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Strong female protagonists 6th graders will knowUPDATE PG.3
Librarian
The face of liberal fascismRegistered User regular
The face of liberal fascismRegistered User regular
So I am working with a class of 6th graders once a month to get them aquainted with visiting the library and maybe wake some interest in reading.
To say that the kids in this class are not reading much would be an understatement, in fact a lot of them have a hard time reading at all(these kids mostly come from a background of low income and education, some of them are immigrants).
Next week I want to get them interested in stories and how they are told, I want them to get talking about heroes and villains, what makes a hero, how do these stories work, etc.
I want to use characters they know and like, so I am not doing much on books, or mostly books that have been turned into movies or cartoons.
My list includes Link, Spiderman, Frodo, Luke Skywalker, Monkey D. Luffy etc., but I am looking for a really strong female hero that the kids will know and can't come up with all that much.
One coworker suggested Kim Possible and I like that idea(I don't know the show, but I guess it fits), but there is not much else.
Xena and Buffy is probably too old for 12 year olds today to know them, for the same reason I am not sure about Lara Croft.
So tell me cool iconic kickass girls plz!
To say that the kids in this class are not reading much would be an understatement, in fact a lot of them have a hard time reading at all(these kids mostly come from a background of low income and education, some of them are immigrants).
Next week I want to get them interested in stories and how they are told, I want them to get talking about heroes and villains, what makes a hero, how do these stories work, etc.
I want to use characters they know and like, so I am not doing much on books, or mostly books that have been turned into movies or cartoons.
My list includes Link, Spiderman, Frodo, Luke Skywalker, Monkey D. Luffy etc., but I am looking for a really strong female hero that the kids will know and can't come up with all that much.
One coworker suggested Kim Possible and I like that idea(I don't know the show, but I guess it fits), but there is not much else.
Xena and Buffy is probably too old for 12 year olds today to know them, for the same reason I am not sure about Lara Croft.
So tell me cool iconic kickass girls plz!
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Roald Dahl's Matilda might be a good one too. I remember liking his books as a kid and most of them have been made into films; and I'm pretty sure Matilda was among them.
That's all I can come up with off the top of my head.
If you're doing comics, X-Men wouldn't be a bad place to start. Jean Grey, Rogue, Storm, and all of them. I would assume them to be pretty well known.
I would love to suggest Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, but no one played that game.
Thinking back on it, Samus may not be recognizable, but you could definitely explain it. Chick in a cool space suit that shoots space pirates and other aliens.
Completely forgot about Mulan. That's another good one. Specially cause it's not just from the Disney movie.
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I also intend to include 2 or 3 characters the kids will not know, heroes from legends or mythology, and they will have to use books or the internet to find out about them, so any suggestions on that are fine as well.
She's pretty feisty in A New Hope. When I read "strong female characters", my first thought was of her grabbing a blaster from Luke and shooting a hole in the wall to escape from the bad guys. I know that hole lead to the garbage pit, but the fact I thought of her and the way she took charge of that situation when the guys were all 'HURR DURR' first has to mean something, right? :P
I agree with you about Hermione though; while she's talented and very bright, she tends to play second fiddle to the boys - at least in the first few books/films.
Also, I don't know if kids these days are into Futurama, but I think Leela might be a good candidate.
I disagree with your Hermione descision, as she's constantly the one saving Harry and Ron's ass.
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Yeah, Herminone is pretty much a fantastic heroine. She has far more aptitude then Harry and Ron put together.
I also agree with Katara and Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
What about Joan of Arc or other historical heroines.
Somebody already mentioned Mulan, but Belle is a great heroine too.
EDIT: Also, Dorothy Gale.
For movies or television, maybe Charlie's Angels, Anne of Green Gables, Supercop, She-ra (I don't think anyone watches that anymore though), Jessie from Toy Story or maybe the mother/daughter from the Incredibles?
If you wanted any books around that age, I'd say the Wee Free Men ones with Tiffany Aching is pretty good, Tamora Pierce pretty much just writes series' with female heroines (Alanna: the first adventure, etc), Colors in the Dreamweaver's Loom, Jane Yolen has some, I think they're called Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna, Dragons of the Lost Sea by Laurence Yep, Anne of Green Gables (of course), the So you want to be a Wizard books by Diane Duane, the Darkangel trilogy by Meredith Anne Pierce.
Out of the Disney Princesses Mulan is one of the few who was a kickass woman and not a helpless girl.
Like Beth Phoenix and Trish Stratus.
Somewhat fictional, somewhat real.
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Lucy Pevensie from chronicles of narnia (again, movies were pretty popular)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paper_Bag_Princess
I'd definitely use Hermoine, she's a great role model.
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Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. She's pretty bad ass.
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Unfortunately strong female protagonists in anime seem to be harder to come by, at least in the age group appropriate for 6th graders or in anime/manga they would be familiar with.
Most of the characters in Miyazaki Films end up being or are strong female characters. But good luck finding copies of Nausicaa , Mononoke Hime, Howls Moving Castle and Spirited Away in book format.
But once again we are stuck with you trying to get them interested in READING which unfortunately Manga doesnt really fit the bill a whole lot.. But I guess it could be a small victory.
(After re-reading your initial post looks like you have some lee-way.. i'll tell you about what I end up in classes talking about)
So my friend is a Elementary school teacher in a lower income school, good kids not alot of money or the most awesome of home life. A few years ago he asked me if I had any comic book stuff and manga to lend him so he could have some visual aids while they did a unit (mainly for fun since kids lose all interest so close to the end of the school year) on making comics.
Needless to say the kids where floored at the stuff I lent and the next thing I know I was being asked to come in to talk to the kids about anime/manga comic books and all the stuff I had.
I did that and the kids were entralled because here was this adult who knew about all the series they watched and could talk to them about the stories they love, also being an artist myself I can give them pointers and tricks for when they were drawing there comics which they also loved, creating there own comic helped the kids understand how the story creation process would work (albiet at a smaller level)
these were grades 4 to 5
The Scarlet Letter
A Wrinkle in Time
just ignore anything else she did ever.
also... Deryn Sharp from Leviathan.
Howl's Moving Castle was originally a book by Diana Wynne Jones.
Yea but Mario isnt much of a character other than him jumping on toadstools and saving Peach he doesnt really have much of a story.
Are... are you recommending Hawthorne for gradeschoolers? Hester Prynne isn't even really... I wouldn't define her as a strong female protagonist. One of the messages of the book is that she ultimately defines herself according to the rules of the society she is ostracized from.
try to find out what books a lot of these kids are reading, when I worked at a kids summer camp my sister and the rest of the bunch went wild over Percy Jackson. Personally I havent read these, but they've got a lot of greek mythology. Those might be a good place to start!
(gonna also second katara and toph, that show went out of its way to make you knew just how much ass those girls could kick)
Septing.
How about Fiona from Shrek?
Edit: Leela from Futurama! How could I forget her?
Gotta give a third on Coraline though. Great book and pretty much perfect for that age level.