“More” Comprehension Strategies: Using Short Film and Critical Thinking
Opportunities to Engage Students in Effective Textual Analysis
Grade Level: ELA 10-1
Class Time: 85 minutes
Main Language Arts: View, Speak, Listen
Text Study Requirements: Multimedia Text: Short Films
Materials: “More” by Mark Osborne—available on iTunes or Vimeo, a way to
project the video with sound, whiteboard and markers, graphic organizer for
notes. Students will need something to write with.
Purpose of Lesson: Students will recognize the importance of consciously
choosing to study a text they are given, and learn a variety of strategies to
deepen their initial understandings of a text.
Curricular Outcomes:
2.1.3.b: describe personal expectations for a text to be studied, by recalling
prior experiences with and observations about similar contexts, content and
text forms
1.1.1.a: generate and experiment with strategies that contribute to forming
tentative understandings, interpretations and positions (posing questions,
suspending judgement, recognizing that initial interpretations may be
inaccurate and incomplete)
1.2.1.b: consider the ideas, perspectives and interpretations of others to
broaden own understandings when exploring and responding to texts
2.1.2.a: use a variety of strategies to comprehend literature and other texts
(forming questions)
2.1.2.b: paraphrase a text’s controlling idea, and identify supporting ideas
and supporting details
Overarching Question: How much could it help me if I chose to purposefully
study a text?
The Lesson
Anticipatory Set (15 minutes):
Inform students that today they will be studying a short film. Tell them to go ahead
and talk with someone next to them for a moment about that. Then ask them to
share their initial thoughts about short films. (Do they know what that means?
Have they seen any? Where? Are they any good? Have they seen bad ones? –
YouTube?) Short films are films that are too short to be considered a feature film.
Something you would refuse to go to the theatre and watch because it’s too short to
be worth the money—typically considered 40 minutes or less, though many are
under 20 minutes, and many more are under 10 minutes in length.
Ask them what they would expect from a short film they are going to study in class.
Ask if any students know the term “stop-motion animation.” Allow them to give the
explanation or inform them that it is a film technique where someone creates a
figure, takes a picture, moves the figure a tiny bit, takes another picture, moves it
again, takes another picture, etc. and then plays the photos back at high speed to
create the illusion of the figure moving on its own. Claymation, such as “Wallance
and Gromit” but also features like A Nightmare Before Christmas.
To give you an appreciation for the work that goes into this, iMovie plays back at 30
frames per second, and you might be able to set a single photo to take up 3 frames.
That means for every second of movie, you need 10 photos. For every 30 seconds of
movie, you need 300 photos. The film I am going to show you today is over 5
minutes of animation. That’s more than 3000 photographs, in addition to the time
to write the story, create the figures and the setting, edit, add music, etc. etc. This is
not an easy process to create a 6 ½ minute film.
Ask if anyone has heard of a director named Mark Osborne. He is a filmmaker who
has been nominated for two Academy Awards, including one for Best Animated
Feature in 2008 for Kung Fu Panda, the second was for a short film entitled, “MORE”
which we will be watching today. He was also heavily involved in the production of
SpongeBob SquarePants, both the TV series and the film. So he knows what he is
doing.
First Viewing (20 minutes):
Inform students that the only thing they should do as they watch the film is to sit
back and try to enjoy it. They can think about their likes and dislikes. Let them
know we will watch it right through the end credits and they can see all the different
jobs needed to create just a 6-minute film.
Ask students not to talk during or after the film, but to simply absorb it on their own.
Watch film.
Ask students remain quiet. Pass out the Graphic Organizer. Tell them to think about
their impressions of the film and to write those down under the heading “first
viewing.”
Have them share their thoughts with the class. Point out whether or not everyone
agreed, had different ways to say the same thing, what individuals chose to focus on.
Write the thoughts down on the board under a heading of “First Viewing.”
