SUPPORT FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS

Providing English Learners multiple opportunities to engage both their receptive (listening, reading) and productive (speaking, writing) language skills is critical for language development.  While studying a film more naturally engages our receptive language skills, Movie Guides embed opportunities throughout a lesson for ELD teachers to ensure students also engage their productive language.  Each guide serves as an effective supplemental resource for core instruction as it targets both receptive and productive skills through the four domains of language

  • Reading – provides students a visual representation of the themes, concepts or skills that they may be reading about in class, and connect the film’s concepts, themes and plot to movie guide questions in written form
  • Writing – written answers provide evidence that students are thinking critically as they analyze and evaluate developments in the film
  • Speaking – multiple collaboration questions in each guide target opinion writing and students are encouraged to share and evaluate their ideas with a partner/group
  • Listening – aside from listening to dialogue in the film, listening becomes key when identifying whether or not students agree with their peers and their arguments in collaboration questions
ELD Support

Supports WIDA’s Key Language Uses:

Questions within K12 Movie Guides target WIDA’s key language uses, emphasizing language use for particular purposes.

  • Narrate – students summarize scenes and character interaction in their own words to support argumentation
  • Inform – students compare and contrast characters’ personalities and attitudes towards events, ideas, and other characters within the film
  • Explain – students use details from film to account for why things happen and end results
  • Argue – students justify opinions using evidence from the film in addition to their own reasoning and logic

General Tips:

  • For students at beginning levels of proficiency, assign Movie Guide prompts and questions that align directly to current language goals or areas of focus
  • Turn volume up loud enough so dialogue can be clearly heard
  • Preview the next question on the guide after completing the previous one
  • If time allows, ask students if they need to re-watch important scenes in the film

Movie Guide/License Bundle

  • Ask your administration about potential eligibility for resource funding