Strategies
By using a variety of teaching strategies to teach this unit, I can reach students with different learning styles. Since I teach art, many but not all of my students are visual learners. Also, students' interest should be stimulated and maintained by using diverse strategies and activities.
The first thing that my students will see when they enter the classroom will be movie posters covering the classroom. This will help to set the tone and draw them in. Posters can be obtained free sometimes from movie theatres and video stores. Video stores where I live usually charge $2 or $3 for their leftover posters. As a last resort (or if you actually have a budget), they can be purchased from a variety of places like bookstores, specialty stores, and the internet. Students can be involved by asking them if any work in a theatre and can obtain them or if any have posters that they are willing to lend.
On the board I will write some essential questions that students can ponder during the course of this unit. These can include "Why watch foreign films? How do storytelling traditions differ from country to country? What are the functions of trailers and movie posters and what do they have in common? What are the qualities of an effective movie poster?" Unit objectives and big ideas will also be written on the board and they too can alert the students to topics that will be discussed. I have a couple that I feel are essential to most art experiences so they stay on the board all year. I nicknamed them the "Double Cs." They stand for Creativity and Craftsmanship. Since I am an art teacher, instead of writing these on the board, I use calligraphy to write them on colorful strips of paper that are then taped on the board. I find these to be more visually stimulating.
Since I want my students to learn vocabulary pertaining to storytelling, films and poster art, the physical posting of these terms should make them more familiar to the students. This can be done with a word wall that has actual words printed on paper strips that are hung on a designated classroom area. Mine will be written on bright paper and since I have limited classroom space, the word wall will be on a cabinet door. Using a large font on the computer, I will print each of the categories on a different color. For example, film terminology can be printed on bright blue, story types can be on magenta, the elements of art can stand out on lemon yellow, the principles of design will be differentiated by using chartreuse, and so on.
The "Think-Pair-Sharere" strategy from CRISS (Creating Independence through Student-Owned Strategies))12 is an excellent way to involve students in generating ideas. Because of the large size of some of my classes, I adapt the practice to small group work instead. Large hands-on classes present multiple challenges so I adapt teaching methods and stretch limited supplies and space the best that I can. In this beginning activity, students will get in small groups at their tables, refer to the movie posters on the walls for inspiration, and then in a limited amount of time write down various functions that they perceive of a movie poster. One person in each group would volunteer to be the writer. Then a spokesman from each group would present their findings, one group at a time. This would facilitate discussion on the purposes of movie posters, piquing students' interest and hopefully serving as a "jumping off point" for the rest of the unit. The students would list the reasons on an 18" x 24" sheet of paper. The activity would be repeated for film trailers and the two would be compared. This group activity can be repeated as often as necessary to start discussion on any new topic such as types of stories. Students for that topic would probably come up with examples that would include myths, novels and short stories, folk tales, fables, legends, epics, romances, satires, comic books, graphic novels, and Manga.
Power point presentations that I will have created will also be used so that students can follow along with the material that is being presented. These will be rich in visual examples of some of the history of posters. Included will be posters from the studio of Walt Disney because they are so well documented and it is easy to see the progression of Mickey Mouse from his first appearance in black and white in 1928 to his present look. Jim Fanning writes in a book on Disney posters, "Since Mickey's pre-1935 films were in black and white, it was the posters that introduced the public to the brilliant reds and yellows that would become the Mouse's signature colors. The posters trace Mickey's evolution from mischievous barnyard merrymaker to established suburban citizen.."13 Disney went on to produce amazing landmark animated films like "Snow White" and Disney studio blockbusters are still being produced today.