Let them know that it is important to first think for themselves when studying a
text. Their opinions matter. Their ideas matter. And if they turn to someone else
first, whether it’s a friend, teacher, or the Internet, they rob themselves of the
opportunity to think for themselves. They should choose to study a text, rather than
simply ask someone else what it might be about.
On the Graphic Organizer, beside the #1, under the strategies section, have them
write, “Think for yourself first.”
Mention that the strategies we will be learning about today are applicable to any
text, in school or out of school. Let them know that the list we create today is not a
complete list, but simply some available strategies.
Ask students if they feel capable of writing an essay right now based on the film. If
they did, how solid do they think their ideas would be? Could they take a given
topic, write a thesis, and come up with ideas and support from the film? How many
of them would try? How would they do?
Write down strategy #2: Read a text at least twice, the more the better. Ask
students if they can stand to watch this film again.
Second Viewing (15 minutes):
Watch the film again.
Ask students to think about what the message of the film might be and to jot their
answers down on the graphic organizer under “second viewing.” What is the text
creator trying to get across to you? What is the theme? What is the main idea?
Provide time to think and write.
Ask students to share their ideas. Write their thoughts on the board under the
heading of “Second Viewing.” Students should also write these down. Encourage
discussion. Directly ask another students what he/she thinks about what the
previous student said. Repeat several times, and for several of their ideas.
Have them write down strategy #3: “Talk with others about the text.” Mention
that we will discuss this strategy a bit more after the next viewing.
Third Viewing (25 minutes)
Mention to students that in a moment we will be watching the film for a third time.
Gauge their reactions. If they are negative, ask why. Try to help them understand
that choosing to study a text can help them understand it better. Remind them that
watching the film as many times as possible will help them understand it better. If
the reaction was positive or neutral, let them know that it is exciting to see they are
willing to spend time studying the text. Inform them that the overall purpose of the
lesson is for them to understand that they will benefit by purposefully choosing to
study the text.
Ask them what questions they have about the text. Not the context of who wrote it
or when was it released, but rather questions like: “Why is the clock not a normal
clock?” or “What does the ending mean?” Or “At what point is he the happiest?”
Have them share their questions and jot them on the board under the heading
“Third Viewing.” Students will add these questions to their graphic organizer.
Ask students to think about these questions as they watch the film again and to
write down answers they discover while they watch.
Watch the film again.
Discuss their answers to the questions.
Have them write down strategy #4: “Ask questions while studying texts.”
Discuss that by asking questions students understand that their first and second
impressions are still not a complete understanding of the text. Discuss that by
asking questions they are able to focus their study of the text on deeper ideas than
they would otherwise discover.
Ask them how these questions deepen their understanding of the theme of the film?
What new or more in-depth ideas do they have now? Jot these up on the board.
Closure and Assessment (10 minutes):
Mention that if we had the time we could watch the film one or two more times,
notice new details we have missed, have deeper conversations with others, ask
more questions that lead us further into the text and the world we live in, and
ultimately we could arrive at some truly awe-inspiring ideas that come out of the
text. Ask them if they agree. (They should. If they don’t, then it’s time to assess why
they don’t. Were they not engaged? Was the text to hard?)
Ask how often they have taken the time to apply all these strategies to the texts they
study, whether it’s in English class, or social studies, or science, or a hobby they are
pursuing on their own. Likely they will say they rarely do, if ever. Ask why.
Perhaps they will say because they didn’t know the strategies. Respond by asking if
they will take the time now to apply all the strategies. They may yes, and then you
can ask why. They may say no, and you can remind them that the purposeful study
they’ve done has brought them from their thoughts after the first viewing to where
they are now after the third viewing. You can remind them they just admitted they
could go even further into the text and come up with absolutely brilliant ideas, so
why wouldn’t they take the time to apply the strategies?
Ultimately students should come to the realization that choosing to purposefully
study a text can truly help them, and that they now have some strategies to use to
study a text.