Posted on: Monday, January 15, 2007
Choices
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer
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Nanea and Keala
Teach: Cooperation
Sample lyric: "Teamwork is the way to go."
Fun fact: "So often in Hawai'i, we hear the story of crabs in a bucket pulling each other down," Kirk said. "I wanted to show our keiki a flip side to that story."
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'CHOICES'
Begins today Episodes air at 9:30 a.m. and again at 9:30 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays Through March 18 Educational Channel (56 on O'ahu) www.teleschool.k12.hi.us Note: Each 10-minute segment airs during school hours, then repeats later. New episodes begin each Monday. The entire series will be broadcast later in the spring on PBS Hawai'i, in three-episode batches. Public school teachers can receive a lesson plan and kit and a copy of the full series (with the exchange of an empty disk) via TeleSchool.
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Pomai
Teaches: Thankfulness
Sample lyric: “I wanna say thank you for being so kind to me.”
Fun fact: The rock ’n’ roller has a little Elvis swagger (Kirk saw Elvis perform in Hawai'i when she was younger).
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Pua the Poi Dog
Teaches: Responsibility
Sample lyric: "Learn to rely on yourself."
Fun fact: Look for the puppies that follow Pua around.
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Pono
Teaches: Fairness
Sample lyric: "Treat everyone equally."
Fun fact: He's a little bit paniolo.
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Liko
Teaches: Kindness
Sample lyric: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Fun fact: A worm and a ladybug who live with Liko on a mango tree want some fruit.
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Nani
Teaches: Respect
Sample lyric: "I am special and you are, too."
Fun fact: The plumeria and braces are in honor of creator Ann Marie Kirk's niece, Kayla.
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Koa
Teaches: Courage
Sample lyric: "With courage you can stand over 10 feet tall."
Fun fact: An older rockin' owl helps Koa to not be afraid.
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Hana
Teaches: Work
Sample lyric: "With time and effort, you create your own luck."
Fun fact: To catch the big waves, he practices hard.
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Lohi
Teaches: Honesty
Sample lyric: "Be honest and true in all that you do."
Fun fact: The honu knows how words and actions reflect the person you are inside.
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Decades after she first heard them, the words to "Conjunction Junction" still stick in the mind of Ann Marie Kirk.
The producer/director for TeleSchool knows how powerful catchy lyrics and hum-worthy tunes can be for keeping concepts long in the keiki brain.
Thus was born "Choices."
"Choices" is a nine-part series on character development geared to the K-2 set, each episode just 10 minutes long, that begins today. Each segment has its own character.
"Each character represents a different concept," said Kirk, who also has created a series for middleschoolers, "Voices and Wings," to be used for civics classes.
The program helps teach such concepts as responsibility and kindness, and can be shown in classrooms. Along with videos, which can be shown during class time or received free, there are lesson plans and stickers.
When Kirk tested them on nieces and friends' children, during a trial run, she said they worked so well, it was "chicken skin."
She found keiki remembered the songs, and prodding them on that, they began to let the concepts take hold.
"You plant the seed," Kirk said.
Teaching ideas such as doing the right thing even when no one is looking may not seem to have an immediate payoff, but ...
"As years go by, that little person grows and becomes part of community. If they can sing that (song) and start exploring what that means, that's a powerful thing," she said. "... As adults, we struggle with these things — what is honesty, what is courage?
It's all about choices, Kirk said, and how they create a ripple effect in the world.
