Friday, July 20, 2012

Producing Readers and Writers - with Movies!

Trying to keep the kids busy on a rainy or even hot summer day? We all know that many books, such as the Twilight series, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games have recently been made into wildly popular movies. Keeping that in mind, I have decided that I may try to team up with other teachers in my school, especially our basic skills teacher, to create a book club aimed at reluctant readers. If they read the book, they get to watch the movie.

I just have to figure out exactly how it would work. I'm thinking we would start a chapter of the book together, either before school or after, and have the kids finish the chapter at home... I just have to figure out a time frame that will allow for the most kids to be able to participate and the logistics of the kids getting the books, plus activities we'd use to show comprehension (other than your typical t-chart or Venn diagram graphic organizers). I'm also thinking about writing a grant to be able to purchase multiple copies of the books.

I have these movie and book combos:

Madeline
(I still have the book my first grade teacher gave me!)










Books only:






Movie only:


Others to consider:

I know there are tons more that could be added (especially Dr. Seuss books), but these are probably the most appropriate for my students' age group. I myself will probably steer clear of the Dr. Seuss books as well as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory because most kids have seen the movie or read the books.

Here's a list of movies based on books: 



Tweens and Teens

I know there are tons more! Many of the movies have two different versions also. Which are your favorites?