Summer is the time for long lazy days and weekends spent lounging around the house. For some families, summer lends itself to nights watching movies together without the stress of early bedtimes or hectic school schedules.
Last week School Smarts discussed how parents could boost children's academic skills over the summer. This week we continue this discussion by describing additional ways to give everyday activities, such as watching videos, an academic twist.
Selecting a movie
While your kids may argue for the latest (and goriest) flick, this is not always the best choice. Be on the lookout for movie classics and steer youngsters toward these. Disney movies are leaders in this area but there are many more.
Try to select movies with a definite plot that requires thinking and anticipation, two important reading skills. Consider classics such as "A Raisin in the Sun" or "West Side Story." These examples are tame compared to TV shows and videos today, a comfort to parents worrying about their kids getting exposed to sex, violence, and profanity.
Another idea is to select a G-rated, older mystery. Mysteries require thinking skills tied to reading success. Be enthusiastic about your long- time favorites and your kids will pick up on the excitement.
Getting set to view the movie
Before watching the movie, ask your child questions such as what do you think this will be about? What on the cover of the movie gives you hints about this? Praise their predictions, even if they are way off base.
Generating predictions is an important reading skill. For K-4 readers, practice reading the title together a few times and then have children read it by themselves out loud. Praise their efforts.
Another idea is to discuss words in the movie's title and ask your child what they mean. Then have them create sentences involving the word. For the newest readers, have them generate rhyming words associated with the title. For example, if the title is Winnie the Pooh, you might brainstorm with your child what words rhyme with Pooh.
Another activity is to have your child think of as many words as possible that start with a certain letter of the alphabet found in the title. This raises kids' awareness of letters and the sounds they make, a skill that's a major predictor of future reading success.
Watching the movie
As you snuggle on the couch together with a bowel of popcorn, keep track of some of the challenging words that are used in the dialogue. Periodically ask your child what they think will happen next?
After the movie
After the movie, talk to your child about how they felt about the story. What did they like? Dislike? Why?
Ask them to think of what it reminded them of, validate their comments, and avoid judging them. Comments such as "no," "you're wrong," or "that wasn't what the movie was about" can destroy a child's fragile self-esteem. Remember to keep the activity fun!
At the end of the movie, discuss some of the vocabulary words you noted with your child and explore what they mean. Have your child try using them in a sentence.
Another idea is to have your child dictate the events in the story to you. These can be placed on flashcards or just written on strips of paper. Then practice reading these events together. For an added challenge, shuffle these strips of paper and have your child put them in the correct sequence of events. Sequencing builds a child's recall ability and their memory skills.
To boost comprehension try asking your child questions that involve either recalling specific details or that get him to infer what happened in the movie. For example, a direct recall question from the movie Cinderella would be, "what did Cinderella ride in to get to the ball?" or "what did she lose at the ball?"
An example of questions that require your child to infer (read between the lines) might be, "how do you think Cinderella felt when she had to do chores all day long?" or "why were her stepsisters mean to her?"
A third type of comprehension question involves getting the child to reason out an answer about choices that people, or animals, made in the movie. For example, "was it right for Cinderella's family to make her stay home from the ball why or why not?" or "was it fair for Cinderella's Fairy Godmother to insist she come home at a certain hour, why or why not?"
A fun activity for fifth- to-seventh-grade students is to write a collection of movie reviews in a bound volume: a great holiday gift for another relative. Or, have your kids role play scenes from the movie. You can even encourage your children to imagine extending the movie by adding a character to the cast or posing a question such as, "what would happen if...?"
Movies often lend themselves to the creation of other stories. Encourage your children to write their own screenplays with dialogue and act them out. If you have a camcorder, record the event.
Watching movies together is a wonderful, and inexpensive, pastime that can have great academic benefits. Your kids may think they are just watching a movie, but only you will know they are building their school smarts!
School Smarts is a new, twice-monthly column written by experienced educator Mary Sanford for parents of K-12 children. We enthusiastically welcome your questions and concerns! Send questions to editor@sdistrictjournal.com[[In-content Ad]]
