“You could teach an entire ELA course with just animated shorts!” – Brie C., 14-year ELA teacher
#1 GLUED:
DOMINANT LITERARY ELEMENTS: Plot Structure and Characters
WRITING COMPONENT: Literary Analysis and Narrative Essay
CULMINATING FUN ACTIVITY: Create A Video Game Character
FILM SUMMARY: In this funny film, a mother realizes her child is addicted to video games so she tries desperately to persuade him to play outside with the other kids. Finally, in a hilarious climactic moment, the mother snaps (climax) and begins carrying all of his video games outside to burn them in an enormous fire that she has made. The escalating tension and rising actions, make this film perfect for teaching a basic plot structure! There is also a lot of foreshadowing in the rising actions. GLUED DIGITAL WORKSHOP.
#2 SNACK ATTACK!
DOMINANT LITERARY ELEMENTS: Foreshadowing, Flashback, Plot Twist, Theme
WRITING COMPONENT: FORESHADOWING- Write a Narrative With Specific Guidance For Using Foreshadowing
FUN ACTIVITY: FINISH THE TEXT- Students practice using DIALOGUE by finishing the text that the boy was sending to his friend.
❤ FILM SUMMARY:
Snack Attack is a clever animated short that takes viewers on a journey of mistaken assumptions. An elderly woman, waiting for her train, grows increasingly outraged as she believes a young man beside her is shamelessly stealing her cookies. In a silent battle of wills, she retaliates by taking them back. The ironic twist comes when, just as the cookies are gone, she discovers her own unopened bag in her purse, realizing with shock that she was the one eating his cookies all along. This ironic misstep drives home the film’s powerful theme: appearances can be deceiving, and rushing to judgment can lead to embarrassing consequences.
#3 THE PRESENT:
DOMINANT LITERARY ELEMENTS: Plot Twist, Theme, Character Traits, Symbolism, and Inference
WRITING COMPONENT: PLOT TWIST- Create a Narrative With Specific Guidance For Creating a Plot Twist
FUN ACTIVITY: THEME– Students practice THEME by role-playing a designer and creating a paper t-shirt that represents the theme of the film.
❤ FILM SUMMARY:
A young boy initially seems ungrateful and cruel when his mother surprises him with a new puppy. His behavior worsens when he discovers the puppy is missing a leg, and he treats the dog poorly. However, a heartwarming twist reveals that the boy’s attitude stems from his own struggle with losing a leg. As the playful puppy shows resilience and joy despite its disability, the boy slowly reconnects with his own sense of self-worth. The film beautifully teaches the lesson that things—and people—aren’t always as they first appear.
4- DEFECTIVE DETECTIVE: Plot Summary, Inference
❤ FILM SUMMARY:
A detective with a “defective” overreactive imagination tries to solve a case, but instead ends up angering an old lady who he thinks is in trouble. He picks up on all of the wrong clues and believes she is being assaulted, but in reality, she is only trying to make soup in her kitchen. This film is perfect for study internal and external conflict because much of the conflict is in the detective’s imagination, but he creates external conflict by acting upon his thoughts.
#5 JOY AND HERON: THEME, CONFLICT, CHARACTER
A loyal puppy named Joy fights with a heron who is trying to steal her owner’s fishing worms. But, Joy has a change of heart when she sees the heron is only trying to feed her hungry babies. Bonus: This film teaches a lesson about not judging others, and that sometimes things aren’t as they appear. JOY AND HERON WORKSHOP
#6 ALMA: SETTING, FORESHADOWING, SUSPENSE, INFERENCE, PLOT
This spooky film is about a small girl whose soul becomes trapped inside of a doll. She wanders into a deserted town and is lured into a doll shop by a doll in the window that looks just like her. The name ALMA means “SOUL” in Spanish and foreshadows what will happen to her. It’s perfect for teaching how the setting shapes the plot and how foreshadowing creates suspense and calls for inferencing. I love using this film near Halloween. ALMA DIGITAL WORKSHOP
#7 CARL AND ELLIE (from the movie UP): CHARACTER TRAITS, CONFLICT, THEME, DIALOGUE
Another tear-jerker! Childhood friends become sweethearts who marry and share a dream of making it to Paradise Falls. The short film centers on their life and trials as they try to save money for their dream, but keep getting set back. Heartbreakingly, Ellie becomes sick and Carl must go on without her. A beautiful theme emerges: Life is about the journey, not the destination. This film is a natural fit for teaching these literary elements because it is their personalities and the conflicts they face that brings about this inspiring theme. CARL AND ELLIE DIGITAL WORKSHOP
#8 HEY DEER: PLOT, PLOT TWIST, SETTING, POINT OF VIEW
A sweet deer lives in a cabin and is chronically exhausted because each night an earthquake turns his house upside down. He spends his days shoveling away all of the snow and putting his cabin back together. PLOT TWIST: Unbeknownst to the deer, he lives in a little girl’s snow globe and each night she tips it over, hence the earthquake! I use this film HEY DEER! DIGITAL WORKSHOP
#9 DUSTIN: PERSONIFICATION, INFERENCING, FORESHADOWING
In this film, an adorable dog is perplexed because he gets an unexpected guest, a robot floor cleaner that sweeps up all of the table crumbs that he had hoped to eat. Dustin’s resentment of the robot soon fades as he realizes what a great playmate it makes. The writer cleverly personifies the robot making this the perfect film for introducing and/or reviewing personification along with foreshadowing, and inferencing. DUSTIN DIGITAL WORKSHOP
#10 FOR THE BIRDS: DIALOGUE, THEME, CONFLICT, INFERENCE
The birds on a wire make fun of the bird with different feathers, until ironically, they fall off the wire and lose all of their own feathers. Your students will get a chuckle and learn a lesson about bullying. Since the birds are all chattering and bickering, this is a perfect opportunity for students to create their own dialogue strip. FOR THE BIRDS DIGITAL WORKSHOP
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