A Star Wars Day Activity That Lasts All Week

There is a holiday—celebrated at the beginning of May and beloved by students all around the world—that is, sadly, often overlooked by schools. I’m talking about May the Fourth: Star Wars Day. 

Even at a time of year when students’ minds may be fried from testing or daydreaming of summer vacation, their love of this classic movie franchise can make for an end-of-year activity that will not only ignite their creativity but also help them become more culturally aware.

For me, the idea for the activity started in a place far, far away. When my Syrian middle school students watched Star Wars for the very first time, they were quick to notice that the film creates new characters and worlds by blending cultures from a lot closer to home. For example, they noted that some of the characters wore traditional clothing from several different Middle Eastern cultures, such as those known as kandura and bisht (long inner and outer robes), abaya and jalabiya (long gowns), and shayla and hijab (traditional head coverings, similar to what’s called tichel in Hebrew).

They also noted that Luke Skywalker’s planet, Tatooine, borrowed a lot from Tunisia, where it was filmed, and that scenes from Coruscant in other films looked like Dubai. As English language learners, they loved the different accents that the international cast brought to their characters. This gave me the idea of having my students create a multicultural Star Wars character as a weeklong project that draws on multiple subject areas.

Social Studies

When I’m teaching in the U.S., I start by showing my students a Jedi from Episode I and asking them what the clothing makes them think of. They often connect the costume to the types of robes worn in karate or other forms of martial arts, and I ask them what part of the world those come from. Once they see the connection, they start seeing connections to other cultures and countries in the film. I then explain that they will be creating their own Star Wars character. Their character can be a Jedi or whatever else they choose, but like the characters in Star Wars, their new character must borrow from different cultures here on Earth. They will need to create a planet for their character to come from, and write some geographic and cultural information for that planet, such as climate, habitat, language, and history. If we have time, I have my students create a small world map with continents, oceans, and a major city or two as well.

As any Star Wars fan will tell you, names are important. Some names are self-explanatory for English speakers, such as Skywalker and Solo. Other names borrow from other languages and traditions, such as Qui-Gon Jinn, which borrows quigong (气功) from Chinese and jinn (الجن) from Arabic and is popularly translated in English as “Spirit of the Living Force”—though speakers from those cultures may see many other layers of meaning in it.

Star Wars is a great introduction to names from around the world, and in choosing a name for their character, students can explore other cultures’ naming practices. They can choose a name with a special meaning or the name of a historical figure, such as the Syrian warrior queen Zenobia, who fought for freedom from the Romans, or Nanyehi (ᎾᏅᏰᎯ), a Cherokee warrior and diplomat whose name means “one who goes about” or “one who walks among the spirits.” Students can also use names of current figures, such as Malala (ملاله), the Nobel Prize–winning women’s education activist from Afghanistan, whose name means “one who grieves” in Pashto. This activity gives students insight into naming practices from other cultures and helps them see the significance behind them.

Art

Once they have chosen a name, it’s time for the students to draw a picture of their new Star Wars character. If a student has chosen to create a Jedi with elements based on Native American culture, they must be specific: What nation do they represent and how will they incorporate that into their clothing, hairstyle, etc.? If the character is a rebel, how will the climate of their planet influence their clothing? If the character is a government official or ruler, how does their clothing symbolize their office and the planet they represent?

Asking questions like these not only helps the students make decisions about how their character looks, but it helps them understand real cultures—such as how, in the same way a costume helps tell a fictional story in a movie, traditional dress can tell the real life history of a people.

English Language Arts

For the final step in this project, I have my students write an encyclopedia entry for their new Star Wars character. I like to show my students a few pages from Wookieepedia as examples. Once their encyclopedia entry is complete, they combine their drawing and entry (along with information about the cultures and countries that they took inspiration from) into a poster, which is displayed in the hall. If we have time, I have my students write a short story about their character and post it beside their poster. Students can continue their story over the summer or even create a short movie about their character and have their friends help them act it out. Or, like my Syrian middle school students, they can even start their own fan fiction writing club!

Projects like this not only are great fun for both students and teachers, but also teach kids to take a closer look at cultures, giving them a new appreciation and respect for the diversity that surrounds them here on this planet. Beyond that, they help students to better understand the creative process and, hopefully, ignite their imagination and passion for bringing their own stories to life, either where they live or in a galaxy far, far away….