Wildcat Workshop @ Marian Anderson School
GRADE 6
LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!
Essential Questions
What tools and strategies do cinematographers and filmmakers use to craft video stories?
How can I use design thinking to create something that is useful and meaningful to others?
How can I craft arguments to persuade others to support something I care about?
What does it mean to be a good digital citizen?
Key Projects
Mobile app that recommends movies based on user interests
Digital movie and/or commercial
April 2024
We used Adobe Express to create movie posters. We took advantage of the easy-to-use background removal tool.
During “Genius Hour,” students have access to materials and tools in the Wildcat Workshop to make things that are meaningful to them. A few students designed plaques and carved them in plastic plates using the Carvey.
We watched a video about deep fakes and discussed (1) how they're made, (2) some positive and negative uses of the technology, and (3) how to handle deep fakes when you encounter them—especially when you're not sure it is one.
March 2024
We set up our food commercials for filming. We worked to get everything looking and moving right. We used green screen backgrounds to help with editing later.
Students participating in the Media and Design Competition shared their projects at a city-wide event.
Grades 6 and 7 students Amirrah, Mykenzie, and Taylor won second place in the 3D design category with their expandable box project.
Grades 6 and 7 students Nyasia, Suhayla, and Taylor won third place in the web design category with a website about our school's oratorical competition.
February 2024
We analyzed videos of food commercials and researching some of the methods companies use to sell food. For, instance, they might put lipstick on a strawberry to make it redder and shinier or use glue in place of milk. We also learned that robotics may be used to set up complex shots with cameras and food.
We began planning to shoot our our commercials. We selected robotics components and food we want to use. We started building and coding the robotics components using LEGO robotics kits.
A former student of Mr. Smith’s, who now is a freelancer director of photography, joined our class via Zoom. He’s worked on projects for Netflix, PBS, and ESPN and has filmed celebrities such as Chloe and Halle Bailey, Pharrell, and the Backstreet Boys. He showed us an example food commercial setup and edit that he has working on, discussed topics like keying and frames per second, and described what it’s like to work in his industry.
We began preparing projects in animation, graphic design, and digital movie for the Media and Design Competition.
January 2024
We continued learning about mobile apps and coding in JavaScript by creating a simple photo liking app. Coding the app involved creating a variable to keep track of likes and then display the number of likes below the photo.
We earned Digital Citizen Badges for being Password Security Pros, Screen Time Managers, and Conscientious Digital Sharer. We also played Interland to learn more about digital citizenship.
December 2023
We began to explore App Lab on code.org using a free play approach. For instance, we added elements like labels, buttons, checkboxes, dropdown menus, and images. We also changed the properties of the elements we added, like background colors, text color and size, and button colors and size.
We also used a wireframe diagram to analyze an example quiz app. The wireframe diagram is something designers use to create prototypes that show the basic designs of different screens and also shows how screens are connected to one another. For instance, clicking one button might take a user to one screen. Another button would take a user to a different screen. We used arrows to show the flow between screens.
We began using App Lab on code.org to create a prototype quiz about ourselves. We used the example quiz from last week and the wireframe diagram as a model to work from. We wrote questions about ourselves and added four choices. We also discussed what kinds of information we would and would not want to put on the internet. Some kinds of information may be used for identify theft purposes.
To make the apps work, we had to connect the screens using code. For instance, most of the time, to move from one screen to the next, the user has to click a specific button.
November 2023
We continued editing our stop motion LEGO movies. In some cases, we realized we needed to reshoot some of our photos/scenes. We also realized we needed way more photos than we took in some cases; so, we modified our movies to make them movie trailers instead.
Some groups also incorporated close up shots of characters talking using the ChatterPix Kids app for iPad.
As we edited our movies in WeVideo, we added title cards, text, music, sound effects, and transitions.
October 2023
We continued working on our stop motion movies by planning our shots, painting backgrounds, and practicing taking photos to see how our sets and characters look. We discussed how some shots can be used to establish a setting and mood. We also discussed how shots can be zoomed in, out, medium, etc.
Some of our story ideas, sets, and characters changed throughout the pre-production (planning, making sets, storyboarding, casting characters), production (photographing, filming), and post-production (editing) processes. This happens all the time in filmmaking.
Students began editing their movies using WeVideo.
Some students running for positions in Student Government elections used Wildcat Workshop resources and tools to create buttons and make copies of posters.
September 2023
We’re learning about cinematography and filmmaking this year. We’re starting the year by creating stop motion movies. Most of us are using LEGOs. We watched a couple of LEGO stop motion clips created by other students. To get started, we began thinking about the characters and settings we'd like to use. We started searching for characters and putting together some initial sets.
We painted or printed backgrounds for our sets.
