Love against the modern world

Student: Mariela Giribaldi

Love, love, love. Love is everywhere around the world and many of our daily things are connected to love. We listen to songs about it, we watch movies about it, we talk about it, we even have problems with it. But what is love? What does this four-letter word mean? I don’t have the answer. And probably nobody has it. But love is good for us for sure. If not, the world wouldn’t be surrounded by it. Love wouldn’t be as important as it is for our lives. The paradox for me takes place when I see that in a world that is dependent on love, in theory, it is hard to find people dependent on love, in practise. What I mean is that love is in the air, but not on the Earth.

I like love. What’s more, I believe in love. I always think about my grandparents’ relationships. Although when I was born one of my grannies was a widower and one of my grandfathers was a widow, they both talked about their couples with a feeling of loyalty, pride and honour that was almost worship. I would listen to their love stories for hours and hours. My granny’s story was about a long ship journey, a new country, a new life and a beloved man and my grandfather’s was about two political rival families somewhere inland Argentina, and two young people who escaped to get married. Both stories are worth being a romantic film each one.

That´s why I really enjoy a movie in particular: Up (2009). Ellie and Carl Fredickson are a couple and, when his wife passes away, Carl decides to make their dream come true: to visit Paradise waterfalls in South America. In order to achieve this, Carl ties thousands of balloons to his house to fly away and get to this magical place. With the company of Russel –an eight-year old scout-, Carl undertakes his journey and overcomes different kind of obstacles. He also meets new friends as Dug –a dog- and Kevin –a strange three-meter high bird-.

Carl and Ellie have some ups and downs through their common history. However, their feelings are never in doubt. Up portrays the kind of relationship that children need to see. In a world where everything is in crisis, endless love seems to be in crisis, too and for children, it’s not common to see couples that last for many years: most of them come from split families and they even do not believe that a person can choose another one to be his or her partner in life. I believe that those old values such as honour, loyalty and pride to people should be rescued and Up is a good example of them.

I think that there two main causes of divorce nowadays. The first one is the economic problems that people face. We have to work many hours to get the money we need for our life. Everything seems to be fine as long as the money is enough. But when we don’t cover our needs with our salary, problems begin and most couples are not capable of overcoming them. The second reason is the lack of patience of our globalized society. In a world where people have no time to waste, where everything takes place in seconds, couples do not give themselves the time they need in every sense. They do not spend time together sharing “common” things as, for example, dinner time. They neither give each other the time they need until the storm passes when problems arrive. They just separate and that’s it.

The two main characters in Up, Carl an Ellie, have the same problems that the rest of the couples have. They are not perfect, they are common people. But the good point is that they accompany each other, wait for the other and respect the other. And they choose each other again and again.  Although they do not have any child, they share the essence of a real family. That is exactly what modern families need. Because of all this, I think that this movie is a clear example of the lost values as loyalty, pride and honour to which we have to go back in our modern lives.

We should rethink all over again if we really think that those lost values are good for us. And that love is good for our society, too. I firmly believe they are and that they shouldn’t be lost anymore. They are good for us, for our families, for our children and for our future. Let’s place them on the Earth, not in the air!

A green hero

Student: Alvarez, Gilda

“... and lived happily ever after”

How many times have we read this type of ending in fairytales stories? The answer will probably be “a lot”. That is because since we are very young, stories like these have been told to us. Stories where everything and everyone are perfect. Stories where there is always a girl waiting to be rescued by a brave and heroic man. And this male character is always a beautiful prince son of a noble king, a perfect gentlemen, a brave hero living in an outstanding palace. In few words, this prince is always charming, or isn’t he?

If all the fairytales taken to the big screen have had a perfect male protagonist, surely Shrek is the exception that proves the rule. Shrek (2001) doesn’t portray the typically stereotype of a prince but quite the contrary: he is an ogre. Furthermore, the green creature has broken the dominant convention of hero stereotypes of traditional fairytales.

Probably the most obvious characteristic of a fairytale’s hero is how he looks like: tall, slim, most of the times blonde, with beautiful eyes and a perfect face. But do these adjectives fit into the description of Shrek? Absolutely not. He is an ogre! Ogres are not considered beautiful because they are supposed to be villains and villains in fairytales are always ugly or old creatures.

A perfect hero must live in a gorgeous palace surrounded by friendly and kind people. He is always part of the royalty and is beloved by everyone. Instead, Shrek is chased by everyone and rather than having company, the ogre prefers the loneliness of his wet swamp. He doesn’t like anyone but himself and even goes mad when, at the beginning of the film, hundreds of fairytale characters invade his sweet home and disrupt his peaceful life.

