The class is taking turns hosting ‘Aaron’ the class mascot, taking him on adventures. It is Little J’s turn, so Little J, Nanna, Big Cuz, and Old Dog take Aaron on Country to look for mica rock, and along the way they photograph the expedition. Distracted by the events of the day, Little J loses Aaron and the family enrols the help of Uncle Mick, a Search and Rescue officer, to return him.

Elaborate - Create and present media artworks that communicate ideas and stories to an audience

Theme - GENRE

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 8‘Where’s Aaron?’, engage students with the following activities to support their understanding of story, character, setting, and sound.

The story of Episode 8 ‘Where’s Aaron?’, is about the class mascot, Aaron. Have the students suggest what a mascot is, and why it was so important for Little J that he take Aaron with him on Country. Have students recall how Monty was upset that he couldn’t take Aaron home with him the next day. It seems that the class has a special attachment to Aaron and they believed the doll represented them and/or their class in some way.

Explore students’ experiences of mascots, such as at sporting events, or Olympic mascots. Have students consider what mascots are used for:

• promote a positive attitude and team spirit through activities such as leading cheers, songs and dances
• bring good luck to a team or group.

Invite students to design and construct their own class mascot doll. Have the class discuss what type of mascot would represent them: human or animal, male or female, sporting or artistic, etc. Have students brainstorm what characteristics the mascot doll should represent. Considering the symbolic elements (covered in 5E stage: Explain) have students consider what colours or designs the mascot could have. Once they have drafted their ideas, provide students with different recycled materials and have students construct their design. Explain that their task is to take the mascot home with them over a weekend, or overnight, and create a photo story about an adventure the mascot has.

Photostory:

Each student should draft ideas for their mascot’s adventure using a:

• storyboard (like a comic strip) the sequence of each section of the action/story/plot–the beginning, middle. and end of the story–and the other character/s involved
• plan for framing ideas and shot angles considering the detail, gesture, emotion, etc. to be constructed
• a story (text) that can accompany the photo images
• slide-sequencing software program
• music/sound effects/narration

Explain to students that the sequence of the photographs needs to be able to tell the story with or without narration:

1. What happened?
2. Where did it happen?
3. Who was with the mascot when it happened?
4. How did the action get resolved?, etc.

Students can use digital cameras to photograph, and select the 5-10 photographs they feel will tell their story. Upload photos to a slide sequencing program like PowerPoint, input any narration and/or sound, and display photo stories to share with the class.

Sample photo stories: Photo Stories by Julia.