My power point presentations will also highlight posters for films that also have posters that were produced for release in different countries. Not only is the information in another language, usually the entire design has been changed. I am making the power points from a combination of internet images and examples from poster books. Students will also see the influence of famous artists like Max Ernst and Salvador Dali on movie poster art. Many Hollywood-produced movie posters now feature photographic images. I will include some unique posters from other countries, including two jarring paintings from Onibaba, printed in 1964. One is Czechoslovakian and the other is from East Germany. Tony Nourman and Graham Marsh write, "Onibaba, a hypnotic tour de force, is a sepulchral work that combines shocking horror with beautiful photography. It is the haunting tale of a mother who is destroyed by her own jealousy. After donning a mysterious devil-mask to frighten away her daughter-in-law's suitor, she finds the mask is stuck to her face and can only be removed with horrific results.ts."14 The posters both contain startling painted images that incorporate masks. Some of the earlier Polish posters also use striking, startling artwork. Examples of the very distinctive and harsh Soviet movie posters from the 1920s will also be included.
To create anticipation and approximate the movie theatre experience for at least the first day of the viewing, popcorn will be provided for my students. Smells can be memory triggers and the smell of popcorn is strongly associated with movie theatres. I plan to buy large bags to share but will also pop at least one bag in the microwave so that the smell will help immerse them in the experience. The viewing of the films can involve the visual, olfactory and auditory senses.
Another strategy to help reinforce concepts and vocabulary words will be to pair up an example of a film genre with a trailer of a film from that genre. First the categories would be discussed. Then students will guess the type as the trailers are shown. For example, when the trailers for Mama Mia and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly are shown, students will probably guess that the first is a musical and the latter is a western. They can then analyze the details of the trailers to learn more about the genre.
To help explain the term visual memory and to show the impact that film scenes can have on a viewer, we will discuss how images can be indelibly and forever inscribed on memory. Examples can include the impact that the Psycho's iconic shower scene murder of Janet Leigh's character had on the public. That discussion can include how Hitchcock's implied violence compares to today's graphic horror films which leave little to the imagination. As a homework assignment, students will give an example of at least one scene that has had a lasting emotional impact on them. The scenes (without the students' names) will be listed on the board.
Homework will also include the students' research on artists who have worked in the medium of posters. Examples of prominent artists include Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, Thomas Hart Benton, Norman Rockwell and Aubrey Beardsley. They can also research famous artists who have created or helped to create movie posters, or distinct periods of national styles can be examined.
The use of exit tickets can help students to stay focused on the task on hand and pay attention. Explain ahead so that they can be formulating possible questions or comments. Exit tickets can be used for a variety of daily activities. Each student would be given an index card or piece of paper upon entering class. You would determine the query. For example, after watching a specific trailer, each student would write on the card three ideas from it for a movie poster. As an alternative, students could write the genre or a memorable image from it. The exit cards would be handed in as the students exit class.
The strategy of using red, yellow and green cards for audience (student) participation can also be used. After showing a trailer, students would choose a card that would reflect their reaction to the success of the trailer (as in do they as viewers now want to see that film). Students would hold up the red cards if they thought that the trailer failed in its mission. The green cards would signify a "go" for a positive reaction. The yellow cards would signify ambivalence. A couple students for each color who wave their cards (signifying their desire to share) would be selected to discuss the qualities of the trailer that affected their decisions. Incorporated into the discussion would be the role that tastes play and how films fill a certain audience niche. A student who intensely dislikes horror films would probably not be enticed by the trailer to see one, no matter how intriguing or exciting the trailer.
Art critiques of the posters and film analysis exercises will be an essential part of this unit. Also included in the formative assessment process will be teacher one-on-one work with each student and a visual informal tracking of their progress by observing them as they work. .
Demonstration of art materials, techniques and processes will be given. Students will create their own posters. Creation is at the pinnacle of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy pyramid. The posters will be graded with a rubric. Students would also fill out a reflective thinking sheet upon completion of their posters and an evaluation of the whole unit. A pre-test and a test at the end can help evaluate learning.
There will be an art show of the finished posters in a gallery-type setting (the library). Next to each poster will be a plot synopsis that the students will compose that will aid the viewers in their understanding of the posters. That will serve as an additional writing component.
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