Integrating Film into English Classroom

Integrating film into the English Classroom

The best way, I feel, to integrate film into the English classroom is to use film as a starting point for discussion, and have the students journal their reactions or create their own interpretation of a text for film. To create variety, I would have the students pretend that they are different are in different roles as they read and watch films and then write out their responses to the assignment, or reactions to the discussion that the films produce.

Book Club discussion - After the students read a book assigned for their class, have the students watch a film adaptation of the book, or selections from an adaptation, and have them discuss the similarities and differences between the film and original book, focusing especially on the things that are possible to do with film but impossible with words and vice versa.

Critic/Screening - Students view a movie or selection from a movie and then write a report on the elements that they enjoyed or suggestions for improvements.

Journalist - Have the students pretend that they are a journalist that is wittnessing a crime as they watch a selection a high-action scene in a movie and then write their news report from that perspective.

Director - From the perspective of a director looking for new ideas, have students create a "twist" on a well-known book or previously released movie, showing their written or multi-media example and comparing it with the original. Example: Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story.

Screenwriter - Students select a section from one of their favorite books and write a screenplay for a scene in a movie that has never been made before. Time and resources providing, they could then do their best to create this using school video and editing equipment.