The behaviour of our green friend does not apply to one of the predominant rules of fairytales movies: politeness. It is hard to find a single scene in those films where the protagonist is rude or has bad manners. But it is definitely easy to find it on Shrek. The ogre is rude, disgusting and even grouchy. Besides, he doesn’t fit into the definition of a proper ‘hero’. In fact, he is an ‘antihero’. He doesn’t rescue the princess because he is in love; he rescues her to get his swamp back.

Maybe the only coincidence between Shrek and the traditional heroes is that, in the end, they both find their true love. A happy ending with quite different protagonists.

So perhaps Shrek is not the prince charming the princess has been waiting for. But she falls in love with him the way he is. And isn’t that what love is about? Yes, it is. It is to accept someone without wanting to change him or her. It doesn’t matter how that person or even creature looks like. It is not necessary to be perfectly beautiful like the characters of fairytale stories to have a ‘happily ever after’. Everyone has feelings, even an ogre. After all, you don’t have to judge a book by its cover.

Obedient children don’t go to Wonderland.

Student: Flavia Cruz

Honor your father and your mother is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Obedience is its main requirement and dishonor means punishment. “Alice in Wonderland” is one of the many American animated features produced by Walt Disney and it is a clear example of this moral imperative. Obedience in the film is shown as an obvious instance of how a child should behave.

Alice is a little girl with huge imagination. She is sophisticated, educated and well mannered. She considers that the world is too boring as it is, so she often thinks in a different and crazy world. However, when Alice falls in a dream, in which the world she imagines comes true, she feels sad and sorry.

“Something terrible can happen to children if they disobey their parents” is the moral of the “The Walrus and the Carpenter” tale. At the beginning of the film, Alice is told a story. The story tells the misfortune of several little oysters. The little oysters, after disobeying their mother, are eaten by a fat walrus showing that the search of new adventures is not a good idea and it can take children to a fatidic end. It is clear that the moral of this tale cannot be another thing that a warning of what can be expected of those children who disobey their parents. The story demonstrates the importance of being obedient.

“I disobeyed and now this is my punishment”, says Alice after having a crazy teatime with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. Alice finds herself lost in the madness of Wonderland and she learns that her lack of obedience is the reason for being there. She sees Wonderland as the consequence and punishment for her rebellious acts. Alice thinks that everything she does is wrong and that the only way to escape from that crazy world is to be firm in the idea of obedience and honor.

“Alice in Wonderland” represents honor and obedience. The film fits in with the fourth of the Ten Commandments. So, Honor your father and your mother because there is always a Wonderland waiting for those children who disobey and go against this command.

No Crystal slipper for them

Student: Lidia Figueroa
           
Since immemorial times fairytales were told to children in order to teach them about values and appropriated behaviour to build their character and prepare them for life. By the middle of the 20th century film producers made movies from those traditional stories. Walt Disney, the famous producer, was one of them who transmitted the message of those stories through movies. Take as an example the film CINDERELLA many girls, who are now in their fifties, including myself, felt identified with the character and with the story. For this reason, we grew up bearing in mind that all the problems in life had a magic solution. But today, the eternal discourse is little convincing for the generations and the life of CINDERELLA is not a model to be followed by the 21st Century girls.

Girls over fifties, raise your hands if you ever dreamed about a romantic charming prince coming to marry you and to rescue you financially …why not? Do not feel guilty of your materialistic thoughts because you are not alone. I also did! Many girls of our generation grew up having in mind the traditional social commitments which meant to get marry to solve some financial problems, and to have children. That was life for…. or better still, that was the synonym of fulfilment or happiness for the society of the 20th century

But blame all this to the history and to the society in which we had to live, because they alimented our impossible chances of meeting our prince charming in vane. Experience now tells us that there were not enough princes for all the girls of that time not even for the ones of today! By the way, we also know that the closest moment in our life that we looked like a princess was when we had our 15th birthday dress on!

Let’s talk about the poor CINDERELLA.  In the story she is treated badly by her bossy stepmother and she also has to cope with the jealousy of her stepsisters. Her miserable life is full of punishments and authoritarianism. This situation is incomprehensible for these days.

However, she was a passive and conforming girl. Her only way out was her freedom through marriage. But the innocent girl did not know that her way out was also her complete dependency on men.

