Chances are your school has online resources for you to do schoolwork with your kids for the next few weeks. But maybe you’re looking for something to supplement those materials, something more in line with your interests, something…. Disney related.
While I was putting together our guide to Disney+ watching in March, my retired teacher brain was going into overdrive. Some of these Disney+ options would make excellent material for an integrative lesson plan. I was looking into supplementary materials and my brain was hollering at me “sub plan! sub plan!”
For my non-teachers, sub plans are created by the classroom teacher for substitute teachers to implement in their absences. Sub plans need to address topics the students are currently learning, while also being flexible enough that they can be taught by a variety of teachers at a variety of levels. In short: they need to be effective and relatively simple to implement. Which means, for my parents who find themselves suddenly homeschooling, they will be perfect for you!
Depending on how long you’re doing school work each day, Disney inspired lessons can last as long as a week!
Some quick tips: Adapt this as needed! I know we’re all at our wit’s end with worksheets, so these are just designed as a different way to approach enriching our kids’ days. But they’re just suggestions.. You want to have a conversation instead of having your kid write? Do it! You want to change the order of the days? Do it! You want to read the book and make up your own activities? DO IT!
** This is a continuation of a six lesson series. Access Lessons 1 & 2 here!**
Lesson Plan: Stargirl
Age Appropriate: 7th-9th Grade
Common Core Standards Addressed:
- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
- Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.
- Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film)
- Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Before beginning this lesson: Purchase a copy of Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl, or access through your library’s online programs.
*If you are unable to access the text, modify the lessons to address only the film! Your student can still work on vocabulary (from Lesson 1) and creates a response to the movie, either in speech, writing, or artistic form.
Lessons 3 and 4 are dependent on whether your student chooses to watch or read first. If your student chooses to read first, skip lesson 3 and return to it after lesson 4 is completed.
Lesson 3: Watch & Analyze
Student will engage with the central themes, characters, and plot of the film Stargirl. Observational and communication skills will be honed during timed response.
- If your student has chosen to watch the movie, they should be able to watch the film in one sitting.
- At the conclusion of the film, your student will do a timed response to the film. Ask your student to take 10 (timed) minutes to record their thoughts on the movie: what they liked, what they didn’t like, things that confused them, etc. They will use these notes for other parts of the lesson.
Lesson 4: Read & Analyze
Student will engage with the central themes, character, and plot of the novel Stargirl. Observational and communication skills will be honed during reading responses.
- Have your student begin reading Stargirl. The novel is 208 pages. Plan for them to read everyday until the novel is completed.
- Each day after their reading, have your student take notes on what they read: words they did not understand, thoughts about the story, the characters, that they like, what they don’t like, any questions they have.
Lesson 5: Compare & Contrast
Student will compare and contrast the written and film version of Stargirl, drawing on their observational, communication, and reasoning skills developed in previous lessons. Students will continue Lesson 2’s skill set of backing a thesis with supportive evidence (textual and cinematic.)
- Have your student answer the question: how was the movie different from the book? Encourage them to explore the following ideas: what was the biggest change from the book to the movie? What did the movie do better than the book? What did the book do better than the movie? Which did you prefer, the book or the movie?
- They can explore these questions in the following way:
- A conversation with you
- A presentation complete with visual aids (poster board, power point, iMovie, etc)
- An essay
- A visual essay (collage, original art, etc)
Lesson 6: Create
Identity plays a huge role in the world of Stargirl. What is your student’s identity? Ask them: who are you?
- Have your student create something that explains their identity. This can take many forms. Some ideas:
- a song
- a work of art (sketch, painting, drawing, collage. sculpture)
- a poem
- a short story
- a craft or building project
- a meal
- Have your student share their identity project with the rest of the family.
*You could use Lesson 6 as a family project and have EVERYONE make an identity project to be shared.
Feel tree to tailor these lessons to your student’s specific interests and the way your family works. Maybe you want to read the book together and instead of doing essays, have a parent-child book club where you discuss the points above. Are you in Arizona, where the book takes place? Maybe your student is more interested in writing about the way the book gets Arizona right (or wrong.) Cheerleading and music play important parts in the movie; does your student want to write a cheer or a song? What we’ve got here are just some base suggestions to get you off the ground. Get creative, just like Stargirl!
What are some ways you are integrating Disney into this unscheduled home time? Share them in the comments!
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey five years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!