Lesson Plan:

1. View the TV version

Screen the scene: Outside shop 

Begins with: Li'l Elvis, Lionel and Janet looking in shop window 
Ends as: Lionel says, 'Li'l Elvis, I don't trust nothing that doesn't have an on-off switch'. 
Dur: 30" 

2. Students write responses
Students list the key elements from the scene which give them information about what is happening - for example the location, costumes, body language, dialogue, and sound effects. 

They can record what they have found out about each character (puppy included) and the location and how they know it. For example they may observe that Li'l Elvis has red hair, Janet wears glasses etc.

3. Explore the transfer from TV to print medium
Discuss with students how a writer might re-write this scene for a book. Students need to consider what information they can, and must include, and which character's perspective they can take. 

4. Students work individually
Students individually write a draft of the scene.

5. Class discussion about process
Discuss the process students went through in translating the story to book form. Discuss how difficult or how simple they found the task. 

6. Read the book version of the scene
Read aloud the scene as it is written in pages 1-2 of the tie-in book or ask students to read it themselves. 

The puppy in the window of the Dove sisters' general store really believed that now, at last, his loneliness might end. He had remained in the window for what seemed like centuries. The Dove sisters were kind to him but nothing could hide the fact from the puppy that he had neither owner nor name. And now, three children were staring at him. One was a girl with mauve-tinted glasses, another a boy with a red bandanna across his forehead, and the third an odd looking child with thick orange hair but kindly eyes. It was this third child who, in the puppy's opinion was the person most likely to rescue him. He opened his eyes and tried to look as appealing as he could. 'He's so cute, isn't he?' sighed Li'l Elvis Jones to his friends Janet and Lionel. Lionel shook his head. 'Li'l Elvis, I don't trust anything that doesn't have an on-off switch."

• From whose perspective are we seeing this action? 
• What information has been included and how has it been presented? For example - location, costume, the way in which the puppy's feelings are explicitly described. 
• Is the same information conveyed in the animated version? 
• How is it done? 
• What are the key differences between the print and the TV versions? 
• What does this mean for someone who's been given the job to write a tie-in book?

 

9. Compare student work
Students compare their versions and discuss the differences and similarities in the way they interpreted and presented the scene. 

10. Compare student's responses with the tie-in book
Students can then find the same scene in the tie-in book and compare. Discuss similarities and differences in the various approaches. 

11. Compare the TV tie-in book with the TV story 
Students view the whole episode and read the whole short story then compare the two. 

• What are the strengths and weakness of the book?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the animated version? 
• Which version do you prefer?
• Why?

 

Opening Scenes years 3-8
Translating comedy from screen to text, years 4-8