I chose to explore the iBook titled Short Film Adaptions: The Writing Process Through Film. The author of the iBook is Nelson Taylor. Nelson has thought English Langugae Arts for many years. He is currently an eighth grade ELA teacher at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara, Mexico. He has taught several Professional Development workshops on integrating technology into the classroom and showing teachers how to use Apple products for instruction and planning. He was honored as an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2012.
This iBook really caught my attention as I have always wanted to learn more about how to teach kids about film and how to create their own. I believe this fascinating area of technology is often overlooked so I wanted to learn more about how it can be beneficial to students.
In the iBook Nelson talked about how important it is for students to be able to think beyond the text and really put what they know into action. It allows them to answer the question “What would this look like if I tried to create it?” He also shared that he often finds students writing to be of high content when they are able to create a film out of their writings than just when they simply are assigned a typical essay. Their imaginations are free to run endlessly and they think more critically in their writings. They are writing for a rewarding goal. Students actually care about what they are writing about and want to see it through.
There were several tips mentioned regarding how to teach film making to your students. One suggestion is to show a film during class but only show to most important scenes and have the students use these scenes for their storyboard when planning their own adaption of the film. It was also suggested to have detailed class discussions with your students when watching various examples of films. Pause the film after an important scene and open up the class for discussion. Talk about the various camera angles, use of lighting, use of song, use of dialogue, characters, etc. This really will get students thinking about what all goes into producing a film and give them ideas for how to create their own.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about filmmaking in the classroom through this iBook. I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in filmmaking. I will strive to include various projects in my classroom were students can produce their own film to portray a certain topic or even to produce a film adaptation of an already produced film. The options are endless and I am excited to explore.