Writing Movie Reviews: Lights, Camera, Publish!

• Snippets of various movies geared for students
• Equipment for viewing movies (TV and DVD player, computer and projector, etc.)
  
• "I'm Noticing..." Graphic Organizer printable
  
• Movie Notes Graphic Organizer printable
• Movie Review Rubric printable
• Optional: Sample Student-Friendly Movie Reviews printable
  
• Optional: Popcorn
• Optional: Movie camera, green screen, and a free trial of ULead Video program for a class production

1. Use the site Rotten Tomatoes to compile a few reviews of movies that meet your students' interests. Make a handout of these reviews that you can print and hand out to students. You can also use my Sample Student-Friendly Movie Reviews printable.
2. Once you have your collection of movie reviews, select one or two movies to watch in class. If you don't already own the movie, rent it from your local library. You will watch the movie (while referring back to the review) in Part 2.

Important Disclaimer: Legally, you are not allowed to show entire movies in school without a license. My school, like many others, does not have a license. A legal alternative is to show short clips (10–15 seconds) for stated learning purposes.

3. Make class sets of the "I'm Noticing..." Graphic Organizer, the Movie Notes Graphic Organizer, and the Movie Review Rubric printables.

Part 1: Lights — Setting Up the Scene

Assessment Note: This unit progresses in difficulty, building on writing food reviews to help students write movie reviews. You may find that less time is needed for modeling movie reviews vs. food reviews. Use formative assessment, body language, and level of interest as an indicator for time needed.

Also, know that the work you are displaying and discussing to your students serves as a model for what you will be assessing. Pick reviews that will inspire your students, but also be attainable when it comes to assessment!

Step 1: Review what makes a good food review by having students turn to a partner and discuss. Take a moment to record your thoughts and ideas as a class. Informally, you can assess what was retained from the last lesson.

Step 2: Set the stage by telling students that they will be venturing into the world of movie reviews. Ask students to raise their hand if they have ever read a movie review before. Have those students share their experience with the class.

Step 3: Introduce the popular site Rotten Tomatoes. If you are not familiar with this site, it combines many national reviews of a movie onto one page. Each review has an option for visitor comments, making this a wonderful resource for reviews. As with any site, I recommend looking for specific content beforehand.

Note: You may use my printable of Sample Student-Friendly Movie Reviews or take some time to find movies that meet your students' interests. You will want a handful of example reviews that will interest your students.

Step 4: Ask students to read and record their observations on the Sample Student-Friendly Movie Reviews (or your version), on post-it notes, or on the back of the handout. If you are completing the full unit, consider Review Unit folders for your students to store the Sample Student-Friendly Movie Reviews printable.

Step 5: Hold a discussion on what elements are present in this type of writing. Your students will notice setting, character development, and plot in most movie reviews.

Step 6: Create a chart with the class to record and organize this information. You may want to use the Movie Notes Graphic Organizer printable to organize your ideas. You can also create a Venn Diagram for comparison.

Step 7: Use this time to re-read the review and model your observations of the movie review. Use the language that you would like your students to be using for discussion.

Part 2: Camera — Narrowing the Lenses

Assessment Note: This step will vary greatly depending on your students' level of success with the food reviews. You may find that your students are ready for independent review writing quickly, so be ready to modify that based on your observations and student recordings. In addition, your expectations should be building from the food review writings. Individual conference notes will help document the growth through the unit study.

Step 1: Share your observations from the previous lesson by reading through some of the notes students recorded the day before. Emphasize the qualities they exude.

Step 2: Share a movie review that students are familiar with. Ask students to work in pairs to use their "lenses" for a discussion on what the author includes and does not include in their writing review. Students can record their findings on the "I'm Noticing..." Graphic Organizer. Use this time to informally assess your students' understandings. Their conversations should show growth from their work on food reviews.

Step 3: Because you have read the review beforehand, have the actual movie available for viewing. Due to license laws, start and stop portions of the movie to support the reviewer's writing. For example, if the movie reviewer points out a scene that is particularly well written (or poorly written), you can show this scene for discussion. If the author says a character is not believable, demonstrate a scene where the actor has important lines. Ask students whether they agree with the reviewer or not.

Step 4: Read through students' "I'm Noticing..." Graphic Organizers to gage where you need to go next. If you are happy with the responses, your students are ready for some independent writing. If not, try writing a movie review together, or in a small group, focusing on the elements of setting, character development, and plot.

Step 5: Ask students to start thinking about a movie they would like to write a review for.

Optional: If students need more time and exposure to writing, build that time in and share peer reviews for examples.

Part 3: Publish! — Ready for an Audience

Assessment Note: Traditional worksheets are not present in this unit of study. Instead, a focus on higher order thinking skills and assessment through application has been made. The premise being that some students can complete a skill in isolation but not carry it into application. Writing rubrics assess the application of learned skills through authentic pieces of writing.

Step 1: Ask students to share what movies they are interested in writing a review for. Set guidelines on appropriate movies, such as having a "G" rating. Decide, as a class, if there should be a limit to reviews per movie.

Step 2: Ask students to write freely for five minutes on their movie of choice. After five minutes are up, ask students to make sure setting, character development, and plot are included in their writing. Allow a few more minutes for students to build on what they have or include an element that is missing. Inform students that this is a form of prewriting and that it will be used for gathering and organizing their ideas for a published review.

Step 3: Pass out the Movie Review Rubric printable or create a rubric together. If you are creating your own as a class, narrow your conventions guidelines to 2–3 items that you have taught and students have had time to improve on. See the Movie Review Rubric printable for examples.

Step 4: Provide time for students to write a quality movie review. Use your writing conference time to meet with students individually, one on one.

Step 5: Include some time for peer review. Have students try the two stars, one wish method (two things they like, one thing to work on).

Step 6: Share your reviews in class with some popcorn. In the process, categorize movies by their genre during presentations.

Step 7: Assess the reviews with the Movie Review Rubric or the rubric you created as a class.

Step 8: Print and publish the movie reviews in your next classroom newsletter.

I hold individual conferences with my students as a resource to support differentiation for each student. Taking the information gathered from these conferences, as well as personal observations and student work/reflection, assessment is modified to meet individual needs.

• Allow students to create a movie poster with their review and post them around school.
• Video tape movie reviews with a blue screen and incorporate the setting into the background of an oral movie review.
• Have students with the same reviewed movie hold a debate in the style of Thomas and Ebert and Roeper. Give the winner of the debate (of course voted by a thumbs up or thumbs down vote) a bag of popcorn.
• Work with your local video store to see if movie reviews can be put on display.

We have a weekly newsletter and updated web site that contains all of our class happenings. A majority of my students have internet access at home, so I provide some of the online resources we view in class as an at home activity. Reviews will also be printed up for each student to take home to their family.

• Using the gradual release of responsibility model, allow your students to show growth throughout the unit of study. Heavier consideration of learned skills will be placed on final versions after time has been given to experiment with conventions, style, and layouts.
• Provide flexibility in your schedule. If your students take the interest somewhere not planned, be open to shifting reviews. For example, students may prefer to write about another form of entertainment.

• Observation of language used at the beginning and end of the unit: Has it improved?
• Various responses on post-it notes, self-reflection sheet, and tips learned in class
• Small-group instruction and one-on-one conferences
• Peer review
• Review rubric with an option for student and teacher rating, as well as an area for written feedback
• Oral reading of reviews: Does the student read with confidence?

NCTE Standards

1. Students read a wide range of print to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world.
2. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
3. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print.