More About Movies
I like to connect the movies to my students...in as many ways as I can. Here are some activities I've used and feel are worthwhile....They can be discussion, PQA, journal writings, sentence completion....lots of ways to use the material...
*I love characters. The kids love characters. We are always examining, talking about, comparing or complaining about characters. A good start to the class is a survey question about a character in the film. Which character is most like you? Which character is the strongest? Which character is the most realistic? Which character is the most annoying? Which character is the funniest? Which character is your favorite? and always Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
*We are always comparing things in the characters' lives with things in our own. After watching Stand and Deliver we compare the challenges faced by the students in the movie to challenges facing the students in our school. While watching Finding Nemo we compare Nemo's protective dad to Homer Simpson. Before Selena and Chris get married we talk about other movie and book characters whose parents oppose their relationship (just happens to line up nicely with the Romeo and Juliet unit in English!!) In Real, one character changes his appearance to look like David Beckham and we talk about which famous person's style we would copy...and whose we would not!
*I'm a big fan of music. We learn the lyrics and do several activities with a song, BEFORE it appears in the movie. It's so cool when the know the song when it appears!!
*In movies that are already familiar to the students, we will set up back stories or fill in blanks that don't show up in the movie or create a sequel. In level 1 we watch Babe (yep...the pig). Babe in the City already exists, so we may create Babe at the Beach, Babe in the Amazon etc as a sequel. We don't have to create an entire story...sometimes just the setting, new characters and a problem are enough to have fun with.
*In movies that are unfamiliar, prediction is always the key. What will happen next? I think we get more bang for our buck with comparisons...will this happen or that? If this happens, what will follow? I can give clues...the following items will appear in the movie in the next 20 minutes...what do you think happens in the story? One of the characters changes completely...which one do you think it is?
*I enjoy the "Stop Action" feature. I simply hit the pause button and have the kids quickly sketch the scene....adding thought bubbles and feeling hearts (see my last post on Story Diagrams). They really enjoy putting funny thoughts in their heads. :o)
*Sometimes movies are connected to other pieces of history, literature, art or music. In the Time of the Butterflies refers to Jose Marti, Romero and Martin Luther King Jr., Selena and Tejano music....you get the idea.
* One of the most powerful things I have had kids do was an accident. I asked them to write down on an index card one thing that they always wanted to remember about the movie. It blew me away. Sometimes we'll write our responses on a large poster or the Smartboard. Sometimes I'll collect index cards written in English and create a poster, matching activity or even a poem in Spanish based on their answers.
Just some thoughts...
with love,
Laurie
*I love characters. The kids love characters. We are always examining, talking about, comparing or complaining about characters. A good start to the class is a survey question about a character in the film. Which character is most like you? Which character is the strongest? Which character is the most realistic? Which character is the most annoying? Which character is the funniest? Which character is your favorite? and always Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
*We are always comparing things in the characters' lives with things in our own. After watching Stand and Deliver we compare the challenges faced by the students in the movie to challenges facing the students in our school. While watching Finding Nemo we compare Nemo's protective dad to Homer Simpson. Before Selena and Chris get married we talk about other movie and book characters whose parents oppose their relationship (just happens to line up nicely with the Romeo and Juliet unit in English!!) In Real, one character changes his appearance to look like David Beckham and we talk about which famous person's style we would copy...and whose we would not!
*I'm a big fan of music. We learn the lyrics and do several activities with a song, BEFORE it appears in the movie. It's so cool when the know the song when it appears!!
*In movies that are already familiar to the students, we will set up back stories or fill in blanks that don't show up in the movie or create a sequel. In level 1 we watch Babe (yep...the pig). Babe in the City already exists, so we may create Babe at the Beach, Babe in the Amazon etc as a sequel. We don't have to create an entire story...sometimes just the setting, new characters and a problem are enough to have fun with.
*In movies that are unfamiliar, prediction is always the key. What will happen next? I think we get more bang for our buck with comparisons...will this happen or that? If this happens, what will follow? I can give clues...the following items will appear in the movie in the next 20 minutes...what do you think happens in the story? One of the characters changes completely...which one do you think it is?
*I enjoy the "Stop Action" feature. I simply hit the pause button and have the kids quickly sketch the scene....adding thought bubbles and feeling hearts (see my last post on Story Diagrams). They really enjoy putting funny thoughts in their heads. :o)
*Sometimes movies are connected to other pieces of history, literature, art or music. In the Time of the Butterflies refers to Jose Marti, Romero and Martin Luther King Jr., Selena and Tejano music....you get the idea.
* One of the most powerful things I have had kids do was an accident. I asked them to write down on an index card one thing that they always wanted to remember about the movie. It blew me away. Sometimes we'll write our responses on a large poster or the Smartboard. Sometimes I'll collect index cards written in English and create a poster, matching activity or even a poem in Spanish based on their answers.
Just some thoughts...
with love,
Laurie
To a greater extent we find that the kids are the most influenced by movies. I think that movies can prove to be an excellent study material for kids as they open a vast door where there is a wide range for the improvement of their skills. Movies pave the way for improving the communication, imaginative as well as problem solving skills among kids. They do provide information and helps the kid to identify his or her areas of interest.
Reply to this
My colleague and I are always astounded by the passionate response of our students to movies we use in class.
The other element of using movies which I believe is extremely important is that it opens a way for our students to explore language on their own using their own dvd collection. Many times our students will go home and watch the scenes AGAIN in Spanish. And they love watching the movies that they have at home in Spanish that we are not allowed to show in school. :o)
with love,
Laurie
Reply to this