Title 1, Art & You

1. Title 1, Art & You

2. Here’s the concept….

3. Title 1 Family NightFeaturing…

4. READ! • Prior to the Title 1 Family Night, teachers will have discussed in great detail the book, The Lorax, having either read it aloud in class through the week(s) or students have read independently the book and discussed it in class.

5. Family Night! • Parents & students arrive at 6:00pm and participate in activities at the Trojan Intermediate School. These activities would be organized through rotating "centers"....a fantastic art lesson that reinforces the concepts of the story, a writing activity involving the theme of the story, as well as, an opinion writing piece, a viewing of a clip of the movie followed by group discussion in-the-round that helps the students to make a connection to the characters with their own lives.

6. Younger Children • I’ve found that with elementary age children(or any age for that matter but this one in particular), younger siblings attend as well. • They have not read the book yet, so …Have a book reading corner with a “great reader’s voice” to read to the little ones during the more difficult writing center times for their siblings.

7. Center Activities The Art Lesson • Create a Lorax puppet either with felt or use the Crayola lesson plan to make marionettes out of model magic.  • Create truffala trees out of pipecleaners & pom-poms.  Either glue them to cardstock to make a 3 dimensional picture or make them totally 3-D by sticking them into some play-doh or model magic.  • I prefer the first because the second seems a bit too crafty.

8. Group Discussion Center • Watch a clip of the movie from youtube, then discuss the following: What was the land of the Lorax like before the Once-ler arrived? Did it seem like someplace you'd like to live? What parts of your own environment would you be sad to see go?What kind of person is the Once-ler? Why won't he listen to the Lorax? The Lorax says to the Once-ler, "You are crazy with greed." Why does the Lorax say that? Do you agree or disagree?Why does the Lorax speak for the trees? Why is it important to speak up for others? Have you ever spoken up for someone else? Has someone else ever spoken up for you?How does the Once-ler's Thneed business hurt the land of the Lorax? What happens to the Swomee-swans, the Brown Bar-ba-loots, and the Humming-fish? How could things have been different if the Once-ler listened to the Lorax?What do you think the boy hearing the story will do with the Truffula seed that the Once-ler tosses to him? What would you do if you were the boy?Do you think the Lorax and his friends will come back if new Truffula Trees grow? Where do you think they have been?

9. Writing Center • Do a picture walk of the story "The Lorax" emphasizing areas that the students will be writing about either tips to give to the Onceler or what they would do if they had the last truffula seed.   • Have them write a letter to the Onceler, emphasizing parts of a letter, giving him tips on recycling & reusing….or write about what they’d do with the last truffula seed, including an illustration!

10. Title 1 Family NightFeaturing… (The Secret World of Arrietty)

11. Brief Synopsis • From Arrietty's point of view, a "borrower's" life is pretty spectacular. After all, when you're about the size of a grasshopper, everything in the world of the "human beans" takes on a whole new scope. A leaf is big enough to be an umbrella, and a thimble can be a flower vase. Arrietty is ready to explore it all. Of course, her dad always reminds her that she has to be careful and stay out of sight. As long as they walk behind the walls and beneath the floors so the beans don't know they're there, everything will work out fine.   • The tiny borrowers just take little things from the beans' houses. Only the things they need to survive. A discarded cracker here, an insignificant sugar cube there. Recently Arrietty's father took her out on her first borrowing expedition, which was something of a disaster because she was spotted by a bean. It was the sickly boy named Shawn who laid eyes on her. He didn't act shocked at the sight of her. Even though this bean seems nice, kind and gentle, Arrietty may have just opened the door to disaster.  • Shawn has a "weak heart" condition and will soon have an operation that will hopefully cure his illness. But his current weakness helps him understand the fragile world and existence of his tiny new friend. "When I saw you," Shawn says. "I just wanted to find a way to protect you." On the other hand, illness has also left Shawn with a sense of hopelessness. Arrietty tells him, "Sometimes you have to stand up and fight for the things that are important."  

