Film and Teaching

To purposefully interrupt the monotony I started a cinematic adventure with my history students. We're watching The Searchers as a way of better understanding the West in American culture. It got me to thinking of my favorite films to watch with students. Here goes:

1) High Noon - I like using it mostly as an allegory for the foreign policy dilemmas of a superpower like the U.S. It's ironic to use a film meant as an allegory for the Red Scare to explain the Bush Doctrine.

2) 12 Angry Men - I look for any excuse I can find to show this to a group of students. Works great with nearly all types of Social Studies classes.

3) The Searchers - It's deep in ways that students have a hard time seeing, but if kids get it, they really get it.

4) The Best Years of Our Lives - I was shocked at how the last group of students who watched this with me understood that the film's most meaningful character isn't Homer but instead it's Fred.