Lesson 4: Viewing the Movie
What's on for today and why?
This lesson, which actually takes four days, includes the viewing of the rest of the film in class.  Each day there will be a predetermined amount of time dedicated to watching the film.  The rest of the time will be occupied with previewing activities to keep students interested and involved with tie ins and activities and a postviewing review of some of the observations made by the group in charge of keeping the "Film Critic's Viewing Guide" for that day.  The "Film Critic's Viewing Guide" will be updated online everyday by the group responsible so they only need to share highlights in class.
What to do:
Day One:
Previewing Activity: Read a short tall tale aloud to the students in such a way that you capture the active storytelling tradition on which these tales are based.  I found this tale on AmericanFolklore.net that fits nicely with the tales the students are working on.  The Birth of Paul Bunyan
Viewing the movie:  Play scenes 2-6 (20 minutes)
Postviewing activity:Have the groups responsible for the first two days of viewing review what they recorded on the "Film Critic's Viewing Guide".
Day Two:
Previewing Activity:  Today students will be bringing in their drafts of the tall tale version of their births.  Have the students pair up and respond to each other's stories using the Writing a Tall Tale Peer Response Worksheet. The final draft will be due in two days.
Viewing the movie: Play scenes 7-10 (18 minutes)
Postviewing Activity: Today's group will present what they recorded on the "Flim Critc's Viewing Guide".
Day Three:
Previewing Activity: Illustrated Tall Tales: Go to your local library and take out a bunch of illustrated versions of tall tales (Click here for suggested titles).  Point out to students that images are an interpretation of the story.  Each picture book has a slightly different interpretation of the text of the story as well as the visual representations of that story.  Have the students get into groups and take 7-10 minutes to look at the different images.
Viewing the movie:Play scenes 11-18 (35 minutes)
Postviewing Activity: Today's group will present what they recorded on the "Film Critic's Viewing Guide".  Remind class to bring their revised and typed tall tales to class.
Homework: Draw an image which is in itself an interpretation of your tale.  Tommorrow the final draft of the story and the image will be due.
Day Four:
Previewing Activity: Since there is a considerable amount of the film to be viewed this day there will be no previewing activity - go straight to the film!
Viewing the film:Play scenes 19-28 (40 minutes)
Postviewing Activity:Have the group responsible for the day present what they recorded on the "Film Critic's Viewing Guide".
How did it go?
Were student's engaged while watching the movie?  Did the groups responsible for critiquing the film pick up on the techniques that were used in the film?  Did the students provide constructive criticisms of eachother's stories?  Were the stories revised not to fix errors but to work on the idea being presented through the story?  Did they come up with an image which reflected an interpretation of their story?
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