As part of the history curriculum that I teach, I’ve recently added a feature that I find quite exciting. I teach ethnic American history at the high school level, and I’ve found one great way to get to the kids is through film. In this super-technology based society, I find that I get through to my students more if I talk their language.
And what better language to speak than the language of film! So, I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve found some great African-American films that help to show the scope of African-American culture and to illustrate its many important contributions to American cinematic history. So far I’ve shown one film and a number of short clips and the students seem to really respond to this type of visual input. I’m hoping it will continue to go this smoothly throughout the year!