QUESTION: What is an interesting way to show a documentary in class and make sure students are still engaged?

[Kimberly Hawks]

Every once in a while, I like to be able to show a documentary from PBS or the History channel to my students because it can visually show a lot more than I can in the 50 min class period.  Usually I will come up with a "guided watching" kind of worksheet with questions that the students have to answer as they watch.  If I do this each time we watch a documentary though, it seems to get really old for me and my students.  Any ideas of what I can do differently that engages the students and doesn't just turn it into nap time, which completely goes against the whole reason why I am showing it to begin with?

[Anthony Pellegrino]

A pre-viewing activity can pique student interest. I often use a scenario (typically a few paragraphs I've written up) to have them discuss up front (often in groups of three or so) then show the documentary (or parts thereof) to find out how the scenario actually played out based on the evidence from the film. After the film, we then might analyze their original hypotheses. It's a bit of the inquiry method applied through the medium of film. I've also used this with some success with music as well. As with any instructional strategy, overuse or mundane presentation can get boring for students, but these simple ideas worked well for me. 

-anthony

[Kimberly Hawks]

Thanks for the great idea! I can already think of using it with an activity that I already use in the Civil War.  I usually have the students predict what the generals will do with the Battle of Antietam and later in the unit I show parts of the Ken Burns' PBS Civil War special, including the Antietam section, so if I brought those closer together, then it might mean more.

[Jeremy Greene]

For Ken Burns' Civil War series I recommend having students watch about 8 minutes and go through what sources they are receiving and they create a list.  A list should look like this:

 

Quote from letter

Photo of battleground - including Ken Burns effect (explain what this is:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Burns_effect )

Aerial view from helicopter

Historian interview

Quote from General Grant

Narration

Photo of soldiers - Ken Burns effect

And so on and so forth.

 

They won't get everything, but it helps you to make the point of where all the information is coming from and just how much Burns incorporating in what seems a very staid presentation.  I did this in a graduate class and it was quite illuminating.  I have not tried it in a regular classroom but don't see why it would not work and make the point of what historians do - something I try to stress.

 

 

And I will share that I did my student teaching the year after the series came out and students were excited to watch and were interested in what they saw.  No need to try and maintain interest.  Now, of course, is a different story and all these suggestions are, I think, necessary.

[Ryan Goble]

Hi Kimberly, this will certainly be a crowdsource ? next week so hopefully you'll get a lot more feedback. In the meantime, part of the reason I wrote up today's PLAYLIST: THREE 4 THINKING was because I used this tool to do exactly what you are interested in doing a few weeks ago.  Also, we'll have a lot more Media Circles when our book comes out in fall but hopefully you had a chance to read the PLAYLIST: BETA MEDIA CIRCLES PART I and check out the PDF bundle attached to that post.  Hope these help!  Thanks for getting in the game and sharing with everyone here at MC POP!

[Carolyn Nightingale]

Consider Google Moderator. Set it up so that students can comment or answer questions. During the film, students use google moderator to write questions - discuss question types beforehand. Students 'vote up' questions they're also interested in. After the film, they can answer each other's.  Another option is to tell them that they can free write afterwards. My students love doing this - it's a break from our normal structure - and they engage more while watching since they know they get to write whatever they want about it. Alternatively, tell them to take notes because you're going to hotseat them afterwards - have them assume the role of a person (or thing) in the video, and other students will interview them. I think too that if you ask yourself what the main purpose of showing the video is, you might come up with an organizer that doesn't just require recall of facts. Another idea: assign roles, relevant to the documentary - people in or out of the story. Have the kids take some notes in role. Share them afterwards. Last one: try a critical literacy approach. When you watch the video beforehand, ask yourself, 'Whose voice is not heard in this documentary?' Write the question on the board and get them to take notes ready for a discussion about the question afterwards. Why wasn't that voice heard? Another last one: Think about how the video connects to other events or people. Write names of some of those people, places, things, events or ideas where the kids can see, and have them make the connections while they're watching the documentary.

[Jeremy Greene]

I agree with what your wrote. 

 

You could use a back channel:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/education/13social.html?_r=1

http://derekbruff.com/teachingwithcrs/?p=979

 

You can use things like write a letter from A POV to B POV explaining why xyz should happen - use 2-3 examples from the film.  Obviously it is good to do some of this ahead of time.  I recommend stopping a video every 7-10 minutes, as a rule, to either highlight something or have students reflect on whaty they are watching.

[Jo-Ann Kratz]

I’m not a fan of worksheet-driven instruction so kudos to you for posting this question on innovative ways to approach learning through use of film.

I want to make sure my students are highly engaged in not only the story throughout the film, but also in thinking throughout the film. I use a technique called 20 Words or Less that has proven to be highly effective at sustaining high levels of engagement while requiring high levels of analysis by students.

Preview the film for critical points or cliffhanger moments. Identify the run times of these cliffhanger moments so you can stop the film at the appropriate time. Ask the students to write; in 20 words or less, what they think will happen next. After they complete these short summarizations, ask the students to add on to their responses by verifying with facts or details from the part of the film they have watched to this point. Since students do not know when you plan to pause and ask them to think critically, they stay engaged on a higher level and for much longer. This technique also helps you stop the film in a meaningful manner, as most TV documentaries are not created for classroom length sessions.

