Use "Caine's Arcade" to Teach Storytelling in the Classroom

"Caine's Arcade" is a short film about a 9 year-old boy who built a cardboard arcade in his father's used auto parts store.  Within a few days the film went on the internet, it received millions of views, raised $150,000 for the Caine's Scholarship Fund, found the Imagination Foundation (whose mission is to find, foster, and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in kids).  This film has inspired children to use their imagination, diverse communities to get together, and teachers to use project-based learning and Reggio Emilia techniques as a part of their lesson plans.

While Caine's Arcade has been used to teach math and geography to students in elementary and high school, I believe the most important lesson from the film is the power of storytelling.  Caine's Arcade is a great example of how we can use storytelling to inspire a movement and engage communities to take action.

One of the teachers in our Caine's Arcade Pilot School Program created a lesson plan based off of the idea of teaching  students about digital storytelling.  She first starts off the class by showing her students the film - and they are immediately drawn in and can't stop talking about creating their own cardboard creations.  Her lesson plan involves the students designing and creating their own creations from recycled material, writing a script about their creation, as well as acting and filming!  For a more detailed description of her lesson plan (as well as many other educators), join the Caine's Arcade Pilot School Program for Inspired Educators Facebook group.

A great way to incorporate this into your curriculum is by taking on the Caine's Arcade Cardboard Challenge and Global Day of Play.  Educators and schools all over the US and the world are participating in this event, and you and your students should too!  For more information and how to sign up, please go to www.cainesarcade.com/dayofplay.

Dream big and build on!
TeamCaine