Film/Video Clips

Hole's Movie Trailer

Holes - Trailer. (2012, May 18). Retrieved October 16, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEvLRtDKT0c&feature=youtu.be

This is the official Disney movie trailer for the film “Holes”. The clip is under three minutes in length and shows the main characters in the story and various settings where the film takes place. The clip teases the audience with some background information about the misfortune of the main character, Stanley Yelnats, and his detainment at the juvenile detention center called Camp Green Lake. Additionally, there are some flashbacks to the legend of Camp Green Lake and Stanley’s family, who are said to be under a 150-year-old curse. Students will watch this trailer before reading the book to complete a double journal entry about what they think the book will be about. While reading the book, they will fill out the second part of the journal entry. Finally, they will refer to those initial notes when they read a professional review of the movie, and then again when writing their own movie and book review.




Disney's Paul Bunyan


Paul Bunyan [Motion picture]. (1958). Buena Vista. Retrieved October 16, 2014 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uPt822HC5w

This Disney animated classic of Paul Bunyan, produced by Buena Vista in 1958 is 17 minutes long and can be accessed via YouTube. The video clip includes music, a narrated storyline, and different examples of Paul Bunyan’s wild adventures in the west with Babe the Blue Ox. Students will view this video after reading the book Paul Bunyan’s Sweetheart and discussing what the characteristics of a folktale are and how they can be seen in various texts, including the unit novel. Students will take notes using a movie graphic organizer and discuss in small groups the different ways the stories about Paul Bunyan were presented in the movie. They will also discuss aspects of folktales that work well in film versus books and take notes that they will use to create their own folktale at the end of the unit.

Websites

Scholastic.com's Interactive Holes Website

Holes by Louis Sachar | Scholastic.com. (2014, January 1). Retrieved October 16, 2014, from http://www.scholastic.com/holes


Children’s book publishing company Scholastic has created an interactive website for the book Holes. The website features games with book characters and plot lines, movie tie-ins and pictures, author information, and even an recipe for a important food in the book. Students will utilize this website throughout the unit for a multimedia, multimodal incorporation of the book. It can be used as a ‘fun’ way to interact with text for readers with multiple intelligences. Students can mimic the games on the website, like the matching game, to create their own game based off of a character, plot line, or legend mentioned in the novel. This website gives ample opportunities to teach Internet safety and have guided practice on how to use a website for fun and learning.

American Folklore 

Paul Bunyan. (2014, June 11). Retrieved October 18, 2014, from http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/paul-bunyan/

American Folklore is a folklore website created by author S. E. Schlosser of the Spooky Series. This particular section of the website focuses on Paul Bunyan and gives seven brief tales about Paul Bunyan and his famous traveling companion, Babe the Blue Ox. The stories are short and are excellent examples of the characteristics of folktales (i.e. nature, something magical happens, animals as characters). Students can utilize this website when researching ideas for their own folktale. They will have already read one Paul Bunyan story with the class and discussed the elements of a folktale. They can use the website to look up other types of famous folktale characters and storylines.

Periodical/Journal Articles

On the Trail of Paul Bunyan

Edmonds, M. (2008). On the Trail of Paul Bunyan. Wisconsin Magazine Of History, 91(4), 2-15.


Published quarterly by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Wisconsin Magazine of History is a reliable source of information about the state’s people, landmarks, culture, and local legends, such as Paul Bunyan. This article, “On the Trail of Paul Bunyan”, is rich with vibrant depictions of Paul Bunyan and the people who first wrote about him many years ago. Details of oral folklore are explained as well as how media, such as advertising, was used to transmit the story years later for newer generations. Students will close read the article and take notes about how legends are used in everyday life (movies, modern novels such as Holes, etc). Students will complete graphic organizers relating this article back to the children’s book about Paul Bunyan they have previously read. They will also use the article as another example in what to include in the folktale they will be writing and illustrating throughout the unit.

Holes Film Review

Scott, A. (2003, April 8). Holes (2003) FILM REVIEW; Not Just for Children, a Suspenseful Allegory of Greed, Fate and Racism. The New York Times. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B0CEFD7163AF93BA25757C0A9659C8B63

This is a NewYork Times movie review of the film “Holes”, an adaptation of the book Holes by Louis Sachar. It gives background information about the novel’s author, who wrote the film’s screenplay, as well as a detailed summary of the movie and it’s infamy among children. Though it is a more advanced piece of text for many average readers in the class, the students will use a movie review graphic organizer to dissect parts of the review (identifying the 5 W’s, summary of movie, opinion, etc). By the end of the unit, students will have watched the entire movie and will use this review as an example on how to write their own movie review, focusing on how it is similar or dissimilar from the original text.

Trade Books

The Lion & The Mouse

Pinkney, J. (2009). The Lion & The Mouse. New York, New York: Little, Brown and Books for Young Readers.


Winner of the 2010 Caldecott Metal, The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney is a retelling of Aesop’s classic fable. Heavily illustrated with little to no text on each page, the book allows readers to take an alternative look at the seemingly ferocious lion and his prey, a timid mouse. Students of all reading abilities will be able to access the story because of the book’s low Lexile level and visually rich presentation. After reading the book with the class, students will work in small groups to take notes about what they think the story means and what stylistic and moral traits from the book are transferable to the characters and stories they are learning about in class’s unit novel, Holes.


Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart

Lorbiecki, M., & Graef, R. (2007). Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart. Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.

Written by award-winning author Marybeth Lorbieck and part of Bank Street College of Education’s Best Book of the Year list, Paul Bunyan’s Sweetheart tells the story of the legendary lumberjack’s first love, Lucette. In typical folktale fashion, the two larger-than-life characters solve some big problems out in the woods, teaching children the history of Paul Bunyan with a modern twist. Students will access prior knowledge about folktales, using their unit novel and other in-class texts, to discuss the characteristics of these stories before reading this book. The book will be read together in class and then discussed in pairs, focusing on the elements of the story, characters, and lessons learned. The book will serve as a model, both visually and textually, for the student’s to create their own folktale by the end of the unit.