Writing a Flashback and Flash-Forward Story Using Movies and Texts as Models

Lesson Plans

Student Interactives

Calendar Activities

Professional Library

 

LESSON PLANS

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Recurring Lesson

Using a Word Journal to Create a Personal Dictionary

Students will be the definition of vocabulary experts as they use the skills they learn in this lesson to track, define, and ultimately master unfamiliar words.

 

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Timeline

Students can generate descriptive timelines that can be plotted with their choice of units of measure (date, time, event, entry, or other).

 

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CALENDAR ACTIVITIES

Grades   3 – 8  |  Calendar Activity  |  August 14

Ernest Thayer, author of the famous poem "Casey at the Bat," was born in 1863.

In small groups or individually, students make baseball cards for the players in the poem "Casey at the Bat." Students can use a word processor or the Character Trading Cards interactive to create their cards.

 

Grades   5 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  October 6

The Jazz Singer debuted on this day in 1927.

Students think about the sound in a movie they have seen multiple times. Then students predict what sounds they expect to hear in a short scene from a film with the sound turned down.

 

Grades   5 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  May 16

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929.

Students make lists of their favorite and least favorite movies and brainstorm qualities that make a film good or bad. Next, students write a movie review for a film they have seen.

 

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PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY

Grades   9 – 12  |  Professional Library  |  Book

Reading in the Dark: Using Film as a Tool in the English Classroom

In this practical guide, John Golden makes direct links between film and literary study by addressing reading strategies (e.g., predicting, responding, questioning) and key aspects of textual analysis.

 

Professional Library  |  Journal

Let's Go to the Movies: Rethinking the Role of Film in the Elementary Classroom

Argues that elementary language-arts teachers should expand their definition of "text" to include film, a valuable instructional material. Notes that today's elementary students come to class with a great deal of knowledge about films--prior experiences which teachers can tap into. Discusses the application to film of reader-response theories.

 

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