Cinema and ICT project at the initial level

Cinema and ICT project at the initial level, carried out in a 5-year-old room of a
state-managed garden in the city of Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba. Year 2015
Teacher: Claudia Mariel Rodriguez.

- Cordoba

The project was carried out in the “Manuel Belgrano” kindergarten located in the center of
Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba, surrounded by shops, supermarkets, shopping and in direct contact
with the primary school.

Children from different neighborhoods of the city attend, although the majority live near the
center or their parents work in the center and the garden is comfortable for them.

The institution has 8 rooms, four in each shift, for 4 and 5 years old.

In 2015 I worked as a teacher in the 5-year-old classroom in the late shift in charge of 26
students; We were the Platero room, it still amazes me that each room maintains the name
they gave it when they were created a little over 60 years ago, (Pinocchio, Snow White,
Bambi) I got “Platero and I” by Juan Ramón Gimenez, unforgettable experience to work with
the children, but I owe them for another time.

Of the 26 children, none had attended this kindergarten in the 4-year-old room, that is, we
were all new “Plateros”, but 73% had attended the 4-year-old room in public or private
institutions in this city or in other Argentine provinces.

The city of Villa Carlos Paz is characterized by a population with increasing demographic
growth. It is estimated that more than 800 people each year choose this tourist city not as a
summer destination but as a place of permanent residence. This was also my case; My family
and I, originally from Buenos Aires, chose to live here.

I tell you, the Plateros were very participatory, autonomous, organized, they were interested in
asking and above all questioning, which made them very entertaining. The only problem is
that we were always renewing ourselves, new children arriving at any time of the year,
children whose families decide to return to their places of origin, children who live with their
mothers in the city and their fathers continue working in Salta or Tucumán, a little of
everything.

We were in the month of September and among the activities planned for spring and student
week, everyone knows that in Carlos Paz it is a week of great movement, rhythm, picnic,
students everywhere, we Plateros received the invitation from a mom in the room to go to the
cinema to see a 3D movie; The group was excited, the movie was called “Inside Out” and it
talked about a girl named Riley who lived with her parents and one day they have to move to
another city due to her father's job, which meant leaving friends, familiar places and leaving.
with the memories.

Interesting topic to address related to this city and our stories.

The true story of the film takes place inside Riley where emotions take the main role in the
plot and guide the girl through her difficult transition and move.

The film will clearly allow us to talk about the emotions of “Joy”, “Fury”, “Disgust”, “Fear”
and “Sadness”, the 5 basic emotions of every human being.

A trigger of emotions in a direct experience

My intention was that this “ direct experience” to the cinema would not remain just a fun
outing or social exchange, or a celebration of spring week, but would make it possible to go
further, towards the expression of emotions through different media (cinema, theater, music,
art) including ICT resources in the proposal.

With this specific purpose, I begin to investigate different bibliographies, I look for theoretical
support and I analyze what objectives and contents can be addressed related to the topic, what
aspects of film and cinema could be triggers of emotion and communication.

After analyzing other educational projects on the subject that are available on the web and the
corresponding bibliography, I discovered that “cinema and shadow theater” could be related
to communication, specifically with the power of voice, image and sound ; The concept of
“multiliteracy” also arises relatedly, therefore I decide to base my proposal on these topics.

In addition to making my intentions explicit, I use the author's quote in the substantiation to
explain them, for example:

“…For this reason, nowadays, literacy should not be understood only as the ability to read
written language, but as multiliteracy : it is necessary to learn to read audiovisual,
technological and media media (Rodríguez M. J., 2005; Segura, M., 2007), claiming each one
in their own literacy process.”

With this proposal I sought to broaden the perspectives to teach literacy from different media,
to put the child in an attitude of search, to look at the world with new eyes, to come into
contact with languages that allow them to express their feelings, thoughts and concerns
through symbols and visual narratives. , sonorous, corporal. Your imagination, your
sensitivity, your fantasy would be involved in this process.
This will surely enable them to understand the world, understand themselves and give
meaning to everyday life.

Guys… they invited us to the cinema to see “Intensely”

When telling the children about this mother's invitation to the movies, the group responded
enthusiastically, asking when, how, where, if we are going alone or with the mothers, this is
the right time to inquire about their prior knowledge .

I ask: Who knows cinema? Have you seen this movie yet? Luckily no one had seen it yet, it
was a premiere; Have you ever seen a 3D movie? Do you know what it takes to see in 3D?
What did you see in the cinema when you went? Where is the screen located? What is the
room like? How are the seats located? Who works in the cinema? Can you watch movies only
in the cinema? What movies do you like? Where do you get the movies from? Can our room
be transformed into a cinema? What would we need to do it?

The previous knowledge was related to his personal experiences in the cinema, the visit to the
lake theater with the garden in the play “Peter Pan”; situations observed in television cartoons,
together we were able to record all this prior knowledge of the situation.

