During our high school careers, I’m sure plenty of us have
read Shakespeare, and then have seen a clip from a movie that was made on the
same story. Why aren’t more classrooms doing this? I always thought, and still
think, it is a great way for students to see the action of the story played out
by actors, instead of in their mind. Or even, when students are reading plays
out loud, I don’t think I was ever in a class where a reading of a Shakespeare play
was read enthusiastically.
It was always monotone, the fight scenes, if
played out, were always boring and silly. That is because these high school
students are becoming young adults, where popularity is the most important thing
to them, and actually acting out an old play in front of the whole class would
be embarrassing to them. So why no cut out the embarrassment and have students
read the play and watch a scene or entire movie adaptation?
Maybe, after the movie, the students could
write a short paragraph or two about how they envisioned the characters,
action, or setting to be different in their mind. Have them talk about the
differences. Let them make connections. It always seemed as if showing the
movie adaptation of a book that was read in the classroom was almost taboo.
I remember as a student, my class would be
for a movie adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and my teacher would quickly dismiss
the subject. Why should we be afraid of this? We shouldn’t at all! It gives
students either a better understanding of the book (which I felt commonly
happened to me) or it gives them a visual of what they just read. We should be
afraid of movie adaptations, we, as teachers, should embrace them as another way
of teaching our students.
I think this is a great idea! The thing that I think is great and that I used to love about seeing a movie after reading the book is to be able to see the differences in how someone else has interpreted the same text! I remember in my high school English classes, we would do this quite a lot, like with MacBeth, Beowulf and more! I think it is a great way to prove to your students that texts can be interpreted in many ways, not just one.
ReplyDeleteI think watching parts of a movie to accompany a text especially such as Shakespeare would be ideal for students. There are different types of learners and all of them need to be reached. Like you mentioned the movie could help students who have trouble visualizing the text, to see different aspects of the literature they may not understand. While reading the play I think it would also help to encouraging students to take on the role of the characters, this would promote taking risks and get involved.
ReplyDeleteI remember as a students not understanding much of Shakespeare and was not provided with any visual aids. I truly believe I would have understood and enjoyed the literature more if it was supplemented with visual aids such as movies, accompanies by analyzation of each important section of the movie.
Terrific idea!
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that with the right preparation, movies can add to the level of interest and excitement students have towards education. The important part is making sure that students benefit from it rather than simply zone out during the video. I think the strategy you listed above would be very beneficial for education and would really bring the writing to life. Additionally, as a History teacher, I think many of these same ideas and practices would positively impact my classroom as well.
I definitely agree that film can be a great tool in teaching English. However, I often find that when students are told they will be watching the movie they do not do the work before the movie. They rely soley on the movie which I believe is a problem. Yes, seeing the material visually is a great help to many students, however, some students use this as a crutch and take advantage of film and that worries me.
ReplyDeleteThough I do agree that movie adaptions are a great resource, I do not think that acting out a scene is terrible either. I remember in my English class we acted out a scene and we also watched the movie adaption of Romeo & Juliet. As you said, the scenes were usually silly and the movie was engaging. However, the reflection on the movie was not inspiring, the difference is that it's a retelling of the story in modern times with gangsters and all that jazz, and the acting was set up really poorly. Though I do not want to throw my teacher under the bus here, i'll do it anyway. If I had a teacher that was passionate about Shakespeare, as anyone should be, you better believe I would want to act out a scene. If for one minute the teacher got choked up after telling us his/her favorite line, that would speak to me. Teachers need to realize that when they treat students like real people and express themselves authentically, they will receive the same. If my teacher jumped up and down on a desk screaming Walt Whitman quotes, I would have a little pride in reading Shakespeare.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your last sentence says that we, as teachers, should be afraid of movies instead of should not be afraid! Just letting you know!
Amanda, unfortunately, I cannot agree with this post! I think movie adaptations of novels or plays are often bad versions of what is already understood from reading. I understand that there is a pedagogical value to seeing something in a different medium, but with tight scheduling, what is the point of re-watching something that the students should have read? To me, whenever a teacher threw a movie on like that, I saw it as a break for them and a day away from lesson planning. It seems like a throw away of lesson time.
ReplyDelete