Middle School Teachers
Film Clips
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    Anthony Braxton1/31/2007 10:42 PM    
Hey.. I stole this thread idea from the HIgh School Board (I was comparing who seemed to have the most active board.. and as I suspected.. Middle school is most active - which is probably reflective of the student and teacher population - I'm so proud!).  

Oh.. the idea!  

So... what film clips are you using? Could you specific the unit and let's use the TCI divisions: Ancient History, Medieval World, and US History.  It's been said that Hollywood was good to ancient history teachers and middle ages European history teachers.  Disney loves the middle ages also (Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Emporers New Groove..... :  not that I use any of these.. well.. okay.. i have) And who hasn't been tempted to kill a week of instruction by showing the The Ten Commandments?   But what about the rest of the world/US?  I'm particualry looking for something about middle ages West Africa or Japan now.   Oh... and

For example, when teaching the orgins and basic beliefs of Buddhism, I use Little Buddha  I just show the Keanu scenes in which are a historical narrative of the Buddha's journey to enlightenment and exposition of the Eightfold Path and Four Noble Truths.  In total it's about 30 minutes and can be broken up to mirror the chapter and Visual Discovery activity in the TCI text. 
     One of my favorites from Ancient Civilizations was a golden age of cinema classic called The Egyptian.  I showed about 15 min. of the opening sequence to give a film test.  That is, after studying egyptian culture my students identified things that were true about egyptian culture and things that were probably false that they observed in the film.


What are you using and how are you using?  (now that sounds like an inquiry from a Narcotics Anonymous meeting....)
    Robin Ilac3/29/2007 10:26 AM    

I have used film clips to teach various sections of US History because I find it useful to give students a visual to which I can refer to during a class lecture.  I almost never show any film in the entire length rather short 10 or 15 minute segments to highlight a key point in the textbook.  Always follow the rules of the school district in showing certain films.  There is only one movie I believe is useful for its entire length which is "Glory" for the Civil War Unit, and our school district owns a Classroom copy which has been edited for content purposes.

Here is a list of various films I have used in the past:

1.  Liberty's Kids (PBS Cartoon)

2.  Schoolhouse Rock (Preamble Song, 3-Ring Government)

3.  Roots (for showing the Slave Trade or the Civil War Unit)

4.  Patriot (to give an example of the type of warfare used during the American Revoluntary War)

5.  Far and Away (Westward Expanision and The Immigration Unit)

6. Glory (Civil War Unit)

7. Gone with the Wind (Civil War Unit)

I would to see what other films other teachers are using in the US History program.

    Sarah Harding2/3/2007 11:15 AM    
I have been integrating HA strategies since I became a teacher 13 years ago, and our district finally bought each teacher a half-class set of books (Ancient World) this year. It has been an exciting time! I am wondering if anyone uses United Streaming to supplement? I teach sixth grade, all subjects, and I am putting most of my curriculum on powerpoint now. It has been great. I just learned how to embed US clips this morning. There is one clip on the beginning of writing in Ancient Sumer. It is pretty young, but I can get my class to watch it. Anybody else found something of value?
    Dawn Lavond2/3/2007 1:03 PM    

I have found unitedstreaming.com to be very useful in the classroom.  I don't have any specifics clips to share, but I generally search by state standard to find my clips.  I started using unitedstreaming last year.  This year has been great because this year I am able to use what I saved from last year.  My students really enjoy it, especially my RSP and ELL students.  I generally show the clips after the reading.  The students highlight their notes with any information that is repeated. 

    Jesse Dancy2/13/2007 11:51 AM    
My Favorite Classroom History Movies:

1. Grapes of Wrath (scene when they first enter a migrant worker camp)
2. Diary of Anne Frank (after kids read the play)
3. pbs, Liberty (pre-Revolution protest)
4. pbs, Africa in America (slavery/ slave trade)
5. pbs, Islam
6. Gangs of New York (Civil War Draft Riots)
    Jennifer McFadden3/1/2007 7:12 AM    

I agree that I utilize Unitedstreaming clips ...they are quite helpful when you don't need a lengthy video to make a point... Other videos I have found useful:

Ben Hur- Great for teaching about the Roman Empire & Christianity

Disney's Ruby Bridges - Intergration during the 60's & MLK day

Schlessenger videos on World History Topics - Great 23 min. videos on most every major civilization  and all the major world religions- keeps the middle schoolers attention because they are quick paced and not boring at all.

IMAX DVD - Mysteries of Egypt - Spectacular scenary and the students really do get hooked on the topic - I like to show it at the beginning of our unit as an introduction.

IMAX DVD - Greece Secrets of the Past - Another great intro to the study of ancient Greece...

 

 

 

    Wendy Greve3/3/2007 9:31 AM    
I love United Streaming.  I often use movies or parts of movies to review concepts taught in the unit.
    Joseph Murphy6/1/2007 2:46 PM    
I love to use  United Streaming as well .  There is a  ton of useful information for all aspects of social studies.  The best part about United Streaming is that you only have to show a part of a film because each video is broken up into chapters just like a DVD is set up.  I teach World Geography and I have found that showing clips from certain episodes from the Simpsons  (when they travel to other parts of the world i.e. Japan, Kenya etc.) challenges students to find the stereotypes that are used in mainstream pop culture versus what is truly real.   Watching the Simpsons is a great educational use of something that so many of them already enjoy.  Also, any IMAX DVDs are great such as Climbing Mt. Everest.
    Sheryl Bushey-Anello6/24/2007 1:38 PM    
For West Africa, the first part of "Roots" gives the kids a good idea of what African life was like -- the ceremonies, the familial relationships, the culture. For Greece, if you can find it, "Clash of the Titans" is a technically-challenged, but entertaining way to teach some of the Greek myths. "Mulan" works for China, especially as ending activity -- give them things to look for -- comparisons with things they have learned. (And it gives you time to grade those Interactive Student Notebooks!)

Watch the History Channel and the Discovery Channel (go to their websites for calendars) as well as A&E -- they have some great shows and you can record them and use them for two years. They also have teacher's guides you can find on their websites.
    Marc Chicoria7/9/2007 1:01 PM    
I use lots of actual movie clips for different events in history and students fuill out a handout and we discuss the movies and their relation to the actual historical event, if you would loke a list of the clips and the handout just email me at mchicori@houstonisd.org and I will send you the list and a place were I can set up for you to download the clips and the handout.