Rationale

For this set of lessons, we chose to focus on genre. Teaching genre is extremely important to teaching any media because almost all forms of media adhere to a genre. We decided to teach genre through film, more specifically, through western film. Because westerns have fallen out of popularity, but are still so straight forward in their characteristics of genre, we thought that out students could view the material objectively and see the elements clearly. If they had been more familiar with the material, they might have some in with assorted opinions that would be tricky to work around.

We started our lessons with a general lesson on film metalanguage. We have learned that our students need to know the language and parameters of a topic to participate in discussion about it (Pace 2010). We made ample use of the Golden article to cover all of the film analysis bases that he discusses namely shot, angle, distance, and sound. We thought that the best way to deliver this material was through overt instruction as delivered by a power point. The juxtaposition of the shot being described and its definition we thought was most clear to students. We designed a handout that students would use to follow along in the lecture so that they would have something concrete to be responsible for during the less exciting parts of our lesson. This way we ensure that our students engage in the instruction that will be the basis of the unit.

They then break into groups to analyze a trailer using the language they just learned. We separated the many terms into three subsets so as to not overload the students and delve deeper into what the terms mean. By immediately having students use the terms they just copied down, it gives them a chance to work with them and achieve a more personal understanding of the term. Having them share their findings requires them to communicate what they learned as well, again with no time in between to forget any new information.

Our second lesson is where the genre study comes in to play. We start out broad, asking for types of genre, then narrow in to how we know that a genre is the type we say it is, introducing the six characteristics of genre that were discussed in our Media Literacy class. The six characteristics are given to the students through overt instruction and copied in a note-taking activity. Mirroring what happened in the previous day's lesson, the class is broken into groups with each assigned an element of genre. The class views different western trailers and in their groups discusses how they see the elements of genre in the trailers. The students will then share their findings with the class. The teacher will scaffold their understanding of genre by guiding the discussion and highlighting the points that the students need to take away from the lesson (Pace 2010).

For homework that evening, the students will use the voicethread set up by the teacher to put to use the elements of genre that they learned that day. The students will pick three of fifteen still shots from westerns to comment on using the metalanguage from the first day's lesson as well as the elements of genre from today's lesson. We chose this order of lesson as a way of gradual release of responsibility (Pace 2010). The first day they worked in groups to understand a given set of terms; the second day they worked in groups to apply a given term; now, they will individually use the knowledge from the past two lectures to interpret the images before them. Because they have only themselves to rely on, though it is possible that they will only comment on pictures that already have comments and lean on classmates, the teach will be able to assess if the student really understood the material. Yes, it is possible for the student to lift ideas from other voicethreads, but the student would still have to articulate those ideas smoothly to achieve a passing grade and that smoothness would demonstrate some understanding of the material.

The final lesson is about the hero. The hero is a universally found character and we felt that it would be a concept that students could transfer into many other literary events. We start the lesson with a western inspired song to get students into the correct mindset and return them to the genre we discussed the day previous. Returning them to yesterday's work will help eliminate the beginning of the class waste where students try to remember what they are supposed to be learning. The quote on the board from Joseph Campbell is another way to not waste time at the beginning of class and jump right into the subject material. We have students proffer their interpretations of the quote, generating ideas on meaning as well as pushing them to apply it to stories that they already know, expanding on their prior knowledge (Pace 2010) including the Disney films that they are most likely familiar with.

Next, an interview with the director of the //Star Wars// film //A New Hope// will be played to prime them for the trailer for that film. The trailer will play and they will discuss the shots and angles used as well as how it works within the elements of the western genre. This discussion brings back all of the things they have learned so far to continue using them and not letting any piece fade into oblivion in their minds. After a second viewing of the trailer, student will quickly write down their thoughts regarding the hero. They will then participate in a think-pair-share activity where they share their thoughts. Giving students ample time at the beginning of the activity to formulate their thoughts before speaking helps all students but especially ESOL students by giving them what we call "wait time" (Eisterhold 2009).

The activity that will end the day is a way to bring the idea of hero back to their own knowledge. Each student will be responsible for choosing a "real life hero." It can be someone they know or don't but cannot be a fictional character. Each student will write a list of events in the hero's life in the narrative format the Campbell outlines which the students are now familiar with. Those events will then be transformed into a storyboard which they create on pixton.com and share with the class. They will have to use the film terms and knowledge that they have learned so far to create the storyboard and explain why those shots were selected. An additional portion of this assignment will be to upload a photo of their hero to voicethread to further tell the story. This activity could be used as a conduit for students to explore their backgrounds and share them with their peers as their heroes could come from their homes.

The final project for the film unit will be to create a "film" of a fictional hero in a western genre. Students will be given a handout about the project. They are to form groups and select a hero from a work of fiction. That hero will then be placed into a western genre. They will be given options for creating their "movie" and then presented before the class. This activity brings together everything that has been learned thus far. They have to use the film language to explain the shots that they use in their films, they have to use the characteristics of the western to apply the genre to the hero and they have to understand the narrative arc of a hero and what a hero is to select their character.

We feel that this unit covers a lot of the ground in film and genre analysis that students will need to analyze and understand almost any film they might encounter. It is a way to show students that everything in movies is done purposefully and can be discussed. The effects that movies have on us is not accidental and that we should all be aware of how we are being manipulated while watching them.