As we continue to explore the origins and impact of the Civil Rights Movement, we move onto our next set of films.  Students will be exploring one of the major historical events of the Civil Rights Movement: The Montgomery Bus Boycott.  Students are exploring some of the historical background concerning the why behind the boycott.  After their initial examination of some of the primary sources related to the event (and our ensuing discussion), we will be separating into two film groups.  One group will watch the film The Rosa Parks Story whereas the second group will watch the film The Long Walk Home.  Both films are works of fiction, but tell unique stories of the experiences of those impacted by the bus boycotts, as well as their reasoning why they went forward with their movement.  Each group will have individual discussion times, in addition to pertinent background information to study, questions to answer, and a film review to complete.  At the end of watching each film, members of each group will have time to share their findings with other groups, allowing for students to share their own learning in a more natural environment.

Please be aware each film does showcase some violence, as well as include various amounts of profanity and racial language.  The language used is meant to be authentic to the time period.  I do not condone that type of language, but it is important for students to understand (as best they can) the culture and vernacular of the time.  Please continue the discussion with your child about the importance of the words we speak and how we can work together to learn from the past, especially as it relates to our word-choice today.

As a start to our Civil Rights exploration, our students watched the film Hidden Figures, which documented how women of color were treated (and successfully fought for more rights, responsibility, and recognition) at NASA during the early 1960’s.  This film served as a starting point for our discussion on race and how people have been treated historically.  It also allowed us to use film as a discussion tool and focus on the educational aspects of film rather than assuming film is purely entertainment (which it can be).

Our next film to explore will actually be a choice for our students.  Some students will watch The Rosa Parks Story whereas others will watch The Long Walk Home.  Both films explore the bus boycotts of the 1960’s, helping us again set the scene for the Civil Rights movement.  In the end, we will compare and contrast the different experiences students understood in the films for the characters.

We studied different aspects of film (literary, dramatic, cinematic), as well as different ways directors use cameras to help tell a story (ranging from camera angles to types of shots).  All the 8th graders are putting that information they learned into practice by making their own film.  They need to use the information we studied and apply that to their own film they make, which ranges from 1-2 minutes long.

Hopefully putting the information into practice makes it more real for them so when we are starting to watch our first film this week (Hidden Figures), they can look at the content, messaging, and meaning behind why films are written, acted, and filmed in a certain manner.

Although we have been at home and not physically in school, our 8th graders are spending the week learning how to “read” or analyze a film.  Yes, all of them laughed at me when I said we were going to learn how to read a film, but alas they are working toward that skill.

With three different mini lessons set up for this week, students are learning about three major aspects of films: literary, dramatic, and cinematic.  Literary aspects of films are simple: characters, setting, plot, symbols, and general story line type things.  Dramatic aspects are more of the visuals we see: makeup, costumes, and the set.  Our last aspect of films, cinematic, is more of what we hear and see in a more subtle way.  It in the sound effects, background noise, but also how the camera sets us up and makes us feel certain things.

We watched numerous film clips along the way, which will eventually end in us working toward better understanding the film Hidden Figures as we start our Civil Rights focus.

Until then, if you are free and interested, please participate in our Flipgrid learning session.  As part of their study of the cinematic aspects of film, I asked each student to play 30 seconds of their favorite movie score/soundtrack and tell us why it was so important to them (without revealing the movie).  Participate by doing your own Flipgrid.

The link is here.  Come join in our learning!