Christmas-related High School Learning with a MOVIE? Bah! Humbug!

Christmas-related high school learning with a MOVIE? Bah! Humbug!

Actually, not a humbug at all, Mr. Scrooge.

Cinema Studies for Literature Learning: A Christmas Carol take teens on a no-busywork journey into the literary elements of a beautifully-told story on the silver screen.

Some teens are natural bookworms.
Some aren’t book-lovers, but they grab onto the ideas of literary analysis pretty easily.
Other high school students struggle with reading comprehension to the degree that analyzing what they’ve read feels overwhelming.

But learning to move beyond simple comprehension is an important part of literature learning in high school, and all teens need to be given tools that will help them master these skills.

Using a Cinema Studies for Literature Learning guide is a great idea for any teen, but struggling readers, in particular, find the freedom to think below the surface of the story when they aren’t having to work so hard to simply read and comprehend the material on the page.

Good movies tell good stories and tell them well. The same literary elements present in a work of literature (foreshadowing, character development, setting, tone, motif, dialogue, etc.) are present in a good movie as well. This cinema studies guide series from 7Sisters Homeschool helps teens take note of elements they would otherwise likely miss, and encourage them to talk about and write about the ideas these elements inspire.

Our first Cinema Studies for Literature Learning guide was written to accompany the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott. We’ve been using these guides with teens in our local community and seeing great success! The teens think deep thoughts and share what they are thinking…and they have fun doing it!

Here’s how you use Cinema Studies for Literature Learning Guide: A Christmas Carol:

Read the introductory material (just a paragraph or so).
Look up the definitions of a few vocabulary words from the movie.
Watch the movie with the study guide at your side. Make notes that answer the questions as you go. You may want to pause the movie from time to time.
After the final credits roll, look back over your notes and move on to the deeper questions that call for a few sentences of thoughtful response.
Watch the movie a second time on another day, and then write an essay or short personal response paper from one of the writing prompts offered.

Check out 7Sisters’ homeschool curriculum bundle for more fun Christmas learning.

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