Teacher(s): Margot Brass and Alena Munro

Lesson Title: Edgar Allen Poe and Stop Motion Animation

Grade/Subject: 10th grade English Language Arts
Central focus: Stop motion is a powerful animation technique that makes static objects appear to be moving.
Students will first read The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. The class will be divided into groups; each group will be
assigned a literary device. The groups will then use the stop motion animation to depict how the poet uses literary
devices in the poem.

Essential Question: How can we use stop motion animation to understand The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe? How can
stop motion animation show our understanding of: theme, symbolism, metaphor, form, and meter?

Visual Arts and/or Media Standard(s) Students will:

Create a collection of artwork, in a variety of mediums, based on instructional assignments and individual
and collective experiences to explore perceptions, ideas, and viewpoints.
Create art works in which they use and evaluate different kinds of mediums, subjects, themes, symbols,
metaphors, and images.

Demonstrate an increasing level of competence in using the elements and principles of art to create art works
for public exhibition.

Reflect on their developing work to determine the effectiveness of selected mediums and techniques for
conveying meaning and adjust their decisions accordingly.

English Language Arts Common Core Standards

Key Ideas and Details: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over
the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an
objective summary of the text. Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact
with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Craft and Structure: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different
artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden's "Muse des Beaux
Arts" and Breughel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity: By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature,
including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently
and proficiently.

Learning Objectives
Content Objectives: Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a writer,
poet, critic, and editor. Edgar Allan Poe's tales of mystery and horror gave birth to the modern detective story and
many of his works, including The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher, became literary classics.
"The Raven," which he published in 1845, is considered among the best-known poems in American literature.

The Raven: The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on
a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word
 "Nevermore". The poem makes use of a number of folk, mythological, religious, and classical references.

Process/Skill Objectives: Students will develop skills in three areas:

Stylistic, comparative, historical, and formal analysis of visual forms through written and oral
communication.
Advanced writing skills: synthesizing organizing and presenting large amounts of material from various
sources and disciplines.
Research and methodology relevant to art history; use of the library, image indexes and databases.
Academic Language: Students will READ and ANALYZE The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. They will ANNOTATE
the poem in terms of their assigned literary device.

Art Vocabulary
Background: The part of a scene or picture that appears to be toward the back and farthest from the viewer.
This is opposite of the foreground.
Balance: Principle of design concerned with equalizing visual elements in the composition of a work of art
to create stability.
Focal point: The first part of a work to attract the attention of the viewer and to which the eye returns most
naturally. Focal points are created by contrast, location, isolation, convergence, and use of the unusual.
Foreground: The part of a scene or picture that appears closest to the viewer. The background is what
appears behind the foreground.
Form: An element of a work of art that has three dimensions (width, length and height) and encloses volume
Perspective: A method of representing three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface by creating the
illusion of depth and volume. Using mathematical models and modulations in size, variations, placement,
detail, color, and converging lines of objects, artists can create the sense of depth making the painting appear
to be an extension of the viewers own real space.

English Vocabulary
Theme: In contemporary literary studies, a theme is the central topic a text treats. Themes can be divided
into two categories: a work's thematic concept is what readers "think the work is about" and its thematic
statement being "what the work says about the subject"

Symbolism: Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving
them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. Symbolism can take different forms.
Generally, it is an object representing another to give it an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and
more significant.

Metaphor: a figure of speech, which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things,
that are unrelated but share some common characteristics. In other words, a resemblance of two
contradictory or different objects is made based on a single or some common characteristics

Meter: stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse or within the lines of a poem. Stressed syllables
tend to be longer and unstressed shorter. In simple language, meter is a poetic device that serves as a
linguistic sound pattern for the verses, as it gives poetry a rhythmical and melodious sound.

Form: refers to a poem's physical structure; basically, what the poem looks like and how it sounds. Elements
like the poem's type, stanza structure, line lengths, rhyme scheme, and rhythm express its form. Together,
content and form make meaning, which is the message the poet gives to the reader.

Monitoring Student Learning: Formal & Informal Assessments prior to, during & after learning
How will you know students are on track during lesson?
Storyboarding: The story is visually depicted as a storyboard outlining the plot, characters, and backgrounds.
 Both teachers will remind students that storyboarding is useful because they will figure out all the details
before committing to the animation.
Storyboarding will also ensure that each group selects the one approach best suited to the basic concept
theyve identified. Using poster board, preferably large, and a packet of Post-it-notes, sort out the ideas and
images to be used. Divide up the page, discuss the sequence of shots, and draw in key transitions or
moments, making notes as necessary. Label each section of the storyboard with sequence, camera angle,
timing, and other directorial information as you go.
Each group needs two copies of their storyboard. One copy of the storyboard will be collected to ensure that
the group is on task. The other copy is for student reference as they make their animations.

