I came across a website today listing someone's recommended top ten inspirational movies for educators. This critic writes:
Educators need to be reminded of the importance of their jobs. Here are ten movies that inspire us and make us feel proud to be in the field of education where we really do have an impact.
- Stand and Deliver
- Dangerous Minds
- Lean on Me
- Mr. Holland's Opus
- Dead Poet's Society
- To Sir With Love
- The Miracle Worker
- Renaissance Man
- Music of the Heart
- The Karate Kid
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While I agree that these are great movies to inspire, and The Miracle Worker and Renaissance Man are two of my favorites to study with students, I have others to recommend for adolescents. You may find brief summaries of many of these films at Fast Rewind.
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (Not an autobiography, but a great story! Cicely Tyson plays Jane, a young girl, born a slave, who lives long enough to see civil rights legislation implemented in the South.)
A Christmas Story (You'll shoot your eye-out with that Red Rider BB Gun!)
Dead Poet's Society (Robin Williams returns to his old prep school to teach life lessons.)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Everybody wants to skip school on the first fine day of spring!)
Finding Forrester (A gifted young writer gets some tutoring from an old recluse, played by Sean Connery, but the mentor learns more from his prodigy.)
The Hobbit (Animated version of the classic story of Bilbo Baggins, a burglar hobbit, pre-Lord of the Rings. This is a great story for teaching plot sequencing.)
Ladyhawke (A fanciful, magical story set in Medieval Times of love between lovers and friends. Starring Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Rutger Hauer. Great soundtrack and visual images!)
Little Man Tate (A genius kid teaches others what life is really all about.)
Mask is a film about a young man with "Lionitis" or "Elephant Man Disease" which causes severe facial and skull disfigurement, however, he is a very bright student with a very special extended family. Starring Eric Stolz, Cher, Sam Elliott, and Laura Dern, Rocky's character is based on the real life of Rocky Dennis. There are many everyday heroes in this story about physical handicaps, emotional problems, and family. Language is true to character.
Miracle Worker (Annie Sullivan teaches Helen Keller language, the key to learning. Original black and white version with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke is the best, although it is interesting to compare the dining room scene from the later color version starring Patty Duke as Annie Sullivan to the original scene.)
October Sky (A boy's dream to be a rocket scientist comes true.)
Pay It Forward (This a film about doing a good deed because it's the right thing to do. Stars Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment. Beware of very sad ending!)
Renaissance Man (The choices we make dictate the lives we lead; to thine ownself be true. Great sound track and actors: Danny DeVito, Greg Hines, and others who have grown into film and TV stars.)
Stand By Me (A story about friendship and growing up.)
To Kill A Mockingbird (The classic story of prejudice and one father who taught his children to not be so.)
The War (Starring Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood with several other great child characters, this story is about struggling to survive in poverty, conflict, and prejudice. It has a great soundtrack! )
Click here for a generic story elements chart that students may complete for any film.
Click here for sample discussion questions on The War.
Here are two sample writing prompts for The War.
Writing Prompt #1: Split-Second Decisions
Writing Prompt #2: What's Worth Fighting For?
Additional Resource: Teach with Movies--Lights, Camera, Learn
Note: This site requires a registration fee of $11.99 per year for teaching guides to over 260 films. These are not films to keep the students busy while the teacher does paperwork, but films for teaching and learning. The learning guides include benefits, possible problems, background, vocabulary, discussion questions, links to Internet, bridges to reading, and class projects. This site partners with Character Counts.