How fortunate are the girls of the 21st century! Why? Because they know already, with no experience at all, that no prince will come for them to try on their foot a crystal slipper with a guarantee of happiness! Girls, in general, feel free to choose their own way of living because there are breaking away old stereotyped roles related to women such as marriage and motherhood. Is not a coincidence the influence of the feminist movement with its beliefs of women liberation is present in this way of thinking. Young girls are now able to decide how bright or successful is going to be their future having in mind what they really want for their lives. Without any social commitment to follow they give priority to their needs no to the needs of somebody else.

It may sound a bit selfish for the ones from the last century but most girls are enjoying their lives, doing whatever they like without any kind of pressure from their parents, members of the family or from gossipy neighbours. The new generations do not wish to repeat the life of Cinderella. As Cindy Lauer sings in her song …   GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!

The place with no happily-ever-after endings

Student: Busto Daniela

Is our world a "place where there are no happily-ever-after endings"? At least Susan Sarandon as the wicked stepmother in the movie “Enchanted” thinks so.

“Enchanted” is a 2007 American film, produced by Walt Disney. The plot deals with Giselle’s story (Amy Adams). She is a girl who lives in Andalasia (a fairy tale world) waiting for a man that truly loves her. Giselle’s life starts to change when she thinks she has met her true love, Edward (James Marsden) who fortunately is a prince. Queen Narissa (performed by Susan Sarandon) Edward's stepmother is committed to maintain the throne she currently occupies. So, in order to prevent Edwards’s marriage, she enchants Giselle and sends the poor girl to an awful world, where suffering and anger exist, and where there are a lot of problems. Well, what is that? That is our world.

After some misadventures in this crazy world of stress and shallowness, Giselle runs into Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a lawyer and single parent who lives in New York with his six-year-old daughter. Noticing Giselle so disoriented, the child asks her father to let the strange girl stay in their house. Once the girl from Andalasia is established in this new world, she realizes that she doesn’t like this awful place, so she tries to find the way to make it a better one and fortunately succeeds in doing that. In short, “Enchanted” portrays our world as a horrible place where problems and unfortunate situations exist but telling children, (and adults, why not?) that they can still believe in happy endings.

To the delight of optimistic people, the movie takes negative everyday situations and turns them into positive ones. We know, for instance, that there are big amounts of disgusting insects everywhere; but when Giselle recruits cockroaches to help her clean Robert's apartment, it makes you think they are not so bad. Despite the fact that you are not going to use these little creatures to clean your house, and you know that this is a typical fairy tale situation, you can feel that the film producers are telling you “come on, don’t be negative. Do your best and turn ugly things into nice ones”.

Take, for example, the scene when Giselle experiments anger for the very first time. She tells Robert that she is angry because people in “the new world” are negative and they don’t even try to find a solution to their problems; they just complaint about them. She concludes asking “Why are you like that?” and starts to laugh because she is felling something new. Although the felling is a negative one, she celebrates the fact that she can become more familiar with her current surroundings.

“Enchanted” second attraction is the parallelism presented between the Fairy tale world, Andalasia, and our real world. Every Disney Princess sings accompanied by her friends, which are lovely singing animals. Well, in this case Giselle is joined to street musicians who become her friends and help her perform “That’s how you know”, a song that tells us about the joy of being loved.

It can be said that beasts are compared to buses because of their size or the noise they make. But we can say also that this comparison is just a joke directed to buses drivers who feel that in the concrete jungle they are the most powerful. But, what about the fairy godmother? There’s no woman with sweet face, grey hair and shiny dress who is the person that makes the princess wishes come true. In her place, we have a flat plastic rectangle called “Credit card”, that is what helps Giselle to look amazing for the King's and Queen's Costume Ball. It’s well known that credit cards don’t grant us things just because; we have to pay for them when bills come. But in a way “the plastics” are what can save you in a fashion emergency just like fairy godmothers do.

Everybody knows life in our world is difficult. There are problems and very unpleasant situations everywhere and every day. However, it’s not fair to say that happiness does not exist. The thing is that our lives are quite different from the ones presented in fairy tale stories. Despite the fact that we can’t ask cockroaches to help us cleaning our houses, we can do our best to turn negative situations into positive ones in order to manage them as good as possible and to have our own happy endings. Yes, with problems and everything.

I think I’ve seen a cute kitten

Student: Graziano, Eleonora

In the 80’s, there were many television shows that children watched and enjoyed. Particularly, there was one that never failed to amuse them and keep them hushed for half an hour: Thundercats. The Thundercats abandon Thundera, the planet where they live, just before it is destroyed. Barely a few Thunderans remain. They set course for the nearest planet and they design a fortress there. Mumm-Ra who is the embodiment of evil, in companionship of the Mutants, becomes a constant threat for the Thundercats. But, the Thundercats’ leader (Lion-O) along with his weapon, the “Sword of Omens”, helps his friends survive.

