HUE Animation for Maker Space or Genius Hour

Hue Animation Studio
by Hue Animation
Kit comes with HUE HD camera with mic; the HUE Book of Animation, a 60-page full color book; a mini stage with background and 'green screen' and stop motion software with sound effects, printable activities and backdrops.
Review kit provided by Hue


Stop motion animation couldn't be easier than it is with the Hue studio. Once you've got the software installed, you plug the camera into your USB port and...get creative!

The first time I fiddled with the camera, I experienced firsthand one of the basics of stop motion animation -- the more pictures you take with smaller movements of your character, the better your movie turns out! The Hue software makes this easy by providing the image of the picture you just took on the left and a ghost image of that picture on the right. I took the pink box completely out of the screenshot below to show this ghost image, but when you're shooting your movie, you use the ghost to determine how far/what direction to move the object for the next shot. The on-screen tools are very intuitive, and the project autosaves on your computer. It's easy to create a QuickTime of the final movie so you can share your work. This is a tool with lots of "stretch." You can get good results in a short amount of time, or you can go crazy with creativity (including backdrops, sound effects, and an actual storyline) and get fabulous results.

I predict that stop motion animation will be a hit in Genius Hour this year. In less than 15 minutes, I will demonstrate the basics to my students and then I will be able to step back and watch what they create using objects from around the classroom (or that they bring from home), making scenery, writing/acting out stories, or just fiddling around the way I did for this test movie. My process:

1. I grabbed the button box where I gathered all the loose buttons I found in the laundry room/sewing area of mom's house. 
2. I chose a place to film that had decent light without a glare. 
3. I set the buttons free. 

I didn't know when I started what those buttons would do once they were free, so just like when I start writing with only the very smallest of a seed idea, I had the experience of surprise that comes with following my creativity wherever it chooses to lead!

Kicking Off Genius Hour

Last spring, during our morning Genius Hour time, one of my students had a small container with her when she entered the classroom. I asked her what she had and she said happily, "My Acorn Cap Collection. I am going to run a workshop this morning teaching people about them."  She proceeded to gather magnifying glasses, markers paper and sticky notes. She quickly made a sign and invited people to the table to learn about ways to observe acorn caps.  It was quite a popular spot in the room that morning and I thought, "This is what Genius Hour should look like every day!"

This year, as I thought about Genius Hour, I knew I wanted to change it a bit from last year. Last year,  students found areas of interest and spent time learning about those and sometimes creating things to share their learning.  I wanted it to be playful and purposeful.  But I wanted it to be more for this year and this Acorn Cap workshop gave me some ideas.

This year, we are changing the name of Genius Hour to "Wonder Workshop". We have Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop and Math Workshop so having a Wonder Workshop makes sense. Our students know what a workshop is and they know their role in learning in a workshop.  And a Wonder Workshop seems to make sense to 8 year olds.  This will be a time that we explore those things we wonder about each day.

This year, when I think about Genius Hour/Wonder Workshop, I wanted it to be a combination of so many things.  I love the Genius Hour movement and I also love the possibilities around Maker Space and Passion Time. I wanted to create a time that made sense for 8 year olds, where they could explore and learn. I wanted a place where they could sometimes be the learner and sometimes be the teacher. I wanted a place where anything was possible and where kids were in charge of their own learning.

To kick off Wonder Workshop, each child is creating a workshop for the class. We spent time talking about those things they love, things they are good at, things they want to teach others about.  So, every day, for 2 weeks, we are learning from each other.  For homework last week, kids prepared 10 minute mini-workshops on a topic of their choice.  For 2 weeks, kids are rotating to workshops, learning from every other child in the classroom.  So far we've learned:

• how to play guitar
• how to make fortune tellers
• how to braid hair
• about the sea
• how to make clay animals
• how to make puzzles

And these are just a few of the things we've learned about!

As students share, the audience members are jotting down new things they are learning and questions they have. They are also jotting down things they want to try.  I am hoping that we are setting the stage for a Wonder Workshop that has us thinking about the following questions.

• What do we know? 
• What can we teach each other? 
• What can we learn from and with each other? 
• What are you interested in/good at now?  
• What might we be interested in later in the year?

There have been some added perks. The idea of  "research" is already being discussed as something far more than finding the right answer.  Students are seeing themselves in various roles and the variety of the presentations will give us things to build on when it comes to writing and communication for much of the year.  They've also built a community around learning that I can see grow each day by listening into the questions they ask of each presenter.  Each child is not only discovering new interests, but they are also discovering things about their classmates.

I'm excited to move forward with the idea of a Wonder Workshop after spending a few weeks exploring our interests and learning from and with each other.   I imagine much of workshop will be a continuation of some of these workshops at first--kids are already wanting to try out and build on the things they are learning.  Just as with any workshop during the first few weeks of school, I am listening in, observing, and thinking about how we might build on the amazing things that kids are already doing!

Inspired by Caine's Arcade

Perhaps you know and love the story of 9 year-old Caine's cardboard arcade, and what happened when a filmmaker stopped at his dad's used auto parts store in East LA to buy a door handle for his car.

But do you know what has happened since then?




In case you don't have time to watch right now, I'll summarize:

This whole thing got huge. Caine's college fund has exploded into The Imagination Foundation, a "non-profit to foster creativity and entrepreneurship in more kids like Caine."

There's a Global Cardboard Challenge going on in September and culminating in a Day of Play on Saturday, October 11.

Let's save a bunch of boxes, give our kids time to make stuff with them, and then share our photos and videos #cardboardchallenge.

Genius Hour, here we come!