By Elyse Haber, Sheri Gray and Louise Finkleberg, Grade 6 English teachers
Thanks to the wonders of technology, both Grade 6 classes were treated to a private lesson in digital cartooning today, by L.A. resident and co-creator of Launchpad Toys, Andy Russell. The company “creates digital toys and tools that empower kids to create, learn and share their ideas through play”, and Andy met with the students to teach them how to turn their stories into digital cartoons using his Toontastic App.
The students were fascinated by the Skype workshop, which explored the use of storyboards to create cartoons. Andy encouraged the children to choose characters, settings, conflicts and resolutions based on their stories,and taught them cool animation skills. While they worked, Andy remained on Skype with us and responded to students’ questions about their projects in real-time. The children then presented some of their stories to the group. It was a fun and engaging hour and we look forward to using Toontastic again for our next project!