This document summarizes a teaching assistant's activity using iPads with two year 1 pupils to create a short movie using the Toontastic app related to the class theme of Egypt. The pupils chose characters and backgrounds to illustrate a story about time travel to ancient Egypt. They recorded dialogue and acted out the scene. While the pupils enjoyed the activity and were engaged in using their imagination, the recording could not be saved. The teaching assistant concluded the activity supported the pupils' learning in an enjoyable way using technology and that similar activities could be differentiated for different needs.

1. Nicola Williams
Tesho

2.  Technology can be very resourceful for adults and young children in many situations. It
can be a good source of investigative play and make learning exciting.
 At the school we are lucky to have the use of IPads ,laptops and computers including
apple macs on a daily basis. The teachers also use promethean whiteboards to perform
lessons.
 I work as a teaching assistant with year 1 pupils in a class of 23 pupils. I will be using the
technology of the IPad with the pupils for this assignment.

3.  To recognise the understanding of the theme they are creating.
 To discuss and identify key points of the activity.
 To apply their knowledge of the IPad to create and illustrate the story.
 To compare the characters and discuss with each other.
 To summarise the story and discuss if it can be continued into another scene.
 To evaluate and rate the scene in order to measure if the story coincides with the class
theme.

4.  The classroom is situated on the ground floor of the school. However we will be taking the
IPad outside into the yard to do this task. There are two pupils aged 6 years that will be
carrying out this activity. Both pupils are in mainstream and have no additional learning
needs. Both pupils appear to enjoy exploring on the IPad and exploring different activities
. In the foundation phase document it states that :
 “It is essential that children have access to a variety of media to express themselves
and ample opportunities to apply their imagination in a purposeful way.” (p.5)

5.  The pupils will create a mini movie on the IPad using the Toontastic app. The theme will be based on
Egypt as this is the ongoing theme in the classroom at present.
 The pupils must follow simple instructions on the IPad.
 The pupils will choose a background and create characters for the movie suitable to the theme.
 They will add props for the scene to create the movie.
 The pupils will also use the audio for their chosen characters and act out the scene using the IPad.
 The pupils will save the footage and show it to their peers in the class.
 Peer Review

6.  The resources required for this activity are:
 IPad
 Power cables
 Quiet outside area.
 Dry weather

7. To make a
mini video
using
Toontastic.
Objectives
Discuss Key points
Illustrate story
Compare and discuss
activity
Recognise theme
Have Fun
Engagement
Pupils will
work
together and
share ideas
Key Words
Egypt, Time
machine,Characte
rs
The 5 Minute Lesson
plan
Storytelling
Literacy and
Oral skills to be
used
The activity
is mainly
pupil lead
Differentiation
Activity can
easily be
differentiated
for all key
skills

8. Russell (2010) stated this in an online article :
“ As educators, we are challenged to create new opportunities for children to express their ideas
and share their work in collaboratively playful settings, both locally and online the world over.”
I agree with what he states as it accompanies my activity with the pupils.
The activity on the Toontastic app took approximately 10 minutes. The pupils were asked to think of a scene that they
would like to create using their imagination. They chose the characters from the scene section of the app and adapted
them to the video footage. They created a short film about time travel into an Egyptian setting. The pupils used their
imagination into what they believed it would be like if they went back in time. They wanted a time travel capsule in
their movie to create an exciting part to the movie using their imagination.
To make the lesson fun we took the IPad outside into the play yard . There was no noise so that the pupils could
express themselves without the other pupils around. Using the outside area appeared to give the pupils a more relaxed
atmosphere and it looked like they found the task more exciting than staying in a classroom environment. .In (DCELLS
2008)document it states that :
“The Foundation Phase places great emphasis on children learning by doing. Young children will be
given more opportunities to gain first hand experiences through play and active involvement rather than by
completing exercises in books.”(P.1)
This was a good opportunity for the pupils to learn and explore a different way instead of in the classroom
environment with pen and paper. The pupils learnt how to find the app on the IPad and step by step how to follow the
simple instructions to create the short movie. They adapted some of the knowledge that they had learnt in class such as
the clothes that the Egyptians wear and applied it into the movie. They created a scene that the other pupils could also
recognise certain characters and places that they had been studying in class. ICT supported this activity as without the

9. use of ICT it could not have been carried out. Having the use of the IPad lets the children explore and gives them
different choices of ways in which they can learn and adapt their skills. (DCELLS 2008 )writes that:
”The foundation phase environment should promote discovery and independence and a
greater emphasis on using the outdoor environment for children's learning” (p.4)
The reason why I encouraged the pupils to do the activity in the play yard was to expand their learning experiences into
the outside environment with an IPad and encouraging them to think of a scenario to do a with the current theme of the
classroom at present. .I gave them some advice on what they could use in their scene. I also advised them to plan so they
could develop their characters according to the scene that they were creating. As (DCELLS 2008) writes:
“Children develop their thinking across the curriculum through the processes of
planning, developing and reflecting, which helps them acquire deeper understanding
and enables them to explore and make sense of their world.” (P.10)
The actual activity went good and the pupils appeared to enjoy playing different characters and practicing their speeches
that they were using via the audio on the IPad . However unfortunately we tried to save the footage to demonstrate to the
class but we were unable to due to an error with the programme. The pupils were disappointed as they had great fun in
the activity and wanted to share it with the class. However the other pupils in the class wanted to participate so they will
be given the opportunity during ICT classes in the future. It was inspiring to see how a simple app can have so much fun
whilst learning and using oral skills and imagination into a lesson. I also found that with this lesson it can be easily
differentiated to meet the needs of all pupils. It can be made more challenging for the MAT pupils and made easier for
the Pupils who are in a nurture group.
Having done the activity with two pupils , in future I would recommend that the lesson have possibly up to 4 pupils.
This is to have more impact and more discussion and characters involved in the scene as I am sure that there will be a lot
more ideas and adaptations made to the scene.

10. Classroom
display on
Theme.
Start of
activity
All
pupils
taking
part

11. References
DCELLS(2008) Framework for Children’s Learning for 3 to 7-year-olds in Wales , Cardiff: WAG
Russell, A.(2010) ToonTastic: a global storytelling network for kids, by kids Palo Alto , California,
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1709942 accessed 9/5/14