I stumbled onto my Movies As Literature Teacher’s Edition the other day.
As I’ve been doing a bit of spring cleaning, I am also setting aside books that I know I will either 1) Not use again or 2) Definitely plan to use when my boys are old enough.
It immediately went into the Definitely Plan To Use Again bookshelf.
Here’s why:
I used Movies as Literature with my daughter when she was in 9th grade.
It was a very thorough, well-developed language arts program using movies that forced my daughter to expand her horizons QUITE a bit.
She had to watch movies she had never heard of, and would have never considered watching on her own, and wouldn’t have picked up the books to read, either.
Movies as Literature
Movies as Literature Student Workbook
Movies As Literature is in my KEEP list because I have two boys with developmental and learning disabilities.
Asking them to read novels is like asking them to pluck all of their hair out, one at a time. With tweezers.
It’s painful, stress-filled, and not worth our time because it will just. Never. Happen.
But they DO need to be able to study literature and literary concepts. They need to learn how to gather inferences, draw conclusions, project endings, and figure out the motives of main and subordinate characters. This program contains all of the upper level thought process skills that other strong literature programs have. It includes writing, with essay questions, reports and other papers on various topics.
I appreciate that Kathryn Stout offers ideas for using this curriculum with special needs kids.
She recommends oral answers and compositions, which helps eliminate the barriers my kids have within the writing process. I will take it one step further and have them use a speech to text program like Dragon Naturally Speaking to transcribe their oral narrations into written compositions.
For junior highers, she recommends only covering the first six movies.
I think that is a good idea. You could easily break the program into two years if you are planning on using it for junior high. The lesson plans do become increasingly more in difficult as they go into literary analysis of scenes and motives.
She also recommends adding a spelling and grammar program for this age group, as they may not have a complete, solid foundation in these topics yet. The Student Workbook makes life a little easier, with space to answer all of the questions and no photocopying for you.
Below is a list of the movies covered in Movies As Literature by Kathryn Stout.
The linked titles are my affiliate links for Amazon Instant Video or for purchasing the DVDs. The (N)(P) indicate that they are available for instant streaming for (N) Netflix members and free streaming for (P) Amazon Prime members. I try to keep this as current as possible. (Updated 1/12/16.) Many of the titles are available for DVD rental from Netflix.
Shane (1953)(P)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Music Man (1962)
E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Rear Window (1954)
Emma (1996)(N)(P)
Comprehensive CompositionTeaching tips & techniques: Help for the homeschooling parent
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Journey of August King (1996)(N)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Henry V (1989)
A Man For All Seasons (1966)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Disclosure: This was a totally unsolicited review, because I enjoy this curriculum and feel that it has value for other homeschoolers to hear about it. I purchased the Teacher’s Manual and Student Workbook for my own use several years ago, and received no compensation from the author or publisher for this post. All links are Amazon links.
Dawn is retired 20-year homeschooling Momma and hospital CNA, currently working on her BA in Technical Communication. She lives in Eastern Washington with her husband, the youngest 2 of their 6 kids, 2 yappy pomeranians and an assortment of backyard chickens. She writes here as well as at DawnMariePerkins.com (her personal/geek blog).
Dawn,
Thanks for the comments on this! My 16 year old also has dyslexia and would benefit from this approach.
One question: Do you feel the manual/guide is needed? Or is the student text standalone?
Thanks!
Carolyn
The student text isn’t standalone because the TM contains all the information for YOU to be able to have in depth conversations about the movies (particularly if you don’t watch them all with your student). It gives answers to the questions and approximations for the essay questions. I wouldn’t do it without the TM.
And…while we’re on the subject of writing/reading-challenged secondary students, do you have any recommendations for history?
History is a struggle for us too, because of the writing/reading challenges. I have fallen in love with BiblioPlan, which we are using this year. It can be lit-lite OR heavy, depending on what your student needs. We are going lit-lite, using the Companion book and just a few supplemental literature titles. I’m actually planning to get as many of these on audio from the library as possible. Using lunch times as listening times (and my boys are 11 & 13 so not real young) they are a captive audience (LOL) and it helps cancel the boredom issue since they are eating lunch too. The other strategy I use for audio books is that I have them work on their maps while they listen. Other history programs lean so heavily on the literature (such as Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace, and Illuminations) that you simply CAN’T do the program without them. BiblioPlan isn’t like that. You should check it out. 🙂
Thanks so much for the prompt replies! Have a GREAT school year. 🙂
I hope that it helped a little at least. Just remember that more than checking off those boxes and filling those credit requirements, you’re doing what you need to do for your daughter’s sake. Make the curriculum work FOR you, rather than you working for the curriculum. You have a great school year too! 🙂