Let’s face it, most elementary and middle school students today hate their English Language Arts (ELA) and reading classes. They either don't understand the importance of literacy or they just think reading books is boring compared to TikTok. While it’s easy to blame the internet for kids’ short attention spans or disinterest in their independent reading time, it’s important to meet students where they are: videos. Take a look below to see how you can incorporate film education into your ELA and reading classes for students of all ages.
Use animated short films to teach basic reading skills in your classroom
Early on in reading education, students are taught the parts of a story, conflict, characters and character traits, and conflict. Often pupils find learning this exclusively through text to be abstract. Using short films to teach these concepts allows learners of all ages to visualize these pieces and better comprehend them when applied to text.
Pixar short films and other short films are perfect for this. For a week, center a lesson around the short of your choosing—Hair Love and Geri’s Game are great options. Watch a film each day and focus on identifying the different concepts in stories.
Students could fill out a “plot mountain” or draw the characters in such a way that shows their internal traits. In the classroom, a worksheet is an easy option, but for remote learning, try using a tool like Classkick or NearPod and guide students through each set of questions.
Once students have mastered their skills using short film, transition into (very) short stories. Students progress at different rates and have different interests, so it’s beneficial to have a selection of texts for older students. Younger students would benefit from a group read-aloud story, like a favorite picture book or a chapter from a chapter novel.
Building media literacy with film adaptations
Text-to-screen adaptations lend themselves well to fostering discussions about themes and audiences among pupils. Not only does the student benefit from working with the same story in two contexts, but students also develop analytical skills when considering filmmakers’ choices for their adaptations.
Texts that have multiple adaptations add an extra layer to this lesson, especially with older students. Greek myths, like the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, can be found in not only different written versions but also different film (and TV) adaptations.
Discuss the theme of the text with learners, pointing them to specific evidence. Then, as students watch the film version, they should use a Venn diagram to keep track of similarities and differences between the text and the adaptation.
Often theme and mood will change between the text and film version, especially in the case of public domain stories with multiple adaptations. Lead middle school students in a whole class or small group discussion about these differences and help them interrogate why a filmmaker might try to convey something different than the original author.
Elementary-age learners may be better suited to identify concrete differences—perhaps a character from the text is absent from the film or a place in the text looks different on screen than it was described in the text.
From screen to paper: translating film images into words
Reading and writing are two sides of the same coin. Develop students’ reading comprehension by having them “adapt” their own scene from a film on paper. Students should write their adaptations independently of each other to refrain from sharing ideas.
This activity forces students to consider how “text” moves from the screen to the page. Set the expectation that their adaptation should not be word-for-word—the best thing to do is set a word limit (75-100 is often a good ballpark for older learners).
Work with pupils individually to ensure that they aren’t simply summarizing the film, but rewriting what they just saw with creative flair. Often students push back against these creative activities because they believe they aren’t good writers or creative, but it’s not about that at all. It’s a look into what they glean from and how they comprehend media.
Pairing students to share stories can also foster discussions on how people interpret media differently and what that means in the world. “Real-world” applications to the reading curriculum are paramount in helping students understand why they should learn these skills.
Reignite students’ love of reading
Reading and ELA are not just about books anymore. Incorporating visual media into the classroom not only benefits students' literacy skills as they interact with visual media on a daily basis.
Utilizing film makes reading seem more accessible. Setting students up for success means allowing them the opportunity to take control of their learning and master skills successfully before increasing the difficulty.
In using film, pupils are exposed to a medium they have familiarity with, making the experience of teaching reading less stressful for both students and teachers.