| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Santa Claus in Baghdad, Lesson 4

Page history last edited by Renee Hobbs 15 years, 1 month ago

 

Some activities for using this film with children:

 

Character Wheel This comes from Assignment: Media Literacy, the Maryland State Dept of Education/Discovery Channel media literacy curriculum developed by Renee Hobbs.

 

Introduce the Activity: How does a filmmaker create a character?  Students are divided into five teams.  Each team is assigned one of five characters: father, mother, sister, brother, and Uncle Omar. Students watch the first section of the film, up until the little brother has his temper tantrum. 

 

Small Group Process. Introduce the character wheel chart. Characters are built using these six elements: setting, physical appearance, beahavior and actions, speech and dialogue, thoughts and the reactions of others.  Working together, students should make a list of specific elements of the film that illustrate specific dimensions of the character. What aspects of physical appearance give clues about the character's personality? What does the speech reaveal about the character? Students make notes on the worksheet, then create a poster depicting their character.

 

Writing Activity. Students write a detailed paragraph introducing their character to someone who hasn't seen the film.  Encourage students to make use of their pre-writing  brainstorm to include rich description and interpretation in their writing.

 

Prediction. Discuss with students: What do they think will happen next in the story?  Will it be a happy or sad ending? How might their character change or stay the same?

Extensions.

1. Create a character wheel for a favorite character from amovie, TV show, book, athlete or a celebrity, then write a paragraph that describes them to someone who might not be familiar with the character.

2. Create a character wheel for a new character who might appear in the film, Santa Claus in Baghdad.  Imagine a friend or relative who might be part of the story and create their character wheel.

3. Create a character wheel for a story of your own that is related to the theme of families and holiday time.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.