Stop Motion Lip Sync and the County Song

Utilizing stop-motion animation in the music class not only serves as an ideal method for showcasing comprehension of the musical staff and note values but also offers an alternative creative avenue. Taking inspiration from Tricia Fuglestad’s blog, “Fuglefun.com,” my third-grade students embarked on the enjoyable task of crafting a lip-sync video to memorize the names of our state counties. The resulting finished video from one group provides a glimpse into the entertaining learning experience. Watch the video example below. After that, I’ve included a walk-through of the preparation and teaching process in case you would like to try it with your students.

The Set Up for Paper Cut Out Animation

There were several options for finding phonetic lip shapes:

Tricia Fuglestad created this TPT file with directions and ready-made lips.

Another Mouth Shape TpT product is from the Happy Pixel Studio

Using Tricia’s Lip Sync activity as a guide, I supplemented the lips with the set from Happy Pixel Studio

I made a set of lip shapes for each group (9 sets) using card stock paper and attached a bit of velcro to the back of each lip shape.

I used folders to organize the lip shapes by sounds and attached the lips to the base for with velcro. Be sure to write the sound each shape makes on the back to avoid confusion and help with cleanup at the end.

The Filming Process:

We decided how to sound out each county name phonetically, which vowel sound and which consonant sound, as well as the rhythm of the county name. I found that thinking of each syllable as an eighth note (1 frame) made room for quarter note (2 frames) when there was a longer sound. I numbered the county name in alphabetical order. Students, working in groups of two, would go to the table and choose a county name, create the video, and then call me to check for accuracy. If there were any problems, I would help students understand or improve the animation. All students animated at the 11fps rate.

Unfortunately, with the app that we used, iMotion, students had to begin all over if there was a mistake; they didn’t mind, though. When the animation was approved, a student would export and upload the video to Seesaw. Most teams were able to animate 3-5 county names each class. I did ask that the county name and number be seen in the video to help me put them all together at the end.

The Set Up for Each Table

Here is a great place to find the blank face template online and from there it is easy to create several different faces for the different teams. To make it look like different children are singing the song, glue the face shape to different colored backgrounds. Tape the colored paper down to avoid moves while filming the animation. Using the eye sets in Tricia’s activity gave the cool blinking effect. I told my students to leave the blink through two frames. It worked and they loved it!!!

Animation App – iMotion or Stop Motion Studio

iMotion is a free animation app. It has tons of features, but the most important reason I used iMotion rather than Stop Motion Studio is because iMotion easily works in portrait mode.

Putting It All Together

Since each student crafted their animation at 11 frames per second, the process of putting the lip sync all together primarily involved importing each county in alphabetical order and making adjustments for prolonged sounds. I returned each video to the students the following week, allowing them to record their voices while watching the synchronized animation. That was so much more engaging for the students than I expected.

Reflection

Mastering a new technological skill always involves a learning curve, and I found that my guidance for setting up the kids for success continually refined with each passing day. The second week, students made far fewer mistakes, had fewer bumps of the camera, and solved problems on their own when needed. It only took two weeks to complete this project, but it still is one of my third graders’ favorite activities. They learned and can accurately sing all of the counties in alphabetical order, plus developed much needed soft skills: problem-solving, cooperation, initiative, and teamwork.

This project teaches students the movie-making process and how stop-motion animation works by immersing them in the process rather than having students read about it. They are already making more stop motion movies at home and uploading them to Seesaw to share with their friends.

What do you think would be another use for lip sync animation with your students? Leave a comment and share your ideas.

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Cherie Herring

Music/Technology Integration at Hammond School

I teach elementary music, am passionate about integrating technology into my teaching, am obsessed with my SMARTBoard and iPad, and enjoy creating lessons and sharing ideas. I love technology almost as much as I love cheesecake, and with more energy and ideas than I know what to do with, I can't wait for the sun to come up each morning! I'm wife to Prince Charming and mom to three incredible girls who keep me balanced. . . sort of!