Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band

Transcription

1 Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band Page 1 Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band By Marsha Lemon Mission Secondary School, Mission School Board, SD #75, BC Curriculum Connections This lesson is designed as a cross-curricular unit for a Grade 11 or 12 Social Studies course or for the Media Arts component of a Language Arts course. The activities will help students explore the historical context of a documentary film and how it reflects the beliefs, values and traditions of a particular time and place. The unit should take two 75-minute classes with an assignment to be completed between the two classes. Lesson Objectives Boy Meets Band was filmed in West Vancouver in What does 1961 look like to someone who never lived through it to someone who was not even born yet? Students will have a chance to go back to the year 1961 by listening to music, watching a documentary and speaking to someone who lived through that year. They will use the information to challenge their pre-conceived ideas and to build a personal understanding of the time. Shared values and gender roles will be examined in the context of 1961 and then compared to the values and roles students are familiar with today. Skills and Processes Students are asked to use their Critical and creative thinking skills when considering the multiple perspectives in the lesson. Historical thinking and inquiry skills are used when students evaluate the credibility of the various data they are presented with. Research and communication skills are involved when students interview someone about the past. Outcomes/Expectations Identify how this film reflects the beliefs and culture of the time. Analyze how context and purpose influence the content of the film. Compare various sources of information. Explain personal interpretation of ideas presented.

2 Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band Page 2 Canadian Social Studies Themes in Boy Meets Band Theme/Key Concept Identity Change and Continuity Culture and Community Connection to Boy Meets Band Applications and Discussion Points We derive our identity from the place we live, the culture we belong to and the era we live in. If you had been living back in 1961, how might your life have been different? Would your beliefs and values be different? What aspects of your identity do you think will change with time? What do you think will stay the same? Change relates to differences that occur over time; continuity to consistency over time. How are we connected to the past? Why do different people have different memories of the past? How have the roles of Canadian men and women changed since 1961? How are Canadian teenagers today different from teens in 1961? Does a documentary film from the past tell the real story? Culture includes expressions of humanity values, traditions, language that are shared within a community. How are people s values and beliefs influenced by their communities? Do you think that the West Vancouver portrayed in this film is typical of most communities in Canada in 1961? Who is included in the film and who is not? Background The definition of a documentary film can be copied from the NFB Web site entitled Documentary Lens, the article Behind the Camera. For the purpose of this lesson, the definition contained in the opening summary will be sufficient. It not only gives a definition but also lists some of the goals of such a film. This can be put on an overhead and reviewed just prior to showing the film. See Step 2 of Activity 3. Materials Music from 1961: examples such as Stand by Me by Ben E King, Hit the Road, Jack by Ray Charles, Let s Twist Again by Chubby Checker and Crazy by Patsy Cline. Assessment Strategies First, through teacher observation: Is the student fully engaged with the material? Does the student participate in group work? Does the student contribute during class discussions? The second opportunity for assessment comes with the chart in Activity 7. While responses will vary since students are to give personal views the answers can be evaluated based on upper-level thinking skills.

3 Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band Page 3 Activities for Boy Meets Band Introduction ACTIVITY 1: Musical Quiz Introduce your students to the theme year of 1961 and set the mood by playing some music from that era. Step 1: Divide the class into two, and ask each group to select one student to represent them in a musical quiz. When the two representatives have been chosen, play some music from See the Materials section above for ideas. Step 2: Ask the contestants to decide what year the song made the billboard Top 10 for the first time. Was it 1959? 1961? 1964? 1967? Before the contestants give their answer, tell them that these songs made the Top 10 in the same year that the Berlin Wall was erected the Russians put the first man in orbit around the earth a stamp cost 4 cents The correct answer is, of course, ACTIVITY 2: KWL Activating prior knowledge in a pair/share activity Ask students, in pairs, to create a KWL chart on paper. The chart will help elicit pre-conceived ideas students have about this time period. K (What I KNOW) W (What I WANT to Know) L (What I LEARNED) Before showing Boy Meets Band, have students list five or six things they know about 1961 in the K column. Information can cover music, fashion, world events, movies or television programs, games and activities, even popular foods. Students shouldn t be overly concerned about the exact year. They are just trying to get a feel for the time period. After about five minutes, ask students to volunteer some of their ideas. ACTIVITY 3: Preparing to View the Film Tell the class they are going to watch a short documentary from Step 1: Ask for examples of documentaries they re familiar with, such as nature documentaries, historical films or movies such as Supersize Me or Bowling for Columbine. Step 2: Tell students that Boy Meets Band, which was shot in an upscale West Vancouver neighbourhood, follows a young man, Billy, as he joins the award-winning West Vancouver Boys Band (there are girls in the band, too). Then read aloud the following description from the NFB Web site: Documentaries have been called the movies that show the creative treatment of actuality.

