Saturday, June 25, 2011
Docs and Nonfiction Reading and Writing
Now that our eyes are being opened to the world of documentaries and the ways our reading of them can lead to stronger reading and writing of other nonfiction texts, I wonder what ways you could do just that - use documentaries to strengthen adolescent nonfiction literacy skills.
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I actually want to incorporate documentary films into my persuasive writing unit. I never really considered this possibility before this class.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I posted a discussion question about this very topic on one of the Making Curriculum Pop's groups: Teaching with Moving Images.
Here's the link: http://mcpopmb.ning.com/group/teachwmovies
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ReplyDeleteI never considered using documentary films in a persuasive writing unit either! This class has definitely opened my eyes to a whole new outlook on documentaries in an English classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think that most nonfiction films will be fascinating to students because they are so used to fiction film. Students need exposure to what is real, whether bias or not, documentaries can truly open an individual's eyes to a whole new world.
I've been thinking quite a bit about my creating my unit plan for my wiki based around methods of persuasion, as well as media bias and propaganda. I'm interested in incorporating several documentary clips in which the directors use different methods of persuasion (think Michael Moore or Waiting for Superman) and then a more informational documentary (think Planet Earth, Babies) and comparing the two forms of persuasion. Any other docs that you all think would work for this unit would be much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI just watched a doc on the iPod revolution.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that it would appeal to our current students since they grew up with this technological staple?
It was a good informative piece.
This is a tough one for me. First, my high school experience was--if my memory serves me--void of documentary films or nonfiction texts. The literary canon was still king back in my day. On top of that, film studies courses focus on fiction film. Courses specifically focused on documentaries and other nonfiction films are exclusive to the graduate level (which I hope to get there).
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I am not averse to incorporating nonfiction texts and films into my classroom. As we've discussed, docs can be used as examples of persuasive texts. Hopefully, the "visual imagination" of the films will inspire imagination in our students' writing.
The topic of bias in the media is also essential in the classroom. This should not be twisted into a political debate. Most people know that Fox News leans right and MSNBC leans left politically. We should not discuss who is "right." Instead, we should analyze how each present bias, edit purposefully, and attempt to persuade viewers to believe their presentations of "truthiness," shall we say.
Someone mentioned that history is told by the victors. With this in mind, I think that nonfiction texts could be used in social studies courses to discuss how our documentation of history was created. What do we do when there are two opposing accounts of an event in history? How can visual texts help us discern the truth? Propaganda and wartime media products would fit well here as well.
Of course, many other applications exist. Thanks to this class, I need to expand my film viewing horizons to include docs!
My high school experience, like Uriah's, had little focus upon documentaries. But as we've been discussing for the last several days, there are obviously a lot of possibilities for using docs to strengthen the curriculum. I was really intrigued by both of Naomi Klein's documentaries that I watched: No Logo (anti-branding/pro-ethical corporate practies) and The Shock Doctrine (shock tactics/disaster capitalism). Both would certainly work well with an advertsing and signs/semiotics unit in the classroom. But Klein, a Canadian social activist, makes many weighty claims in her films. Just as we did in class, students could watch both docs with a critical eye, looking for "truthiness" and the ways in which "truth" is constructed.
ReplyDeleteAlso as Uriah mentioned in his post above, history is relative -reflecting the views of some, not all. That being said, students would be able to examine some historical "truths" claimed by each of the documentaries. I too would be interested to find which historical events were presented more truthfully-and which were skewed to fit the purposes and aims of the film.
I agree with juls. I actually just finished reading a journal article related to the same kind of topic. Finding truths in film in general but I'm sure it would be more fun in documentary films. The idea is to work in using the text provided in class (Say a history class for example) reading about a specific topic. Then presenting a film that also discussing the same event. Afterwards, having student compare and contrast both sources to see what the film said was true or false. I posted this article for my bibliography so feel free to give it a look.
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to using more documentary and nonfiction films in the classroom. One way I plan on doing it is to use it as an introduction to persuasive methods before my students write their persuasive research papers. For their paper, they have to choose a controversial topic of social importance, so watching a controversial documentary and discussing persuasive techniques would be really helpful. I also plan on talking about audience, author and tone in a nonfiction film - being able to identify these things on the screen may help them become more aware and open to them in a written text. I am excited to use documentaries!
ReplyDeleteJenna, I really like your idea! I, too, am thinking of how I could use documentaries to teach persuasive writing skills. I haven't watched the Tupac documentary yet, but I know my students would love something like that. I need to find a way to work that in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI have also been thinking about how I could use documentaries to teach about making inferences, an important skill for reading nonfiction or fiction. In a lot of our conversations in class, we have been "reading between the lines" of what we watch. My students sometimes have trouble doing this while reading, but using documentary clips as a starting point would give me a new angle to approach teaching this skill in a lesson.
I really don't have much to add to this conversation other than I am very grateful to be reading all of these great ideas being exchanged. As a person who watches way more documentaries than I probably should, I am a HUGE advocate of using docs in classrooms. To me, this is almost easier to explain than regular films because it's REAL LIFE (sort of).... meaning that the literary elements are everywhere. Point of view, characterization, setting, gender, race, etc.. You name it, and there is a documentary out there that can illustrate it. The one thing that these rationales have showed me is that I now have ways where I can justify documentary films that I previously thought may push the envelope too far.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that is enough of my nonsensical rambling. I will now go back to being an observer. Thanks everyone!
In the fall I’ll be teaching elementary ESL, which I haven’t done since the 2007-2008 school year; the last three years I taught middle school Spanish. I can see a lot of ways that documentaries are applicable to the world language class, primarily in exposing kids to the cultural components that are often overlooked in the classroom. I actually DVR’d a number of documentaries over the last year but I didn’t have time to show them to my students. One documentary that I thought would generate some good discussion is The Matador, which aired on the Sundance Channel. I think kids could really get into the animal rights debate that often accompanies the sport of bullfighting. In addition, I think it would be interesting for them to see the preparation and training that goes into bullfighting; they could compare it to the training regiments of athletes in sports with which they’re better acquainted.
ReplyDeleteAs for elementary kids, especially English language learners, they are empty vessels eager to be filled. Field trips are an ideal way to give kids valuable learning experiences, especially in my district, where many kids never take any educational trips unless they’re coordinated by the school. However, in this age of non-existent extra-curricular budgets—and a lack of field trips as a result—using documentaries in the classroom becomes even more relevant. I don’t know what grades I’ll be working with in the fall (could be any in the K-5 range) but once I do, I definitely plan to find nonfiction documentary film to incorporate in my lessons.