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a Movie
Writing
HELEN HOFFNER
action!
camera,
Lights,
movie.
students
It's time to write a
sit on stools before a
room darkens and the
I found particular success using this technique when
asked to work with a group of eight students,
Their in
ages 10 to 12, with learning disabilities.
Indiana
reading levels ranged from grade 2 to
in
4.
students had not found success
These
grade
litera
school
and
settings,
they approached
typical
Eight
The
large television.
gripping opening scenes of the film,
Jones
and the Last Crusade (Spielberg, 1989), fill the
screen. A
student
rises and falls with
the scenes.
His voice
of the film's ac
areWriting
and his classmates
describes
the crescendo
Iwas
structional
cy instruction with great resistance. Their teacher
informed me that they preferred group projects be
cause they enjoyed
the support offered by their
tions. This student
aMovie. They are showcasing
their talents in read
as
for their parents
ing and writing
they perform
and members
of their school community.
a Movie
of Readers
is a variation
Writing
classmates
and felt less pressure when they worked
aMovie
as part of a team. I used theWriting
tech
to
of
these
students
and
the
attention
nique
grab
Theatre.
The Literacy Dictionary
defines Readers
as "A performance
of literature, as a story,
play, poetry, etc. read aloud expressively
by one or
more persons, rather than acted" (Harris & Hodges,
a teacher
1995, p. 206). To use Readers Theatre,
a
and students select
script to read and dramatize.
build motivation
The
scene of the movie,
Theatre
students
parts and practice
reading
leads
rereading done in rehearsals
choose
their lines. The
to fluency.
The performer's
goal in Readers Theatre
read a script so expressively
that the audience
is to
can
the action (Martinez, Roser, & Strecker,
aMovie works
in reverse because
1999). Writing
a
the visual
To write
input is already present.
students view a short film segment (5 to 10
movie,
and write a script in which
minutes)
they describe
visualize
the scene. The exciting music of the film's sound
as the students
track can play in the background
read their script expressively.
I searched
adventure
10-minute
works
that have a great deal of action
segments
and little or no dialogue work best for this project.
The Reading
Teacher
of Indiana
sequence
terests
and needs
of
this group.
Indiana Jones
Vol. 57, No. 1
Jones
and
In the opening
as a
is depicted
teenager on a Boy Scout camping
trip, Indiana Jones sees robbers
the
trip. During
a
stealing
gold
several perilous sit
cross from a cave, and he faces
uations as he tries to recover the treasure
from
the
robbers. The young adventurer jumps onto a mov
ing circus train, falls into a snake pit, battles a hun
train cars,
gry lion, races across the tops of moving
10
and escapes from robbers on horseback. Those
action for stu
minutes
of film provide tremendous
dents
to describe
in their writing
reading presentation.
My students decided
as a group
to write
vision
September
2003
the Indiana Jones
to use a
planned
sen
to
record
Approach
and vid?ocassette
the chalkboard
and in their oral
effort. We
Language
Experience
tences dictated by the students. We
best
Film
78
opening
theLast Crusade (Spielberg, 1989)matched the in
script
Action
film
for writing and reading.
for an action-packed,
highly visual
for my group of eight students. The
and began.
placed the tele
(VCR) next to
I played a brief portion
recorder
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of the film
the students to describe what
in that scene. A student raised his
and asked
was
happening
hand and gave
SUGGESTED FILMS FOR
WRITING A MOVIE
the opening
"Indiana
sentence,
and another Boy Scout saw robbers steal a
gold cross from the cave." Iwrote that sentence on
to watch chunks of
the chalkboard. We continued
Jones
showing each portion, I stopped
to describe
and asked the students
the film. After
the
videotape
the
Annie (Spielberg,1982)
It'sa hard knock life for Annie and her fellow orphans.
Students can describe the opening scene inwhich Annie
and the other orphans are forced to clean the orphanage
from top to bottom.
LT.: TheExtra-Terrestrial(Spielberg,1982)
segment
they had just seen. At times the students
offered sentences
that clearly described
the scene.
a
was
or
student's
When
confus
vague
description
ing, I asked probing questions
clarify his or her ideas. We
As the film opens,
to help the student
rewound
the film,
again, and asked the entire
us
to
describe
the scene
group
help
clearly.
our script was a group project, we worked
Because
for consensus.
