Miracle-On-34Th-Stre
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The Jefferson Performing Arts Society Presents A Study Companion Jefferson Performing Arts Society 1118 Clearview Parkway Metairie, Louisiana 70001 Phone: 504 885 2000 Fax: 504 885 3437 Table of Contents Teacher’s Notes…………………………………………………………3 Notes on Louisiana Content Standards and Benchmarks………….…4 History: Miracle on 34th Street………………………………………..…….6 Lesson Plan: Miracle On 34th Street: Match the Quote with the Character………….24 Lesson Plan: English as a Second Language: The Parade's History.32 Content Standards and Benchmarks: English Language Arts…….....35 Lesson Plans: Theatre and Film……………………………………………36 Content Standards and Benchmarks: English Language Arts…….....47 Content Standards and Benchmarks: Theatre Arts………………….....48 Teacher Notes Good day and welcome. Miracle On 34th Street has become a holiday classic. JPAS brings this classic to the stage just in time for the holiday season! When Kris Kringle, a kind hearted old gentleman, who happens to be the real Santa Claus, takes on the job of Macy's Santa Claus, it takes the faith of a child to convince the grown-ups to believe in Santa Claus and the spirit of Christmas once again. This play is adapted by Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder, Will Severin and John Vreeke from the novel written by Valentine Davies. This Study Companion includes both Content Standards and Benchmark lists from Louisiana’s State Department of Education and lesson plans based on Miracle On 34th Street. This companion begins with a history and overview of Miracle On 34th Street that is followed by cross-disciplinary lesson plans. Much of this material comes from the Internet and all sources are listed following each section. A full script of the 1947 version of the film can be found at: http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/m/miracle-on-34th-street-script.html http://www.bartertheatre.com/teachers_students/educational_tools.php Enjoy! Karel Sloane-Boekbinder, JPAS Director of Cultural Crossroads & Stage Without A Theatre Louisiana Educational Content Standards and Benchmarks In the interest of brevity, Content Standards and Benchmarks will be listed for grades 5-8 only. Most Content Standards and Benchmark coding for each subject is similar, and can be adapted for every grade level. As an example, English Language Arts Content Standard Three, “Students communicate using standard English grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and handwriting, has corresponding Benchmarks across grade levels. The code is written ELA (English Language Arts,) 3 (Content Standard 3,) and E1 (grades 1-4.) The same Benchmark applies to all grade levels. Coding can be converted as follows: ELA-3-E1 Writing legibly, allowing margins and correct spacing between letters in a word and words in a sentence Grades 1-4 ELA-3-M1 Writing fluidly and legibly in cursive or printed form Grades 5-8 ELA-3-H1 Writing fluidly and legibly in cursive or printed form Grades 9-12 As another example: Mathematics Content Standard NUMBER AND NUMBER RELATIONS, “ In problem- solving investigations, students demonstrate an understanding of the real number system and communicate the relationships within that system using a variety of techniques and tools,” has corresponding Benchmarks across grade levels. The code is written N (Number and Number Relations,) 1 (Benchmark 1,) and E (grades 1-4.) The same Benchmark applies to all grade levels. Coding can be converted as follows: N-1-E Constructing number meaning and demonstrating that a number can be expressed in many different forms (e.g., standard notation, number words, number lines, geometrical representation, fractions, and decimals); Grades 1-4 N-1-M Demonstrating that a rational number can be expressed in many forms, and selecting an appropriate form for a given situation (e.g., fractions, decimals, and percents); Grades 5-8 N-1-H Demonstrating an understanding of the real number system; Grades 9-12 All Louisiana Content Standards and Benchmarks were retrieved from: http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/curriculum/home.html History 'Miracle on 34th Street' turns 50 ANN ARBOR—He was born in New York, died in Hollywood, served in the Coast Guard, graduated from the University of Michigan, wrote a number of Broadway plays, served as president of the Screen Writers Guild, was general chairman of the Academy Awards program, and yet few would remember his name. But his Christmas classic "Miracle on 34th Street" is remembered by anyone who "believes." Valentine Davies' 1947 novel "Miracle on 34th Street" became a movie the same year, earning the author an Academy Award for the Best Original Story. The film itself was nominated for the top picture. Edmund Gwenn, who played Kriss Kringle, won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and George Seaton received