Photo courtesy of Mike Donaldson & Amanda Stanavich
The year was 1977. Jimmy Carter was in the White House, Elvis Presley was in Las Vegas, everyone was in flared pants and Michael Donelson’s life was about to change. That was the year he saw Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope at a drive-in movie theater.
He knew then that he was witnessing something more powerful than a typical movie. From his personal interests to his career, Star Wars has stayed with him ever since.
“Of course, at 7, I did not know what the epic hero cycle was,” says Donelson, now an English teacher at Upper Arlington High School. “But I knew that there was something more to the story than just another space movie, that there was something deeper there, and that has driven me from that age on.”
With time, Donelson came to further appreciate the Star Wars saga and the choices made by George Lucas in its creation. One element, in particular, stood out: Lucas’ commitment to following the epic hero cycle, a narrative technique dating back to antiquity. Donelson says that Lucas closely followed the work of theorist Joseph Campbell, who’s credited with popularizing the idea of a hero’s journey pattern in mythology, to ensure that the sci-fi trilogy followed that template.
As a teacher, Donelson found Star Wars an easy way to teach that concept to students. More commonly taught titles, such as Beowolf or Homer’s Iliad, often struggled to hold students’ attention.
“Kids would get all excited,” he says. “They’re learning the epic hero cycle, which is exactly what they would be learning anyways, but they’re excited because it’s Star Wars. And then I thought, ‘You know, that would work across the board.’”
Donelson thought that expanding the connection between the widely popular Star Wars story and fundamentals of storytelling could engage more students. Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala mirror the forbidden love of Romeo and Juliet. A universe of droids and alien life – not to mention an oppressive Empire – demonstrates the pervasive threat of injustice.
He proposed a freshman English class that would center around that theory, teaching the core standards as shown through a galaxy far, far away.
Photo courtesy of Mike Donaldson & Amanda Stanavich
The class was a hit and students flocked.
“Relating (content) to something they care about, something that they understand the story of – Star Wars – that allows them to understand the stories that proceeded it,” Donelson says.
Donelson and his high schoolers aren’t alone in supporting the idea that teaching kids with popular characters and stories can increase engagement. That concept is practiced with all ages of students through a wide range of approaches.
One common character for elementary students is Flat Stanley. The delightfully ridiculous story of a boy flattened by a bulletin board has captured imaginations for more than 50 years since the first book’s publication in 1964.
Students often make their own Flat Stanleys and return to the series throughout the year.
“It gets the kids excited to read,” says Amanda Stanavich, a third-grade teacher at New Albany Primary School. “There are a lot of students that don’t like to read, don’t want to read. … It’s something that they can continually come back to.”
Many teachers use Flat Stanley as a jumping-off point for other topics. Not only does he encourage students to continue reading, but the associated art project creates more opportunities. As in the story, where Stanley mails himself to visit friends, students mail their Flat Stanleys around the world, creating a letter writing project and an interactive geography lesson.
Diane Plumb, a third-grade teacher at Hanby Elementary in Westerville who has used Flat Stanley in her classroom in the past, says interesting characters also helps to increase the extent of learning.
“When they can connect with it, then it’s not just a surface-level learning,” she says. “It’s a much deeper learning. They’re more likely to retain the information and more likely to apply it in the future in future learning.”
Photo courtesy of Mike Donaldson & Amanda Stanavich
Plumb says content that relates to students’ interests, as characters and popular culture often do, can transform a lesson from feeling like learning to feeling like a fun activity. Scholastic magazines, which gear content toward age-specific interests, have worked well with her students, she says.
Before the pandemic, high school students would visit Hanby to teach science concepts and would sometimes bring Bill Nye the Science Guy with them.
“The kids really liked it because he’s goofy and he’s fun for them,” Plumb says. “But it’s not just me teaching them every day. That’s where I see the difference. When you have a specific character or something that’s a little different from what they’re used to, it’s always engaging for the kids.”
The success of Donelson’s class at UAHS led to an expansion of the concept. Now, the school offers regular and honors level freshman English courses that connect to young adult favorites and survival instincts. Another course, titled Design My Own ELA Adventure, gives students greater choice over their readings.
Still, it’s tough to beat Star Wars for sheer popularity. Donelson says he continues to hear from students and parents alike that the class has gone beyond expectations.
“I’ve never felt more like a rock star than at open house night,” Donelson says. “The kids have had class for three to four weeks at that point, and they’re loving it.”
For the youngest learners, many television shows attempt to bridge the gap between learning and fun. In a world of streaming, that can be accessed almost anywhere. Arthur, which airs its final season this year, is available with an Amazon Prime PBS Kids channel membership. Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood can also be accessed through Amazon’s PBS Kids channel. Sesame Street hosts its back catalog and new episodes on HBO Max. Dora the Explorer, which ran from 2000-2019, lives on Paramount+ with its first two seasons also available on Amazon Prime. Some episodes of Arthur, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street are available for free on the PBS Kids website.
Cameron Carr is the associate editor. Feedback welcome at ccarr@cityscenemediagroup.com.