This technique also supports best practices in reading when we ask students to predict what will happen next and verify using text as to how they formed their opinions. This technique works great with most every film type you could use in a classroom setting and removes the playback worksheet approach.

[Frank W. Baker]

Have you yet introduced your students to "the langauges of film"?   There is a basic list here. More importantly, film literacy means helping students understand and appreciate the techniques used by film makers not only to tell a story, but also how meaning is created.  For example: why the camera was positioned where it was; how lighting might contribute to mood; the role and selection of music; how editing techniques might be used, etc. Ideally, students need time and practice to begin knowing how and where to look. (In my workshops, I use a popular culture film first to get them in the habit) You might benefit from the resources on my Media Literacy Film links page. They might also benefit from one of the worksheets posted here.    Frank Baker, Media Literacy Clearinghouse

[DandoCalrissian]

Great question here. I suppose the first question I have would be this: In your "guided watching" handout/worksheet, what kind of work are they being asked to do? If someone asked your class why they were watching Ken Burns' "Civil War", what would they say?
In my work as a journalism and history educator, I tried to find documentaries that dealt or linked with issues with which my students/we were concerned. For example, when we worked with the Civil Rights Movement we viewed "When We Were Kings". While it is a boxing documentary, it also provided ample opportunity for discussion and inquiry for my students from economic, racial, and class perspectives in the US in that era. We looked at how much money was spent on the fight, how different people/groups talked and wrote about it and so on.
Another film that worked well in my US history course was "Fog of War". We talked about ethics of war past and present and researched philosophical issues such as "Just War Theory".
For me its a matter of making important connections and providing multiple areas of access to the material combined with collectively creating an answer to the age old question, "why are we doing this?"

[Shirley Durr]

First, tell the students the purpose for seeing the documentary. Is there something you want them to know or do when they're done? Have them look for what they need for that. You can guide the direction of their attention with prepared questions or points to consider that the class has brainstormed prior to viewing.

 

Secondly, here's one of the best things I did when showing a documentary in class.

• I showed students the documentary Spellbound about the National Spelling Bee. The film has several students preparing and participating in the Bee and a great deal of detail about each one. It took two classes to see the entire documentary. I started by listing the names of each kid and, after the film's intro of each one, had my students select ONE student to follow throughout the documentary and complete a chart of info on their selected kid. They were thoroughly engaged throughout the two days, cheering on their selected contestant, and talking about what they'd seen (including their elation, concerns, and disappointments about certain events) as they left class and even the next day. We had follow-up writing assignments and (my main reason for showing it) they were highly interested in participating in the upcoming School Bee. Particularly encouraging for me, for the rest of the school year each of my students remembered the word his/her selected speller misspelled -- and the correct spelling!

[Kimberly Hawks]

Shirley that is an awesome second idea!! I will definitely have to check out that movie.  Thank you to everyone for your comments, they have been so helpful.  To kind of add a question on to this that I have thought of while I was reading everyone's ideas kind of clarifies more my thought process.  I totally agree with what DandoCalrissian said about "why are you doing this?" and many of you that suggested the asking of questions for them to think about during the film.  Are there other ways that you have held all students responsible for thinking critically about these questions besides things like worksheets or a free-write?  I am trying to think of more interactive things, especially with kinestetic learners in mind.

[Shirley Durr]

To clarify, the questions students brainstorm prior to viewing are not on a worksheet but are for notetaking purpose. These notes become the evidence to support their ideas during discussion or when writing. I don't do free-writes for this but usually have a critical thinking question.

For instance, they compared the Spellbound documentary to the movie Akilah and the Bee and to their own Spelling Bee experiences. We looked at the differences between a documentary and a movie with a fictional story, examining plot structure, for instance, and character development and conflict. Since each student had different notes, s/he became an "expert" on the speller selected in Spellbound and had evidence to provide the entire class. We saw Akilah after Spellbound and we looked for fictional elements -- each of my students was assigned a portion of the points to consider. That means we had conflict experts, major character experts, minor character experts, etc. For plot, some were experts on similarities with Spellbound and some were experts on differences. This made the viewing experience less tedious with everyone looking for all the details. They knew the class was counting on them to provide evidence when we discussed and wrote about what we'd seen.

We also looked at the role of parents in their children's education. This was one of the questions we'd brainstormed pre-viewing.  (What role do parents and mentors play in the speller's story? Who are they?) There were some pushy parents in the documentary that some of my students thought were emotionally abusive -- and they provided evidence from the documentary to back up their opinions! There was the mother in Akilah and the Bee who seemed disengaged or clueless most of the time. Some students excused her because she was a working single mom while some claimed she "ought to find time" for her children. The debate was rather heated.  They also discussed the mentors and their issues with them. Again, these topics generated great original thoughts from my students and they had no trouble writing their opinions and supporting them post-discussion. After teaching them the art of civil discourse -- responding to the question, acknowledging the value of all opinions, and supporting with evidence, pretty much all I had left to teach was grammar, writing structure, and organization.