This show was an original and dynamic series that was impossible to dislike. These heroic human-feline-like creatures fight against the evil forces with a fierce sense of companionship. Furthermore, the best bit about the series is that it had friendship as the central part of its adventures and it adopted many of the motifs predominant in cartoons at that time.

What’s good about this show is that all the events that take place in each episode are all related to the main idea in the series: the team members must trust each other to fight their enemies. The world that surrounds them must be explored but they must lighten their curiosity cautiously by working together. Every episode has a clear sense of friendship which is the main lesson the audience would get from the series. As in real life, what the characters find in the relationship with their friends is loyalty, comprehension, mutual interests, generosity and honesty which are the true values of friendship.

Taking into account the motifs which were predominant in cartoons in the 80’s, we could find that hidden symbolism was established at that time all through many series such as Thundercats, G.I. Joe, He-Man and others. The hidden symbolism is found through make-believe creatures, magical super powers, enchantments and astrological prediction. Thundercats are super heroes with a mythology theme. Motifs are symbolic and keep appearing to reinforce the main themes in the story. It felt like you were getting educated while watching it.

For instance, Lion-O in Thundercats owns ‘The Sword of Omens’ which makes him more powerful. Whereas in He-Man, Prince Adam has a sword (the Grayskull Sword) that magically transforms him from an ordinary man into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. As in Thundercats, the plot revolves around the noble forces battling against malicious creatures. These series allowed large, muscular characters and they also began to focus on advertising towards young children. Of course, from a business point of view, it was all to publicize toy lines

To be fair with the rest of the cartoons from that time, such as He-Man, Mazinger Z or G.I. Joe, we can’t say that Thundercats was the best of them but it was one of the most striking television cartoons ever. Thundercats was a great show with amazing characters and outstanding episodes. It was about the lessons each of the Thundercats, or we, learned along the way more than whom defeats whom. People who grew up in the 80’s would remember coming home from school and sitting down in front of the TV watching Thundercats and having so much fun. After all, “Thundercats are (still) on the move, Thundercats are (still) loose”.

“I will not waste chalk. Ay, caramba!”

Student: Valeria Muscato

What kind of Elementary School would you choose for your children?  Would you choose a behaviourist school in which the students have no participation and their errors are seen as a fail to the response after had received the same stimuli several times?

One of the most famous American TV shows, “The Simpsons” depicts how students at Springfield Elementary School are taught through the Behavourist Approach.  According to theorists,

“this theory is a worldview that operates on a principle known as ‘stimulus-response’. Behaviorism is caused by external stimuli (operant conditioning). All behavior can be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or consciousness.” (www.learning-theories.com) 

The Head of the school, Mr. W. Seymour Skinner, may be associated with the real B.F. Skinner, the father of modern behaviourism because both of them share the same surname. In addition to this, whenever “The Simpsons” begins, there is an opening sequence in which the audience can see Bart Simpson writing on the board the same sentence a hundred times. Due to his bad attitude, he is punished by Mrs. Krabaple, Bart’s teacher.  She thinks that through constant repetition Bart may change his behaviour. This shows a clear example of the belief that the more you receive the stimuli, the fastest you create an automatic response.

Another example of behaviourism is a scene where Lisa’s teacher, Mrs.Hoover, shows her limited knowledge as she constantly needs to check the answers on the teacher’s book (season 3, 18th episode) without taking care of learning. Lisa gets angry because of this situation and hides her teacher’s and all the other teacher’s books in her locker. As a result, the teachers get desperate to such a point that one of them quits because he cannot deliver classes without his prized book. This shows that many teachers at The Springfield Elementary School do not know how to teach to their students because their teaching is not creative and they do not care about their students’ needs or interest. As a famous pedagogue, Jim Shrivener (1994) points out “the explainer teacher has limited knowledge of teaching methodology and during her/his classes the students are not being personally involved or challenged”.

It is also important to point out that the teachers, who teach with this approach praise their students for being smart. As B.F. Skinner (1961), father of Behaviourism, points out this is called positive reinforcement. For example; Lisa is one of those smart students and she knows that good marks will always be congratulated by, the Headmaster of the institution, Mr. Skinner. This reward will make smart students to repeat the same action in order to reinforce the teaching-learning process.

In conclusion, it appears right to say that the teaching approach depicted in Springfield Elementary School in The Simpson is the bahaviourist and one could question the reasons why this is so, but that should be issue for another essay.

