Did you know that the 2007 movie, Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn and based on the book by Jon Krakauer, is FULL — and I mean FULL — of literary allusions? Here they all are.
Tag Archives: Movies
Movie Captions and Text Create Unique Poems
When text passages from a novel mingle with captions or subtitles from its accompanying movie, interesting things happen. Here’s what I mean: I always watch movies with the subtitles on. It helps me catch every word of dialogue and also catch every nuance given through the sound effects.
Gulliver’s Travels & The New York Times’ Anatomy of a Scene
Using the New York Times Anatomy of a Scene collection as inspiration, high school students provide director’s commentary for a movie clip and thereby showing their understanding of satire.
The best 9/11 film for grades 8-12
Ric Burns’ New York: The Documentary from PBS’ American Experience Every fall, I watch this film… sometimes with my classes, sometimes on my own at home. In my opinion, Season 1, Episode 8 of New York: The Documentary is the best film you can show students to help them understand the facts and aftermath ofContinue reading “The best 9/11 film for grades 8-12”
Watch This Outsiders Movie, Not That One
The Outsiders: The Complete Novel includes a subplot that the original leaves out If you’re like me, you love The Outsiders and can’t imagine teaching middle school ELA without it. So many kids identify with the Tulsa, Oklahoma greasers and their struggles with socioeconomic class differences, personal identity, and family relationships. Here’s my advice: MakeContinue reading “Watch This Outsiders Movie, Not That One”
My top three movies for the last week of school that will let you keep your teaching integrity
Walter Mitty starring Ben Stiller Rated PG; 114 minutes long; Reason to watch: To see a movie that advocates living life to the fullest; Bonus: Great for graduating students. In fact, I show this to my graduating 8th-graders as they transition to high school. Sully: Miracle on the Hudson starring Tom Hanks Rated PG-13 forContinue reading “My top three movies for the last week of school that will let you keep your teaching integrity”
Use this totally free source for movie and TV transcripts
Every so often, this website comes in really handy. Ever need to know exactly what a character said in a movie? Ever want to show your students how dialogue is done for film? I recently found a free —I repeat, FREE—source for any and every movie transcript. At the time, my class had just finishedContinue reading “Use this totally free source for movie and TV transcripts”
How not to feel guilty about showing videos before a break
Plus: the movies we watched the final two days before Christmas break Every teacher knows the feeling. You’re in the final week of school before Christmas break. There’s no point in starting something new, and often, you’re finishing up a project or unit and you need a couple of extra days for the late workContinue reading “How not to feel guilty about showing videos before a break”