Teaching Literary Elements with Animated Short Films: Presto

Use the animated short film "Presto" to teach plot, characterization, conflict, and theme. This engaging series of lessons also includes figurative language, the author's influence, poetic justice, and foil (a character type). Wrap up your film lessons by analyzing and writing a movie review.

Teaching with animated shorts is a great way to engage struggling readers and English language learners. It gives them a scaffold that enables them to participate in discussions with peers about literary terms. Through a very short and engaging shared text, students can gain an understanding of literary devices and themes. They can then apply this learning to more complex written texts.

In short, there is enough material here for a week’s worth of lessons, or you can focus on one day’s learning. The short film is not included.