HistoryThroughFilm

AnExplorationofSignificanceandEmotiveRepercussionsinHistoricalTragedyThrough
Film.

Mr.York
CrestomereSchool
WolfCreekPublicSchoolDivision
TrimesterOne,2014

Coursedescription

ClassroomCultureELE1

Inthisunitstudentsareencouragedtospeakfreelyaboutemotionsandfeelings.Because
studentsarenotnecessarilyusedtoexpressingthesematters,therewillbeanumberof
activitiesdesignedtohelpfacilitateopenconversation.Constantfeedbackandreassurance
astothepositivityofourcommunicationswillbenecessary.

Stage1DesiredResults

ClearlyIdentifiedOutcomesELE2

EssentialQuestions
howareemotionaltraumaandmemoriespreservedthroughfilm?
howdohistoricaltragediesinfluencefilms?
whatisthesignificanceofafilmsabilitytopreservetheemotionsandmemoriesofa
historicaltragedy?
Studentswillunderstandthat
filmscapturepersonalunderstandingsoftheeventssurroundingtheircreation
personalfeelingsandemotionsareofteninterspersedthroughoutafilmbyitscreators
emotionalawarenesscanbuildconnectivityandpersonalrelationswithfilms
althoughtwofilmsarecreatedbydifferentcultures,emotionsareauniversallanguage
despitebeingmadeaftertwoseparatehistoricaltragedies,thefilmsportrayemotions
insimilarways
despitehavingasimilarpremise,eachfilmrelatesbacktoitsoriginalinfluence
distinctly
Studentswillbeableto
describetheinfluencehistoricaleventshaduponafilmcreatedafteritsimpact
transferunderstandingonto/intocreativeendeavoursandprojects
haveearnestdiscussionsaboutemotionsandfeelingswithinthecontextofafilm

Stage2AssessmentEvidence

PreassessmentELE3

Preassessmentforthiscourseisdiscussionbasedcentredaroundthemainquestionwhat
doyou(ie.students)knowabout[event]?Becausethiscourseisanoptionscourse,the
contentbeingpreassessedisnotreliantuponanexistingfoundationofhistoricalknowledge
however,anypreexistingknowledgewillhelpstudentsunderstandtheoverallimpactof
events.Thiscourseisamixofstudentsgrades69sotherewillbeavarietyofknowledge
basestherefore,youngerstudentswillberelianton,notonlyinformationthattheteachercan

provideasititmostlikelynewinformationbutalsoanyguidancethatolderstudentscan
helpfacilitatefromtheirknowledgebases.

FormativeAssessmentELE10

Formativeassessmentswillbedonethroughactivitieslistedintheexperiencingthenew
knowledgesection.Toensurethatstudentsaredelineatinggoalsinanefficientmanner,
constantfeedbacktotheseassessmentwillbemadeinclassroomdiscussionsboththrough
peersandinstructors.Duetothecoursebeinganoptionsclass,formativefeedbackwillbe
madeinunofficialstructures(ie.onthespot,orwithoutwritten/physicalmanifestations)
SummativeAssessmentsELE12

Duetothefactthatthisisanoptionscourse,therewillbeonefinal,summative,assessment
madeattheendofthecourse.Thisassessmentisafinalfilmposterofafilmthatconnectsto
ahistoricaleventwithasynopsisormoviecritiquedisplayingaconnectionbetweenthe
eventandtheintendedmovie,allcreatedbythestudent.
RubricsandExemplarsELE5

Studentswillbegivenanexemplarofwhattheirfinalprojectistolooklike,createdbythe
instructor,butshallhavestudentscompareittoanexample(alsocreatedbyinstructor)that
doesnotmeetexpectations.

Aswell,whencompletinganyactivitieswithintheclass,theinstructorshallcompletethem
withstudents(ie.theirowncopy)soastohelpfacilitatetheirlearningthroughexamplework.
TrackingandCommunicatingOutcomesELE9

Studentsandtheinstructorwillearnestlydiscussallassessmentsandactivitiesaftertheyare
completed,andstudentswillbepresentedwithaleadingquestionforeveryactivity.The
leadingquestionwilldirectlycorrespondtotheoutcomesforthecourse.Also,manyofthe
outcomeswillbeexpressedwithindirectquestionsaspartofactivitieswithintheclass.For
example,thestudentswillbeabletocanbeconvertedintoquestionformforthefinal
project/endoffilmjournal.
Stage3:LearningPlan

IntroductiontoNewKnowledgeELE6

MuchofthehookforstudentsistheabilitytowatchKaijufilmswithinthecoursean
experiencethattheydonotreceiveinotherclasses.Theoptionscourseisalsoselfenrolled,
thusstudentsalreadyhaveaninclinationtotakethecourse.Thefollowingactivitiesare
intendedtohelpintroducestudentstotheinformationandemotiveunderstandingsthecourse
requires
DocumentaryViewings

 Classdiscussions
GooglepresentationofMyBiggestQuestions

ExperiencingtheNewKnowledgeELE7

Tohelpstudentsfacilitatenewunderstandingintotheirownschema,theactivitiesare
designedtorelyuponpreviousexperienceswithgrief,loss,sadness,andotheremotive
understandings.Theinstructorwillcompletetheirownexamplesoftheactivitieswhile
studentsare,soastohelpfacilitatestudentsintheirexpressionofemotivelanguageand
processing.Thefollowingactivitiesareintendedtohelpstudentsexperiencetheemotive
understandingsthecourseisdesignedtodemonstrate
Hiroshima/NagasakiSurvivorJournal
9/11SurvivorJournal
FilmViewingoffilmthatrelatesbacktoHistoricalTragedy

DeepeningtheNewKnowledgeELE8

Muchofthecourseisbasedonrealworldconnectivityduetotherelianceonstudents
personalemotionsandunderstandinghowever,thereareseveralactivitiesdesignedto
increasestudentscognitionofthethemesandunderstandingsofthecourseinrelationtothe
filmstheywillbewatching.ThefollowingactivitiesareintendedtodeepenNewKnowledge
understandings
Postdocumentaryviewingemotivefeelingsketch
Postfilmviewingemotivefeelingsketch
Writeupofcorrelations/connectionsbetweenpostdocumentarysketchandpostfilm
sketch
Classdiscussionsontheemotiveconnectionsbetweeneventandfilm
PyramidsofInterventionELE11

Mostneedsofinterventioncanbedoneonacasebycaselevelonthespothowever,there
willbeforethoughtgiventothedifferenceinskilllevelbetweenthe69grades.Tohelp
accommodatethis,promptswillbegivenatvaryinglevels,anddifferenttypes/difficultiesof
questionswillbegiventostudentsofdifferentagesandabilities.Forinstance,studentsin
grade6maybeaskedwhattheyknowofWWII,butstudentsingrade9maybeaskedwhat
theyknowaboutatomicweaponsinWWII.Toaccommodatethisjumpinability,pairingsof
studentsacrossmultiplegradeswillbeusedasanaide.