Students
that they described
the script was written,
When
the animal
the scenes.
the film
we
made
revisions
plain that better." The first sentences dictated by the
students were often dry retellings
with few de
or
In
words
later
the
revisions,
scriptive
phrases.
students
added colorful
words
to bring excitement
to their script.
Practice
makes
the script was finished, we were ready to
parts and begin rehearsals. At that point I
assign
was able to step back and appoint a director for our
project. As Iworked with the students I noticed one
names are pseudonyms),
boy, Kyle (all children's
seemed
to have
the respect of his classmates.
The students followed Kyle's
it was
lead, whether
or
use
s
to
I
decided
influ
positive
negative.
Kyle'
ence upon his classmates
to heighten
their interest
in reading
and writing.
kingdom
leap across
the savannah,
is a won
Words
such as savannah,
herd, and stampede
Kyle guided the class individing the script into
eight parts, one for each student. The students were
to read their parts silently,
given a few moments
we
and then
the videotape.
Kyle kept a
played
steady eye on the film and signaled each student
when itwas his or her turn to read. During
the first
reading, the students' attention was focused upon
and there was little expression
in
recognition
re
their reading. As the boys and girls worked,
they
in
alized that they needed a great deal of practice
word
perfect
When
who
adventure.
TheWizardof Oz (Fleming,1939)
There are many excellent scenes to describe inthis clas
sic film.Students could describe Dorothy's tripalong the
yellow brick road as she meets the Scarecrow, TinMan,
and CowardlyLion.The tornado scene inwhich Dorothy's
house iswhisked to Oz also offers a great deal of action
to be described.
to the script,
their conversation
showed that they had begun to
think of their audience. They made comments
such
ex
to
as, "The audience won't get it. You've
got
the students
Indiana Jones's
can be introduced.
When reading their scripts,studentswill
have to blend theirwords with themusic. Thiswill require
extra attention to timing,but it isa valuable skill.
segment
again
read the script as the students watched
the film.
then
made
in
revisions
sections
where
They
they
felt that their script did not match the film.
As
young
derful segment for students to describe. Students can ex
pand their vocabulary by using proper terminology for
accurately.
the 10
played
in its entirety. This time I
minute
can describe
The LionKing (Allers&Minkoff, 1994)
The opening "circleof life"scene, inwhich members of
The students sharpened
their writing
skills as
we wrote the script together. We had to constantly
to clarify points and
stop and start the videotape
look for details in the film. The students wanted to
be certain
lands and E.T., the Extra
IndianaJones and the LastCrusade (Spielberg,1989)
The first 10minutes of this film are filled with action.
at the scene
looked
a spaceship
Terrestrial, steps out to explore the earth. Suddenly, the
spaceship leaves the earth and E.T. is leftbehind. Intheir
script, students could describe the terror and abandon
ment felt by E.T. inthose opening moments of the film.
to pace their words with the film. We sched
uled time for the students to practice reading their
The section of the film
script with the videotape.
order
we
chose
already contained dramatic background
to the per
music. We felt that it added excitement
so
we
let
the
audio
formance,
original
portion of
the film play in the background
the parts they had written.
as the students
TEACHING
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79
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the stu
There were many rehearsals
in which
the
video
with
their
dents practiced
script
reading
took
start
of each rehearsal, Kyle
charge
tape. At the
near the
and arranged the students in a semicircle
the stu
continued,
one
of
anoth
increasingly
supportive
on
phrasing and
positive suggestions
and VCR. As practice
television
dents became
er. They made
the addition
When
ready, they decided to share itwith other
in the school. The excitement
generated by
the
oral reading made
the film and the powerful
a
success.
served
That
performance
presentation
classes
two of which were
classes,
to duplicate
the project. One class wrote
motivated
scene of the film E.T.: The
a script for the opening
Extra-Terrestrial
1982). The other class
(Spielberg,
ful
for other
a script
wrote
in which
introductory
scenes
they described
of the Disney
the beauti
film,
The
Lion King (Allers& Minkoff, 1994).
aMovie
Benefits ofWriting
aMovie
offered several benefits for the
Writing
the script, there was an au
students. After writing
thentic reason for the students to engage in repeat
to practice
for their
had
ed readings.
