Using Film in the Classroom/How to Read a Film

Classroom Activities

These activities are designed to give students a deeper understanding of other cultures around them and to show the similarities and differences in family dynamics.

Some of the activities will be whole group and lead to discussions about the legend and the film. The students will see and hear film clips in different languages, such as English, Spanish and Mandarin.  The clips will also show the importance of architecture during that time in China and the traditional wear and gender roles. The students will be creating a web chart on the film that will give them guidance to writing their own the legend. The students will then work on different film elements to be able to act and produce a film presented to their classmates.

Classroom Activity 1

In the first activity we will be discovering more on China. They students will first be looking at map and we will be identifying our location and Latin American countries. The students will then locate China and get a geographical sense of where we are and where China is. I will have the students compare their findings on a map to a globe. The students will see that North America and Asia are only separated by one ocean. I will then share that I flew to China and visited multiple cities of China. I will also share photos that I took during my visit to China. The photographs consist of monuments, temples, foods, the city and The Great Wall of China. I also had an opportunity to have dinner and interact with a local family. It was a very unique experience for myself and one that my students will be able to see. This will help give my students a visual of how China has changed throughout the years.

Classroom Activity 2

Once we have located China and the students have an understanding that it has a different culture and language. I will then begin to focus on the language aspect so that the student become aware that their are many different languages spoken around the world. We know English and we are learning Spanish but China also has their own set of languages. The most popular spoken language in China is Mandarin. I will introduce this language to my students by having them watch a clip from Mulan in Mandarin. They will hear the difference and look at film clues to understand what is happening during the scene. Clips can be found on YouTube and the ones that I will be using will be in the resources section. Once we have watched the clips in Mandarin I will show them the same film clip in Spanish. The goal here is for the students to have a better understanding of the diversity around us.  

We will then begin discussing who is in our family. I will first share who is in my family with pictures and using vocabulary terms that they need to know. The students will then turn and talk to another student to share who is in their family. Then I will show them a clip from Mulan where you see the family gathered at dinner.  The students will then illustrate their family in their home. The students are comparing in order to see the similarities and differences in the family structure and gatherings.

Classroom Activity 3

The students will be watching the beginning of the film from the introduction of the Great Wall until the Mulan goes off to the training camp in the middle of the night on a horse to fight in her fathers’ place. We will then discuss important components of the film and create a web chart; such as, architecture, characters, setting and traditional wardrobe. This web chart will help the students have a better understanding of the components of the film.

Classroom Activity 4

After the students watch the film of Mulan and have created the web I will then have the students listen to the Ballad of Mulan and see the connection between the literature and film. Based on this ballad and the web chart components they will work in small groups to create a Spanish legend with their prior knowledge of the Latino culture. I will guide the students with important elements to an exciting classroom film production. They will then work on costumes, props and scenery item to be filmed and then presented to the whole class.