Frame by Frame

The inquiry

Storytelling and animation ask different but connected questions: what should an audience understand, and how can a change from one frame to the next communicate it? Anansi stories provide a narrative reference; Lotte Reiniger provides a silhouette-animation reference. Indonesian wayang kulit is studied as a distinct living performance tradition with its own makers, music, stories, and context. Classroom paper puppets are not presented as authentic wayang puppets or as evidence of a direct historical lineage between all three references.

Learning outcomes

• Choose essential story moments and plan a sequence before filming.
• Make a silhouette that reads clearly and test how a joint or whole-body movement communicates action.
• Capture incremental changes with a fixed camera and compare playback.
• Use storyboard/puppet feedback and rough-cut feedback to make or explain a revision.

Prepare materials and references

Prepare black card, age-appropriate and adapted scissors, original body-shape supports, prepunched joint parts, paper fasteners, tape, blunt craft sticks, group folders, storyboard sheets, and critique slips. Adults set stable cool-light/screen stations and camera stands; confirm that the rig produces a readable shadow in the actual room. Test Stop Motion Studio or the approved capture tool, project saving, playback, and export. Use the credited Anansi retelling and the linked BFI and UNESCO references. Check classroom-use permissions for any selected clip; a linked still and a teacher-made motion demonstration provide an alternative.

Safety and material care

Use cool LED light sources and adult-managed cords and stands; do not use hot lamps, exposed bulbs, or pointed skewers. Keep fasteners in counted trays and supervise small parts. Adults pre-punch difficult holes. Students cut seated with appropriate scissors. Secure the screen and clear walking routes; never shine lights toward eyes. Do not require personal accounts, public uploads, face footage, or copyrighted music. Export within approved school storage.

Access and re-entry

Show the current stage with pictures and a short phrase. Offer fewer immediate choices, large or adapted tools, a stable work surface, and original visual prompts without taking over the artistic decisions. Accept home language, gesture, pointing, AAC, or a scribe. Give processing time and a quiet sharing option. Store each child’s or group’s work with a short next-step note; each session below names a way to rejoin.

Contact time

Every studio session follows 0–7 arrival (7 minutes), 7–15 looking and demonstration (8), 15–37 making or discussion (22), 37–43 cleanup (6), and 43–45 closure (2): 45 minutes total. Shorten talk or split it into look–try exchanges; protect cleanup. Travel, drying, printing, large exhibitions, and additional recording time are outside this clock. The studio micro-pacing and re-entry language below are proposed adaptations, not measured classroom results.

Session 1 · Two Storytellers — Anansi and Lotte Reiniger

Purpose: Meet the unit's two co-anchors — an oral storyteller and a film pioneer — and understand that a story can be told without words or faces.

Vocabulary: trickster, oral tradition, silhouette.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: Introduce Anansi as a character in Akan storytelling, then read or tell a short, credited retelling using gestures or simple props. One option is Spider and the Sky God: An Akan Legend, retold by Deborah M. Newton Chocolate. Ask which event changes the situation; use a lawful copy and identify the reteller.
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: Ask which three moments would help someone remember the tale. Introduce Lotte Reiniger and her cut-out silhouette animation The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), the earliest surviving animated feature. View a short excerpt only from a source whose permitted classroom use has been checked; otherwise use the linked BFI still with a teacher-made move–pause demonstration. Ask how shape and movement can suggest action without facial detail. Do not infer a license from an upload label.
3. 15–37 · Studio: Sketchbook: draw the 3 moments chosen from the Anansi story as quick thumbnail shapes (stick-figure/silhouette level, not detailed).
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: Show one story moment that could be understood through shape or action.

Check understanding: Sketchbook: 3 thumbnail moments from the Anansi story.

Support: Following a purely oral story is hard for some multilingual learners/students who need visual support. UDL Representation: tell the story with simple gesture/props alongside the words, not narration alone; Action/Expression: the 3-moment task can be drawn, pointed to on a picture set, or dictated — all valid entry points.

Likely misconception: Anansi is not the author of every African story; identify the specific Akan tale and reteller.

Re-entry: Hear a short credited recap and contribute a thumbnail or dictated story beat.

Session 2 · A Global Technique — Shadows Between Light and Screen

Purpose: Study Indonesian wayang kulit as a distinct shadow-puppet performance tradition and test how light, shape, and screen create a shadow.

