Interest-Led Learning for High School

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My son is passionate about filmmaking, from script writing to directing to camera-operating. He started with a flip camera, then added a camcorder and a stop-motion animation program with a webcam. He worked all summer one year cutting grass to save money for a "really nice" camera, and everything on his Christmas list was related to that (boom mic, lights, reflectors.) He now spends most of his free time writing scripts -- pages and pages of scripts. Because of his passion for the art of filmmaking, I decided to craft an interest-led learning elective course for him for high school fine arts credit.

Stop Motion Animation

My son has already produced both live-action and stop-motion movies to the delight of all of our family members (grandparents make an especially appreciative audience.) Stopmotion Explosion: Animate Anything and Make Movies- Epic Films for $20 or Less

has been a great jumping off point into the live action stuff that he really wants to do.

For part of his literature/language arts and elective studies, I scoured the internet and other avenues to find resources to fit into our curriculum. It hasn't been easy to find resources appropriate for teens, but I have managed to put together some things that are working so far.

Free Resources

Educational guides and lesson plans for movies such as Because of Winn Dixie, Hoot, Where the Red Fern Grows, Bridge to Terabithia, Narnia, Holes, City of Ember, and more are available as free downloads from Walden Media. We have used these guides along with the novels and the movies as "going beyond the book" studies.
We also found resources for teachers and students at Oscars.org, including screenwriting, animation, visual effects, cinematography, and more. Although I don't have any filmmaking experience, I've been able to piece together enough resources to help my son pursue his interests.

Film Curriculum

I've found some filmmaking books and curriculum as well, such as Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling Off Your Shorts

and Movies as Literature

curriculum from Design-a-Study. These are the base for our coursework, with all the other above-listed resources as supplements to this course.

The Movies as Literature

course is an intensive study of movies as short stories. This program is not just about watching movies. Each movie studied includes 25 discussion questions, including topics for compositions and extended activities with either reading assignments, history research, or other movies related to the one being studied. Movies include both classic and modern selections, including Shane, The Quiet Man, Rear Window, The Maltese Falcon, E.T., The Philadelphia Story, and several more. For Shane, we read the novel before watching the movie, then the topics studied in this lesson included:

• Character development vs. stereotypes
• Film techniques
• Plot development
• Character motivation
• Foreshadowing
• Setting
• Mood
• Symbolism
• Underlying messages about: what makes a man, what makes a hero, whether or not the end justifies the means, whether 'A man who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,' the positive contributions of God-fearing families to settlements in new territories.

The student workbook isn't required for the program, but I bought it so that I could make notes in my book and my son could have his own book to follow along in as we discuss the material. Although this is a high school level course, a child strong in language arts could easily use this for eighth grade.

Enthusiasm for Learning

Above all, I want my kids to be excited about learning. If I can incorporate their interests into our curriculum, a huge plus to homeschooling, they are more enthusiastic and motivated. I love it when they ask me to "do school."

I'd love to hear what you do for interest-led electives in your homeschool!

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