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

Grades   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Storyboarding the Transformation from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde

Students imagine and storyboard their own vision of the transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde and then evaluate movie portrayals.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Unit

An Exploration of Romanticism Through Art and Poetry

Students use art and poetry to explore and understand major characteristics of the Romantic period.

 

Grades   10 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Life is Beautiful: Teaching the Holocaust through Film with Complementary Texts

After students have read a book about the Holocaust, such as The Diary of Anne Frank or Night by Elie Wiesel, students will view Life is Beautiful and complete discussion questions to challenge their ability to analyze literature using film.

 

Grades   8 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

From Text to Film: Exploring Classic Literature Adaptations

Students create storyboards to compare and contrast a book and its film adaptation.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

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

Using the film The Sandlot, students are introduced to the literary devices of flashbacks and flash-forwards. They then write their own stories using those devices.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

On a Musical Note: Exploring Reading Strategies by Creating a Soundtrack

Students create a soundtrack for a novel that they have read, as they engage in such traditional reading strategies as predicting, visualizing, and questioning.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Literature Circle Roles Reframed: Reading as a Film Crew

Capture students’ enthusiasm for film and transfer it to reading and literature by substituting film production roles for the traditional literature circle roles.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus

After reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet, students identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli’s painting Birth of Venus and examples from the play illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

You Know the Movie is Coming—Now What?

In this lesson, students read a literary text with the eye of a director, selecting scenes from the text and putting a cinematic spin on them.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Analyzing Symbolism, Plot, and Theme in Death and the Miser

Students apply the analytical skills that they use when reading literature to an exploration of the underlying meaning and symbolism in Hieronymous Bosch’s early Renaissance painting Death and the Miser.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Comparing a Literary Work to Its Film Interpretation

Students will really get into the swing of things as they analyze the text and film versions of Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Pit and the Pendulum.”