Katelyn Toledo

Digital Literacy Research Project

Grade Level: 6th grade
Time Frame: 50 minutes
Unit Plan Description:
- Throughout the last hundred years or so, film producers and media have made countless
attempts (successful or not) to make film adaptations to certain popular classics. As a
class, we will examine what kinds of mechanisms the media use to make their film more
successful than others, what the motivations are behind creating film adaptations, and
outline examples of successes and failures. We will use the elements of fiction
(characterization, plot, and setting) to examine all of the above.
Learning Context:
- Class of 25 6th graders
- Residents of Long Island
- 60% Caucasian, 20% African American, 10% Hispanic, 10% Asian
- 1 inclusion student with disability (accompanied by aid)
Background Knowledge/Skills:
- Students will have read the 1971 childrens book by Dr. Seuss, The Lorax.
- Students will have watched the 2012 film adaptation.
- Students will possess basic knowledge of how to navigate certain technologies such as
computers and iPads.
Essential Questions:
- What are the different approaches that the media take when making film adaptations to
classics? Do they stay true to the books, or purposefully stray away?(unit)
- For what reason(s) do the media remake classics? (unit)
- What are the differences between the picture book and movie of The Lorax? (lesson)
- How do the media manipulate characterization to create differences between the original
picture book and film adaptation? What are the different messages the two texts are
trying to convey, and why are they different when picture book is adapted into movie?
(lesson)
Learning Objectives and Understandings:
- Students will be able to identify the concrete differences between the childrens book and
film adaptation of The Lorax.
Long Term:
- Students will be able to understand the different mechanisms that authors as well as
directors use to characterize essential figures in their works.
- Students will compare and contrast these mechanisms.
- Using the comparisons and contrasts, students will be able to interpret how the media
remade The Lorax, what kinds of calculated moves they made in terms of
characterization by adapting it into film, and why they made these moves.

Short Term:
- Students will examine characterization by Dr. Seuss in The Lorax
(Use of color, eye gaze, positioning of characters on the page in relation to each other,
and/or in relation to other objects)
- Students will examine characterization by Chris Renaud (The Lorax film director)
(Use of different camera angles, animation features, casting)
- Students will compare and contrast characterization in book and film
- Students will analyze major characters and their relationships to each other in the book
(Who is foil to who? What characters serve what purposes and why?)
- Students will analyze major characters and their relationships to each other in the film
- (Who is foil to who? What characters serve what purposes and why?)
- Students will compare and contrast characters in the book and film
- (What did the film change about the book? Who did they add? Who did they leave out?
Speculate as to why the directors chose to make these moves in relation to the bigger
themes and meanings of both book and film)
- Students will be able to identify the different messages that both texts are trying to send
(book is centered around damaging the environment for commercial gain; movie is more
centered around answering the unanswered question at the end of the book, and takes
current issues of damaging the environment for personal and capital gain).
- Students will be able to outline causes for media to remake a film (directed audience,
celebrating a classic, etc.)
Rationale:
- Students must be critical of the media around them. Often times the media want to
remake classic novels (or in this case picture books) to make it more relatable to the
audience who they believe will bring in the most revenue. Even more often, the media
add or take away essential elements that either contribute or take away from the story
line. Either way, filmmakers have one thing in mind when making and remaking films
moneyand children must be aware that they are often the ones targeted when
something they grew up with is personified and made relevant to their lives.
Standards:
- 3.2.5: Use a variety of ways to assist students in creating and critiquing a wide range of
print and nonprint texts for multiple purposes and help students understand the
relationship between symbols and meaning.
- 3.6.1: Understand medias influence on culture and peoples actions and communication,
reflecting that knowledge not only in their own work but also in their teaching.
- 3.6.2: Use a variety of approaches for teaching students how to construct meaning from
media and nonprint texts and integrate learning opportunities into classroom experiences
that promote composing and responding to such texts.
- 3.6.3: Help students compose and respond to film, video, graphic, photographic, audio,
and multimedia texts and use current technology to enhance their own learning and
reflection on their learning.
- 4.6: Engage students in critical analysis of different media and communications
technologies and their effect on students learning.

Academic Language Needs:

- Characterization: the process by which an author/director reveals the personality of a
character/characters
- Film Adaptation: the transfer of a written work, in whole or in part, to a feature film
- Corporation: a large business or organization that under the law has the rights and duties
of an individual and follows a specific purpose
Procedure:
- As a class, before this lesson, we will have read Dr. Seuss The Lorax as well as watched
the 2012 film adaptation. We will start out with making a Venn diagram about the
concrete differences between the two texts (one is a book, the other is a movie., etc.) This
should take about 15 minutes.
- We will watch part of a YouTube clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=1o2dBX2GQB0) outlining the differences between books and movies, which are
inherently better (if any), why we enjoy seeing film adaptations of books, and whether or
not we actually need to read the book before seeing the movie to enjoy it. This should
take about 5 minutes.
- We will then have a loosely based discussion on whether or not we agree with this critic,
why we feel this way, etc. This should take 15 minutes.
- The instructor will write several terms on the board and outline them for students:
symbolism, design-based principles, etc.
Differentiation for Students with Special Needs:
Materials/Resources/Handouts:
- Students will be given a graphic organizer asking them to outline the differences between
the picture book and film.
- They will be asked to give brief descriptions as to why they think these differences are
important, and what effect(s) they may have on audiences.
Assessment/Rubrics:
Reading/Writing Assignments:
- Students will be asked to share their opinions about both the book and film of The Lorax
via blog. They can share which they liked better and why, what messages they believed
both texts are trying to send; whatever they can think of that is intellectually stimulating.
They will be asked to make their own post as well as comment on at least 2 others.
- Students will be given the YouTube link of the video we watched in class and be asked to
comment on one or more things that the video blogger expressed. Do they agree? Do they
disagree? Why? Any other thoughts in addition? Examples?
- (unit) Students will be asked to choose their own movie-film adaptation example and
write an in-depth analysis using several of the principles we discussed during class and
on the blogs outside of class. They will make their own video blog critique (similar to the
one we watched in class).