Exemplar 3 Looking for the Uniqueness of Film Reviews

This exemplar will help you understand:

1. how flipped classroom can be used to arouse students’ curiosity to explore the uniqueness of film reviews; and

2. how multiple texts can enable students to study different texts in groups with specific focuses as they still have the opportunity to learn from a variety of quality texts.

Lesson Piloted by: Mr Vincent YEUNG Wing-shing, Po Leung Kuk Tong Nai Kan Junior Secondary College

Level of Students: Secondary 3

Focused Differentiation Strategies: Flipped Classroom, Mulitple Texts

Aim:

The lessons aim to develop students’ knowledge and skills of using English to express thoughts and to understand the art of writing techniques through film reviews.

Core Objectives (for all students):

By the end of the lessons, students will be able to:

1. understand and interpret ideas, information, facts, opinions and intentions in specific aspects of more than one film review; and

2. develop vocabulary, analyse the format and techniques used in a film review.

Extended Objectives (for high ability/gifted students):

By the end of the lessons, the high ability/gifted students will be able to:

1. understand how English language can be studied through popular culture such as film reviews; and

2. define the uniqueness of a text type, i.e. film reviews.

Lesson Design and Flow:

Flipped classroom: Students read a short film review as flipped classroom preparation. The preparation invites students to think about the purposes of the text type and be prepared for in-depth discussion in the class. Appendix 4.1.3a offers you suggestions for adaptation.

Objectives Learning Activities/Procedure Materials 1. Why film reviews?

• Watch a trailer¹. Ask your students if a trailer, as a visual, multimedia text type, can take the place of a film review. Discuss in pairs. Use a Venn Diagram, where appropriate, to compare and contrast the purposes of a trailer and a film review.

Stage I of Heightening Anticipation:

• To identify the limitations of an apparently-appealing

multimedia trailer

• To inquire about whether those limitations can be relieved by film reviews

Flipped classroom equipped the students with a sense of

responsibility for finding out the whys and hows together at the

➢ Choose a trailer that will arouse your students’

interest. Interest matters at this Stage of Heightening Anticipation.

➢ Provide remedial support to the weaker students where necessary by guiding them to analyse the key points of the assigned trailer with your hints.

• Read the film review, “Saving Mr. Banks”.

Use the SL Scale, as in Appendix 4.1.3b, to guide students to analyse the purposes of the review by finding out the advantages (i.e. strengths) and the drawbacks (i.e. the limitations) of it.

• Built on the concepts from the discussion, you may help students generalise the advantages and drawbacks of “Saving Mr.

Banks” to elaborate on the qualities of an appealing film review. Make a list of the good qualities.

Appendix 4.1.3b

• The advantages which your students are able to identify can be the techniques your students will further develop or innovate, while the drawbacks can be the areas in which your students could generate ways to improve.

• The discussions arising from the study of the film review will enable you to identify goals for the coming reading and writing workshops of film reviews with your students based on their readiness.

“That will depend…”The students were seriously thinking about the qualities of an effective film review.

Formulating concepts for an overarching topic is essential for differentiated in-depth study in a mixed-ability classroom.

2. Reading workshop

• Present the big question “Should we describe the features or analyse the benefits of a film in a film review?” as a common task for all to ponder.

• Have students read multiple texts in groups with differentiated focuses of study:

➢ High ability/gifted groups study article 1 and/or 3. Their areas of study are:

a) to find out the features of the target film;

b) to list the techniques which the writer uses to make

recommendations implicitly and explicitly; and

c) to analyse and discuss how

recommendations sometimes work better when they are made implicitly.

➢ Average groups study article 1 and/or 2.

Their areas of study are:

a) to find out the features of the target film;

b) to identify the language or vocabulary rhetorically used and analyse their effects;

c) to evaluate how the language is employed successfully to persuade audience that the film is a can’t-miss one or how the language fails.

• Groups present views. Tap points from students’ responses to bring up the overarching strategies of writing a film review. Guide students to reach a consensus on the criteria of a successful film review.

See Appendix 4.1.3c.

Stage II of Deepening the Expectations:

• To search for meanings and implications from ambiguities between the features and benefits of film reviews

• To develop strategies to write effective recommendations for film reviews

Examples of articles²

Appendix 4.1.3c

• Using multiple texts as a differentiation strategy appropriately will:

- allow your students to study more than one text in groups meaningfully for in-depth analysis of a topic or a literary technique;

- help your students learn to construct concepts from common myths and established theories based on different sources and theories; and

- increase your students’ reading exposure.

3. Extended writing workshop

• Depending on their learning progress and the time available, have students apply, evaluate and refine an agreed criteria of a successful film review based on the knowledge and skills covered in the reading workshop.

• Conduct a writing workshop³ to encourage students to do one of the following:

- Apply the criteria based on a self-selected film review; or

- Write a film review or create a blog to recommend a film based on the criteria or beyond them with justifications.

Stage III of Extending the Learning: To develop criteria as a model for further study of film reviews

Notes:

1. This is a suggested trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujxpk2IdDmM. You may consider creating English subtitles as remedial support for less able students, if needed, by using the following applications available online free of charge:

- Audio Recorder for Free: http://www.audio-tool.net/products/audiorecorderforfree.php - Speech to Text: https://speech-to-text-demo.mybluemix.net/

2. Examples of articles:

(i) http://goo.gl/q2Gx7p

(ii) http://www.timeout.com/london/film/frozen-2013 (iii) http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/childs-pose-2014 3. More references about writing film reviews:

(i) http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Movie-Review (ii) http://goo.gl/DBFO9C

(iii) http://www.slideshare.net/helpwithassignment/how-to-write-a-movie-critique

Appendix 4.1.3a