Different roles arose in the talk (usher, popcorn sellers, soda, ticket seller) at that moment the
idea of setting up a cinema in the room with all these things that they had been proposing
arose; To respect this enthusiasm we all put “hands into action” they made the tickets
themselves, money, the popcorn (with the colored dough), the seats had to be numbered; Of
course this caused some problems because the numbers were repeated and they were all
mixed up, the poor ushers couldn't find any seats.

At that time, advertising on billboards, posters or pamphlets did not emerge.

It was a moment of play, setting up the room as a cinema and watching... What to watch? The
cannon and the screen saved us for the moment.

This first dramatization allowed us to discover what we know about cinema and what data we
need to find out.

We record prior knowledge and agree on what topics we are going to investigate during the
visit.

The day has come to go to the movies

The trip to the cinema was a success, the Pinocchio Room also accompanied us; Upon arrival,
the children were able to observe the entrance signs, the advertising for the film “Intensely”
and those of others that were projected in other theaters or that would arrive on other dates.

The delivery of the glasses to see in 3D generated anxiety, curiosity and experimentation in
some children who had never used them, they took them off and on to discover the
differences; some enjoyed the visual effect more than the plot of the film.

And another issue arose that we did not previously take into account “the darkness of the
room”; Going to the movies with your parents is not the same as going to the movies with 55
other children, two sons and two mothers, who were in charge of going to and from the
bathroom.

Darkness is a phenomenon that does not go unnoticed among children, some associate it with
fears, loneliness, ghosts and others with a situation of magic, mystery, suspense.

This would be a topic to discover and work on from the emotions you have discovered.

I liked the movie, some characters came more than others and the emotions were very clear.

Back to the room

The direct experience of the cinema helped us discover what was missing from that previous
recorded knowledge and not only the theme of the film, but the environment led us to talk
about light and darkness; then other questions were added to the topic:

Where does that light come from? Why do they turn off the light in the movie theater? What
happened to them when the light went out? Did all the lights go out? What did those floor
lights indicate? (emergency exits) What's behind that little square in the background where
the light comes out of the cinema? What do you think light is? When it's dark does it scare
you? How is the shadow made? What happens if I move closer to the light or away from it?

Obviously all the comments related to the movie arose and used Riley's emotions to compare
with personal situations from that day at the cinema or in their homes.

I suggest you bring flashlights the next day to “Play with the light”; I believe that in order to
have more tools for cinema in the room we must first discover associated phenomena.

The next day in the room

We try to darken the room as much as possible to play with individual flashlights or in pairs.
Explore space freely, turn it on, turn it off, point to a certain object, look for a partner,
illuminate our face from below, from above, to the sides; illuminate different parts of a
partner, look for objects to make shadows; move the object further or closer to the flashlight.

Free exploration with flashlights helped to discover different intensities of lights, different
shapes in lighting (round, square, oval), different colors and types of lamps. They discovered
that when you bring the flashlight closer to an object, the light beam is concentrated and when
you move it away, this beam of light spreads. They discovered that there are some parts of the
body that remain translucent with the effect of light (for example the fingers), that the iris of
the eye changes size depending on the effect of direct light or not.

The number of flashlights in the room (11) made the work a little difficult by having to share
their exploration with a partner. For the next activity we will borrow flashlights from the
Pinocchio room so that each child can have their own experiences regarding the lights and
shades.

So we continue playing and investigating

They played with the flashlights again but this time we modified some with colored filters
(cellophane paper of different colors) others with die-cut shapes so that they project different
shapes or even with different textures to find differences (fabrics, grids, papers of different
thicknesses, etc. ).

This second activity was developed with a flashlight per child, which encouraged the
exploration and discovery of new phenomena, colored lights, die-cut shapes, distance from
the object to differentiate contours, combination of colors to generate new ones, etc.

The activity allowed a synchronized group representation to emerge after the individual
exploration, like “dancing lights” marking rhythms, times, silences, movements across the
screen, etc.

To end the day, the children watch a video where the behind-the-scenes of the cinema has
been combined, they discover the old film projector, digital projection and the shadow theater.

They are very excited about trying to illuminate both sides of the screen, an issue that will be
resolved the next day.

I am careful to bring a white cloth, because obviously they will discover that day that the
cannon screen (blackout) does not allow light to pass through.

They tried everywhere: the curtains in the living room, on the tablecloths, on poster paper, on
cardboard, on their aprons; until they discovered that the white sheet of the little house was
perfect to see from the other side, but very small; then I offer them the large white cloth that
runs across the room and allows everyone to investigate.

They relate, discover, experience what happens if the shadows mix, overlap, what the
audience on the other side would see; They discover that the light from the flashlights is not
enough to see their entire body, that they needed a stronger light.

