I will never completely understand why it is considered so “bad” or “lazy” to teach movies in the classroom. As a society, we watch movies ALL of the time. In fact, there are few days I don’t see at least some sort of movie clip, usually embedded into social media.
Now, I totally get that we cannot spend all day, every day trying to watch and/or teach movies. Throwing on a bunch of movies right before holidays, spring break, or summer is definitely a go-to, even for fantastic teachers.
Growing up, I remember the television cart being wheeled into our classrooms and feeling the palpable excitement of my classmates. And I went to a pretty good private school, so this experience is pretty universal.
Well, now as a parent, I can also see how it might be frustrating when you send your kid to school, and they spend hours and hours watching movies with little value or purpose.
So let’s set the standard a bit higher in our own classrooms. Keep reading for 9 Inspiring Ideas to Teach Movies in the Classroom!
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9 Inspiring Ideas to Teach Movies in the Classroom
1. Use film clips to introduce a new text or unit.
A fun way to introduce a new short story, poem, novel, or even a unit is to use a film directly related to the text in some way. You could choose a thematically linked clip with similar story ideas, the same literary elements, etc.
For example, before reading Romeo and Juliet, you could show students various versions of “The Prologue,” a cartoon version of the first act, or a music video with similar themes.
Shakespeare’s writing is hard to decipher for many of our students, so slipping in a film clip that is purposeful and meaningful can add to our students’ engagement with future content!
2. Integrate movie scenes to help with reading comprehension.
There are so many books, especially classic texts, that are VERY difficult to read and fully comprehend for adults, let alone secondary students. If you have ever read ANY higher-level texts like Julius Caesar, 12 Angry Men, Crime and Punishment, and Pride and Prejudice with students, you will see my point. Lightbulbs will often go off AFTER you show scenes from movie interpretations.
There is nothing wrong with helping students understand what is going on with the characters, plot, and other important elements. In fact, you can ask the same reading comprehension questions when you teach movies that you would ask of the texts! Answers may be different as adaptations will vary, and that is normal as the goal is to increase overall comprehension!
You could ask questions related to theme, central idea, tone, mood, vocabulary, structure, purpose, characterization, inferences, etc.
Need 60 reading comprehension questions you can use for ANY text? Click below!
3. Teach movies with a focus on genres.
Many of our students consistently watch and/or read the same genres (types), so when you teach movies, feel free to include a diverse range of genres.
Years ago, when the new Star Trek movie came out, science fiction became cool on a whole new level. While I loved the television shows and movies growing up, most of my students had NEVER seen anything related to this amazing universe.
So, when starting a unit on film as literature, we watched this movie, and let me tell you, my students LOVED IT!! Like I cannot emphasize how much EVERY student absolutely enjoyed watching this film. By the way, we did a film analysis of this movie along with other movies, and I made the decision to ONLY choose films that most if not all students had never viewed before.
In fact, watching any appropriate and impactful movie before the year 2000 would be a good place to start! When you teach movies from different genres, students will be more willing to explore varied genres in their own future reading choices.
Genres: science fiction, fantasy, horror, adventure, fairy tales, historical fiction, documentary, mystery, romance, drama, courtroom, etc.
4. Build writing skills through film analysis.
If you really want to challenge your students to see film as a valid and important form of literature, taking several weeks out of the year to do a film analysis unit is a fantastic way to teach movies.
How many times have you turned on a movie only to realize that, at best, you had a surface-level experience or even missed most of what you “watched?”
Me, too!
That is why I first teach film techniques and then encourage students to analyze mood, characterization, and theme! We go through the process of defining the techniques, viewing the film scenes together, working on an analysis organizer connected to the techniques, and writing about the impact of the techniques on the meaning of the movie.
Students will never be able to watch another movie again without seeing how a director develops the movie through various film techniques. That is ultimately why I teach movies! I want my students to be critical thinkers when they consume any type of media!
