip and narrate to fit the claymation movie.

Play the movies at the end and critique the effectiveness of characterization and bringing a film to life!