4 Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band Page 4 Documentary films grew up in the early 20th century and have been changing ever since. As film and video technologies have advanced, documentaries have benefited; as new media are created, documentaries adapt; and as society has changed, documentaries have reflected new ideas and attitudes. Over time, different types of documentary film have developed. In general, documentary films educate their audiences. They share one or more of the following goals: 1) To document a subject in order to preserve knowledge. 2) To reveal something about the subject. 3) To allow the viewer to experience what it's like to be the subject (whether it's someone diving out of an airplane or a homeless person). 4) To advocate on behalf of the subject. (Adapted from comments by Dave Douglas on the NFB Web page XS Stress: Teens Take Control.) Step 3: Ask students to predict which of the four categories of documentary film Boy Meets Band might fit into. Referring back to their KWL chart, have students fill out the W column, that is, what they Want to learn. Step 4: As a class, set specific goals for viewing the film. Along with the obvious questions around fashion and cars, students should include some questions around the values presented in the film. Other things to look for are gender role differences, the inclusion of visible minorities and what constitutes a typical family unit. Students should have four or five questions in mind while watching the film. For example, how do the images they see in the film compare to what they already know about this time period; what surprised them in this documentary; how true or real is this documentary and how can they check for accuracy? Developing Concepts ACTIVITY 4: Exploring what you learned Step 1: Discuss general impressions. What do you think the purpose of the film was? Using the definition of documentary film from the NFB, what role does this film play? Step 2: Have everyone look at the K column on their KWL chart. Was any of their prior knowledge inaccurate? If so, have students correct any statements. If students believe some of their statements are correct regardless of what the film portrays, have them underline those statements for further discussion or research. Step 3: Have everyone look at the W column and check off the questions answered. Students can now write the information in the L column, applying what they have learned from the film. Students should underline any questions that were not addressed in the film. Step 4: As a class, discuss what they learned about life in West Vancouver in 1961 as it was portrayed in this film. Students may talk about cars, fashion, hairstyles, architecture, gender roles, values, inclusion and exclusion of social groups and ideal family units. Step 5: Make a list on the board of the unanswered questions or the contentious items that students underlined. Brainstorm ways they might find answers. Books and magazines from the library may be helpful, as well as the Internet. Students might also suggest viewing other films or TV programs set in the early 1960s. Someone might also suggest that they could simply ask someone who was alive during this time period and has first-hand knowledge they could share. It is this last source of information we are going to capitalize on in the next activity. This is one of the few times when discussing the history of an era that we are able to talk with someone who lived through it.

5 Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band Page 5 Applying Concepts ACTIVITY 5: The Interview To check whether or not the point of view in Boy Meets Band is really representative of 1961 and to answer other questions they have about the time period, ask students to interview someone who was around at the time of the film. Step 1: Have students list people they could interview, for example, parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents, teachers, neighbours and family friends. Working in pairs, students will use the unanswered questions on the board as a starting point for things to ask during the interview. Step 2: Discuss the importance of crafting open-ended questions rather than questions that can be answered with a simple yes/no. When pairs of students have five good questions, they should meet with another pair of students to practise asking their questions. Step 3: Give everyone time to revise any questions. Finally, discuss how interviews should be conducted. Whether in person, over the telephone or via , students need to tell the person why they are doing this and be sure to thank them for their time. Step 4: Ask students to bring the transcript of their interview to the next class. Note : This project will reveal a wide range of experiences from which to view this time period. You could also invite someone to class and have each pair of students ask your visitor one question. ACTIVITY 6: Post-Interview Step 1: Begin by asking students who they interviewed. How long did the interview take? How many students did their interview over the phone? In person? Over the Internet? What advantages or disadvantages did each method have? Were any of the people interviewed living in another province or country in 1961? In general, did students find the documentary Boy Meets Band gave a true picture of what life was like back in 1961? Step 2: In the same pairs as last class, students compare the answers they collected in their interviews. Step 3: Ask each pair for one piece of information they discovered during their interview and explain how it relates to the documentary. Discuss why some details are the same: The person they interviewed may have lived in an urban setting with a similar family unit and economic background); or why they may be different: The person may have lived in a rural setting, come from a different culture or a different social class, belonged to a multigenerational household, etc. List the information the students give you on the board. Step 4: Working in small groups, have students take the list on the board and, with one student as recorder, discuss how each of the things on the list relates to their life today. For example; How many in the group have both parents working today in comparison with 1961? How many work after school like Billy s older brother? Does a large part of students leisure time revolve around after-school programs? When the class has had a chance to discuss the list in groups, they should report what they see as links to their past. As a final question to consider, ask students what they think this film would look like if it were made today using hand-held video cameras.

6 Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Boy Meets Band Page 6 ACTIVITY 7: A Summarizing and Assessment Activity Ask students to create a chart as follows: In the 3 row, students write down three things that surprised them about In 2, they write two things that they feel they have in common with a high school student from In 1, they write one thought/idea/understanding they will take away from this lesson that they will be able to use somewhere else. Give sufficient time for the chart exercise since it will be used as part of their evaluation. While they fill in the sheet, you could play music from the 1960s. End the class by discussing what they wrote down for the 1 part.