Family viewing: looking and building.

Home television viewing plays an important role in daily family life. The choices are many: films, classic children's films, popular animated books, and TV series are all readily available. The newer, popular, and relatively inexpensive DVDs (digital versatile discs) provide menus laden with options for viewing, ranging from language preference to accompanying games for family use.

This column is directed to educators with the hope that the family viewing experiences of their students can provide material for the enrichment of classroom instruction. By being better-informed, teachers will be able to include parents in building the needed extension of home viewing to home/school learning.

FINDING NEMO. 2003. DVD/VHS formats. Walt Disney Pictures, Pixel Animation Studios Burbank, CA, 91521; 100 minutes.

Everyone loves a good story. Being alone, seeking independence, and finding a lost loved one help to make for such a story. This is certainly the case with Finding Nemo, the story of a lost child and a lost father and their search for one another. It is the highest grossing animated movie in movie history, a best-selling home video, and the fastest-selling DVD ever. The awesome and mysterious world of the ocean is explored and revealed through state-of-the-art animation, which engages the audience. Fish, flora, and fauna come alive through colorful and digitally sharp animation and a catchy musical sound track. Little Nemo, captured and thrown into an aquarium away from his ocean world of family and friends, learns to overcome many obstacles. Suspense, drama, and comedy permeate this warm-hearted story of a son being reunited with his father after a dangerous adventure.

Extensions: Primary school children can take trips to aquariums and beaches. Exposure to picture books (e.g., Swimmy by Leo Lionni; One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Seuss) and nonfiction books on sea life can complement the viewing. Children can collect, label and classify pictures of different ocean life. Elementary school children can focus on the key role that oceans play in the grand scheme, and how people can help or hinder their welfare. Other extensions include: developing sea-related vocabulary (e.g., schooners, divers, coral reefs, ocean currents, etc.); making a time line of Nemo's and hi s father's search for each other; creating a map of land and sea masses; studying particular ocean mammals and fish (e.g., dolphins, whales, sharks, etc.). Middle school children can read Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (the hero, Captain Nemo, is Nemo's namesake). They also can investigate books and films on Jacques Cousteau.

ICE AGE. 2002. DVD/VHS format. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., P. O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213; 81 minutes.

This allegorical animated film/DVD is geared to the primary school-age child. The issue of trust looms large as a lost infant is found by a group of glacier age mammals: Manfred the mastodon, Sid the sloth, and Diego the saber-toothed tiger. Their commitment to returning the lost child to his father is challenged by massive ice glaciers, predators, and the migration of mammals and dinosaurs in a frozen world. Cinematic freedom is taken with the geographical and historical aspects of the story. While such facts are stretched to their limit, the story holds the viewer because of its theme of a lost child and a "bad guy turned good." Digitally enhanced visuals help provide for focused viewing, as does the comfortable pacing of the music and action. Viewers will enjoy the themes of friendship, teamwork, trust, and common sense.

Extensions: Discussion of this film can be used to help children clarify their feelings related to trust, friendship, and teamwork. Use a time line as an introduction to the Ice Age and other epochs in the earth's development. Present a study of the glaciers and their impact on land formations and life forms. Many museums of natural history have excellent material available for educators.

DON'T EAT THE PICTURES. 1987. VHS format. Children's Television Workshop, 550 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022; 60 minutes.

Although 17 years old, this video is still the best-selling children's video at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; quite simply, it is a good story. Big Bird and friends visit the museum and find themselves spending the night after Big Bird gets lost. Snuffy and Big Bird discover a young Egyptian prince who cannot become a star until he solves the god Osiris's riddle, "Where does today meet yesterday?" While Big Bird and Big Bird try to help the prince, the others roam the halls and interact with the paintings of Cezanne, Gauguin, and other masters. Music complements the pictures (e.g., a lovely lullaby plays in the background when we view masterpieces featuring mothers and children). The video offers a fine introduction to museums for viewers, both young and old.