12. READ! • Prior to the Title 1 Family Night, teachers will have discussed in great detail the book, The Borrowers, having either read it aloud in class through the week(s) or students have read independently the book and discussed it in class after each day's reading assignment.

13. Family Night! • Parents & students arrive at 6:00pm and participate in activities at the Trojan Intermediate School. These activities would be organized through rotating "centers"....a fantastic art lesson that reinforces the concepts of the story, a writing activity involving the theme of the story, as well as, an opinion writing piece, a viewing of a clip of the movie followed by group discussion in-the-round that helps the students to make a connection to the characters with their own lives.

14. Center ActivitiesThe Art Lesson • Provide a very large variety of small, recycled items for students to dig around and create with(1 per student) , as well as a shoe box. These items may include things such as fabric pieces, ribbon, twigs, leaves, acorn "lids", matchboxes, matches, bobby pins, string, bottle caps, play dough etc. You will want to start collecting these items well in advance. Send a note to teachers & students to bring these things in and store them in containers until the big night. Use the Smartboard to display several still shots from the movie "The Secret World of Arrietty", being sure to include a wide variety of scenes from within Arrietty's house. You will want to set out tacky glue & scissors at each table. Students will use a shoe box, up on it's side, to represent a room in Arrietty's house. They will choose what room they are going to create; i.e. bathroom, living room, girl's bedroom, etc. They will use all the items, plus any that they may choose to bring from home, to create a room the way that Arrietty would've created...using items that are "borrowed" to make a cozy room. An excellent way to promote recycling!

15. Themed/Opinion Writing Activity • There are many themes present in this film. Friendship, survival, and trust are three that really stood out to me. You could have your students jot down all of the evidence they find to support the theme. Then, have them write an opinion piece about how that theme was essential to the story. What if the friendship between the two didn't exist? What if the family didn't hide themselves from anything...would they survive? How does trust play an essential role in the movie? • http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com/2012/02/secret-world-of-arrietty.html

16. Clip with Group Discussion on Connections • Watch the clip below with your students. Discuss with them how they are also part of a line of people who all are alike. Just as Arrietty is from a long line of borrowers, the students too have family traditions. Have them write about their own family traditions. You can even ask them to write as if they are describing these traditions to someone who has never heard of such a thing, as Shaun has never heard of borrowers. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4QpH8u7bKHI

17. Movie Time! • After the centers have been completed, families will meet in the cafeteria for a slice of pizza & a drink, having activity & coloring pages available for students if they would like one to complete. Parents & teachers will leave at approximately 7:35-7:45pm and head to the Starlite Drive-In in Old Mines, MO (approx. 10 minutes away) to watch "The Secret World of Arrietty" free of charge starting at 8:00pm. There is a concession building that has a wide variety of snacks & drinks for an additional cost.

21. Additional Follow-up Activity for the Classroom the following day • Of course, reading The Borrowers and then creating a compare/contrast essay is a no-brainer. How did the writers of the movie stay true to the book? How did it differ? WHY did it differ?

22. Title 1 Family NightFeaturing…

23. READ! Prior to the Title 1 Family Night, teachers will have discussed in great detail the book, The Hunger Games, having either read it aloud in class through the week(s) or students have read independently the book and discussed it in class after each day's reading assignment.

24. Before the big night… • Pre-Family Night Activity to be completed in class prior to the big night... In class, students will use a hand-out graph listing the names of the male & female tributes aside their district number and the gift they received (if known). • http://hungergamesunitplan.com/Thehungergamesunitplan.html

26. Title 1 Night Parents & students arrive at 6:00pm and participate in activities at the Trojan Intermediate School (6th graders) or Potosi Middle School. These activities would be organized into 4 activities, each lasting 40 minutes. Students will choose activities from the choices given.