Vocabulary: wayang kulit, dalang, light source.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: View a wayang example on UNESCO’s linked page alongside the Reiniger reference. Ask what each medium allows a storyteller to do; identify the traditions separately.
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: Introduce wayang kulit in Indonesian performance, including Java and Bali, and the dalang, or puppeteer. Note that performance involves stories, music, and cultural knowledge, not only shadows. Distinguish live shadow performance from Reiniger’s photographed cut-out animation. At an adult-prepared cool-LED station, keep the light fixed and move a simple card shape nearer to and farther from the screen; observe size and sharpness.
3. 15–37 · Studio: At stable, adult-prepared LED-and-screen stations, test one variable at a time. Keep light and screen fixed while changing shape position; then have the adult reposition the light for a second comparison. Rotate shape mover, observer, and recorder. Draw or dictate two observations. Keep hands away from cords and stands.
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: Describe one change caused by moving the shape or light.

Check understanding: Sketchbook: 2 notes on how light/shape distance changed the shadow.

Support: Crowding or unequal turns at a shared light station. UDL Engagement: assign a specific rotating job per group member (shape mover, observer, recorder, timekeeper) so every student has a meaningful task; the light remains fixed and adult-managed; Representation: a simple diagram showing light–shape–screen distance relationships posted at each station.

Likely misconception: Wayang kulit and Reiniger’s animation are not interchangeable forms; distinguish live performance from photographed frames.

Re-entry: Try one supported shadow-distance comparison before joining puppet work.

Session 3 · Building Our Story — Storyboard

Purpose: Plan a 4–6 panel storyboard with a clear beginning, problem, and resolution, using narrative structure already known from ELA.

Vocabulary: storyboard, sequence, resolution.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: In small groups: pitch the Anansi (or diaspora folk-tale) moment the group wants to tell, orally, in 30 seconds each.
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: Post Plan → Storyboard → Make → Film → Reflect → Revise. Fold plain paper into four or six boxes and model a short event: a character wants something, meets a problem, acts, and reaches a changed situation. Draw simple shapes and an arrow for motion; add a short note under each box. Credit the specific tale being adapted.
3. 15–37 · Studio: Groups spend about twelve minutes planning four to six key images and their actions. For the next six minutes, another group retells what they understand from the storyboard. Record one question or suggestion. Use the final four minutes to revise or explain a retained choice. Keep the note with the storyboard: this begins critique checkpoint one.
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: Point to the event that changes the situation in the storyboard.

Check understanding: Completed 4–6 panel storyboard — checked for a recognizable beginning, problem, and resolution, not for drawing polish.

Support: A group freezes on “what happens in the middle.” UDL Action/Expression: the oral pitch from the Do Now can be scribed directly onto the storyboard by a teacher/peer for a student for whom writing is the barrier, not the thinking; Representation: 2–3 sample storyboards (from Anansi story beats already discussed in Lesson 1) posted as models, not to copy but to see the structure.

Likely misconception: A storyboard is a communication plan, not a polished drawing assignment.

Re-entry: Read the stored group storyboard with a peer and select a clear contribution.

Session 4 · Cutting Silhouettes — Puppet Bodies

Purpose: Create a readable silhouette whose outline communicates a story character or action.

Vocabulary: silhouette, precision, negative space.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: Quick look: a strong silhouette vs. a weak/unclear one (teacher examples) — “What makes this one instantly readable as a shape?”
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: Demonstrate cutting seated with age-appropriate scissors, fingers clear of the blade path, and the paper hand turning the sheet for broad curves. Carry closed scissors by the handle with points down and pass handles first. Cut a simple body and test its silhouette against the screen. Show how a wide connection survives handling while a tiny tab may tear. Offer original precut body shapes and adapted scissors.
3. 15–37 · Studio: Use the storyboard to choose a body shape and cut or assemble it from black card. Test it at the screen before adding detail. In the final five minutes, ask a partner what they recognize, record one observation, and adjust an edge or placement where useful. Save the response with the storyboard to complete the first critique checkpoint.
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: Hold up the silhouette and ask what a viewer can recognize.

Check understanding: Cut silhouette checked for a closed, legible shape — not for decorative detail.

Support: Scissor frustration or an unreadable/fragmented silhouette. UDL Action/Expression: pre-cut basic body-shape templates (adapted from the Symbols for Collage Unit logic) as the required entry point for students who need one, not a lesser version of the task — assembling and animating a pre-cut puppet is the same authentic film-thinking work; larger paper and adapted scissors (self-opening, spring-loaded, platform) available.

Likely misconception: A silhouette’s edge carries information; tiny interior details may disappear.

Re-entry: Use a precut body shape and make a purposeful edge or proportion choice.

Session 5 · Joints and Rods — Making the Puppet Move

Purpose: Add at least one working joint and a control rod so the puppet can move for filming.

