Core Skills Analysis
Language Arts
- Bentley engaged with a narrative film, which builds understanding of plot structure, including beginning, conflict, climax, and resolution.
- Watching How To Train Your Dragon exposes Bentley to character development, especially how Hiccup changes over time and how relationships affect a story.
- The movie supports comprehension of theme, such as trust, courage, and empathy, and how those ideas are shown through dialogue and action.
- Bentley can also notice visual storytelling choices like setting, music, and animation, which communicate meaning without words.
Social-Emotional Learning
- Bentley observed a story centered on understanding differences, which can strengthen empathy and perspective-taking.
- The film models how fear can change behavior and how characters may overcome misunderstanding through patience and connection.
- Seeing conflict resolved through cooperation may help Bentley reflect on communication, loyalty, and problem-solving in relationships.
- The activity may also suggest positive engagement, since animated adventure films often hold attention and encourage emotional investment in characters.
Arts and Media Literacy
- Bentley experienced an example of animated filmmaking, which shows how artists use color, movement, and design to create a believable world.
- The movie demonstrates how sound effects and musical score shape mood and audience reaction.
- He was exposed to visual effects that communicate action and setting in ways different from a written story.
- This kind of viewing helps Bentley understand that movies are created through many artistic choices working together.
Tips
Tips: Bentley could deepen his understanding by retelling the movie in his own words, focusing on the main conflict and how it was solved. He could compare one character at the start and end of the film to practice noticing character growth. A creative extension would be to draw a scene from the movie and label details that helped set the mood, such as colors, expressions, or background. He could also write a short paragraph about what the movie suggests about friendship, bravery, or acceptance, using examples from the story.
Book Recommendations
- Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke: An adventure novel involving dragons, courage, and imaginative world-building.
- How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell: The book that inspired the film, with humor, adventure, and a young hero learning to understand dragons.
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick: A visually rich story that blends art and narrative, making it a strong match for media and visual storytelling.
Learning Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1 / RL.7.1: Bentley can cite details from the film’s story to explain character actions, conflicts, and themes.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2 / RL.7.2: He can identify the central message or theme, such as courage or empathy, and explain how it develops.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3 / RL.7.3: Bentley can analyze how characters change and how their choices affect the plot.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.2 / SL.7.2: He can discuss how visual and audio elements in the movie help convey meaning.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2 / W.7.2: Bentley can write an explanatory response about the movie’s characters, events, or themes.
Try This Next
- Write 5 quiz questions about the plot, characters, and theme.
- Draw a storyboard of the movie’s beginning, middle, and end.
- Create a chart comparing Hiccup and Toothless using character traits and actions.