27. Choices • Create a poster to promote your favorite tribute or advertise one of the gifts received by a tribute. (You could also appoint tributes/gifts to get a variety.) • Create a script that will be a commercial either promoting a tribute or advertising a gift. The script will be performed & video recorded to be watched in class the next day.

30. Hunger Games Tributes Katniss Everdeen — Narrator, and District 12's female tribute, a strong-willed teenager trying to survive in the Hunger Games. She lives with her little sister Primrose and her mother. Her father died in an mine expolsion. She promises her sister she will try to win the games, which she later does. She later is captured by the rebels and becomes the Mockingjay, a symbol of rebellion. Peeta Mellark — The male tribute for District 12 as well as the baker's son. He is loyal and brave, and will do whatever he needs to for Katniss to survive, for he has been in love with Katniss since they were five years old. Katniss, however, has to act like she's in love with him in order to keep both of them alive. Peeta is described as being medium height, strongly built and has ashy blonde hair. Rue — The tribute from District 11. Small and meek, you wouldn't assume that she could last long; but her knowledge of trees, plants, and hiding keeps her alive. She warns Katniss about the tracker jacker hive, and they later become allies. She is later murdered by the boy tribute from District 1, Marvel. Rue has dark eyes and is of African decent. Cato — District 2 tribute. Having prepared for the Games his whole life, he is described as a "ruthless killing machine", he is extremely strong and the most likely choice of a winner. He, Katniss, and Peeta were the last three tributes to face the muttated dogs with the other tribute's DNA. Clove — The female tribute from District 2. She is very skilled in knife throwing, as she was the one who killed the male tribute from District 9. She attempted to kill Katniss with one of her knives, but the latter used her new backpack as a shield. Clove was the fifth person and went to the "feast" having Cato guarding her. She was killed during the Feast by Thresh. She is described as having dark hair and green eyes. Foxface — Known by no other name, this red-head from District 5 is hard to catch. Though she doesn't have brute strength or knowledge of weapons, she can outsmart everyone in the arena. She made it to the final 4, then she dies by eating nightlock left out by Peeta. Described as having fox- like features, hence her name. Thresh — Male tribute from District 11. With the same brown skin and golden brown eyes as Rue, he is extremely resourceful and immensely powerful. His most notable act was that of sparing Katniss due to her alliance with Rue. He died shortly thereafter. Glimmer — The Female tribute from District 1 who is described as beautiful, tall, has Blonde hair and green eyes. She was part of the Career pack and was killed alongside the girl from District 4 when a hive of tracker jackers was dropped on the camp. Marvel — The male tribute from District 1, who was strong and ruthless. He killed Rue, the District 11 tribute, by throwing a spear through her stomach. He is then killed by Katniss, shot in the throat by an arrow and drowns in his own blood. This was Katniss' first kill.

31. The Cost of Sponsorship in the Hunger Games Centives decided to model the price of the sponsorship along two primary variables. We know from the books that gift sent later in the game are more expensive than those sent earlier in the game. This makes sense. The bidders are competing to sponsor a smaller number of individuals, and each individual has a higher chance of winning. Something similar happens in the world of corporate athletic sponsorship where advertising gets more expensive as sports leagues build towards the final. • The burn medicine comes early in the game, but it comes at a time when Katniss desperately needs it. Moreover Katniss notes that the medicine must have required the contribution of several different sponsors. Therefore Centives estimated its value at about $1 million. • Next came bread. It was inexpensive bread that did not come from the capitol. Instead it was donated by a district. This can be compared to local advertising that can run as high as $100,000, although the citizens of district 11 would have a tough time putting together that kind of cash. Some of the money would likely have come from the sponsors that Rue managed to gain due to her success. • Then Katniss received broth. By the time she received the broth the number of tributes had decreased significantly. It was also much more important than the bread because of the condition of Peeta's health. Its timing and its value meant that Centives estimated its worth at $500,000. • The sleep syrup came late in the game and played a critical role in Katniss's progress at a time when there were only five tributes left in the arena. This makes the gift immensely valuable and expensive, and Centives gave it top billing with an estimated worth of $2.5 million. • After that Katniss received a picnic basket. While this was more of a reward than a critical necessity, by being the final gift of the game it is likely that is cost a substantial amount. Centives estimated its value at $2 million. • Thus the overall cost of the sponsored gifts that Katniss receives is around $6.1 million. If you were to buy them yourself? Burnol, sleeping pills, some bread and some broth with a picnic basket to put it all in wouldn't cost more than $200.