Forum 2: Storytelling young children

We started storytelling a bit late in the year, but we did start. After experiencing and analysing so many books and TV shows for children, we should be able to place storytelling in the classroom context and try to identify its pros and cons. That's the aim of this forum. So tell us, what do you think? Can you share one pro and one con of this activity?

Leave your commment below and join in the discussion.

Disney's princesses’ beauty

Students: Alvarez, Gilda and Giribaldi, Mariela


When we were a little girls we used to spend hours watching TV. At that time there weren’t so many cartoons as there are nowadays since cable TV wasn’t really popular so our mothers used to buy us movies that, according to them, were appropriate for us. Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are some examples. We could stay in front of the TV for hours, watching those beautiful princesses. We remember that we wanted to be just like them, and we didn’t understand why we couldn’t. Why none of those women look like us or like any ordinary women? In fact, they do not look like any real women at all. We didn’t understand it then, but we do now.

All around the world millions of girls grow up watching this type of films, just like we did. They may not be aware of it, but these series of movies, coincidentally all from The Disney’s company, portray the physical characteristics a woman should have for society. Furthermore, their female protagonists are a clear reflection of the stereotype of women socially accepted.

Throughout its history, Disney has accommodated to the beauty standards accepted in society at different times. There may be some variations between the movies used to be shown a few years ago and nowadays, but they still have the same pattern. The princess and the frog (2009), for instance, portrays a girl from an ethnicity different to the white protagonists people is accustomed to see on this type of films. But, even though Disney has incorporated a black protagonist in order to show social integration, this ‘new’ princess still follows the beauty standards accepted by society; a slim and stunning figure, perfect faces and gorgeous hair.

There is a wide scope of variety when talking about discrimination and it can be due to different factors: religion, ethnicity, social position, nationality or physical aspect among others. The message this black princess, Tiana, transmits is integration and no discrimination. But discrimination is still a subliminal message: not ethnical but physical. All the princesses created by Disney have the same characteristics : beautiful and outstanding faces, perfect hair and skinny bodies are common ground for them, independently from their origins and skin colour. Some examples are Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) or Jasmine (Aladdin), among others. For this company, a fat or an ugly princess is unthinkable.

At different times, beauty in women has changed according to society. That’s how it is possible to notice some differences between the protagonist of Snow White from the original version and other princesses from later films like Tiana (The princess and the frog). While the first one seemed to have a healthier figure according to how women were considered at that time the second one shows an extremely slim figure impossible to get for any real woman. Although it is the desirable figure expected to be shown by the audience.

The pattern Disney follows has been the same since its beginnings and it will probably continue because that is what society expects to see: what is socially accepted, especially, when talking about physical appearance. The most important point when watching these movies is to be really aware of this hidden message and to rescue the real importance of each person. It doesn’t matter what a person looks like. What really matters is how this person nourishes our lives.

What are we going to do with prejudice today, Ferb?

Students: Busto Riquelme, Daniela and Graziano, Eleonora

“I know what we’re going to do today, Ferb!” is the phrase that for sure, many people who have children around them have heard at least once. Phineas and Ferb, the cartoon created to win over young fans with the adventures of brainy Phineas and his mostly silent stepbrother, Ferb, lets children imagination run wild with the character’s desires to make their summer vacations as much exiting as they can. But considering the way that certain characters are depicted, not too much is said about the treatment of racial and gender roles in this cartoon meant for children. Phineas and Ferb is a TV show which portrays American heroes, villains with foreign and strange surnames, and stereotyped women who are concerned with superficial matters.

Phineas and Ferb makes clear differences showing disparity among the characters’ ethnicity. It’s no coincidence that Phineas is portrayed as a talkative and outgoing American boy who leads the group of friends while his British stepbrother Ferb is presented as a shy genius who hardly ever speaks and for that reason is committed to follow Phineas’ commands.

Though several different cultures are presented throughout the show, those who are not American are shown as inferior. Take for example Baljeet; he is an Indian boy who is always bullied by Buford, an American Caucasian boy. Also Stacy Hirano, the only major Asian character, always lets her Caucasian friend, Phineas and Ferb elder sister, Candance, make decisions. Although it’s clear that foreigners are inferior in a way they are useful to Ferb in his commitment: destroy the villain character in the show, whose surname is coincidentally from German origin, the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz

Phineas and Ferb has girls among its fans, however, it gives a picture of superficiality in female characters. “I’m Lindana, I wanna have fun”, the title of the greatest hit in the protagonists’ mother singer career is an example of what girls think is the way of spending life, just having fun doing superfluous things . In the other hand it is clearly shown that Phineas and Ferb’s idea of having fun is doing interesting things such as inventions which are used to help someone in need or to help themselves.

