Animate the budding linguists in your class by making your own movies in this MFL stop-motion lesson.
From singing times tables to poems reminding us of the number of days in each month, harnessing the power of rhythm and rhyme really seems to make learning stick.
Most of us can still remember one or more of the ditties that we learned in foreign language lessons at school.
In this lesson, pupils will learn a song, rhyme or poem in the target language. They’ll then bring it to life through their very own animated movie. Clapper boards at the ready, it’s time to create stop-motion magic!
Stop motion lesson learning objectives
- Learn a short poem, rhyme or song in the target language, by heart
- Learn accurate pronunciation of words
- Explore the meaning of key words or phrases in the target language
- Use simple apps to sequence still pictures into a short stop motion animation
- Add narration in the target language
Starter activity
Prior to the lesson, choose a short song, poem or rhyme in the target language for the children to learn. Ideally, this should be linked to the topic you are currently covering in class, to support pupils in memorising new vocabulary and structures.
Something of around four to six lines long – including some kind of action on which pupils will be able to base their animation – is perfect.
A good source of inspiration is mamalisa.com, where you can view songs, poems and rhymes in many different languages with an English translation, alongside a recording in the target language.
Songs and rhymes are categorised by type, country, and even different holidays and occasions, so there should be something for every class.
Ellie Chettle Cully is a French teacher and languages and international lead at a Leicester primary. Her passion is creating a buzz around language learning through creative lessons, international partnerships, trips and clubs.
