Creating a stop motion animation video was a win-win when my students needed to demonstrate their understanding of the musical staff before beginning the recorder unit. It’s one thing for students to memorize that there are 5 lines and 4 spaces and quite another for non-piano students to recall the names of the lines and spaces. I’m certainly happy when they can do that; however, not every student is able to learn by rote and have it stick.

Through this stop motion animation project, students worked through these steps:

• Move fine lines on the stage to make the staff

• Move space-note and line-note blocks in to number the spaces and lines

• Move in space-note named pieces to the correct spaces

• Move in line-note named pieces to the correct lines.

As with any activity, more is learned through mistakes and having to re-do than getting it right the first time. This activity was perfect for checking for real understanding because gaps in application did show up during the animation process. That’s exactly why stop motion was and is perfect for this. Children were so engaged in creating the animation, in adding their own flair to the steps, that they were eager to get every detail correct. 

Watch the magic in this montage.

Application and reflection:

I was pleased with the conversations my students have had about note reading since this activity. One of the concepts reinforced was how pitches can move in skips and steps and what that looks like on the staff.  Because my students always learn to read notes to play on the recorder AND the piano, this is especially important for setting them up for success. 

Download the “Stop Motion and Musical Staff” pieces to copy below:

Stop Motion Staff Setup

• I found the jenga blocks at the Dollar Tree and glued them together to make the numbering of the lines and spaces easier.

• The little colored pieces were left over from counting pieces in the classroom. 

• I used T-pins for the rubber pieces and hot glue for the plastic pieces.

• When you make copies of the note names, they are designed to fold over and glue over the T-Pin.

• Use stips of foam sheets for the staff lines rather than pipe cleaners. Pipe cleaners will bend and get all wonkey while the foam strips will stay flat on the stage for multiple classes. 

• Two students per station works really well, no more than three.

• We used the Stop Motion Animation app on iPad for this project. It is perfect because it allows students to delete and add frames. 

How about you? How have you used Stop Motion Animation with your music students lately? Hey! If you try this with your students, stop back by to tell us how it went. All it takes is just a little more work to make it happen.

The magic is worth the effort!