They
have shown
Studies
(Dowhower,
performance.
1987; Samuels,
1979) that repeated readings can
lead to improved word recognition,
comprehension,
aMovie
and fluency. Writing
encouraged
repeated
purposeful manner.
readings in an age-appropriate,
As
students
lary. They
meaning
covered
their script, my
to their reading vocabu
and revised
they practiced
added new words
to convey
to use precise words
The boys and girls dis
that vocabulary,
timing, and expression
needed
to their audience.
were
very important
for an audience.
considerations
when
I found that
with these students,
as we
as
as
well
fluency
improved
comprehension
our reading to the
wrote
the script and matched
Maria
had strong word
film. Twelve-year-old
skills
but
difficulty with comprehen
recognition
had
trouble
sion. She
stating the main idea of a text
aMovie
she saw. The Writing
visual cues that helped focus
technique provided
her attention. As the children practiced their parts, I
she read or a film
80
gaze
The Reading
shift from
Teacher
looked at the film.
each part was read, Maria
the class wrote and revised
the script, Maria
the
she understood
that showed
made
suggestions
the written
story. She made the connection between
screen.
on
When
itwas her
the
word and the action
turn to read, she waited for just the right moment.
showed that she under
timing and expression
the main idea of the film. After participating
in this activity, Maria was able to read the script
fluently and discuss the scenes with her classmates.
Her
the students had to summa
on
screen.
As Iworked with Kyle
the
rize the action
I helped them identify the most
and his classmates,
de
important actions in each scene. Superfluous
To write
a movie,
the script had to be
because
eliminated
of the film
to
time
constraints
fit
the
short
relatively
a sum
our
became
script
segment. Consequently,
scene.
of
each
mary
tails were
in
students
engage
some
In
classrooms,
meaningful
repeated readings.
ac
a dry, expressionless
repeated reading becomes
or
tivity because the students do not have a purpose
a
an audience
for their rereading. During Writing
students
and performances,
Movie
rehearsals
Fluency
develops
when
reread for a purpose and receive valuable feedback
of the
and members
classmates,
teachers,
from
community.
aMovie
Writing
uses films
to develop fluency
the reading and writ
and helps students understand
a
learn to summarize
Students
ing connection.
scene from a film, write a script, and read with ex
aMovie
brings drama to
pression and flair. Writing
and inspires
the classroom
for an audience.
students
to read and
write
Hoffner teaches at Holy Family University
(Grant and Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
19114-2094, USA).
reading
In working
saw Maria's
As
stood
of descriptive words and phrases.
the students finally felt that the perform
ance was
as a model
When
~riF>i
readwritethmk
KULtl
^ReadingAssociation
out the related lesson plan
and
"Writing aMovie: Summarizing
a Film Script" available on
Rereading
ReadWriteThink.org
Check
(www.readwritethink.org).
the script to the film.
Vol. 57, No. 1
IliarCOpolo
September
2003
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References
Allers, R.(&Minkoff, R. (Directors). (1994). The LionKing [Motion
picture]. United States: Disney Studios.
Dowhower, S.L. (1987). Effects of repeated reading on second
grade transitional readers' fluency and comprehension.
Reading Research Quarterly, 22,389-407.
Fleming, V. (Director). (1939). The Wizard of Oz [Motion pic
ture]. United States: Warner Studios.
Harris, T.L.,& Hodges, R.E. (1995). The literacy dictionary: The
vocabulary of reading and writing. Newark, DE: International
Reading Association.
Tip?
H>^
TEA<=
Houston, J. (Director). (1982). Annie [Motion picture]. United
States: Columbia Tri-Star.
Martinez,
M., Roser,
N., & Strecker,
S. (1999).
"I never
thought
could be a star":A Readers Theatre ticket to fluency. The
Reading Teacher 52,326-334.
Samuels, S.J. (1979). The method of repeated readings. The
Reading Teacher 32,403-408.
Spielberg, S. (Director). (1982). E.T.: The extra-terrestrial
[Motionpicture]. United States: Universal Studios.
Spielberg, S. (Director). (1989). IndianaJones and the last cru
sade [Motionpicture]. United States: Paramount Studio.
TEACHING
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