Student loved, teacher approved

Let's face it, with only a month left of school, the teachers are tired (mostly of all of the testing) and the kids are getting restless.  Teachers are looking for easy, yet effective/engaging lessons to teach. 

Well, I have some news for you.  There's this ridiculously amazing, engaging, student loved--teacher approved, FREE website.  It's called "Literacy Shed".  If you don't use it yet, then you and your students are missing out!  I refer to this site as "The Netflix of Short Films".  A majority of the films have zero character dialogue, which requires the students to make inferences throughout the film.

Proof that my students LOVE these short films:

• Sometimes they request to watch them as a "brain break".  
• I've even had students watch these at home, by choice, and have in depth discussions with their peers about their different theories of the films.  
• I've had students request to share their theory about one of the films with the class.  This often erupts into a whole class discussion in which everyone shares and debates their theories.  They even ask me to pull up the film and pause at certain parts to prove their point. 
• They watch intently, and pay attention to each and every aspect of the film, with very little talking (except for random comments about the film). 

If you still aren't convinced, then check out these "student testimonials" (please excuse the spelling errors--I had them write these pretty quickly):

As a class, we've watched at least half of the films on the site.  

Some of our favorite categories are:

• The Ghostly Shed
• The Mystery Shed
• The Sci-Fi Shed
• The Shedful of Animations
• The Thinking Shed
• The Love Shed 
• (Okay, this is mostly MY favorite. These films often come with lots "ew" and "gross!" comments from my students.  I typically show these love films for my entertainment. LOL)

ALL of the films have "Teaching ideas"already listed for you.  I often use those ones or get inspiration from those to create my own ideas.  Some of my favorites are:

• Plot Elements
• "Spy Fox" under the Adventure Shed is a great film to identify plot elements.  I often use this to teach plot elements during a reading lesson.  I also use this to help students plan their own narratives.  It clearly lays out the characters/setting, problem, climax, and resolution.  
• Descriptive Writing
• "Broken: Rock, Paper, Scissors" under The Shedful of Animations is a terrific resource to use for descriptive writing!  When my kids were planning their own narratives, we used this film to focus on character development and setting development.  My kids were able to discuss the different personalities of the characters and how their physical appearance reflected their individual personalities.  
• Making Inferences
• "Francis" in the Ghostly Shed or "The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow" in the Mystery Shed require a number of inferences to be made in order to understand the story. These are the two favorites in my classroom.  They're just the right amount of creepy, and completely grab the kids' attention.  We've watched both a few times, and each time the kids found a new clue that they hadn't seen before. **Like I said, these are creepy, so watch them first to make sure that your kids can handle it.**

• Point of View
• "The Three Little Pigs" under the Fairy Tale Shed is a great film to let children analyze different points of view.  It touches on how the Three Little Pigs committed "insurance fraud" and made them look like the bad guys.  This is a complete reversal of the original story, and has the potential to create a very in depth discussion.  

We watched this short film as a class this week, and compared the original story to this film.  My kids came up with tons of ideas, and even discussed other versions of the story that they had heard also.  Check out our chart of ideas:

I could go on and on, but once you have a chance to explore this site, you'll come up with hundreds of ways to use these short films in your classroom!

Tips when navigating your way through the site:

• You can get there by clicking the link at the top of my page, or simply type "Literacy Shed" into Google.  
• Make sure you choose the free option, called "Literacy Shed".  
• If you're looking for a specific film name, type it in the SEARCH box at the top of the page. 
• If you're looking for a specific skill for your lesson, simply type it in the SEARCH box at the top of the page, and then sift through the search options to choose the best one. 

Tips for planning and implementing your lessons (most of these are common sense, but I found that by using all of these, my lessons are much more effective):

• Watch the films before you show them.
• Use the "Teaching Ideas" to help you plan your lesson. 
• Let the kids watch the film twice.  The first time they watch is just for enjoyment.  The second time they watch, they must focus on the essential question(s) that I give them beforehand. 
• Let the kids debate and discuss the essential question(s).  You'll be surprised by how in depth these discussions can get!
• You could even assign these short films for HOMEWORK. Videos for homework?! Say whaaaat?!  The kids never argue with me when I assign these as homework!

Today's exit slip:

What is ONE film that you will use in your classroom?  What skill(s) will you teach or review during your lesson?