What it’s about
“Can you teach a worm to tango?” is an animation that tells the story of a little girl starved of attention due to her father’s unsuccessful attempts to teach worms to dance. More than 50 children aged between five and 11 from Stogursey Primary in Somerset were involved in the development of the short film, produced by First Light. It gained critical acclaim in the UK and won an award for best child-produced film at the prestigious Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.
Watch it with your pupils for an engaging cross-curricular lesson covering media studies, art and design, PSHE and English. Can your pupils think of alternative outcomes to the story? Have they ever felt lonely like the little girl? View the film online at www.firstlightonline.co.ukmoviescan-you-teach-a-worm-to-tango.
Cover the basics of digital editing with young pupils using materials from NGfLCymru. Or try natalie.lochhead’s planner for creating short animations in the classroom.
What else?
The bright colours and attractive message from the Zondle website caught my eye, writes Jan Webb: “FREE - and always will be!” It’s simple to sign up to Zondle and there is an option to set up a class to monitor pupil progress. Using the search tool, find a stack of prepared learning topics, which generate a series of games. After trying a few subjects, correct answers earn opportunities to play a game, build a car or see a Zondle character being bashed into oblivion with a mallet. The games can be personalised, using your own set of questions to create a new topic. They can be used in class, as homework activities or for revision.
Where to find it
www.zondle.com.