Vocabulary: joint, control rod, hinge.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: Quick demo: teacher moves a one-joint puppet arm — “What's different about this from a stiff, one-piece shape?”
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: Overlap a separate card limb with the body at an adult-prepunched hole. Insert a paper fastener with adult help and spread its legs flat on the back without tightening so much that movement stops. Tape a blunt craft stick to the back as a control rod. Test a small arc and reinforce a weak connection. Keep loose fasteners in a counted tray; use a preassembled joint where needed.
3. 15–37 · Studio: Build and test one joint and a blunt control rod. For an access route, use a preassembled joint or plan purposeful movement of a fixed silhouette. Rehearse the storyboard action at the screen, deciding where a movement starts and stops. Store parts flat in the group folder.
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: Demonstrate one controlled movement and what it might mean.

Check understanding: Observe whether the available movement communicates the intended action. Record joint function separately from the story choice; fixed-silhouette access routes are assessed for the movement available.

Support: Joint doesn't hold or move smoothly; hole-punching is a fine-motor barrier. UDL Representation: pre-punched joint templates as the required entry point, not an add-on — apply hole placement directly rather than requiring freehand punching; Action/Expression: a single working joint is a full, valid product (not every limb needs one); assess how deliberately the joint supports the planned movement.

Likely misconception: A joint is useful only if it moves deliberately; more joints do not automatically improve a puppet.

Re-entry: Use a preassembled joint or a fixed shape and plan meaningful whole-body movement.

Session 6 · Filming — Stop Motion Studio

Purpose: Capture frame-by-frame motion in Stop Motion Studio, connecting puppet staging (light/shadow, incremental moves) directly to the app's frame capture.

Vocabulary: frame, animate, layer.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: Show the current stage. Returning students use the stored storyboard and feedback note to choose a contribution. Rehearse one short movement before capturing it.
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: With a fixed camera facing the screen, capture a shape, move it a little, remove hands from view, and capture again. Play the test back. Keep camera, light, and screen still; mark their positions. Test the actual app’s capture, playback, speed, and save controls before class. Explain that playback duration equals frames divided by frames per second: 12 frames at 6 fps last 2 seconds. Repeated holds can give viewers time to read a moment; high speed is not the goal.
3. 15–37 · Studio: Start with a six-to-twelve-frame test, view it, and adjust movement size. Then capture the essential storyboard action in short sections. Rotate mover, camera operator, and sequence checker. At minute 30, check that the beginning and change are visible; use the remaining seven minutes to capture an ending and save the rough cut. A 15–30-second target at 6 fps needs 90–180 frames including deliberate holds, so simplify the action before adding detail. A shorter complete action is a valid supported outcome.
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: Play one short motion test and name what to change.

Check understanding: Rough cut saved to the class folder — this is the artifact for the Lesson 7 peer critique.

Support: Frustration at the tedium of incremental moves, or camera/light bumped mid-shoot. UDL Engagement: rotate the camera-operator role every few minutes so no single student carries the tedious part alone; Action/Expression: a group that films fewer, well-paced frames (choppier motion) is scored on story/planning, not smoothness — smooth professional timing is explicitly not the goal at this band.

Likely misconception: More frames or higher frame rate does not automatically make a clearer story.

Re-entry: Join through the storyboard as mover, camera operator, observer, or sequence checker; prior attendance is not required for editing or critique.

Session 7 · Critique the Rough Cut

Purpose: Give and receive specific feedback on a rough cut before the final edit, using both the mid-stream and peer critique points named in the unit's assessment design.

Vocabulary: critique, pacing, revise.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: “Where we are” board update; groups queue their rough cuts for viewing.
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: Teach a structured watch-and-respond protocol: watch once for the story (does it have a beginning/problem/resolution?), watch again for the craft (is the motion readable? does timing serve a story beat?). Model with a volunteer group's rough cut.
3. 15–37 · Studio: Groups watch each other's rough cuts (rotate in small clusters) and complete the PRE-PRINTED peer-critique capture sheet: one box for story clarity, one for puppet/motion craft, one specific suggestion. The filming group then discusses what to revise before the final edit.
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: State one concrete revision chosen from peer feedback.

Check understanding: Keep the rough-cut feedback beside the earlier storyboard/silhouette feedback. Check that the group can name a moment, explain its effect, and choose a next step. These are two distinct critique checkpoints.

Support: Feedback stays vague (“it's good”) without structure. UDL Representation: the pre-printed sheet's labeled boxes support specific observations; multilingual and supported communication: sentence starters in English + home language where possible; oral-only feedback (a partner or teacher scribes) counts fully — this is not a writing-quality assessment.

