Topical Teaching

• Teaching for Visual Literacy: 50 Great Young Adult Films: Authors Alan B. Teasley and Ann Wilder share tips for using film as a classroom tool, and include an extensive list of films that are perfect for young adults, focusing on lesser-known flicks, classic films, and movies that students have not likely seen.

• Oscar-Nominated Flicks for Families: Common Sense Media produced this list of reviews of 2013’s Oscar-nominated films for the whole family. Included are reviews for animated films, Brave and Frankenweenie, and films based on historial events, Lincoln and Argo.

• Teaching History With Film: Lincoln, Argo, and Zero Dark Thirty: The New York Times Learning Network offers several approaches to using these three Oscar-nominated films for teaching history. The Learning Network also hosts other great film literacy resources, including “Ten Ways to Teach the Oscars” from 2010 and a “Film in the Classroom” page that features lessons and activities.

• 12 Basic Ways to Teach Media Literacy (PDF): This guide from Ithaca College is a great beginners resource for teaching media and film literacy. The tips included by authors Cyndy Scheibe and Faith Rogow are a great kickstarter for any media literacy unit, including suggestions for stimulating student interest in new topics and encouraging students to think about how media messages influence them.

• Teachers’ Guide Series from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: These guides, produced by the Academy and Young Minds Inspired, can help you dive into the art and science of film. There are guides for animation, media literacy, and screenwriting, and they include lessons that encourage students to write creatively, think critically, and explore visual literacy.

• Visual Media: A New Literacy: Media literacy educator Frank W. Baker wrote this two-part article for MiddleWeb, offering teachers ideas for visual literacy lessons for students in grades 4-8. Baker also hosts a great list of film literacy resources on his personal website, Media Literacy Clearinghouse.

And while we are on the Oscar theme, here is my all time favourite Oscar clip from my childhood. Enjoy!

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