Children and Education in World Cinema

Teaching Strategy

The Critical Analysis Process: With guidance and structure, my students will break down the three music videos as they have other artistic practices. We will dive deep into the notion of Mise-en-scène by utilizing the five levels of analysis throughout the unit:

Examine– First, they will watch the music videos alone and begin a discussion about their initial reactions and thoughts. I will follow-up with leading questions such as: What type of music genre do you think this is? What is its pace? What mood/tone is it portraying? How do you know?

Experience- After having shared the terminology with my students, we will re-watch the videos with the music, as we pay closer attention to its components. This will drive our visual focus. Does the visual imagery correspond with the music? How so? Does the visual mood change alongside the music? What are some notable elements?

Interpret- I will provide a worksheet with specific still shots of the video and ask guiding questions for further analysis. Students will also have the opportunity to use film terms. The goal is to make connections between prior knowledge, life experience, and the director’s choice in artistic elements. We will try to discover what they are trying to express.

Reflect- Taking into consideration the elements of the video’s visual imagery, we will make connections to the music, and how it makes us feel. A leading question would be: what is it about the song that relates to the imagery in the video, and how does the director depict this? How does help understand how films evoke audience feelings?

Respond- Students will have the opportunity to react to what they have discovered in these music videos as well as their artistic elements. They articulate opinions about it, and share their outlook with their classmates. I anticipate opinions to be different; thus, I will encourage open-mindedness in order to appreciate different perspectives. 

Guides to the Psychology of Color and to “Staging” Elements: Because I am teaching a diverse groups of students at various levels of literacy comprehension, on occasion, we will need to stop and review a few terms. I will provide a guide with a list of moods associated with colors (three examples below). This will aid students in identifying colors associated with moods when observing the audiovisuals. Further, I will share a copy of essential components related to the “staging” aspect of these videos as well as definitions. It will consist of the following: types of shots, the sequences and arrangement of shots, the cuts and transitions, lighting the image, visual/special effects, and props/costumes. Visual examples from music videos will also be shared. Once we have confirmed that we are comfortable with the terminology, we can proceed with the lesson.

Learning Logs: Learning logs are used to help students keep track of learning during the class discussion and any in collaboration work. Therefore, after utilizing the strategy shared above to interpret music videos as art, I will have students jot down the similarities they have discovered from every discussion in their sketchbooks. This will help students when they are seeking clarification and inspiration during their final assignment. Additional sketch-notes will also be encouraged.

Collaborative Learning: Collaborative learning is a significant strategy that I will utilize for most of this unit because it helps students to establish a strong team and work together to solve a given problem as well as encourage different perspectives. There are several benefits students get when working in a group setting such as: develop social skills, learn from peers, build trust, engage in learning, and gain confidence. This will truly be beneficial for students as they begin to formulate their own thinking process for the final assignment, and assist each other when one is struggling.

Think-Pair-Share: Oftentimes, some students may be too shy or insecure to share their thoughts and ideas with the entire class. Therefore, I utilize this collaborative learning technique. A student will first examine & think about the video alone (jot down thoughts in sketchbook). Afterward, they will have the opportunity to share their insight with another classmate.

Jigsaw Method: The jigsaw strategy is said to improve social interactions in learning and support diversity. It involves separating an assignment into subtasks, where students in groups will investigate and explore their assigned piece of work, which in this case is a selected music video. Subsequently, the group will essentially educate other groups about their assigned video and study of director’s artistic choices. The students would then discuss ideas between groups before coming back together as a whole classroom and sharing their experience.