Children and Education in World Cinema

Teaching Strategies

The instructor can displace attention away from the accustomed superficial analyses of plot and character to show students the often-hidden or ignored deep structure of artistic activities. Jacques Hadamard said that ‘discovery . . . takes place by combining ideas,’ and he further pointed out that etymologically, the Latin word cogito (to think) means ‘to shake together’¹²

“Reading to write” is the primary strategy. “Reading to write” exposes students to different text types, forms, and genres to learn how writers and directors convey meaning in different ways, for different audiences and purposes. Isolating distinct writing modes according to Barnouw’s historical types of documentaries will further the strategy of “Reading to write” by encouraging students to recognize the concrete role of the writer for each task. (See the footnote for all of the types)¹³. Reading flash fiction thematically will be related to the fiction films we study and will reinforce “Reading to write.”

More precise techniques will give students the scaffolding with which to prewrite and draft responses. These include brainstorming, notice and wonder, think-pair-share, think-pair-write, and think-write- share. During each film viewing, students will annotate and brainstorm. For most films, they will be given a worksheet with twenty blank spaces and asked to write down ten things they notice and ten ways the content applies to their own lives, or what it means to them. In other words, the “wonder” part of the “notice and wonder” strategy encourages students to look at texts or multimedia and come up with questions about historical significance, the meaning, or the purpose of what they see. Students will also be asked to 1. Describe what they see. 2. Infer what makes this distinctive and 3. Give their reaction. Further scaffolding will be provided for EL students. Sentence frames will help students discuss what they see and what they wonder about in the films, as suggested by the screenplay writing article mentioned above.

At the conclusion of the film screenings students will think-pair-share, think-pair-write, or think-write-share according to the prompts given to them and the annotations they made. Think-pair-share creates a classroom environment where all students are given an opportunity to speak, as opposed to one student or a few students answering all the questions. Students are given an opportunity to formulate and share ideas, which immediately gives them a sense of belonging. Think-pair-write moves them immediately from conversation to solid articulation. This activity also helps students individuate their response rather than have it exist in the cloud of conversation that first ensued after the film or reading. Think-write-share will motivate the sharing of connections between the ideas of a whole class of students.

Elements of film and film terminology will be taught explicitly at the beginning of the unit and will be reinforced as they come up in films and as they relate to writing. An analogy can be drawn between the elements of film and parts of the writing process. Students will be asked to match cut-outs of these terms:

Theme: Thesis Statement/ Main Claim

Screenwriting: The drafting process

Mise-en-scene: laying out details and staging evidence

Cinematography: Using multiple points of view

Editing: Revision

Acting: Using people and emotion to tell a story

Directing: Author’s Purpose and its mode of implementation

Sound and Music: Tone

Thinking through senses will help us develop the skills of imagery and tone to be developed in student writing. Students will be asked to look for exposition and subtlety and think about how the films and other media relevant to them can be a stimulus. For each film we will introduce writing strategies and tactics, such as varying sentence length (like scene lengths), before viewing. On the largest scale, students will be asked to project onto their own experience the growth of experience in film, and the growth of ideas necessary for the writing process.  Limits will encourage students to focus (i.e. write a scene on a bus, or interview a family member), which is essential for giving each student a start for the creative final project, yet brainstorming as a class will allow students to take on bigger and smaller picture ideas. Students will be encouraged throughout to think visually and narratively about something they care about. They will decide whether or not to have an omniscient narrator after we review point of view. Task cards will be used to remind students of the elements of both fiction and nonfiction.