Towards the end of the day, I like to muse aloud about what I'm thinking for the plans for the next school day. It was Thursday afternoon, and I didn't really have anything planned for Friday.
So, I asked the class if there was something they wanted to do on Friday.
Jennifer: We could watch a movie.
That was kind of what I wanted, but I didn't want to inundate them with movies. But if the idea came from them...
Then I asked what movie they'd want to see. Jennifer said she wouldn't mind seeing Sneakerella again.
(Then we got off on a tangent as to why it wasn't called Sneakers. This is where I explained that it was a remake of Cinderella and how the title was meant to evoke that. Jennifer was unfamiliar with Cinderella, something I should probably rectify, so I explained the basic plot of the original, pointing out how Sneakerella used those elements. Jennifer didn't grasp the concept.)
This whole past week, Jonas has been using his free computer time to play the songs from the movie, so I wasn't surprised that he was okay with watching the movie again.
On Friday, movie time, and I started the movie. Penelope had been out the prior week (on vacation with her family), so it was new to her.
Jennifer took a count of the songs. (We thought there had been six songs. We were wrong. There were nine, with a reprise of the first song at the end. I explained what a reprise was to Jennifer.)
When the first song came on, Jonas got up to dance along. And it was clear he had been watching the songs all week as he was pretty close to the choreography of the dancers. (He's no dancer by a long shot, but for his ability level, his dancing was a match to what was on screen.) I even got him to put on his glasses (something he resists) so he could see the movie better.
Because we have other things that we have to do as well, I had to pause the movie a couple times. (We have lunch duty on Fridays. And we had to break for lunch.) Each time, Penelope asked for her computer to watch videos to keep herself entertained. When it was time to start the movie again, she closed her computer. (She'll watch her own thing many times, so that she closed her computer herself tells me that she was into the movie.)
All in all, it was a nice afternoon on a Friday. I may be leaning too heavily on movie days, but when you read this, we'll have three more days of school. We're almost there.
At this point in time (almost at the end of the school year) bring on the movies! You are finding ways for it to be educational, and because they are motivated to watch it and learn from it (even if it is the story of Cinderella), it's a win for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI offered them a movie today. They said no.
DeleteSounds like your kids are getting a lot out of Sneakerella. Very cool, I think.
ReplyDeleteJust three more days! Try to stay sane!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good time for all. The days will pass.
ReplyDeleteThey will. And quickly.
DeleteIf you told them there was already a movie called Sneakers (a Robert Redford, 1992) they'd have wanted to see that! I always thought it was okay for youth, but for one cringing conversation, so I wouldn't want that kettle of fish uncovered! I also related to it, since it was in the S.F. Bay area and the bridges of the area feature into it.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to get them to wear glasses! And, when the movie is clearer, maybe they'll learn everything will be if they wear them all the time!
(Lisa - Lisa's Garden Adventure)
I did mention the spy movie. It isn't their kind of movie, so they weren't interested. I didn't go into much detail, but I wouldn't have considered it for them anyway.
DeleteKnowing that Cinderella was unfamiliar to them, I would have been tempted to play one of the many versions of that movie instead. But at this point in the year, giving the kids what they want is probably smarter.
ReplyDeleteIf it was any earlier in the year, I would have totally taken a day and had that be the movie for the day. As it is, though, we just don't have the time to do it now.
DeleteHi Liz - interesting ... but good you give them choices ... yes nearly year end - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThe end is near....
ReplyDeleteThe final countdown …
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this movie before but it's great they enjoyed it! With all the wet weather days we have been having here the kids have had so many wet lunches indoors which means movie time! We have watched some very interesting movies for our family movie nights on the weekends because the kids started watching them on a rainy lunch and wanted to see how it would end. None of them are the kind of movies we would pick, but the boys love them!
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a good weekend :) We are enjoying the sunshine after so many rainy weeks!
Away From The Blue
It's a Disney plus movie. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it.
DeleteThat's a nice way of spending the day
ReplyDeleteIt was.
DeleteAnd then it will be the end of the school year?
ReplyDeleteGreat movie time ;)
Movies were such a special treat for the classroom back in my elementary school days. Nice to see that some things don't change for young students.
ReplyDeleteThey're not young. They're only young of mind.
DeleteEven though it sounds like your Friday was not so bad its always so nice to get to FRIDAY.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I'm generally happy when we make it to Friday.
DeleteThree more days, sounds exciting. Did you find out if you're doing the summer teaching? Movie days are still learning days. After all you talked about the meanings of words, the content of the first movie etc.
ReplyDeleteI am, but not for this class. This class is going to have a very nice teacher for the summer.
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