Wall-E

Producer: The Walt Disney Company

Released by: Pixar

Length:  1hr 38min

Year: 2008

Rating: Rated G

Summary:

Wall-E’s job is to clean up the polluted Earth as humanity waits in space aboard a spaceship called the Axiom. During this he meets Eve, a robot sent from the Axiom to check whether or not Earth is habitable yet. He follows her into space and onto the Axiom, where humans have become immobile and addicted to technology in a life where robots do everything for them. This movie is the best selection because it brings attention to modern problems, such as technology addiction. The people in the movie are so used to relying on robots and technology that they hardly do anything for themselves anymore. Towards the end, they start relearning curiosity and wonder as they begin to explore and enjoy life on Earth again.

Core Integration:

This movie can tie in well to lessons on technology addiction, as it portrays an extreme version of today’s technology-dominated society and its consequences. In the classroom, I would show this movie and use it as an opportunity for students to think about and find similarities and differences between the movie and their lives. Students would discuss the consequences portrayed in the movie, as well as consequences they predict or observe in their own lives. This furthers the connection between the movie and health topic as a way for students to begin thinking critically and metacognitively about their own technology habits.

After the movie, I would facilitate a guided discussion with the students. I would ask them what the effects of technology were on the humans in the movie, and in turn how that impacts the earth. To touch back on the students answers to the question, “what were the effects technology had on the humans,” I would give them this worksheet about internet addiction. It has a passage about a student who is addicted to the internet and how that affects her and her academics. The students will read the passage and answer the comprehension questions that follow. The website Busy Teacher provides an excellent worksheet created for integrating an internet addiction passage into a reading comprehension activity that I would give the students after our discussion on how technology impacts us. This passage hopefully would resonate with some of the students who may be addicted to the internet in my class.

The 5th grade English Language Arts Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4: Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.

The NHES Standards that this project also follows:

• NHES Standard 5: “Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.”
  • 5.5.4 Predict the potential outcomes of each option when making a health-related decision.
  • 5.5.5 Choose a healthy option when making a decision.
  • 5.5.6 Describe the outcomes of a health-related decision.

• NHES Standard 7: “Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.”
  • 7.5.1 Identify responsible personal health behaviors.
  • 7.5.2 Demonstrate a variety of healthy practices and behaviors to maintain or improve personal health.
  • 7.5.3 Demonstrate a variety of behaviors to avoid or reduce health risks.

• NHES Standard 8: “Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.”
  • 8.5.1 Express opinions and give accurate information about health issues.
  • 8.5.2 Encourage others to make positive health choices.