With more exciting news in our Resources category (such as the Prelinger Archives and Portraits of America posts this year), the Library of Congress has announced that the National Screening Room is now online and features extensive resources for media literacy education. Many items from this vital national archive are now accessible to the general public and classrooms across the country (and world). As noted in an article by CBS News, among its highlights are: the classic Edwin S. Porter short The Great Train Robbery (featured for study in Chapter 2), the 1953 feature The Hitch-Hiker by Ida Lupino (a prime director for study with Chapter 5), and a wide variety of diverse types of media such as advertisements, PSAs, and home movies that are discussed in such posts as What Exactly is that Movie? on mediateacher.net and in our investigations of motion picture language and screenwriting throughout Moving Images.
Archive for the ‘Chapter 6’ Category
Critical Thinking Through Short Docs
Posted in Chapter 6, Media Literacy, Social Studies, tagged Film Club, Learning Network, Michael Kellen, New York Times, Reader Idea Resource on August 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Here is a superb resource for media literacy courses: the “Film Club” Learning Network offered by The New York Times. From this site, you can find short documentary films, most under 10 minutes, and related discussion questions.
And here is a Reader Idea resource created by English teacher Michael Kellen that features lessons with the shorts Girl Boxer and Arctic Boyhood.
Media Literacy and Social Studies: Portraits of America
Posted in Chapter 6, Resources, Social Studies, tagged Film Foundation, Library of Congress, Portraits of America: Democracy on Film, The Story of Movies on July 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »
This year, Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation has added a new initiative to its The Story of Movies educational program: Portraits of America: Democracy on Film. This eight-section curriculum was developed by the Film Foundation in partnership with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and with support from the Library of Congress. Its modules include such themes as The Immigrant Experience, The American Laborer, The American Woman, and Politicians and Demagogues. Here are articles on the initiative from Indie Wire and Market Watch.
Science is Back
Posted in Chapter 6, tagged Bill Nye Saves the World, Bill Nye: Science Guy on April 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »
In the currents and eddies of media making, popular culture, and idea flow, it can be hard to predict when and how messages become fresh or cool or accessible. And among fortuitous, of-the-moment occasions, the return of Bill Nye could not seem more apt. So here is a cross-curricular message for our friends from the world of Science: Bill Nye Saves the World is streaming on Netflix. Not only that, but a documentary about the man and his career has been produced, Bill Nye: Science Guy, which premiered at SXSW.
The Chemistry of Prejudice
Posted in Chapter 4, Chapter 6, tagged Avant-Garde, Cinematography, Color, Color Film and Racism, P. Adams Sitney, Race: The Power of an Illusion on March 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Decades ago, Princeton professor P. Adams Sitney first integrated these lessons into his work on cinematic history and its hidden lessons, along with adventures in the Avant-Garde. Check out the embedded video above and your eyes (and mind) may be opened a bit more.
Speaking of dispelling illusions, here is a related recommendation — Race: The Power of an Illusion is an exceptional documentary referenced in Moving Images and which explores the complex story of what we call “race” in America. You can learn more about it here.
