Elementary Film

Mr. Falcon, a Smithsonian Institute Fellowship Award Winner for Film provides a unique opportunity to students in San Antonio School for Inquiry and Creativity’s Elementary classrooms- an introduction to Film Making.

He says, "Teaching Video Production and Media Studies to Elementary Students is simple and interesting. Technology in the classroom is introduced to my class in several ways. The most entertaining and educational way is through video production. Usually, I film my students reading their writing assignments aloud and then play it back on the TV monitor in the classroom. This exercise allows the students to see and hear their mistakes, learning from them."

An aspect of Film-Making used in the classroom is a summative overview pertaining to the basic concepts of Journalism. Ultimately, Journalism is infused with an array of writing techniques; including, Persuasion, Descriptive, and Informative writing. Students studying Journalism at the Elementary Level use their understanding of Comprehension and Critical thinking to create original essays; outlining a variety of topics. Plus, journalistic Question and Answer exercises are done to create a pseudo-interview atmosphere, with students collecting an abundant amount of information pertaining to the interviewee or subjects covered. With this Exploratory Learning model encompassing aspects of traditional and nontraditional education, benchmarking and state mandated testing grades show that students learn and retain more when they are immersed in an artistic and creative environment.

Trips to Professional TV studios, like Kens 5 SA have provided ample opportunity for the students to see behind-the-scenes, giving them a unique perspective on how the TV shows that they might watch are filmed, programed, and organized; including Live TV. With such knowledge, students gain a personal respect for video production, script-writing, and set design. Solidified in this Journalistic Media practice are elements of core subjects like Math, Reading, Comprehension, Writing, and Critical Thinking.