Judith J. Katz
This unit uses film to teach students the basic elements of story including plot, character development, and causal logic. Students will have the opportunity to produce a wide range of process writing including: quick-writes, film journal entries, and reflections on them. Students will also have the opportunity to write a fully realized product piece, the formal film essay, using their own film journal entries as research.
This unit comes complete with an author's note that explains how to break the unit into smaller segments in case the teacher does not have time for the full unit. This unit also comes complete with three self-assessment rubrics that can be used by the student-writer, a peer editor, and the teacher.
The four films used in this unit are:
Wallace and Gromit, The Wrong Trousers, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Smoke Signals,
and
Finding Nemo
.
(Developed for Creative Writing, grades 9 and 11, and Screenwriting, grade 12; recommended
for Language arts and Creative Writing, grades 9-12)