5. Examine how literary elements are utilized in movies.
Like written literature, movies also contain many literary elements you can analyze like symbolism, foreshadowing, figurative language, plot, flashback, setting, mood, tone, irony, conflict, characterization, theme, etc.
As you can teach movies, you can introduce new literary elements to your students, so they can see them in action!
Sometimes, learning about these elements or devices can be tough for struggling students as navigating the written word AND the element at the same time is a complex process. SEEING examples of the element initially in a film may help students to more fully understand it and how it might be used purposefully.
Additionally, our society is becoming more and more visual, so any time we can incorporate visuals or illustrations of ideas, we help all of our students build knowledge and understanding.
6. Analyze rhetorical appeals in movies.
Who doesn’t love watching a motivational and inspirational speech? If you decide to teach movies, you may want to introduce rhetoric and rhetorical appeals as your focus of analysis for film speeches, documentaries, investigations, and discussions.
Logos is an appeal to the audience’s rational thought by using facts and statistics.
Types of Logos
- Direct references
- Explanations
- Definitions
- Facts
- Statistics
- Quotations from valid sources
- Citations from specialists (those with authority)
- Informed opinions
Pathos is an appeal to the audience’s emotions through the use of emotional language.
Types of Pathos
- Specific, concrete language
- Emotionally loaded language
- Varied connotations
- Emotional examples
- Imagery
- Description
- Narratives or stories of emotional events
- Emotional tone(s)
3. Ethos is an appeal to the audience through a belief in the speaker’s authority or credibility.
Types of Ethos
- References to beliefs/experiences the writer/speaker shares with the audience
- Explanations of personal authority or perspective
- Attempts at an unbiased outlook
- Proper level of terminology for an audience
- Writing is grammatically correct
Check out this rhetorical analysis writing resource you can use as you teach movies or ANY text!
7. Provide background knowledge for fiction and nonfiction.
All too often, our students struggle with understanding a text because they have little to no knowledge of history. Imagine trying to teach Patrick Henry’s Give Me Liberty without knowing about the American Revolution. Imagine introducing “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” not knowing about the Civil War. Imagine trying to comprehend Franklin Roosevelt’s Day of Infamy speech without details about the context of World War II.
You might be able to understand some basic concepts within a text without knowing history; however, you will be severely limited. This lack of knowledge will lead to surface-level comprehension at best and misinterpretation at worst!
Be sure to teach movies as background knowledge by first doing your research.
8. Discuss the film in a Socratic Seminar.
There are many ways to conduct Socratic Seminars, and I am not too much of a stickler concerning any one way. I just want my students to be able to discuss movies with a critical eye.
One of my favorite parts of going to the movies when I was a kid occurred AFTER the movie. My family and I would chat about the characters, the plot, the music, the messages, etc. Then, we would give the movie a rating.
Offering students the opportunity to analyze and critique a movie or various movie scenes with other students is an important part of maturing. Students need to hear others’ voices instead of just their own when it comes to any form of media!
9. Broaden critical thinking skills.
Ultimately, I teach movies because I want students to broaden their critical thinking skills. Sitting and getting a movie is simply not enough anymore.
We need our students to see movies that have stood the test of time, acknowledge what is good, bad, or compelling about them, and think critically about them in terms of culture and society at large.
Providing purposeful times throughout the year that integrate film can supply much-needed opportunities for our students to grow and eventually challenge the status quo!
HERE IS A LIST OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES TO TEACH: (make sure to get permission if needed)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- 12 Angry Men
- Fiddler on the Roof
- The Greatest Showman
- To Catch a Thief
- Star Trek
- A Raisin in the Sun
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Selma
- Fed Up
Teach Movies with this Activity Resource
This Film Analysis BUNDLE is a FUN and EASY way to teach movies in your classroom. You and your students will find this analysis and writing activity bundle helpful as your classroom works to examine how film techniques contribute to the purpose of ANY film!
Students will understand how to use teacher-led examples to pre-write / organize their ideas while they watch the film, use a template to easily create thesis statements, and go sentence-by-sentence as they outline their essays.
Just PRINT and TEACH!
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