How will you know at the end of the lesson what students learned?

Students must each submit a 2 page paper that includes: a brief synopsis of the text, what literary device the
author used and how it is used (2 examples from the text), and how their stop motion animation depicts the
use of the literary device.

Instructional Resources and Materials

Monty Pythons Flying Circus (Work of Terry Gilliam) available on video

The Legend of The Sky Kingdom

Mark Osbornes More

Nick Parks wonderful Wallace and Gromit series of shorts

Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas

Connection to prior academic learning and requisite skills: Students will have prior knowledge of the art
vocabulary and the literary devices. They will know how to use iMovie because of a library workshop day; a library
technician will teach the students how to use iMovie.

Connections to cultural/personal/community assets: Students have a right to a wide variety and range of high
quality critical educational experiences that help them make informed decisions about their role and participation in
language, literacy, and life.

From the Edgar Allen Poe Text, students will learn about madness, love, mans relationship to nature, and the
supernatural. They can relate their understanding of these themes to their everyday life, cultures, and traditions.

Instructional Strategies & Learning Tasks that support diverse student needs
Motivation: How can we use stop motion animation to understand The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe? How can stop
motion animation show our understanding of: theme, symbolism, metaphor, form, and meter?

Procedure: Learning about Literary Devices through Stop Motion Animation

Time Teacher Action (include higher order Student Action
thinking questions, grouping strategies)
Day 1 The teacher will introduce the idea of stop The students will watch the stop motion animation
motion animation to the class. The teacher tutorial and take any needed notes. While in their groups
will show How to Make a Professional Stop they will begin annotating their poem.
Motion Animation Video (YouTube tutorial)
to the class. Students will be broken into
groups, assigned their literary device, and
begin annotating the poem.
 Day 2 The teacher will recap what was introduced
about stop motion animation in the prior day.
The teacher will walk around the room in case
there are any questions. The teacher will
collect a copy of the storyboard at the end of
class.
Students will begin brainstorming ideas for their stop
motion animation and begin storyboarding. One copy of
the storyboard per group needs to be handled into the
teacher by the end of the class period.

Day 3 The teacher will hand back the storyboard to
and 4 each group with feedback. The teacher will
assist any groups that need help with setting
up their scenes, taking pictures, and using
iMovie.
The students will begin setting the stage for their
movie. They will be using construction paper in order to
make their scenes. For day 3 and 4 students will be in
the moving making process. By the end of day 4
students should be finished with their movie. For
homework, the students have their 2-page assignment
that will be due that following week.

Day 5 Presentation day: The teacher will evaluate Presentation day: students will show their movies and
the students based on their movie. explain how their stop motion animation relates to their
assigned literary devices.

Closure: Students will present their stop motion

How students will reflect on their own learning

Conceptualization: Students will come up with strong ideas with their groups. To generate stronger ideas it
is worthwhile to engage students in critical viewings of animation, and encourage brainstorming and
synthesis of ideas.

Scripting: After students brainstorm ideas they need to write down their thoughts to determine what
interaction and action will take place. Writing descriptions of the action helps to determine how and in what
order every shot will become animated later in the process.

Students will do their conceptualizing and scripting in sketchbooks.

Accommodation/Modification based on IEP or 504 plans (special needs students): Some of our students need
accommodations. When we teach, we need to make sure we organize our lessons to align with their needs. You fill
this in only if you are teaching in a class and have students with IEPs or 504 plans.

Differentiation strategies FOR ALL STUDENTS:

Visual (spatial): prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding. Students who are visual
learners will enjoy the storyboarding process of this lesson.
Aural (auditory-musical): prefer using sound and music. Students who are aura learners will enjoy
adding music to the short stop animation.
Verbal (linguistic): prefer using words, both in speech and writing. Students who are verbal learners
will enjoy righting descriptions for the storyboard and the captions for the short stop animation.
Physical (kinesthetic): prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch. Students who are physical
learners will enjoy prepping the set. They will gather all the materials for the set up. Once groups
have decided on the story they will be telling and have created their storyboards, they need to begin
gathering their props, characters, and back drops to be ready to film their animation.
Technology integration to support learning

Frame Thief is a premiere software package for creating animation on Macintosh platforms.

Stop Motion Pro is an easy to use, powerful tool for creating animated films on Windows PC platforms.

iMovie: is a video editing software application sold by Apple Inc. for the Mac and iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPad
Mini and iPod Touch).