If you want to add high-interest activities to your lessons, use animated shorts to teach problems and solutions. Animated shorts provide a captivating way to engage students in understanding and identifying problems and solutions within a narrative.
This post focuses on using the animated short “Taking the Plunge” to teach problems and solutions. Handouts for upper elementary students with graphic organizers encourage students to think about problems and solutions.
The handout contains practice organizers corresponding to all the activities mentioned in this post. Consider downloading it now before you proceed with reading the post. 😊📄
The handout includes spaces for students to identify the main problem, the steps taken to solve it, and the ultimate solution. It also prompts students to consider the double meaning behind the film’s title.
Film Summary:
In “Taking the Plunge,” a man proposes to his girlfriend in a romantic setting on a dock over the ocean. When he takes the ring out of his pocket, he shakes so much that he drops it, rolling it into the deep ocean. The man must solve the problem of retrieving the ring while facing unexpected challenges.
This animated short, published in 2015 by the School of Visual Arts students, provides an excellent narrative for teaching the problem and solution text structure.
Animated Shorts for Problem and Solution Mapping
These three animated films are perfect for practicing problem and solution mapping. Each film presents unique challenges and creative solutions, making them excellent resources for students to analyze and understand narrative structures.
Animated Short for Practicing Problem and Solution
Swing to the Moon
“Swing to the Moon” is a heartwarming CGI 3D short film created by students from the French school ESMA. The film follows a determined little spider named Temi who wishes to capture the moon. Temi must solve several problems during his quest, making this an ideal film for students to map using problem and solution organizers.
Stowaway
Chaos takes place when two hapless pirates stumble upon a baby kraken aboard their ship. Their comically inept attempts to deal with an unexpected guest lead to disaster after disaster, which makes this an excellent film for teaching problems and solutions. Quarantined students from a BYU Animation Class created this animated film, supported by Brigham Young University’s Colleges of Fine Arts and Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
The Lumberjack and the Woodpecker
“The Lumberjack & the Woodpecker” is a CG animated short film created by students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). In this tale, Forrest, a lumberjack, takes his young son Woody with him on the job. When Forrest’s actions endanger the lives of a woodpecker family, Woody must convince his father to spare the birds and save the day.
Discussion Questions: Real-World Connection
Nervous Reactions:
- Describe when your nervous reaction to a situation caused a problem similar to the man dropping the ring in “Taking the Plunge.” How did you handle the situation? What could you have done differently to prevent the problem?
- How can being prepared help prevent nervous reactions from causing problems? Give an example from your own life.
Real-World Problem Identification:
- Which film—“Swing to the Moon,” “Stowaway,” or “The Lumberjack and the Woodpecker”—contains a problem most likely to occur in the real world? Explain why you selected this film. What similarities do you see between the film’s problem and real-life situations?
- Make a list of possible solutions to prevent this problem from taking place in the future. How would these solutions change the outcome of the story?
Problem-Solving Strategies:
- Compare the problem-solving strategies used in each film. Which character do you think handled their problem most effectively? Why?
- Can you think of a time when you had to devise a creative solution to a problem? How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?
Learning from Mistakes:
- In “Stowaway,” the pirates make several mistakes in dealing with the baby kraken. How can learning from mistakes help improve problem-solving skills? Give an example from your own experiences.
- Discuss how persistence and determination, like Temi’s in “Swing to the Moon,” can lead to solving difficult problems. Have you ever faced a situation that required a lot of perseverance?
Environmental Awareness:
- “The Lumberjack & the Woodpecker” highlights the impact of human actions on nature. How can we be more mindful of our actions to protect the environment? What small steps can you take daily to make a positive difference?
Teamwork and Collaboration:
- In each film, characters face challenges that could benefit from teamwork. How can working together make solving problems easier? Share an example where teamwork helped you solve a problem more effectively.
- What qualities make a good team member when solving problems? How can you develop these qualities in yourself?
By exploring these questions, students can connect the animated shorts to real-world situations, enhancing their understanding of problem-solving in fictional and actual contexts.
More Samples from the Teaching Reading with Animated Shorts Series
See the product that inspired this post.
The organizers in the mini-lesson are samples from Teaching Reading Skills with Animated Shorts Part 2.