But having fun, going shopping in order to cheer their friends up when their crushes don’t pay attention to them, talking and giggling are not the only things girls are interested in. They also care about love and sensitivity matters. Candance regularly goes to humiliating lengths to impress Jeremy. And of course, her favourite play is called “Princess Sensitivity”. Isabella, another love-struck female, seems to be motivated by her attraction to Phineas rather than to the sense of adventure.  

This programme is meant to be seen by children between 6 and 10 years old, so anything that is shown in it is sent out to millions of kids. For that reason, it’s important to be careful with which messages children are going to get. Do we want them to learn that Caucasians are superior to other cultures or that women cannot take the lead and are committed to follow men desires? Clearly, this show typifies its characters by ethnic groups and gender. So, do you know what TV show to watch today?

Five Elements, One Result: Friendship

Student: Marilú Gimalsky

‘To have a friend, be a friend.’

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a cartoon created by Lauren Faust, the writer and director of The Powerpuff Girls and Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, who wanted to make not just a TV show for young girls, but also for their parents to enjoy. The show starts with the main character Twilight Sparkle. She comes from Canterlut, the principal city of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle, together with five other ponies that represent the values of friendship, binds to use The Power of Friendship to triumph over a prophecy of doom. She sends daily reports to Princess Celestia about how friendship helps her and her friends. In that way each episode leaves a moral about friendship. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a TV show with a good way of teaching children the values of friendship.

Twilight Sparkle is sent to Ponyville town to learn about the importance of making new friends. The princess tells her that foreigners can be friends too. ‘Bridle Gossip’ is the ninth episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle and her new friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy meet Zecora, a mysterious zebra who lives in The Everfree Forest. She seems to be different because she has stripes and all Ponyville is afraid of her. All ponies are hiding in their houses. The five new friends of Twilight Sparkle are hiding too. She doesn’t understand the reason why all of them are afraid of Zecora. She explains to her friends that Zecora is like a pony but she was born with stripes on her body. She clarifies that the zebra is different in her appearance but inside her she is like everyone. If they all want to have more friends, they have to be friends. This includes foreigners or strangers. Friendship is one of the simplest ways to meet others whether they are strangers or foreigners.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a great cartoon where the most important value is friendship. This value is taught to children with a very clear vocabulary, a very good use of language and without using words too difficult to understand. As each pony represents a positive value, honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity and loyalty, the five elements of harmony, children can identify them while looking at the cartoon. The show displays a fantastic way in which the ponies help each other. In the show, honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity and loyalty together with the spark of Twilight Sparkle create the magic of real friendship. These positives values are shown in the ponies’ actions. They are always helping known and unknown ponies to resolve their problems. As Twilight says to Celestia’s Princess in one of her daily relays: ‘‘Dear Princess Celestia: Today I learned that teamwork is one of the finest values of friendship’. For that reason, to work as a team is a great positive value too and children learn this positive value while watching the TV show. Not only the show displays how to help each other but also how to work as a team, the Friendship team.

Friendship is the union of the most important values that any person can learn. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a great programme which teaches how to have friends and it teaches how to be a friend too.

The Antenna Controversy

Authors: Lidia Figueroa & Valeria Muscato

When television made its appearance in our homes in the ‘50s, the parents of those times gladly trusted the content of TV shows. Programmes not only entertained but also transmitted the social values that families expected. Nothing was questioned because the stories seen on TV were similar to everybody’s life. But things are changing and the TV programme Teletubbies is a clear example of this because some parents do not trust in its content as they used to. Therefore, Teletubbies’ content is no apt for grown-up conservative minds as it goes against traditional sexual models.

The colourful characters of this programme named Tinky Winky, Laa-Laa, Dipsy and Po made people feel annoyed due to the fact that they do not know what sex they are. None of us know the truth but there is a hidden symbolism in the antenna that each of the characters has on their heads. Laa-Laa, the yellow Teletubby, is a female and she has a curly antenna which symbolizes, according to Berit Kjos who is a respected researcher in educational issues, the evolution of the universe. Po is also a female and her antenna is a circle. Dipsy, the green Teletubby is a male and his antenna is straight, needless to say what body part of men it represents. But the most controversial character is Tinky Winky the purple Teletubby, although he is a male he carries a red purse which is – in general – associated to women. The antenna on his head is the biggest of all, its shape is a triangle pointing down and it has a feminine connotation because it symbolizes a female womb.  According to this explanation, people who may be offended can deduce that Tinky Winky is a homosexual. Furthermore, members of the homosexual community claim that they are represented through the purple colour, because in the 1920s the purple colour indicated an effeminate style. Besides during the years 1950s and 1960s homosexuals were called “lavender”.

