Out of this World!

Ok- Get ready because this unit was so much fun! I found this idea in the January 2012 edition of School Arts called "Building a Better Robot". It was great...it was like a summer blockbuster movie, it had everything! Stamping with found objects (cheap, right?), elements of a landscape (at least the way I taught it), drawing, chalk, into to perspective/space, core review of the planets in our solar system, storytelling and imagination. It was a great find so I taught it to my 1st graders last year and it was a hit!
Well, this year I had an iPad and know how to use it, so I did. I borrowed some iPads from one of my first grade teachers who is very tech-y (Thanks Mr. Tanner!) and went to work. I photographed all of the backgrounds and robots before the classes came in and put them into Dropbox (I am so new at this I didn't even think it would work). I showed the kiddo's how to use an app called Puppet Pals. They imported the stamped robot as the actor and the background as the, well, background and then recorded a puppet show that gave information they wrote on their Mission Report, two facts about the robot and where it was "tested".

What did I learn:

•  You need more than one iPad for sure and having control over the iPads for pre-work more than five minutes before the kids come in is really helpful. 1:2 worked for me (2 kids per 1 iPad)
• You can export from quicktime to iMovie but not from Dropbox to iMove, that I know of-I'm new.
• Six year olds still love to make funny noises especially when they are being recorded and the ones who will not be quiet during class to save a life will be the same children you can not hear on the video!
• I have a big mouth- I can hear my own yapping in almost every video- I need a silent quiet sign for recording.
• Everyone else is loud too...I we need to have a sound studio or a "recording zone" so that people don't get so much background noise in the recordings.
• I hope this video shows- If not I will repost...did I mention I was new at this? 

I can say this, I am proud of my first attempt at bring iPads into the art room and I really did learn as much if not more than the kids did! (I even taught my tech-y teacher friend a thing or two that I discovered!) Woo-Whoo! 

Stay Art-Z my friends!