Sibling Assignment #86: December Character Analysis With a Guy Named Scrooge

Silver Valley Girl gave the sibling assignment this week. "Choose a book or story with a Christmas theme, and share about why it is special to you, and how it helped or helps make your Christmas more meaningful."
You will find another post about A Christmas Carol by Raymond Pert here and Silver Valley Girl's will follow.

"It is required of every man," the ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and, if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death."
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

I have taught the play A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens ten times to seventh graders. It is featured in the literature book I have used as a resource both places I have taught. When I first began to prepare for the teaching the play I dreaded it. My only memory of Scrooge was watching Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Mr. Magoo bugged me. Why didn't he just put on glasses instead of putting money in his eyes? Didn't he realize he would be able to see? The simple cartoon did make the plot easy to understand and I remember the three ghosts with clarity. I actually remember being scared. I don't know if I understood the message.

As I prepared to teach the play I then realized how many movie versions had been done of the story. When teaching this story the focus for student learning is on the changing character of Scrooge. The following things have happened when I have taught this Christmas classic:
My students were also bugged by Mr. Magoo.
They created a critical eye to the character by watching scenes played by different actors.
They understood the changes that happened to Mr. Bah Humbug as he met with the ghost of his partner Marley and the three other ghosts that visited him on Christmas Eve.
They began to understand redemption.

Funny things happened also:
As they begin to read the play aloud (all fighting over who gets to play Scrooge) they remembered they had seen this play. A memory of Mickey's Christmas Carol hit them and the plot starts making sense.
Some also got excited about The Flintstone's Christmas Carol which I have not yet seen. (I guess there is actually a Barbie version that none of us have seen!!)
"Bah Humbug" becomes a part of their day-to-day vocabulary.

After reading the play the students still don't quite get it. Their energy is focused on playing parts and the stage direction. Watching scenes from versions of the movie helps it to hit home. For teaching purposes I think George C. Scott does the best job depicting Scrooge. I also show scenes played by Patrick Stewert and Albert Finney. The students beg to see Donald Duck as Mr. McScrooge. I don't show Scrooged, but seventh graders that have viewed it were entertained by Bill Murray in the lead role.

When did I change my opinion of the story? It began when I observed students begin to have deeper understanding of the role of three ghosts in the life of a miserable man named Scrooge. Students have different opinions of which ghost made the biggest impact on Scrooge. Most choose The Ghost of Christmas Future. The turning point is when a student makes a life connection and realized that he/she walks every day with Scrooges. Empathy sets in. They understood redemption.

I also love this story because it reminds us of the giving spirit of Christmas which needs to be carried each and every day of the year. Seeing mean old Mr. Scrooge change from the man that wouldn't even heat his office to the man that became like a grandfather to Tiny Tim is heartwarming. Student voices reading Scrooge could be heard changing as they neared the end of the play. The mood of the room was a bit lighter.

In 1993 my teaching of A Christmas Carol changed. The Muppets Christmas Carol came out in VHS and was added to my unit of study. This version is my favorite hands down. I now end my teaching time before break with this movie. This version has the strongest depiction of good vs. evil. Line up Michael Caine and Kermit the Frog and who wouldn't love Bob Cratchet from the first scene of the movie? With the combination of real people and muppets it creates a mood that only Brian Henson and Frank Oz could create. Who could put Scrooge in his place any better than Miss Piggy as Mrs. Cratchet?

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!"

I think my students remember more than the actors or cartoon characters when they have finished the study of A Christmas Carol. It is easier to understand how the events of someone's life cause them to be the person they are and how lessons learned from three ghosts can change a person forever.

Remember December:V is for Visitors Inside the House

Lily enjoying the warmth of an inside room

Cats are creatures with minds of their own. When we adopted/rescued the five cats we have now each of them dealt with being house cats in different ways. McDuff always came in the house until Shelby arrived as a puppy. He was annoyed at being herded all the time so he moved to the garage/"other room" or is seen outside.

When Isabelle was rescued she became a house cat right away. She knew a good thing when she found it although she will venture outside, especially in the warmer months. We adopted Sweet William and Lily when our friend died. They had never been outside and lived in a small enclosed area inside. They now love the open spaces of outside, but live with McDuff in the garage most of the time in the winter. Here William is checking out the inside.
Kit is everywhere. He loves being inside. He likes hanging out with McDuff in the sunshine on the window sill and he was found in the spare bedroom the other morning! We are never surprised where we find Kit. We often check my car before I leave for school to make sure he doesn't get inside.

The very cold temperatures we are experiencing have changed the set habits of the cats. Lily and Sweet William have ventured into the house. McDuff has stuck his head out into the patio room and there have been times when all of them have been close by the wood stoves to keep warm.

Kit has made sure he gets the prime seat in the house when he thinks the dogs are coming. There aren't too many advantages to this cold,cold weather, but seeing the cats migrate inside has been a good thing!!

Remember December: U is for Unusual Angel

One of my own Christmas traditions began when I got my first dog. My students knew how much I loved dogs so I began to receive ornaments as gifts. Thus started my dog ornament collection.

