An important text (link below) on MovieTalk by Jody Noble, written and published a year ago here, describes MT in a way that merits discussion, just to make sure that we are all talking about the same thing. Is what Jody wrote here indeed what we are doing in our MT classes?
Specifically, I seek clarification from the group about how much language to “let go by” in our narration. My idea of MT is a very precise, 100% comprehensible class wherein wmy students and I work with very small slices – maybe limited to around 4′ like Laura said she does – of a compelling movie clip. At the complete other end of the spectrum would be a class where the teacher would pause every 5-10 minutes and the class would have a discussion about what’s been going on in the movie, as cultural aspects, etc. of the film are discussed.
I don’t vote for this latter version. I want my students to understand everything I say in a MovieTalk class and use speech that is based on my choice of just a few important target structures.
But doing that has its drawbacks too, because once last year I talked with a class about a ten minute Donald Duck Cartoon for a week and we all got sick of looking at it.
What is the answer to this discrepancy between the two ends of the spectrum of what MT might be? How much of the clip do we let go of and not teach? I just don’t know the answer to that question.
Along with Jody’s I have collected some other important descriptions of MovieTalk below. Perhaps when we can find time to read them all we can get a thread going below where we end up all agreeing on one definition or another, with specific recommended steps to do in what order, so that we can utilize this marvelous tool to maximum potential for our students.
Here is Jody’s post from last year, first, and then other articles are below it:
There is also the explanation on Martina Bex’s site of MT:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/
Also this from chill (Carol Hill in NJ) is an important read on this topic:
https://benslavic.com/blog/chill-on-movie-talk/
Also these from Jody and Laurie:
http://glesismore.com/movietalk/technique.html
http://www.mjtprswordpress.com
And if that is not enough for you, here is this from Eric Herman posted just a few hours ago in the MT thread:
For more history and ideas for using MT, I wrote a piece in IJFLT June 2014.
http://www.ijflt.com/
I have a PPT I used to present MT that I’ll share with anyone who wants.
This year I did MT as a 20 minute demo for parents. (Last year I did Susie Gross’ Cat Story). I’ll share those materials with anyone. Just send me an email request:
eric.herman.pchn@gmail.com