The children know the projector cannon, it has been used many times in the room and they
propose its use; I explain to them about the care of the cannon, the need to share it with the
other rooms and I tell them that when I was little, a long time ago, there were no projector
cannons but there was another projector that showed slides, a child says he knows it because
his grandparents told him. They showed photos on slides when he went to visit them.

The arrival of the slide projector

Sometimes I think that 28 years in teaching is a lot; but hey, here I come with the slide
projector and obviously several images from my childhood; so many memories, so many
stories, it has accompanied me in every move and at times I remembered Riley, the girl from
the movie, and that waterfall of emotions that crushes the soul.

Well there I was and my memories and 26 children who were having fun and asking about my
family, those clothes, that old car and that photo in Carlos Paz's peek-a-boo that was so from
“Those times”

And after sharing memories and having fun, it was time to use that light that was now enough
to see clearly on the other side of the white fabric.

In the following days different proposals appeared, shadows with their body, with different
objects in the room, with toys they brought from home, bringing the object closer to the fabric
made it huge, moving it away made it very small (the dinosaur was impressive when it was
large). ).

The objects began to relate to them and now the dinosaur seemed to be eating Pablito.

They were already clear that they had to organize themselves in small groups so that everyone
could see each other, that the proximity to the canvas made things bigger, that the colors of
the objects cannot be seen, only the shadows. The last discovery was the “contour” what is
seen of objects is their outline, their figure, not their body (they compared the shadow of a
cube with a square)

This discovery led them to art: they cut out shapes from magazines, made their own drawings
of castles, drew animals, invented characters that related to each other and stories of queens,
princes, castles, ghosts emerged.
The slide projector became another corner of the room and they even invented a television
with a large box to project as if it were the cinema.

Speaking of cinema, where was the idea of playing cinema? This reduction in cinema
“exploded” and generated something that goes beyond going to see a movie in 3D and seeing
who, how and what they work with in the cinema.

At this moment they were the “protagonists” who acted, gave life, emotion, and movement to
the characters that were projected.

In music classes they looked for sounds, songs, rhythms that generated suspense, intrigue, joy,
bullfights, pirates, circuses, dancers, etc. They created sounds for special effects with
instruments, elements or their body.

In literature they began to tell stories that the lady could read while the characters appeared.

In physical education they practiced acrobatics, tests, balance that the clowns or the dancers
were going to do for their audience behind the canvas.

The families collaborated with accessories to characterize themselves, because they had
discovered that clothing was not too noticeable (except long skirts or dresses), accessories
were more useful: crowns of queens and kings, swords, cell phones, ropes, balls, trumpets,
hats, masks (to be a dinosaur with a silhouette on its face it was enough).

Artists do not live without their audience

The different creations became known in the garden and children from other rooms came to
see them perform; At this moment the image of the movie theater crossed the path again:

"We could make invitations for the kids," said a boy.

"We could invite the parents," said another.

And so we organized the movie theater again, in this case for the shadow theater: tickets,
advertising posters, seats this time better numbered, even the popcorn was real for the ladies
at the kiosk to sell, money, soda, sweets , programs, etc.

The show is about to start

This didactic tour took us approximately a month and a half, in some areas it was possible to
relate; In others, parallel activities took place.
Everything was ready, the performance began with the dancing lights of the lanterns and three
different works that excited the large audience present, their families.

During the entire development of the activities we were filming behind the scenes, we left a
record of each of the moments and in the end the families were able not only to see them
perform but they were able to see the entire path traveled to become the protagonists of so
many emotions .

The knowledge acquired was used to later be applied in playing “Being Photographers”.

Until the next show.

In this project we worked

PRIORITY LEARNING CORE - NAP

The expression of feelings, emotions, ideas and opinions.

The recognition of the expressive possibilities of the voice, the body, dramatic play and
plastic-visual productions.

The plastic, musical, corporal, theatrical production by children.

The exploration, observation, interpretation of artistic productions of different languages.

The exploration of the possibilities of representation and communication offered by oral and
written language.

TRANSVERSE:

interculturality

Intercultural Mediation.

Other ways of life, customs, artistic expressions.

CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS

FIELDS
CON
OF GOA
TENT
KNOW LS
S
LEDGE

Use of
ICT
SOCIA (photo
L camer
SCIEN a,
CES projec
tor,
Use
net,
NATUR of canno
AL ICT
n,
AND slide
TECHN projec
OLOG tor,
Y audio
equip
ment)

Expre
ssion
and
comm
Expre
unicati
ss and
on of
recog
basic
nize
feelin
vario
gs and
us
emoti
emoti
ons
ons
(love,
and
rejecti
feelin
on,
gs
sympa
thy,
anger,
etc.)

Care
IDENTI of
TY shared
object
s and
person
al
spaces
AND .

Respe
Disco ct for
ver others,
COEXI and
what
STENC enjoy
is
E increa foreig
sing