Living and Playing with a Disability

GRADE LEVEL: Elementary

Overview

The Present is an animated short film that was released in 2014 and quickly went viral. The film is about a boy who is enthusiastically playing video games indoors. His Mom comes home and brings him a new puppy as a present. But the boy seems more interested in his video games than playing with his new dog. The dog has a disability, and it turns out that the dog and the boy have something in common—which is revealed at the end. The film can spark a conversation about people with disabilities in an age-appropriate and engaging way.

In this activity, students will:

• Watch The Present, a short film about a boy with a disability, and reflect on its themes.
• Learn more about people with disabilities.
• Create a comic strip that highlights a part of the story that resonates with them.