Throwback Tuesday: Using Movies and Video Games to Enhance Learning
Originally published May 9, 2014 when my boys were 10, 8, & 6.
I'm such a sucker!
I took my kids "screens" away before school a few days ago and told them they can't have them back for quite a while since they have such a hard time turning them off and starting school for the day. No TV, no video games, nothing with a screen.
That lasted all of one day since they all convinced me this morning that the screens they wanted to do were actually school. I resisted at first but eventually caved. They watched the rest of Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince and Ian also worked on the Kindle finishing up some more of Leo's ship.
I ended up caving in because they're right-- this IS school!
We're reading Harry Potter and comparing the movies to the books.
We're reading the Heroes of Olympus and Ian is doing a follow up project to his reading; recreating the ship he heard described in the story in a virtual world using creativity and problem solving.
I caved because I was proud and happy that they're so interested in what we've been studying that they want to immerse themselves in these fictional worlds.
What better way to foster a love of reading, books and stories than to let them eat, sleep, and breathe it all day long?
They pretend to be Harry and all the assorted characters that go along with the book in their everyday play. It's not unusual to hear them making up spells, talking about curses and counter curses. It's not unusual to hear them talking of being Percy Jackson or any of those assorted characters either.
It's led to talk of all sorts of mythical creatures and we even read a non-fiction book about the history of gargoyles the other night because Evan is so interested in gargoyles, griffins, and things like that and requested we read that book at bedtime.
Ian finished up his Argo II ship; complete with gold dragon head and all. It was amazing! And then accidentally set fire to the boat when he tried to put fire in each of the fireplaces. He learned the hard way how quickly fire spreads and he used both water and bricks to try and stop the fire but he just could not get it under control quickly enough. He was a bit sad and dejected when the whole ship burned up but he was determined to rebuild it-- bigger and better.
The younger boys really wanted to listen to more of the Mark of Athena and Ian took the chance to jump on the opportunity to take a road trip. He got a gift certificate to Bass Pro Shops for his birthday and has been wanting to go to the store to spend it. He finally convinced the younger boys it would be fun and that we could stop and see all the animals (both live and stuffed) while we were there so the next thing I knew they were packing lunches and I was looking up directions.
We listened to two more complete disks in our story and we're 2/3 of the way through the story.
We watched the fish in the tank and tried to identify them using the sign posted nearby. We checked out the turtles and watched them for quite some time. The boys thought it was so funny when one of the turtles slowly climbed right up and over another turtle.
Once home the younger two boys spent the afternoon playing Harry Potter. I kept hearing yells of "Expectopratonum" and "Alohamora." I even had to laugh when I heard Alec say "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." They had so much fun playing and inventing different scenarios together. They're anxious for me to read more of the book to them so they can learn more spells. They came to me a few times and asked me if I remembered a certain spell and in dire cases made up their own!
So yeah, video games and electronics aren't all bad.
I took my kids "screens" away before school a few days ago and told them they can't have them back for quite a while since they have such a hard time turning them off and starting school for the day. No TV, no video games, nothing with a screen.
That lasted all of one day since they all convinced me this morning that the screens they wanted to do were actually school. I resisted at first but eventually caved. They watched the rest of Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince and Ian also worked on the Kindle finishing up some more of Leo's ship.
I ended up caving in because they're right-- this IS school!
We're reading Harry Potter and comparing the movies to the books.
We're reading the Heroes of Olympus and Ian is doing a follow up project to his reading; recreating the ship he heard described in the story in a virtual world using creativity and problem solving.
I caved because I was proud and happy that they're so interested in what we've been studying that they want to immerse themselves in these fictional worlds.
What better way to foster a love of reading, books and stories than to let them eat, sleep, and breathe it all day long?
They pretend to be Harry and all the assorted characters that go along with the book in their everyday play. It's not unusual to hear them making up spells, talking about curses and counter curses. It's not unusual to hear them talking of being Percy Jackson or any of those assorted characters either.
It's led to talk of all sorts of mythical creatures and we even read a non-fiction book about the history of gargoyles the other night because Evan is so interested in gargoyles, griffins, and things like that and requested we read that book at bedtime.
Ian finished up his Argo II ship; complete with gold dragon head and all. It was amazing! And then accidentally set fire to the boat when he tried to put fire in each of the fireplaces. He learned the hard way how quickly fire spreads and he used both water and bricks to try and stop the fire but he just could not get it under control quickly enough. He was a bit sad and dejected when the whole ship burned up but he was determined to rebuild it-- bigger and better.
The younger boys really wanted to listen to more of the Mark of Athena and Ian took the chance to jump on the opportunity to take a road trip. He got a gift certificate to Bass Pro Shops for his birthday and has been wanting to go to the store to spend it. He finally convinced the younger boys it would be fun and that we could stop and see all the animals (both live and stuffed) while we were there so the next thing I knew they were packing lunches and I was looking up directions.
We listened to two more complete disks in our story and we're 2/3 of the way through the story.
We watched the fish in the tank and tried to identify them using the sign posted nearby. We checked out the turtles and watched them for quite some time. The boys thought it was so funny when one of the turtles slowly climbed right up and over another turtle.
Once home the younger two boys spent the afternoon playing Harry Potter. I kept hearing yells of "Expectopratonum" and "Alohamora." I even had to laugh when I heard Alec say "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." They had so much fun playing and inventing different scenarios together. They're anxious for me to read more of the book to them so they can learn more spells. They came to me a few times and asked me if I remembered a certain spell and in dire cases made up their own!
So yeah, video games and electronics aren't all bad.
Linking up with:
Sometimes they know more then we do. Ha! Ha!
ReplyDeleteThose turtles were fun to watch, I bet. How neat!
I remember one time we saw a turtle or two escape and had to carry them back to the tank (but I think that was on a different trip!).
DeleteI saved a turtle one time off of a road so it would not get ran over. It was a good feeling.
DeleteSuch a great way to use tech to boost learning!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteSuch a creative idea- the boys must have loved these days!
ReplyDeleteThey sure did!
DeleteI always felt that if my use of tech/screen time was intentional, it was a good thing! Of course, we'd also have our monthly "Popcorn Friday" which we all looked forward to, including a fun 30 minute video but I always tried to connect it to current classroom learning!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I just had to be careful not to use it too much as a crutch. It's so easy when we're home all day long to think an hour here or there is no big deal but that's add up over the course of a week. We had a Friday movie/pizza night at least once a month.
DeleteI often learn from movies as I have to google what happened to people (or if it really happened like the movie said). I remember being really stunned by the real ending of Butch & Sundance!
ReplyDeleteYes, I often google any "based on a true story" movie to see what really happened.
Deletemy son and daughter have both loved playing Minecraft and creating worlds and houses and characters, etc. with it. My son has built castles from things we've studied in history. My daughter has created characters from the books we've read. She's just started making her way through the Harry Pottery books. Many times the games or books or even movies have led them to want to study more about the subject on their own. My son's focus this year was studying all about the byzantine empire...I didn't even know he was doing it on his own until he brought it up.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I was often amazed at things my boys learned "on their own time" and later told me about.
DeleteI think incorporating screen time into your curriculum is a good idea. Comparing and contrasting are such higher level skills, too.
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
Thank you!
Delete