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Subjects Arts & Humanities

Grades 9-12 Advanced

Brief Description Choose the cast for a movie based on a short story or novel. Objectives Students select actors to play major roles in the film version of a popular short story or novel. design a poster for the movie. write reviews of the film. create a script for one scene of the movie. Keywords book, movie, writing, film, act, script Materials Needed selected novels or short stories paper pencils poster paper art supplies Lesson Plan In the Make a Book Into a Movie Project, Tina Marie Tedeschi describes a project she has designed to accompany her students' reading of the novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville. The activity has students serve as "casting directors" for a movie based on the book; they choose famous actors to play the key roles. The students also design a poster for the film, write positive and negative reviews, and create a script for one scene. This lesson can easily be adapted for use with other novels and short stories. Assessment Student written work is collected and assessed using grade-level writing standards. If desired, students may act out their scripts and submit videotape to share with the class for evaluation. Lesson Plan Source LessonPlansPage.com National Standards FINE ARTS: Visual Arts GRADES 9 - 12 NA-T.9-12.1 Script Writing by Planning and Recording Improvisations Based on Personal Experience and Heritage, Imagination, Literature, and History NA-T.9-12.2 Acting By Assuming Roles and Interacting In Improvisations NA-T.9-12.3 Designing by Visualizing and Arranging Environments for Classroom Dramatizations NA-T.9-12.4 Directing By Planning Classroom Dramatizations NA-T.9-12.5 Researching By Finding Information to Support Classroom Dramatizations NA-T.9-12.6 Comparing and Connecting Art Forms By Describing Theatre, Dramatic Media (Such As Film, Television, and Electronic Media), and Other Art Forms FINE ARTS: Visual Arts GRADES 9 - 12 NA-VA.9-12.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes NA-VA.9-12.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines LANGUAGE ARTS: English GRADES K - 12 NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills NL-ENG.K-12.5 Communication Strategies NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills Click to return to this week’s Lesson Planning article, By the Book -- Activities for Book Week! See additional Book Week ideas from our Celebrate Children’s Book Week archive. Originally published 11/15/2002 Last updated 10/31/2007