INTEGRATED LEARNING: Fourth Grade Students Address Local History Using Stop Motion Animation

Abstract

Arts integration allows students to connect disparate areas of content to create meaning and foster an understanding with academic material. This interdisciplinary classroom based study explores twenty-three fourth grade students’ work with stop motion animation through the iPad2 to retell important local historical events that took place in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The elementary students worked in animation teams of four to create short movies that capture the Battle of Lake Erie. The data was compiled through student surveys, assessments, reflections, and artwork. The integrating of art and history content proved to be beneficial in promoting student understanding as well as an increase in positive sense of place. The final results of the study allowed the researcher to offer recommendations for others using similar strategies of integrated learning. A lesson plan and examples of data collecting tools are offered in this paper. Keywords: integrated learning, stop motion animation, interdisciplinary art education