The Scene Youth Media Festival

Creative FriendshipsIn this collection of award-winning dramatic shorts from around the world,

making friends is a creative endeavour!Ages 6+ Grades 1 -4

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What does it feel like to be “an insider”? an “outsider”?

What can a person do to make friends in a new situation?

What can a person do to welcome a newcomer to a community?

Is it important to be true to oneself, to one’s unique identity? Why?

Is there a secret to being yourself and being included?

How can we learn about ourselves by viewing short dramatic films?

1Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

Connecting to Curriculum: ELA, Health, & Social Studies

ELA: CR1.1, CR1.2, CC1.1, CR2.2

These films can be included in a multi-genre thematic unit focused on the Imaginative and Literary context, or can be a stand-alone viewing activity.

CR1.1 Comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-level texts that address identity, community, social responsibility, and relate to own feelings, ideas, and experiences.

CR1.2 View and comprehend the explicit messages, feelings, and features in a variety of visual and multimedia texts.

CC1.1 Compose and create a range of visual, multimedia, oral, and written texts that explore and present thoughts on identity, community, social responsibility.

CR2.2 View and explain (with support from the text) the key literal and inferential ideas (messages), important details, and how elements (such as colour, layout, medium, and special fonts) enhance meaning in grade-appropriate visual and multimedia texts.

ELA CURRICULA VIEWING SKILLS

BEFORE VIEWING

Activating and building upon prior knowledge and experience

DURING VIEWING

Making connections to personal knowledge and experience Interpreting visuals

AFTER VIEWING

Recalling, paraphrasing, summarizing, and synthesizing Interpreting (identifying new knowledge and insights) Responding personally, giving support from text

2Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

HEALTH: USC1.3, USC2.4, USC2.6:

These outcomes focus on the values of friendship, inclusivity, and diversity. By examining characters’ choices and experiences in the films, students can reflect on their own lives.

USC1.3 Analyze, with support, feelings and behaviours that are important for nurturing healthy relationships at school.

USC2.4 Examine social and personal meanings of “respect” and establish ways to show respect for self, persons, living things, possessions, and the environment.

USC2.6 Examine how communities benefit from the diversity of their individual community members.

SOCIAL STUDIES: PA1.1, IN1.1

The Health and Social Studies outcomes most relevant to the “Friend or Foe?” films are highly complementary.

PA1.1 Analyze actions and practices in the family, classroom, and on the playground that support peace and harmony, including rules and decision-making processes.

IN1.1 Describe the diversity of traditions, celebrations, or stories of individuals in the classroom and school.

K-12 CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION RESOURCES

EMPATHETICDiversity is a strength and should be understood, respected and affirmed.

ENGAGEDEach individual has a place in, and a responsibility to contribute to, an ethical civil society; likewise, government has a reciprocal responsibility to each member of society.

3Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

“CREATIVE FRIENDSHIP”: SUMMARIES OF THE FILMS

Bunny New Girl , Director: Natalie van den Dungen, (2014, 6 mins, Australia)

7-year old Annabelle arrives for her first day at a new school wearing a home made rabbit mask. And despite the gentle reassurance of kindly teacher, Mr Borbidge, her classmates are soon wondering what it is she’s hiding. When the class bully exposes her secret, it takes the empathy of a new friend to give her the courage to be seen, just the way she is.

Joanna Makes a Friend, Director: Jeremy Lutter, (2011, 15 mins, Canada)

Joanna is a lonely nine-year-old girl who is unable to make friends at school so she decides to build herself a best friend, from old VCR parts.  But things don’t turn out as she expects.  Dalila Bela and Fred Ewanuick (Corner Gas, Dan For Mayor) star in this modern tale of robots, friendship, and waffles.

The Magic Shoes, Director: Sahand Nikoukar, (2014, 19 mins, USA)

In 1992, all the cool kids wore Air Jordans. Named after the famous basketball player Michael Jordan, these sneakers were said to have special powers - on the court they made you fly and in the schoolyard they made you popular. The new kid at school, Kamron, who has recently moved to the United States from Iran, thinks these mythical shoes are the best way to fit in. But, as the young boy learns, there is no magical shortcut to making friends. 