Likely misconception: Feedback should name a moment and a possible change, not only say “make it smoother.”

Re-entry: Watch the saved rough cut and offer one observation orally or through a scribe.

Session 8 · Final Cut & BHM Screening

Purpose: Revise a short film from feedback, save it, and prepare a credited classroom screening. A Black History Month showcase is an optional audience planned beyond this studio block.

Vocabulary: screening, premiere, credits.

1. 0–7 · Arrive: Groups review their critique capture sheet from Lesson 7 and name one specific revision to make today.
2. 7–15 · Look and demonstrate: Ask each group to name one change and the story effect it should have. Demonstrate a tested save/export path and a simple credit: story title, cultural tradition, reteller, and the group’s chosen display name. Explain the classroom audience and the separate arrangements for any wider showcase.
3. 15–37 · Studio: Use the first twelve minutes for one focused reshoot or pacing revision. Use the next six to add credits, export or save, and verify playback. Use the final four for a paired viewing or a short introduction. Complete a large public screening outside this 45-minute session; do not rush an unfinished revision to meet a film-length target.
4. 37–43 · Cleanup: Save the project and confirm it reopens where relevant. Return all puppet parts to the labeled group folder and count fasteners and tools. Adults switch off and secure the light/screen rig and manage cables and charging. Keep the storyboard with the puppets.
5. 43–45 · Close: Introduce the film and credit the story that informed it.

Check understanding: Review the storyboard, puppet, rough-cut feedback, and final film against the criteria in Assessment, reflection, and sharing. Record evidence of readable action, deliberate movement, response to critique, and reflection. Keep process evidence in approved classroom storage.

Support: Time pressure to finish causes rushed, unfinished revisions. UDL Action/Expression: use the on-page criteria to assess a shorter, simpler film: look for readable action, deliberate movement, and a response to feedback rather than rewarding length or joint count; Engagement: every group member has a named final job (export, puppet display, storyboard mounting) so no one is idle while others finish.

Likely misconception: A short readable action can be successful; film length and export speed are not proxies for understanding.

Re-entry: Contribute a title, credit, revision explanation, or supported introduction to the finished sequence.

Assessment, reflection, and sharing

Use process evidence and the work together. Record an observed choice, the child’s explanation or indicated meaning, and a next useful prompt. Keep artistic learning separate from tool safety, cooperation, pace, and cleanup; teach and track those routines without inflating or reducing the art assessment.

• Planning: a storyboard makes the intended event or beginning/problem/resolution understandable.
• Visual communication: silhouette and available movement choices are readable on camera.
• Time: frame changes or held moments support a story beat; professional smoothness is not the goal.
• Revision: the student contributes to two feedback checkpoints and identifies a specific response.
• Presentation: the group can explain the sequence and credit its story reference; optional public screening is separate from assessment.

Before any display, confirm the child’s intended title/caption and the audience. A classroom share does not authorize publishing names, faces, voices, addresses, or learning records online. Meaningful work in progress can be included without claiming a completed outcome. Optional extensions deepen a chosen decision rather than add compulsory homework.

Original companion support

Make a four-to-six-box storyboard with space under each box for action and timing. For each feedback checkpoint, use three prompts: “I understand that…”; “At this moment I noticed…”; “Try… so the viewer can…”. The group adds “We changed/kept… because…”. Keep both dated responses with the storyboard, puppet, and saved film. No purchased worksheet is required.

Sources and teaching references

Sequence source: Kacy George, Frame by Frame — Lesson Sequence, modified 2026-07-15T02:34:57.077Z. Grade band, sequence order, and common 45-minute clock come from that document. The practical route, prompts, explicit checks, safety corrections, and access/re-entry wording here are editorial adaptations. National/state standards should be matched to the teacher’s specific grade; band-combined source codes are not presented as verified grade-specific standards.

• Smithsonian: Spider and the Sky God — an Akan legend — Identifies Deborah M. Newton Chocolate’s retelling; use a lawful copy and credit the specific retelling used.
• BFI: The Adventures of Prince Achmed — Identifies Reiniger’s cut-out silhouette animation; does not grant a classroom or web redistribution license.
• UNESCO: Wayang puppet theatre — Context for Indonesian performance and the distinct shadow-puppet form.
• Stop Motion Studio: movie speed — Frame rate controls playback speed. Device-specific controls must be tested before class.

Linked references do not grant permission to copy images onto this website. Use lawful classroom materials and check the terms for the chosen use. No related archival photograph should be captioned as an outcome of this planned unit.