In recent years I have a little tree that displays the collection. In the vet's office many years ago I was reading Dog Fancy magazine and saw an ad for dog angels. You could even pick your breed! The English Springer Spaniel resembled my first dog Nikki so closely, I knew I had to have it!

I had hoped to put in on the top of the tree, but this angel always toppled off. Now she is perched in some prominent place in the house, a location which is high enough to keep the dogs from thinking she is a toy and destroying her and also high enough to stop the cats from playing with her beautiful ribbons.

Yesterday I took her outside to capture her image amid the sunshine and snow. Don't let that sunshine fool you. It was still about zero degrees on the deck!

Photo Hunt: Wide

Waking to below zero temperatures this morning made it easy to capture a wide variety of images of ice around our place. The hardest part was sticking a hand outside to snap the camera. Most are taken inside looking through icy windows. Brrrrrrr!
Here are icicles before the sun came up.
I am glad the wide icicle on the end broke off before it fell on my head!! You can see we acquired recycled windows for the greenhouse, but single pane window make the ice look beautiful. For other photo hunts using wide go here.

Remember December: T is for Traditions

The siblings visiting with Santa

Christmas carries with it numerous traditions that have originated from countries of birth, places of worship, couples blending traditions of two families at marriage, fresh and original ones that have been created to match the times, and those that people just read about or see and take them on as part of Christmas.

At my babysitter's house after Christmas.

At lunch the other day we were all discussing what different families hold sacred at Christmas. I was amazed at the variety of answers. One family always has turkey and ham for Christmas dinner and it almost broke up the family the year somebody served steaks. Another staff person told about her whole family opening their gifts when they all gather at the Oregon Coast for Thanksgiving. Since the family is spread all over the Pacific Northwest it is the one time they can all enjoy the gift sharing ritual. Somebody else said homemade tamales are always prepared by their Mexican grandmother to be served on Christmas Eve. Also on Christmas Eve many attend Midnight Mass, candlelight services, or church singalongs.
One friend of mine has a fun tradition with gifts. Every year a theme is chosen and everyone that year wraps gifts in that theme. It might be all red and white paper, paper only sponge painted with green designs, or a blue theme. It must look like a art gallery display under that tree each Christmas. Other friends have White Elephant exchanges, Christmas Eve decorating of the tree when everyone arrives home, or game night after a new one is given to the family each Christmas Eve. Matching pajamas, Santa stockings, and watching of traditional movies are important traditions in other homes.
Our family definitely had certain traditions. I don't recall how some of them originated, but they have always been a part of the celebration of Christmas. We used to only get to open one present on Christmas Eve no matter how much we begged. After Silver Valley Girl was a bit older we couldn't see what Santa brought until she was awake. We did some pretty wild things to wake up that dead to the world sleeper. I know one had to do with throwing my mother's girdle.

We started getting more experimental with Christmas Eve dinners as we grew older. I guess Dad decided if it "wasn't too weird" we could try it. There were Christmas Eve dinners that included fondue, clam chowder, and hot crab sandwich. We tried for something simplier before the Christmas Eve church service. For the last seventeen years Silver Valley Girl has done her Around the World Dinner for Christmas Eve. She chooses a country and we learn about the traditions , eat the foods, and sometimes even have performances revolving around that country. This year she is breaking tradition a bit by doing a whole continent. We are celebrating Christmas Eve with all the countries of Africa.

The unplanned traditions are the ones our family remembers most. The year the clams didn't make it into the chowder, or when Mom decided to improve our carbon footprints before we knew what it meant by having us recycle bows and paper, the collection of Christmas morning photos that depicted the worst array of bathrobes worn by the male members of the family, or when sweet Silver Valley Girl made an ornament with her picture for the tree which resulted in her siblings trying to hang their 8x10 senior pictures on the tree every year after that.

Tradition is the glue that holds families together. I can't wait to see the Silent Night ornament, eat Mom's spritz, Nuts and Bolts, and popcorn balls, and smell the brandy that has been soaking into the fruitcake for a month. Traditions also change. We miss our dad and grandmothers each year when the festivities begin. We have added spouses, said good-bye to spouses, added dogs, and said good-bye to dogs. Children and grandchildren have been added to the mix. I fondly remember the neighbors that have moved on or passed away that were such a part of our family Christmas. Mom doesn't have room for her usual tree in the living room this year, Raymond Pert will be spending his holiday at his own home, and if the snow and cold continues we may end up shortening our stay.

New memories will be made. Old stories will be remembered. " There is no place like home for the holidays."

Remember December: S is for Snow, Snow, Snow

Combine the snow that fell yesterday with the snow from Saturday and we are surrounded by about sixteen inches at our house. I enjoy the simple contrast between black and white when capturing snow images.

We had a late start today at school to give the plows time to clear the roads. Fortunately all our students arrived safe and some of those "tough guys" in middle school actually put away the athletic shorts and began wearing long pants. I couldn't believe it.
Driving home was a bit less hectic than yesterday and I had the whole road to myself. The students and staff will have Christmas celebrations tomorrow morning then dismiss early to begin a much anticipated winter break!