I had the opportunity recently to go to an African-American film festival here in the Pacific Northwest, and it was a real eye opener. I happen to be a history teacher, and I teach a course on ethnic minorities in American history. So, my interest in ethnic film isn’t coming from left field. While watching some of the films, I realized that this could really be a great way to teach history! Lightbulb!
I love those “aha” moments when curriculum seems to come together and come alive in the classroom. The next day, I heading into my ethnic American history class with a short movie clip to see how it would go over. The students loved it. They enjoyed getting a visual of the African-American culture that we were discussing and they love the medium of film.
It was a great addition and I’m looking forward to finding some other great African-American movie clips to show them in class.