Educational activity based on the short film Le complexe du hérisson
Value yourself and be capable of listening and empathy. Take care of yourself and others.
Respect others and accept differences. Show respect for others in your language and attitude.
Le complexe du hérisson © LISAA
TitleLe complexe du hérisson
Genre & keywordslack of confidence
Age (for the film)6-11 years old
Duration02 min 36 s
DirectorJ.Robin & P.Chuop & Chloé Goussé & A.Monge & P.Brunner
MusicJymmy Mendes
ProductionLISAA (France, 2013)
Carry out a text-writing process. Draw up a set of class rules.
The main character in the video is very endearing. She is a young woman who, since childhood, has lacked self-confidence. She is therefore vulnerable and is a target of mockery. The others behave unacceptably towards her. But the young woman lacks so much self-confidence that she closes off, even towards people who seem kind.
This is an opportunity to hold a debate on respect and self-esteem. Self-esteem is important, it lets students take risks in order to push themselves, grow, and succeed.
After a first viewing, ask the children to tell the story, to describe what they saw. Then ask for their opinions and let them share their views on the behaviour of the various characters. How did they feel? How would they have reacted in the main character's place? And in the place of the other characters? What should we do if we find ourselves faced with this situation? Students may have personal experiences to share; now is the time to talk about them and to realise that how we behave matters to others.
We can then ask the students to rewrite the story by changing the personalities of the characters. Instead of mocking her, what if they were kind? How should she react when people want to communicate with her? To do this, depending on their age and level, we can let them write directly in their notebook, show them an image on screen, or a printed image from the video. From this work we can create a short set of rules listing good behaviours and ones to avoid. To do this, you can use images from the video and add speech bubbles to give the characters words (see below). This work will clearly be an eye-opener for the students. The more they are involved in setting up the rules, the more they will respect them. This unit is ideal for the start of the school year, to establish a supportive atmosphere for the rest of the year. Examples of images to use below: for each image you can write a positive version (what should be said/done) and a negative version (what should not be said or done) with a caption to complete the dialogues.
Activity sheet written by: Valérie du blog Val 10. Discover the Val 10 blog...
