Activities
A variety of activities are imbedded in the narrative section of the curriculum unit. Please review the sections under each film subtitled "translating literary style into film" and "film element to be introduced." Also in the strategies section specific ideas for responding to films and writing assignments are included.
Final Student Project
Dudley Andrew, our seminar leader, recommended a fabulous culminating activity for this unit. His suggestion is to direct students in an activity that simulates the process they have been a part of during the course of this film festival unit. Students will be asked to pretend that they are preparing a lesson for a group of middle school students in rural China who have very little exposure to films or television from the United States. They must choose a film from the United States that will provide the best cultural picture of the lives of children or adolescents in this country. After choosing the film, they will write a rationale that lists all of the cultural elements displayed in the film. What will the Chinese viewers learn about family life, the role of women and children in society, education and religion, food and celebrations, clothing, urban or rural life, and a myriad of other elements that might be evident? Then students will explain how the Chinese viewers might be misled by the film. What impressions will they get that are not correct or universal to all American children? Finally, they must identify important information about life in the United States that Chinese viewers should know about the lives of children and adolescents in this country that the film does not convey at all.
One objective of this activity is to help students understand that there are many variations of culture in this country and a single film cannot possible represent the diversity of life here. They must understand that the same is true for the nations and regions we studied in the unit.
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