Extensions: Many art/artist-themed picture books are available that offer a great deal visually. Parents can be invited to take trips to museums with their children as a school activity. Create museum safaris in which students are instructed to look for animals or find missing persons in paintings, etc. For the elementary and middle school child, E. L. Kohigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a wonderful read. Other extensions: conducting research related to particular artists; using reproductions of artwork as catalysts for creative writing (e.g., Charles Demuth's The Figure Five in Gold, which is based on William Carlos Williams's poem "The Great Figure," etc.).

SPELLBOUND. 2003. DVD/VHS formats. Columbia Tristar Home Video Release, Think film: Sony Pictures, Culver City, CA 90322; 97 minutes. Middle school children, their parents, and their teachers will find this unusual general audience film provocative and illuminating. It focuses on a small group of 11- to 14-year-old boys and girls selected to participate in the National Spelling Bee, revealing the students' will to study and their highly individual study habits. As these children go about trying to become the spelling bee champion with the help of parents, teachers, and the community, we see their resiliency tested. Shared cross-cultural values reflect the dreams and goals of parents and children. A strong work ethic is operative at both the adult and child levels. The aspirations and hopes of immigrant parents are evident in the sacrifices they make to gain a better life for their children. In contrast to "studying to the test," these children show themselves as explorers and adventurers as they investigate words--their meaning, origins, contextual usage, and, of course, spelling. As one student puts it, the competition is not with each other but rather with the words.

This documentary highlights eight unique children learning to accept defeat while striving for success, being passionate about learning, learning to trust themselves, moving on, and growing in stature.

Extensions: Middle schoolers can engage in debates related to competition, studying, and family involvement in the learning process. Teachers might learn a great deal about the children they teach and how they view lean-ring. Topic/ project-related spelling bees can be initiated. Etymology can be introduced; word detectives can be sent on searches. Word bank accounts can be set up in the class. Parents can receive a spelling word note each week, with a word, origin, context of usage, meaning, and pronunciation guide for home-school, adult/child learning.

DORA THE EXPLORER. A Series. DVD/VHS formats. Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, CA, 90038.

Dora, a Latino preschooler with a blunt-cut bob, big wide eyes, and knapsack, is featured in this low-key, leisurely paced popular animated series. The format used throughout this series involves a board game-like map that provides a guide to each segment. The segments involve a quest and a specific learning goal (e.g., counting, sequencing, problem solving, and occasional use of words or expressions in both Spanish and English). Dora's trusted friend, Boots the monkey, provides companionship. An adversary, Swiper the fox, is also a constant in the series. Each video or DVD includes several stories.

Clear directives are provided both visually and verbally to help Dora achieve her goals. Although choices are provided, "magic" is often used (e.g., a blinking arrow) to guide Dora and the viewer to the correct decision. Pauses are provided so children can try their answer before Dora verbalizes the correct response. This "interactive" element, which is designed to stimulate conversation, is best utilized when children and adults view together. Auxiliary materials are offered on the DVD (e.g., games, choice of language for viewing).

Extensions: Making word cards for both the Spanish and English words and expressions can help develop a personal word bank. Set up quests in the home, using the Dora model, map board, and choices for certain activities (e.g., getting the laundry out of the dryer and sorting it, sequencing events for bedtime).

BOB THE BUILDER. A Series. 2003. DVD/VHS formats. Hit Entertainment, PLC, MapleHouse, 149 Tottenham Court Rd., London UK W1T 7NF.

Bob is the calm, in-charge, dependable hero of this popular series, which includes films, books, and manipulatives for the preschooler. Trucks, machines, and tools are personalized through animation techniques that help the viewer become part of Bob's team. Appropriate vocabulary and clear conversation provide material for language development. The pacing is relaxed, deliberate, and directive, making it easy for the young viewer to be engaged. Emergencies occur, problems are analyzed, solutions are implemented and, most important, solutions are arrived at through teamwork--very satisfying and reassuring ideas for preschool children. Each episode presents a particular problem that can help young children better understand the reality of everyday life at home.

Extensions: Word/picture cards can be made for tools, trucks, plumbing, electricity, heating, excavation, and buildings, to develop and enrich vocabulary. An understanding of these varied systems can be developed through questions and conversations. Virginia Lee Burton's Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Katy and the Big Snow, and The Little House are fine picture-story books to complement Bob.