Using Movies in the Classroom
from NCTE INBOX 5-6-08

George Lucas was born this month, and that makes it a great time to think about how we can use films in the classroom, whether we analyze and explore existing videos or we ask students to step behind the camera and take on the filmmaker's role. This week's Ideas provide some resources that suggest new and interesting ways to explore film with students.

The Language Arts article "Let's Go to the Movies: Rethinking the Role of Film in the Elementary Classroom" (E) argues that elementary language arts teachers should expand their definition of "text" to include film, a valuable instructional material. The article notes that today's elementary students come to class with a great deal of knowledge about films -- prior experiences which teachers can tap into -- and discusses the application to film of reader-response theories.

Ask students to play the role of moviemakers with techniques from the Voices from the Middle article "Meeting Readers: Using Visual Literacy Narratives in the Classroom" (M). The article describes a literacy narrative project -- a short, concise, digital video in which students meld still images, motion, print text, and soundtrack in communicating ideas/insights/discoveries about who they are as readers and writers.

The English Journal article "Literature into Film (and Back Again): Another Look at an Old Dog" (S) shows how to help students move beyond basic comparisons as students learn to analyze the techniques and changes film directors choose when translating literature to the screen. The article provides a variety of literature, film scenes, and classroom activities to introduce literary, cinematic, and theatrical elements. Three related creative writing activities are available at EJ on the Web.

Research has shown that contemporary popular films are a valuable resource in the ESL classroom, but what about older films? The Teaching English in the Two-Year College article "Unspoken Content: Silent Film in the ESL Classroom" (C) explores how often overlooked silent films can facilitate the development of ESL students' critical thinking and writing skills.

The English Education article "English Teacher Learning for New Times: Digital Video Composing as Multimodal Literacy Practice" (TE) demonstrates how video composing helps provide support for the new kinds of embodied multimodal learning teachers need in order to be prepared for teaching students in 21st century classrooms.

NOTE: Free access to journal articles mentioned in this INBOX is provided for 21 days. After this free access period expires, articles are available to journal subscribers only. This Inbox Idea was published 5-6-08.

Initials in annotations indicate academic level of the resource (E=Elementary, M=Middle, S=Secondary, C=College, TE=Teacher Education, G=General).

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