The perfect review/intro to characterization for ANY grade. Students of all ages love this movie and the creator did a fabulous job introducing each of the characters in the open credits.
You can buy or rent the movie from Amazon by clicking HERE
*It’s an affiliate link which just means you pay nothing extra, but I may get a few pennies kickback as a finders fee.
How I Teach It
Today I’m using it before we characterize the main players in “Button, Button,” but really it works for any text. I like to have my students work in small groups or pairs to discuss. Then I have them list character traits on whiteboards I have at each table. I have them hold them all up after each character, or I walk around as they go for an informal assessment.
I also hand out worksheets for them to complete, but I get the best results when they get to chat about it before they write it down.
You can start the movie at the very beginning when Buster is reminiscing, or you can start at 3:22 at the present day for the movie. Start at the very beginning if your students won’t be confused by the seemingly different versions of him, start at 3:22 to keep it simple and if you’re low on time.
I pause after each character (most are under a minute!). While we’re only watching sixish minutes of the movie, this usually takes a while to complete since we talk and the students get chatty as they really, really enjoy the movie.
Do I have an answer key? Nope. And you don’t want me to post it here anyway because these kids are super clever and will find it. Just complete it along with the students and enjoy!
