For our first foray
into "Ye Olde English Literature", my tenth grade English teacher,
Ms. Walter, assigned our class a group project that my classmates and I fondly
remember as "The Beowulf Movie". This project, a significant part of
which involved the use of technology on our parts, was one of the most not only
useful, but fun projects I completed during high school. The assignment was
simple: make a movie based on the epic old English poem "Beowulf". As
such, it could more accurately be referred to as "technology integration outside of the classroom", but the
same goal, namely a better understanding of the subject matter, was
accomplished.
"Beowulf" was the first text we tackled that
year, and our first exposure to epic poetry. A daunting prospect, to say the
least. After we read the poem, we separated into small groups of three to four
students and were given the assignment. We were given no real guidelines; our
only instructions were to film our interpretation of the text. In my group's
case, this culminated in a memorable weekend spent scouting locations,
script-writing, and finally filming. Filming took us all over my small town,
from the nearby river (location for Beowulf's arrival in Denmark) to my own
cellar (the mead hall, "Heorot") and many places in between. We all had
different "roles" to play: director, editor, actor (I got to play Wiglaf
and help Beowulf slay the dragon!), prop master, etc. The result was a film
certainly not worthy of any Oscars (maybe a "Razzie"), but one that
allowed us to dig deeply into a text and creatively demonstrate our understanding
of it.
After the fun of filming, we were in for another, and
possibly more important, treat: seeing our classmates' work. On a literary
level, this allowed us to see other interpretations of the text and ultimately
learn from each other. It also allowed us to see how much more technologically
savvy our peers were; we were equipped with a simple video camera (that used a
VHS tape!) and a boom box. Other groups had DVD recordings complete with
special effects and clearly audible soundtracks. While I would not concede that
our technology was "outdated", some of my classmates' technology was
certainly more innovative. One group's film featured a "Beowulf"
version of the famous "Star Wars" introduction, as did ours. However,
that group utilized a computer editing program that resulted in a nearly
identical introduction to its inspiration, while we just handwrote our "Beowulf"
introduction and scanned the camera down the sheet of paper (while playing the
"Star Wars" theme on the boom box of course).
Ms. Walter could just as easily have shown us a film
version of "Beowulf", or a documentary about the epic poem. Instead
she chose to challenge us to be the filmmakers and demonstrate what we understood from the text, thus making
it an active, as opposed to passive, learning experience. In giving us this
assignment, Ms. Walter also showed us that she had confidence in our ability to
translate our understanding of the text into a creative medium using
technology. It is learning experiences
like this one that I hope to integrate into my lesson plans, as I know from
experience that they are effective!
"The Beowulf Movie" was one of the most
memorable experiences I had in high school. Not only did it provide hours of
fun and countless memories, but it also fostered peer collaboration and
encouraged creativity. The use of technology outside of the classroom was
integral to this project, and it resulted in a better understanding of the
subject matter. And while our film did not win us any Oscars, it did earn us an
'A'!
Technology used during this learning experience:
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