“’It’s Movie Day!’ Lights go off, heads go down, and teachers finally get some grading done. Using film in the classroom is better than this, of course, but every time I wheel that VCR down the hallway, I know what the other teachers– and my principal– are thinking: ‘Is Golden showing another movie? Doesn’t he teach at all?’ All right, maybe they don’t think that; maybe I only think they think that, which is just as bad. Why do we still feel somewhat guilty about showing a film in school? Maybe because everyone in the school knows about that one teacher who shows all the
Transcript
“’It’s Movie Day!’
Lights go off, heads go down, and
teachers finally get some grading
done.
Using film in the classroom is
better than this, of course, but
every time I wheel that VCR down
the hallway, I know what the other
teachers– and my principal– are
thinking: ‘Is Golden showing
another movie? Doesn’t he teach
at all?’ All right, maybe they don’t
think that; maybe I only think they
think that, which is just as bad.
Why do we still feel somewhat
guilty about showing a film in
school? Maybe because everyone
in the school knows about that
one teacher who shows all the
Star Trek films to his classes three
• Why does it have to be like that?
• We, like Golden, are proposing that it DOESN’T.
• “Great films are the modern
vernacular equivalent of ancient
classics, embodiments of the human
capacity to imagine and create in a
commonly understood language.
Great art represents the highest use
of the creative spirit and provides a
uniquely aesthetic experience. What
others have attained in poetry, prose
fiction, music, theater, ballet, and
opera, filmmakers now attain with
the tools and techniques of cinema”
“OGRES ARE LIKE ONIONS!”
PEELING BACK THE LAYERS OF FILM AS TEXT
• Studying film as text embraces almost all areas of
English instruction, including media literacy, student
engagement, reading and writing informational text
(through film criticism), differentiating instruction to
accommodate varied learning styles, and developing
a way of teaching students to analyze literature in a
medium that not only piques and keeps their
interest, but also prepares them for high stakes tests
such as the EOC or HSAP.
• We’d like to get started with some film clips you might recognize…..
• During this video, we invite you to do the following things:
• 1. Record your initial response to as many of the clips as you can.
• 2. Record any personal connections you make with the scenes as
they play on the screen.
• We’d like you to try to record at least five responses as or after you
watch. Try to record a combination of both initial response and
personal connections.
• (Clip goes here)
IF YOU DON’T MIND….
• We now invite you to share one or two (or all!) of your
responses with someone near you.
• What were your reactions? What feelings were elicited?
What memories were stirred?
• Take a minute to share with a neighbor.
• “Movies deliver a powerful
emotional impact distinct from
the impact of other media.
This, too, relates to the ability
of moving images to bring
situations and events back to
life on a screen as well as to
aesthetics” (Nichols).
• In short, films are powerful. Why on earth
• Brainstorm: What is your
definition of a text?
Consider these…
1. Text: A coherent stretch of language that may be regarded as an object of critical
analysis
2. Text: A stretch of language, either in speech or in writing, that is semantically and
pragmatically coherent in its real-world context. A text can range from a single word
to a sequence of utterances and sentences in a speech, a letter, a novel, etc.
(Carter and McCarthy)
So, why not films?
3. “a text may be defined as a relatively independent and hierarchically structured
linguistic unit which reflects a complex state of affairs and has a specific communicative
intention” (Glaser)
Again, why not films?
EXPANDING OUR DEFINITION OF “TEXT”
WHY USE FILMS IN THE ELA CLASSROOM?1. For Engagement and Interest
a. Piquing interest in a topic/skill, maintaining interest in a topic/skill through a medium in which they are likely already inherently interested
b. “Even contemporary classics…often prove challenging, particularly for reluctant or unenthusiastic readers. And yet, we want them to understand these works because they have something important and enduring to say. Using film is a way to help them do this, whether with the filmed version of the same story, in whole or in part, or a companion text that complements the themes, characters, setting, or conflicts of that story” (pbs.org).
2. As Valuable supplemental and complementary texts to core novels/units
a. To EXPAND a unit, rather than make it redundant
3. To both teach and reteach core English skills as defined by the Common Core Standard initiative
a. Skills and concepts necessary to implement Common Core teaching in your classroom are easily accessed and honed through film study
WHY USE FILM IN THE ELA CLASSROOM?• ON a basic level, standards aside, we use film in the English Language Arts classroom for
the same reason we teach beloved novels:
• “I think in art, but especially in film, people are trying to confirm their own
existences.” –Jim Morrison
• They transport, inspire, educate, sadden, empower, cheer up, etc. They allow and
encourage escapism.
• Because “every encounter with a cinematic world is more like a guided tour, and
every tour guide, or filmmaker, has her own perspective on the film world she displays
for us. Viewers need not accept the filmmaker‟s perspective, but they cannot escape
it either” (Nichols).
• In short, films accomplish the same things emotionally that any treasured novel
would. They simply must go about it a different way.
HOW NOT TO USE FILM (WHAT WE’D LIKE TO MOVE AWAY FROM)
• The tendency to make a film’s function in the classroom become “reward”
• for “getting through” a unit or “getting through” a novel; for good behavior; in
exchange for completion of other tasks, etc.
• The tendency to use film time as a break from actually teaching
• Lessons and activities using film should be just as rigorous for both student and
teacher
• They should require as much planning and effort in execution as any other stimulating
lesson
• The tendency of English teachers to default to the film-version of a novel
• Supplement and/or complement the core novel/unit as well!
AN EXAMPLE OF FILM INTEGRATION IN THE ENGLISH I CLASSROOM
• “It…works well as an introduction to film and literary analysis, since the
characters, conflicts, and themes are obvious, but also meaty enough to
support extended writings and discussions” (Golden 98).
• As you watch the following film clip, we invite you to do the following:
Record any and all examples of literary elements or figurative
language used.
• (Shrek Clip)
AN EXAMPLE OF FILM INTEGRATION IN AN ENGLISH I CLASSROOM