Jump, Director: Aimee-Lee Curran, (2013, 15 mins, Australia)

In a visually dazzling story about the importance of family when pursuing your dreams, Jump tells the tale of 12 year-old Edwin, a circus clown like his father, who defies tradition by embarking on a daring quest to become a trapeze artist.

4Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

CREATIVE FRIENDSHIPS Pre-Viewing Activity #1

CONNECTING TO THEME

Instructions: Invite students to reflect upon and respond to the questions below.

Choice of Processes: individual reflection, pairs, small groups, large group

Choice of Products: speaking, writing, representing

QUESTION 1: Insiders & Outsiders

What does it feel like, look like, & sound like to be “an insider”? an “outsider”?

QUESTION 2: Finding Friends, Showing Solidarity

What can a newcomer do to go from being an “outsider” to an “insider”?

When there is someone new to your class or community, what can you and your friends do to

help them feel like they are welcome and belong?

QUESTION 3: Valuing Unique Identities

What is something that makes you or your family unique – something that others might consider different or unusual? (Consider language, traditions, values, hobbies . . .) Are there times where you share this part of yourself, and other times when you hide it? Is it important to be true to oneself, to one’s unique identity? Why?

When you notice that someone in the class is unusual in some way – maybe their appearance, behavior, or ideas – how can you show them your support so that they show rather than hide their individuality?

QUESTION 4: Personal Passions

What is something that you just love to do? How would it feel if you weren’t allowed to do that thing? If someone didn’t understand why it’s so important to you, how could you explain it so that they’d understand?

QUESTION 5: Walking in Others’ Shoes Through Art

Can we learn from the characters in stories and movies? Can you think of a character in a book or movie that has been “the new kid”? That was unusual in some way and found a way to be true to themselves? That decided to take a risk to show friendship to someone that others excluded or picked on? That loved to do something and overcame obstacles to be able to do it?

5Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

Pre-Viewing ACTIVITY #2

CONNECTING to CONTENT & TECHNIQUE by VIEWING TRAILERS

This activity is intended to initiate students into the content and style of the four films in “Creative Friendships”. As students view the trailers, they are asked to identify “the situation” of the film, observe features that make each film unique, and make predictions about what will happen next in each story.

Before Viewing Trailers:

Brainstorm what students know about fiction & film elements & techniques:

What kinds of characters do you expect to see in a short story? What kinds of conflicts might you find in a story? (with self, others, nature, society) What kinds of settings might you find? What is plot? (exposition, initiating incident, rising action, climax, denouement) What makes a film different from a written story? What techniques and elements does a

filmmaker use that an author might not? What does “theme” mean? Can you think of the theme of a well-known story?

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR SUBTITLES

The trailer for “Magic Shoes” contains Farsi subtitles. This provides a good opportunity for students to make inferences based on context-cues. It also occasions a conversation about subtitled films as a way to learn about the world.

Grades 1-2 If you are teaching younger students who have not experienced subtitles before, you may wish to show them this short film in which Spanish subtitles accompany an English song. https://vimeo.com/26107501

Grades 5-8 If you are teaching slightly older students who have minimal experience with subtitles, you may wish to show them this short film. Before they view, ask them what comes to mind when they hear the word “Cuba.” After the film, ask them to list all of the things they learned about Cuba that they didn’t know before! Discuss the value of viewing subtitled films in addition to films in one’s own mother tongue / native language. https://vimeo.com/96121779

If students would benefit from a little extra practice reading subtitles, check out “Wonderwall”: https://vimeo.com/19873536

After viewing examples, you could ask students to: Explain to someone how to view a subtitled film. How do you attend to both the words and the images? Explain to someone why it’s a great idea to view subtitled films. How would you persuade a reluctant friend?

VIEWING TRAILERS

6Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

Activity Instructions View the trailers one at a time with students. After each trailer, take time to complete the chart with students. This can be done

as a whole group discussion with the teacher recording student ideas, or by individual students or pairs of students, each with their own chart.

You can return to this chart after attending the film festival to complete the last column.

