Book-Movie "Talks" in the Classroom

I introduced the topic of Books--Screenplays--Movies in a series of 11th grade English classes in Kane County, IL, today.  It quickly became clear that the concept of a "book talk" or a "movie talk" is seen by students as an artificial assignment.

After a little discussion, the class was willing to explore movies they have seen and to look at the sources for the movies.  Some came from real life (like Freedom Writers and Blind Side), others come from books such as Stephanie Meyers Twilight series and J.K. Rawling's Harry Potter series.

I introduced the concept of audiobooks to the classes and we explored the transformations from a book to a screenplay to a movie.  None of the students was familiar with The Thin Man and many had read one or more Harry Potter or Twilight books and has seen the movies.

For another class when students remember more of what they read and saw, an excellent exercise is to have them get into small groups and to share what they found important in the book and in the movie and how the movie differs from the book.

Today's conversation also included books that have been created based on successful TV Shows (Star Trek) and movies based on successful video games.

Actually talking about what they are seeing and reading is an important part of building a social awareness of communication in English.

Many students are planning on seeing Avatar this weekend.  It will be interesting to see what they can discuss about the movie next week.