Movies Get the Brains Going....

When I first started teaching, I had an administrator who informed the staff that any video over 10 minutes can not be used in class.  The administrator was concerned about a teacher who turns the movie on and walks away.  Students have no interaction with the material and the movie has no context and quickly is only entertainment.

I agree.  For those of us who teach social studies, we have many, many opportunities to use movies in the class.  But we need to place the movie in context and keep the students engaged!

Here are 5 tips to achieve this!

#1.  Give the students something to do during the movie.  Every time I show a movie, students have a movie guide to complete.  Some times these movie guides include open ended questions, other times these are fill-in the blank questions.  This helps the stay focused on the key points.

#2.  Stop the movie.  I never allow the movie to run more than 15 minutes with stopping and asking students a question or discussing the significance of a scene. Key here is engagement.  Keep them focused with questions.

#3.  Eyes on the movie.  Sometimes when I show movies, students will ask me if they can lay in the floor, or bring their pillows into the class.  No way.  Remember, the movie is part of an assignment.  If a student thinks they lay down on the job, they might not be so willing to stay focused. 

#4:  Timing is everything!  Usually movies require more than one class period to show it in the entirety.  So, if I can help it, I stop the movie with five or ten minutes remaining in the class.  At this time I review the important points from the movie or gather students insights or opinions.

#5: What happens in the end?  Once the movie is completed I have students complete a concluding assessment.  Most of my movie guides include discussion questions and as a class we share our thoughts about these questions.  Other times, I have students draw a picture from what they believe is the most important scene from the movie.  Then they write a paragraph explaining their scene.

Here are a few movie guides I have used in my class.  Please feel free to check them out!

1) All Quite on the Western Front:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-Quiet-On-The-Western-Front-Movie-Notes-1979-1598048.

2)  Unbroken: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/SECONDARY-Movie-Guide-UNBROKEN-1867758.

3) Thirteen Days: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/SecondaryThirteen-Days-Movie-Guide-and-Activity-1838519.

4) 42: The Jackie Robinson Story:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Movie-Guide-42-The-Jackie-Robinson-Story-1673058.