Using film/video in the classroom

How to creatively and meaningfully integrate film criticism into a Language Arts classroom:

When I was in school, movie day meant having a day off. Watching a movie in class was something we did when there was a substitute, or in between units to give us a "break". Watching movies was rarely used for direct instruction. We watched movies in Spanish in Spanish class, with the subtitles, presumably to give us practice listening to Spanish and to teach us about Spanish/Hispanic culture. We were always suspicious, though, that movies were used when the teacher simply did not want to come up with a lesson for the day. And this was probably true. The point, though, is that for me, thinking about movies as a mode of instruction is a little foreign. The more I consider it, though, the more I appreciate the opportunities using film in the classroom affords. Movies are a pervasive in our lives and it would be naive not to consider how bringing film into a classroom can effectively peak student's interest and get their attention. It is also archaic and elitist to assume that being a literate member of society is confined to being able to read and analyze books. Being able to read and analyze a movie requires skills similar to those needed to analyze literature. Next, I outline some ideas I have about how to integrate film criticism into a Language Arts classroom in a way that celebrates the traditional aspects of what such a classroom is meant to teach and also acknowledges and provides credibility to newer forms of "literature".

1.) (This activity would be used in a unit on script writing, "showing-not-telling" etc). Give each student a slip of paper with stage directions on it. For example, "it is night," "actor moves stage left and collapses," or "actors appear in a cramped, cold apartment". To begin, either in small groups or as a class, play a form of charades where the other students have to guess what the stage direction was. Then, ask students, in small groups, to write a literary scene in which this stage direction is employed, but not explicitly - they have to show the direction in their writing, not tell. Finally, show a scene in a movie and have students record what the stage directions might have looked like in the script. Then, in small groups, have students choose 3-4 directions they picked out and write a short story that the scene from the movie might have adapted. Discuss the elements of literature that filmmakers attend to in order to give life, or "seen" to the "scenes". From here, you could read passages from famous literature that has been adapted to a movie and talk about how this is done.

2.) Looking at film through critical lenses might be a good way to introduce those lenses to students. It's possible that students are more familiar with the medium of film and be more comfortable critiquing it than literature.