one of the gold statues for his screenplay of Davies' story. Though not an award winner for this effort, child actor Natalie Wood won the hearts of viewers as Susan Walker, the little girl whose doubt in the existence of Santa Claus is transformed by her association with Gwenn's Kriss Kringle. "'Miracle on 34th Street' stands beside 'It's a Wonderful Life' as one of the two most enduring of America's holiday movies," says Frank Beaver, professor of film and video studies at U-M. "As with Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life,' 'Miracle on 34th Street' draws its continuing appeal by reaffirming ideas of faith in a modern, often-cynical world. Both also find strong sentimental appeal in the reassurance of children for whom the Christmas holiday season means so much. Davies and Seaton in 'Miracle on 34th Street' explore, philosophically, the always timely seasonal issues of faith and trust as the basis of real-life miracles." Though a 1994 remake of the story is available, most critics found it an affront to the original. "Most good things are best left alone, and 'Miracle on 34th Street' is surely one of them," wrote critic Joan Ellis who felt the war- weary world of 1947 was ready to be charmed. A colorized version of the original is also available on video. From his days at U-M where he worked on the student newspaper, theMichigan Daily, and performed in a 1925 campus opera which he co- wrote, Davies moved on to the Yale Drama School and then Hollywood where after "Miracle on 34th Street," he wrote the baseball story turned into a movie, "It Happens Every Spring," wrote the screenplay for James Michener's "Bridges at Toko-Ri," was nominated for an Oscar for best story and screenplay for "The Glenn Miller Story" and wrote and directed "The Benny Goodman Story." Writing talents continue to follow the path from U-M to Hollywood with such U-M grads as Dudley Nichols who wrote the script of Paramount's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and the original and screenplay of "This Land is Mine." In 1935 Nichols won an Academy Award for his script of "The Informer." He also wrote "Stagecoach," considered one of the best Westerns ever made. Frank Gilbreth and his sister wrote "Cheaper by the Dozen" which became a hit movie with Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy. Arthur Miller's works became famous on Broadway and in film adaptations. John Briley received an Oscar for his screenplay of "Gandhi." William Brashler, a onetime Chicago police reporter and author of "The Don," also wrote "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings," which became a major motion picture. And Chris Van Allsburg, artist, author, and two-time Caldecott Award winner, adapted his book "Jumanji" into the hit 1995 movie. Todd Langen went from writing TV scripts to scripts for the first two "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" films and Josh Greenfeld wrote the screenplay for "Harry and Tonto" for which Art Carney won an Oscar as best actor. David and Leslie Newman, a husband and wife screen-writing team, list in their credits Superman I, II, and III, while Kurt Luedtke a former journalist and executive editor of the Detroit Free Press wrote "Absence of Malice" which was nominated for an Oscar and the film adaptation of "Out of Africa" which won both an Oscar and a British Academy Award for best adaptation. James Burnstein wrote the screenplay for "Renaissance Man," starring Danny DeVito, and Lawrence Kasdan wrote and co-wrote such hits as "The Empire Strikes Back," "Return of the Jedi" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." He wrote and directed "Body Heat," "The Big Chill" and "French Kiss." Retrieved From: http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=1815 Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, a bearded old gent who is the living image of Santa Claus. Serving as a last-minute replacement for the drunken Santa who was to have led Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Kringle is offered a job as a Macy's toy-department Santa. Supervisor Maureen O'Hara soon begins having second thoughts about hiring Kris: it's bad enough that he is laboring under the delusion that he's the genuine Saint Nick; but when he begins advising customers to shop elsewhere for toys that they can't find at Macy's, he's gone too far! Amazingly, Mr. Macy (Harry Antrim) considers Kris' shopping tips to be an excellent customer-service "gimmick," and insists that the old fellow keep his job. A resident of a Manhattan retirement home, Kris agrees to take a room with lawyer John Payne during the Christmas season. It happens that Payne is sweet on O'Hara, and Kris subliminally hopes he can bring the two together. Kris is also desirous of winning over the divorced O'Hara's little daughter Natalie Wood, who in her few years on earth has lost a lot of the Christmas spirit.