Top 11 Pixar Shorts For Teaching Literary Elements

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. This is the perfect film for a plot study! There is also a lot of foreshadowing in the rising actions. GLUED DIGITAL WORKSHOP.

❤ 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.

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

My Favorite! A young boy appears to be angry and disrespectful to his mother when she tries to interrupt his video game to give him a present; a puppy. Worse, when he sees the puppy is missing a leg he reacts with disgust and tosses the puppy to on the ground. But the cheerful pup relentlessly begs to be played with. When the boy sees that the puppy still wants to play despite its missing leg, his heart softens. Plot twist: He stands up to get the puppy and the viewer sees, for the first time, that the boy is also missing a leg. This allows the viewer to see an entirely different perspective. My class had the best discussion about this theme, and also about how writers use techniques such as hiding information and then revealing the truth in order to pull off a great plot twist. THE PRESENT DIGITAL WORKSHOP

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

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

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

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

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

An adorable little Sandpiper is pushed by her mother to find food along with the rest of the flock. However, Piper gets swept up in a giant wave on her first try and is reluctant to try again; that is until she’s learns how to brave the water from a little crab and learns that her biggest fears aren’t so big after all. PIPER DIGITAL WORKSHOP.

 This short film is hilarious! A young girl is envious when her friend is getting thousands of “likes” with her selfie. So, she decides to take a selfie with her cat, but the cat needs to use the litter box and isn’t exactly cooperating! As she struggles to hold the cat in place to snap the photo, the cat breaks free and she falls to the ground. Just as she falls in slow motion, she chips a tooth, the camera snaps, and the video is posted. Needless to say, the “likes” start rolling in. SELFIE CAT DIGITAL WORKSHOP