32. Tribute Gifts… • Burn Medicine • Bread • Broth • Sleep Syrup • Picnic Basket

33. Topics of Discussion • Advantages of the Wealthy & Disadvantages of the Poor • Man-Made vs. Naturally Made • Abuse of Power

34. Movie Time After the activities have been completed, families will meet in the cafeteria for a slice of pizza & a drink (don't want to go "hungry"). Parents & teachers will leave at approximately 7:35-7:45pm and head to the Starlite Drive-In in Old Mines, MO (approx. 10 minutes away) to watch "The Hunger Games" free of charge starting at 8:00pm. There is a concession building that has a wide variety of snacks & drinks for an additional cost.

35. Where the Wild Things Are....Have students create a drawing of a "Wild Thing" on a large sheet of paper in crayon.  Use texture rubbing plates and crayons to add textures in each area of the creature.  Lastly, use watercolor paints to paint your "Wild Thing"creating a crayon resist effect.  The resulting artwork are more vibrant when cut out and glued onto a dark sheet of construction paper or you could have the kids cut them out and have a bulletin board ready with a jungle theme.  Have students put their creatures on the bulletin board for a collaborative display for all students to enjoy.

36. Mirror, Mirror (Snow White)....Discuss what makes someone beautiful, how outward appearance can be marred by an ugly personality or overlooked by a kind, honorable personality.  Have students create a framed "mirror" using tooling foil and drawing "zentangle" style with a wooden stylus.  Then have students draw or paint a self-portrait to fit within the frame.  Attach the portrait behind the metal frame for their "Mirror Mirror". 

37. Judy Moody & the Not Bummer Summer....In the movie, Judy & her aunt create very interesting hats.  Recycle old hats or use recycled materials to create one.  Use craft supplies like ribbon, glitter, trinkets, paint, fringe, fabric, marbles, jemstones, etc. to create their own artistic hat.

38. Diary of a Wimpy Kid...have students create comic strips after first creating one or more original cartoon characters.  Discuss speech bubbles & boxes used in creating a comic strip.  You can elaborate and get more detailed by discussing panels, layout, gutters and zip ribbons that can help indicate the flow of the story.  Students can actually draw on notebook paper (which would be a first in my art room) because the Diary of a Wimpy Kid comic drawings were on notebook paper as well. 

39. Zathura & Jumanji...Either of these book/movies could have the same art lesson.  Have students create a board game.  Elements including dice, cards & game pieces would need to be included.  Use model magic to create the dice & game pieces.  Include a written set of rules.  Students can work in small groups and the games could actually be used in the classrooms during inside recesses.  I actually had gathered some old boardgame boards & covered them with 80 lb. white drawing paper, gluing them to the board using spray adhesive.  This makes the game seem "more important" and the kids put much more effort into it knowing it could actually be used long term in their classroom.

40. Charlotte's Web....Place a piece of paper inside a shoebox that's cut to the size of the shoebox so that it fits flat inside.  Have students drop a marble into a shallow container of black paint.  Use tweezers (or fingers) to remove the marble and drop it into the box, then roll it around inside the box.  This creates a spiderweb pattern.  Take 4 short pieces of pipecleaner or wire and twist them together at their centers to create a spider.  Glue a button or black paper circle to the center of the legs and add google eyes.  Attach the spider to the paper web with a staple or tacky glue.