In addition, conservative people can also argue the relationship between the characters as they show emotions and feelings openly. These people consider this kind of behaviour confusing for the youngest viewers of the TV programme presuming  the homosexual connotation of the characters.

The TV programme Teletubbies is a mirror that reflects our changing society and children do not care about homosexuality because they are naturally immersed and see things through innocent eyes. However, conservative adults may not accept this new society that leaves behind old stereotyped conceptions.

We’re going a Bear Hunt (review)

We’re going a Bear Hunt
Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
Walker Books

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, written by Michael Rosen, who has been writing for children since 1970, and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, an illustrator of many classic picture books, is an exciting action storybook for those readers who can enjoy the adventurous narration of a family going on a bear hunt. Not only is the story line stimulating but tension towards the end of the story is charmingly chilling enough for the youngsters.

The book tells the story of a family and their dog going through different settings, such as wavy grass, or a swirling snowstorm, in order to get to the cave and hunt a bear. However, once they arrive there, they get scared and run away going all the way back because the bear chases them.

As the adventure starts, the characters sing a catchy song that is repeated every time the pages are turned. This, together with the exclamation they let out when a new obstacle is faced, will be attractive for children. What’s more, the onomatopoeias used to show the characteristics of the different places along the adventure, makes it more appealing.

Helen Oxenbury uses black-and-white and watercolor cartoon drawings, which show literalness with the narration. In order to create drama, she chooses grey color scales which go along with the expression on the characters’ faces. When the family goes through the obstacles a colorful image fills the whole page creating a riskier atmosphere.

Rosen and Oxenbury’s story is absolutely hunting, not only for children but also for adults. This is one of the stories that you would remember for the rest of your life. Don’t miss it.

The doorbell rang (review)

The doorbell rang
by Pat Hutchins

Cookies are not enough in the classic story for children The doorbell rang by Pat Hutchins. Funny and intriguing at the same time, this lovely story shows and highlights the importance of sharing, even when the risk of being left with no much for yourself is implied. A moral lesson that goes straight to the heart and soul.

This story is set in Ma’s kitchen. Ma has made a dozen of delicious cookies for Victoria and Sam. “You can share them between yourselves” says Ma, and it seems as if the children had no problem with that, till the doorbell rings, and rings, and rings. Several friends start to arrive at each ring. The cookies will have to be shared between more people!  Therefore, each child has fewer cookies to eat. But then, the final ring brings a surprise for the children and Ma as well.

A noticeable characteristic of the book is the use of repetition. The phrase “No one makes cookies like Grandma”, among others, is repeated throughout the whole narration. This book may be really useful when children are starting to learn Maths, especially problem solving, because, as the story develops, they would have to calculate how many cookies correspond to each child. Besides, the book may be interesting for both, children and parents; children may feel interested about the beautiful and colourful drawings that illustrate this book whereas parents may feel interested in the message the book shows us: the importance of sharing.

The doorbell rang tells a funny story about friendship and values. But “funny story” doesn’t mean “empty story”. We highly recommend it since through a simple argument, the possibility of reflecting upon life and moral values takes place at each page, again for both children and parents.

Grandma Rabbitty´s Visit (review)

Grandma Rabbitty´s Visit
Barry Smith
Dorling Kindersley Limited, 9 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8PS.
(Review by Lidia Figueroa and Valeria Muscato).

Grandma Rabbity´s Visit, by Barry Smith, is an adorable story for toddlers that takes place in a Rabbits’ house in which the little ones of the family are expecting the visit of their Grandma. During the wait, they see many vehicles appear throughout the text.

The story begins an early morning when mother Rabbity receives a phone call from Grandma Rabbity announcing that she is coming to visit the family. As soon as she finishes the call, mother Rabbity tells her sons the news. Immediately, they begin to express an enthusiastic interest and an impatient desire for the visit of their Grandma.

As the story develops, the young Rabbities see many different means of transport through the glass of the big living room window of their house. They really enjoy the view of those vehicles that anticipate their pass with funny sounds.

