Movie Productions with Literature!

My original idea from my latest blog has blossomed into something even bigger. After reading Frederick Douglass, I have noticed that choosing songs for the soundtrack from present day would be difficult. However, if students could embellish with scenes from Frederick Douglass, like his ship journeys, those scenes in a movie would be longer than in the book, so a song could be placed while on the ship. These embellished scenes would open the door for a song choice whether it is a current or not. Another thing students could look for is songs from the time. Popular compositions or folk songs that would be fitting during some parts of the book. There is actually a slave spiritual that is in the book that would be an excellent addition.
However, a soundtrack is not the only idea I have. This had turned into the students creating an entire movie production. They would pick songs pieces and explain where these pieces fit, filming locations, and casting of characters. Part of the book takes place in Baltimore, but just saying Baltimore would not be sufficient. The student would probably have to have a set built for that part of the movie, but what would it look like? Students can draw or find a picture similar to how these scenes will look. They could find pictures of old plantation houses in Maryland for the scenes at the different farms. This is a great way for students to understand the setting of the book.
Also, students will cast characters of their choice. They could cast the prologue narrator or Frederick Douglass at the age of 7, 12, and 28. All those castings would be considered different, and the student would need to cast at least 5 characters (I'm just throwing out a number). One thing students would need to be aware of is the race of each of these characters. Channing Tatum cannot play Frederick Douglass. This is a great way for students to analyze characters.
I think this final assessment really allows students to dive into the literature and analyze all aspects of life during this time period. Now, I have to think about how to organize this for my final activity and presentation!!

Fun Assessment Ideas with Literature

During my last library services class, we started our first book where the students present the material. Something that I think is really important when you are covering a book from a different time period is to start off with a little background about what life was actually like. You could do a role-play or bring foods and games that were popular during that time. The book that was covered (in half) last class was The Voice that Challenged a Nation, which is about contralto singer Marian Anderson.

I really enjoyed this book, and when covering it with students, it is important to explain this style of singing and its popularity during the time period. A connection needs to be made, such as Marian Anderson could be compared to Idina Menzel today. Idina is not a contralto exactly, but she is a disciplined singer of our time period.

During one of my own English classes my junior year, we did a really fun project. We were covering the book Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott.

The project was to imagine Ivanhoe was being made into a new film, and you are in charge of creating a soundtrack to go along with this movie. You had to create a CD that had up to ten songs and a companion guide that described the scene and justification for the song chosen. This project assessed that students had read the book and knew the material because you had to describe the actual scenes from the book. When my group presents on The Narrative of the Life of  Fredrick Douglass, I hope to include this final assessment in our project. Taking this soundtrack idea further, I also will have a project where students are casting roles for the film. They will need to choose actors and actresses for all major roles and explain why this person fits the role. I think this would be a great type of character analysis in disguise.

As a teacher, I think it is important to create a fun and thoughtful assessment to accompany required literature. Also, students need to have a choice in projects they have to complete, so I hope to provide other fun ways to assess student knowledge on my group's novel!

Notable Books and Newberry Winner

I recently delved into books by Gillian Flynn. I have always came across books by here in the Kindle store when looking for the next "it" book to read, but never committed to actually purchasing one. The first book I read by her was Gone Girl.

It was dark. It was honest. It was a thriller. Everything promised by her books, but this book was not as completely dark as her other two books. Sharp Objects is a book about self-harm. If you look through the list of books about self-harm on Goodreads.com this book will pop up on that list. I thought Flynn did a great job writing from the perspective of someone who self-harms. I recently had to make a brochure about an adolescent issue, and I chose self-harm. I would not recommend this book for someone under the age of fifteen, but it does shine a light on the issue of self-harm. I think people who do self-injure feel alone, and reading about the issue in a book could show someone that self-harming is well known and treatable. (I refuse to give away the ending!) Sharp Objects is not up for a movie rendition yet, but Flynn's other book, Dark Places, is. Dark Places is coming out this year, and I actually finished it a few weeks ago. I DO NOT recommend this book for anyone under the age of eighteen. This book really gave me nightmares, but it was also one of those you just cant put down! I love to torture myself with literature.

I also wanted to touch on the Newberry Medal winner was announced. The winner, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, is a book that interweaves basketball, poetry, and being twelve. I have not read this book, but did a little research about it. In all honesty, it does not seem like my kind of book, but my students would be a different story. This would be a great book choice for male students in the classroom. Thinking on this book, I actually have a cousin who is trying to improve his reading and English ACT score, and I told him to read more books. This might be perfect for him.

A Great Comparison for "The Giver"

In my Library Services class at UTM, we read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I was fortunate enough to get a newer publication of the book that featured a letter from the author. In her letter, Lowry mentioned how The Giver has touched so many lives and inspired a depth of emotion for her readers. She also included how she received a letter from a fan telling her, "I hope you get help." While I definitely enjoyed the book, it really did not provoke a life changing feeling in me. Something I do want to mention that I noticed while reading The Giver was it's similarities to a series of books I read about a year ago called Matched.

The similarities were almost too much for me. I'm not sure if Ally Condie (the author of the Matched trilogy) has cited The Giver as her inspiration, but she definitely should have. When thinking about my own classroom, I'm not sure if I would choose The Giver or Matched. While I think The Giver is much better written, Matched gives you the ending craved by all readers that The Giver did not exactly deliver.While I had a hard time staying focused during Matched because of the lack of details and depth that I enjoy in a book, I think middle school students might actually like Matched's "to the point" style. I think a good strategy for the classroom would be to give students a choice in which book they want to read. After each group has finished their book, the class could explain and compare and contrast what happened in their book of choice. (This is one of those moments I think English might have been a better fit for me over Math.)