Using Film To Increase Literacy Skills

Film can be one of the most powerful tools that a teacher can use. The popularity of film in modern culture is as great as that of any other form of entertainment. As teachers, we must capitalize on this popularity and use it to help students learn. As film is being taken out of schools because many people see it as taking away from learning true literacy, it is a challenge for all teachers to find a way to incorporate film in their lesson plans. One of the best ways that teachers can do this is to create the film as a critical thinking activity. Also, taechers can have students create journals to follow the film, or use the film to accompany and reinforce a lesson plan.
One of the most important points in this reading is that even with the No Child Left Behind program in place, film can be used in the classroom if it is taught as literature. This can be done by teaching the film by examining the language that is used and by determining exactly what the characters are trying to say by going deeper than just what is on the surface. Viewing films in the classroom is a great way for teachers to include critical viewing skills into the classroom to go along with critical thinking skills. As teachers, it is our job to prepare students for what they will face in the world. In my opinion, there is no better way for students to learn to think critically in the world and to analyze situations that they are presented with than to give them practice by critically viewing films in the classroom.
In this article, the author, Vetrie, use the term schemata to refer to tapping into what students have experienced. Vetrie says that just as with any good lesson plan, teachers must choose films that tap into students' schemata. It is known that students learn better when they are able to apply what is going on in the classroom to their own lives. If a teacher chooses documentaries and films to show in the classroom to support a print text or to encourage critical viewing, the activity will be much more beneficial if the film is applicable to the students. For example, for a classroom at an inner city school it would probably be a better idea to show a documentary about Martin Luther King Jr. than to show one about Barbara Walters. A documentary about Martin Luther King Jr. would tap into much more of the class schemata than would the other documentary.
The last point that Vetrie makes is that once teachers have students engaged, they must then transfer that engagement into writing and discussion. Vetrie also says that the discussions and the writing are much more productive and successful when students are viewing films that tap into their schemata and creates a great deal of interest in them. Once students are interested and discussing and writing, the only job for the teacher that remains is to continue to focus this energy and urge the students to go even further into their thoughts. Vetrie says that he shows R-rated films in his classroom and that his class basically relies on these films. In his opinion, these films are the ones that best tap into the schemata of his inner city students because it is the language and violence that surrounds them on a daily basis.
This article by Vetrie is a very helpful article on how to choose films and the benefits that can be received from showing films in the classroom. However, I question his methods on showing R-rated films in his classroom. I understand the language, violence, and culture that his students see every day but he says that he must get each students' parent or guardian to sign a waiver before showing these films in class. I wonder what happens when there is an objection by a parents. Does that student not receive the same experience that other students in the class do? Is that student asked to step outside the classroom or go to the library during the R-rated films? Does the entire class miss out on that learning opportunity because one students' parents do not want their children watching R-rated films? These are all questions that bother me as a teacher because if there is an objection, which eventually there will be, how is that handled.