O Brother, Where Art Thou is an engaging and enjoyable film that has appeal to 8th graders while also being relevant to several areas of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and national Common Core Standards. Some subject areas addressed in this guide include Language Arts, Social Studies, and Technology.
The guide is organized to clearly connect scenes to state standards. For example, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.2 8th grade English Language Arts, “Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.”
As described in NMSA’s, This We Believe , in the area of moral development, young adolescents are in transition from moral reasoning that focuses on "what's in it for me" to that which considers the feelings and rights of others; self-centered moral reasoning may be in evidence at the same time as other-or-principle-oriented reasoning, depending on the situation the young adolescent is in; in addition, cultural differences in the socialization of moral development, especially among young adolescents whose families are recent immigrants, may contribute to special moral conflicts or dilemmas for those young people attempting to navigate multiple cultures. Adolescents are often interested in exploring spiritual matters, even as they may become distant from formal religious organizations; for many youth, however, especially African Americans, connection to religious organizations may continue to be a vital part of early adolescence. Lastly, adolescents increasingly are capable of assessing moral matters in shades of grey as opposed to viewing them in black and white terms more characteristic of younger children; however, this increased potential for more complex moral reasoning may often not be evident in practice.
In using film and other media in the classroom, research suggests that students learn more and are more engaged if:
· They view short scenes followed by activities.
· They have been given cues and clues to look and listen for prior to each screening. For examples they might be asked to make inferences about characters, or comment on how different media techniques contribute to the mood created in a scene.
This technique is based on a concept called AIME, which was developed by Gavriel Salomon (1984). The term stands for the Amount of Invested Mental Energy or Effort. Salomon’s work proved that students engage in ‘shallow processing’ or ‘cognitive economy’ if they have not been told what to focus on during the viewing of a scene.
When teachers preview a scene or clip ahead of time they are able to provide significant viewing guidance that results in higher student expectations, recall, and comprehension.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? may be used in an 8th grade social studies class as a resource to demonstrate Depression Era social, political, and economical conditions particularly in the southern United States. The activities that are used with this movie meet several of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts under writing, speech and language, and reading; Before completing any of these activities the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer must be read by the class for comparative purposes. Students should also have learned about the concept of mise en scene. Furthermore, this movie helps meet criteria for the NC Essential Standards for 8th grade Social Studies and Information and Technology.