Bunny New Girl Trailer: http://bunnynewgirl.com/video/

Joanna Makes a Friend Trailer: http://brokenmirrorfilms.com/joannamakesafriend/

The Magic Shoes Trailer: http://www.magicshoesmovie.com/trailer.html

Jump Trailer: https://vimeo.com/64284124

VIEWING CHART ON NEXT PAGE

Creative Friendships Viewing Trailers Student Name: _________________________

7Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

Instructions: View the trailer for each film. Then, fill in the chart in point form.

Film Title Characters, Setting / Situation / Conflict

My/Our Prediction: What will happen next? How will the story go / end?

Something I/we noticed that makes this film interesting and memorable.

Bunny New Girl

Joanna Makes a Friend

The Magic Shoes

Jump

AFTER THE FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES

8Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

A. REVISITING PREDICTIONS:Return to the Pre-Viewing Chart. Invite students to share their predictions, and, making references to details in the films, evaluating how accurate their predictions were.

B. MOST MEMORABLE SCENE: Draw, Describe, Connect (Handout On Next Page)

C. PINK SHIRT DAY & “BUNNY NEW GIRL” PARALLELSChallenge students to find the parallels between the peer strategy in “Bunny New Girl” and the “pinkshirtday” story / annual event. Concept: SOLIDARITY http://pinkshirtday.ca/ )

D. My Own INTERNAL CONFLICT Story:Invite students to speak, write, or represent a story from their own life that shares a similarity with one of the four films. Include Elements of Fiction from Pre-Viewing Brainstorm.

My Favorite Creative Friendships Film Student Name ____________________

9Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

MY FAVORITE FILM IS __________________________________________

Here’s my drawing of a scene from my favorite film:

This is what is happening in the scene I’ve drawn:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

It’s my favorite film because . . . .

Rubric for Student Learning from The Scene

10Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.

Criteria Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1Viewing Skills and Strategies

• Consistently and ably uses a range of strategies before, during, and after the

• Uses a range of strategies before, during, and after the viewing process.

• Uses some basic strategies before, during, and after the viewing process.

• Uses few strategies before, during, and after the viewing process.Comprehensi

on• Demonstra

tes thorough and insightfulunderstanding of ideas, information,

• Demonstrates clear understanding of ideas, information, concepts, and/or themes in visuals.

• Demonstrates some understanding of ideas, information, concepts, and/or themes in visuals.

• Demonstrates limited understanding of ideas, information, concepts, and/or themes in visuals.• Explains the

relationship between the explicit and implicit messages in the visual text.

• Identifies the explicit and implicit messages in the visual text.

• Identifies the explicit and some of the implicit messages in the visual text.

• Identifies explicit messages but has difficulty identifying the implicit messages in the visual text.• Explains in a

thorough and insightfulway how ideas are portrayed and how key visual elements/ techniques have

• Explains how ideas are portrayed and how visual elements/ techniques have been used to achieve

• Explains in a simple way how ideas are portrayed and how visual elements/ techniques have been used to

• Has difficulty explaining how ideas areportrayed and how visual elements/ Response • Responds

critically and thoughtfully to visual text.

• Responds personally and thoughtfully to visual text.

• May need assistance to respond from personal viewpoint.

• Needs assistance and prompting to respond from• Responds

personally with a high degree of detail and effectiveness.

• Responds personally with considerable detail and support.

• Responds personally with some detail and support.

• Responds personally with limited detail and support.

• Responds critically with a high degree of analysis and effectiveness.

• Responds critically with considerable analysis and support.

• Responds critically with some analysis and support.

• Responds critically with limited analysis and support.

• Makes connections with other texts with a high degree of understanding.

• Makes connections with other texts with considerable

• Makes connections with other texts with some understanding.

• Makes connections with other texts with limited understanding.• Identifies and

explains overt and covert bias; avoids and actively challenges bias in

• Identifies and explains overt bias in visual texts.

• Identifies personal bias only.

• Shows a limited awareness of personal bias in visual texts.*Saskatchewan Online Curriculum; “Assessing, Evaluating, and Reporting Student Progress”

11Teacher Resources Created by Sherry Van Hesteren for The Scene Youth Film Festival, 2016.