Using film lessons as an instructional strategy can be an effective way to engage students and enhance their focus and on-task behavior. Films have the power to captivate students' attention, spark their curiosity, and make learning more enjoyable. Here are some reasons why film lessons can be beneficial:
Visual and Auditory Stimulation: Films combine visuals, sound effects, dialogue, and music, creating a multi-sensory learning experience. This can help students process information more effectively and engage different learning styles.
Narrative Structure: Films often follow a narrative structure with a beginning, middle, and end, which can help students understand and retain information better. The storytelling aspect of films can facilitate comprehension and increase student engagement.
Real-World Context: Films provide real-world examples, settings, and characters that students can relate to. This helps them make connections between the content being taught and their own experiences, making learning more meaningful.
Emotional Impact: Films have the potential to evoke emotions and elicit empathetic responses from students. This emotional engagement can enhance their involvement in the lesson and deepen their understanding of the topics being explored.
Choose Relevant Films: Select films that align with the curriculum and the learning objectives of the lesson. Look for movies that present content in an engaging and age-appropriate manner.
Pre-screen the Film: Watch the chosen film beforehand to ensure it is suitable for the classroom environment, free from inappropriate content, and relevant to the lesson.
Prepare Viewing Guides or Worksheets: Develop viewing guides or worksheets that students can complete while watching the film. These guides can include questions, discussion points, or note-taking prompts that focus on the key concepts or themes of the lesson.
Introduce the Film: Before starting the film, provide a brief introduction that sets the context, highlights the relevance of the film to the lesson, and outlines the specific learning objectives.
Active Viewing and Post-Film Activities: Encourage active viewing by pausing the film at strategic moments for discussion or reflection. After watching the film, facilitate a debriefing session where students can share their thoughts, discuss the themes, analyze characters or events, and relate them to the lesson content. Engage students in follow-up activities like writing reflections, creating visual representations, or participating in group discussions.
Benefits for teacher: the film lesson is already made, benefits for students: gain new experience and interest to studying English through watching films.
Increased Engagement: Films capture students' attention and make the learning experience more enjoyable, leading to higher engagement levels.
Improved Comprehension: The combination of visuals, sound, and narrative structure in films enhances students' understanding and retention of the lesson content.
Real-World Relevance: Films provide real-world examples and contexts, helping students connect theoretical concepts to practical applications.
Cultural Awareness: Films from diverse cultures and perspectives expose students to different worldviews, promoting cultural understanding and empathy.
Collaborative Learning: Film discussions and activities encourage collaborative learning, as students engage in group discussions, share insights, and work together to analyze and interpret the film.
Critical Thinking Skills: Analyzing and discussing films helps develop students' critical thinking skills as they evaluate themes, identify messages, and apply their knowledge and reasoning.
Multimodal Learning: Film lessons cater to various learning styles by incorporating visuals, auditory elements, and textual cues, accommodating the diverse needs of students.
Students are shown short films and then they have film based lesson, where they study the content, learn new vocabulary and answer the questions, they gain motivation for learning English through watching films.
Watching a short film, discussion of the content, learning new vocabulary, answering questions, coming to conclusions.
This exercise is practiced when there are 2 lessons on the row and it is done once per a week