The author tries to capture the attention of the young hearers from the start. He illustrates the story with coloured pictures. Also, the storywriter uses a simpler language and the repetition of the particular sound each vehicle makes not only entertains young children but it also may allow them to interact with the story by repeating the onomatopoeias.

Grandma Rabbity´s Visit is highly recommended. It will be a great help if you are a parent or a teacher interested in teaching means of transport to young children. Don´t miss the opportunity to read Grandma Rabbity´s Visit.

Som-Som (2)

Open publication - Free publishing - More children

Forum 1: Characterising the stories for our students

Some meetings ago we set to discuss the elements and characteristics that should make a story for children. Among other things, we agreed that audience age was determinant in conditioning any possible answer. Thus, it seems necessary to contextualise and specify our audience before advancing on this discussion. 

Having in mind that our aim this year would be to teach in primary schools, let us agree on Argentine primary students of English as a foreign language as our expected audience. This settled, then:

What elements should characterise the stories we choose or create for them?

You can join the debate by clicking on the 'comment' button and sharing your opinion with us.

Som-Som

Open publication - Free publishing - More children

A disappointed ant

One morning little Red Ant was working as usual until she was surprised by a strange smell. At first she thought that someone had set some leaves on fire. Then, she started to have some difficulties for breathing but suddenly she learnt that the owner of the garden where she was working that day had sprayed some poison over a wild rose which was her new place of work. 

Desperately she ran away to the neighbour’s garden. There she met a group of little black ants to whom she told about the tragic episode. But a little black ant told her that the owners of the gardens didn’t like to have their plants eaten by ants. “What’s wrong with that?” said little Red Ant. “It makes room for new people”. “I thought I was helping them to get rid of wild plants”. 

The Business Ant

Once upon a time, there was a little Red Ant full of dreams. The dream he wanted most was to start his own business building the biggest hotel for ants.

So, he started to work on his project. The whole colony thought it was a silly idea and laughed at him.

“Are you out of your mind!” said one of his friends. 

“Why are you building a hotel? We are comfortable enough where we are!” said another one.

“What’s wrong with that?” said little Red Ant. “It makes room for new people”

In spite of his friend’s jokes, little Red Ant went on his huge idea.

When the building was ready, a lot of ants suddenly arrived looking for a new place to spend their holidays. 

As soon as little Red Ant’s friends realized that his hotel was full, they were curious about it. So they decided to rent a room in there. 

“What a good idea little Red Ant has had!” said his friends. “This hotel is more luxurious than our austere colony!” 

As the days went on, little Red Ant became the most famous business ant in the colony. What is more, he was very proud of what he had done. 

Exquisite cadaver

It was a cold night, the streets were almost empty and unexpectedly I ran into him. It was a long time since I had seen him for the last time.

At first I couldn’t recognize him because he had changed a lot. His hair was shorter and he had wrinkles on his face. He was surprised as well. He told me that I looked the same. He invited me to have a cup of coffee nearby to catch up. We went to a little café on the corner of that block and we talked about our lives. We spent almost two hours talking until we realized it was very late but we looked at each other and decides to ask for another cup of coffee. After all the day was rainy and too cold. Nobody expected such tragic ending early in the evening.The destuctive wind blew everything down on its way and made the following hours and days unbearable for some people. Although the destroyed city is recovering its normal life, the way to my mother’s house was desolated after the tornado. As I was getting closer to the house it was even worse. I was really worried about my mother, but also about Pompi, my loyal dog.

Fortunately, when I arrive home I learnt that the building wasn’t damage. The walls and roof were in their places, but Pompi wasn’t there. As my mother was fine, I started to look for the dog. I walked all day long, but I couldn’t find him. I was desperate and very sad. Darkness didn’t help much and to make things worse it started to pour down. I had almost no hope. It was a cold night, the streets were almost empty and suddenly I ran into him.

Flash Fiction

“Plane crush: do we still have Paris?”
(Daniela Busto and Eleonora Graziano)

“I’m too hungry. There’s not enough food. Where’s Bobby?”
(Daniela Busto, Eleonora Graziano and Valeria Muscato)

“Jane: I need to talk to you, Mr. Rochester: Wait. I've got something to do in the attic.”
(Eleonora Graziano)

Balloon: -Careful with the cactus! –What cactussssss
(Gilda Álvarez)

-Tsunami! -Yeah, and I just washed my car...
(Gilda Álvarez)

We partied, we drank, ambulance please!
(Mariela Giribaldi)

A small house. Where is it?
(Valeria Muscato)

Mouse. Running. Hunting. Cat.
(Valeria Muscato)

Bring my dog back, twister!
(whole class)