Reel Conversations: Reading Films with Young Adults (Young Adult Literature) [Paperback]

Alan B. Teasley (Author), Ann Wilder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 1996 | Series: Young Adult Literature

From its beginnings, cinema has forged a distinct medium, a literature in its own right, as worthy of study as print literature. A good film, like a good book or poem, can delight, provoke the imagination, inspire serious though, discussion, and writing. Perhaps especially today, film can and should be an essential component in the language arts curriculum, given students' increasing reliance on visual imagery in defining their world.

In Reel Conversations, Alan Teasley and Ann Wilder discuss and demonstrate the powerful role film can play in the language arts classroom, both as a subject in itself and as a key dimension of language study. Reel Conversations provides middle and high school teachers with proven methods for teaching with and about films in conjunction with literature and composition classes. It describes techniques for instruction, details over two hundred films appropriate for classroom use, and offers a corresponding list of young adult novels. Samples of student writing in response to selected films are also provided.

Teasley and Wilder make clear the connections between the study of film and print literature. The units have been classroom tested over years and are designed for teachers who regularly use film, as well as those who are new to its uses.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Teasley and Wilder] have given the profession an invaluable, much-needed guide.”–NCETA Notes

About the Author

Alan Teasley serves as director of staff development for the Durham, North Carolina Public Schools and adjunct assistant professor in Duke University's graduate and undergraduate teacher education programs. Alan has also conducted workshops and published articles in English Journal, The ALAN Review, and The Iowa English Bulletin.

Ann Wilder teaches English, young adult literature, and mass communications at Southern High School in Durham, North Carolina, and serves as a mentor for interns in Duke University's MAT program. She has conducted workshops and published articles in English Journal, The ALAN Review, and The Iowa English Bulletin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Boynton/Cook (November 18, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867093773
• ISBN-13: 978-0867093773
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for secondary teachers, May 16, 2007

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Sachet (Dr. Fontaine Moore) (Easton, MD) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Reel Conversations: Reading Films with Young Adults (Young Adult Literature) (Paperback)

I received this book from Amazon yesterday afternoon and just finished reading it. It's not long, but I did skip through a number of sections where films were listed and described.

Having just completed a dissertation about the use of film in the classroom--although I found what was said in this book to be consistent with the literature and my own study findings--I subtracted a star for three missing pieces: lack of an index, more information about the logistics of showing a film (invaluable for teachers for whom this is a new activity), and more of a research base to address "why do this and not that." A further review of their references indicates that a basis for Teasley and Wilder's approach exists, but isn't used sufficiently for justification of their recommended methods.

For example, there are a lot of explanations made about appropriateness of a film to the audience which translates to development. Just a few references to pertinent developmental psych (or even cognitive, educational psych, or human development) would have been useful to explain not just "what" but "why." Although they do mention "deep structure" in their explanation of genre, they do not link it to the characteristics they ask learners to look for in genre films.

There are a number of good references included, but many more are missing. For teachers disinterested in this type of information, it might be included in one chapter that could be skipped. That would add significantly to the book's sparse theoretical foundation and make it equally useful for academics and researchers as well as practitioners.

Other research areas germane to learner response to film, for example, are the function of "mirror neurons" in terms of character identification and empathy, and a study by Israeli neuroscientists indicating that there is no consistency between participant brain scans while viewing a feature film, EXCEPT when they're watching faces, places, and hands--all external stimuli. (This research--the only of its kind--discusses what's actually going on in people's brains when they are watching film.) Nor did the authors directly address learners' worldviews and how they affect expectations, reactions, and the impact of films--which is huge.

I suppose I'm talking myself into writing a book to fill these gaps, aren't I? After having searched far and wide, there's very little available to help teachers both select and use film effectively. In our media-saturated society, it's a very good skill for teachers to develop, but one not as obvious or simple as might be assumed.

These criticisms aside, this book takes a leap forward in helping teachers who want joy and excitement--not to mention learning--to return to their classrooms. For anyone unconvinced how involved kids get with movies, just visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) forums. Kids are watching and discussing movies with or without responsible adult guidance. As educators, we're missing a huge opportunity here. This book--via highly practical and well-thought-out methods that are, in fact, based on theory--is an excellent start of a return to relevance in the classroom.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Teaching Tool!, February 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Reel Conversations: Reading Films with Young Adults (Young Adult Literature) (Paperback)

This book is great for creating plans to teach film and media literacy to secondary school students.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Resource for Teachers!, March 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Reel Conversations: Reading Films with Young Adults (Young Adult Literature) (Paperback)

This book is full of excellent suggestions on how to teach film to young adults and help students analyze what they're viewing. It provides a very workable strategy for using film in the classroom, as well as gives great suggestions on unique film titles to use with students. Any teacher wanting to use films in class should check out this book!