Star Wars Marathon & Learning?
Christy Putnam
Seth (11), was watching Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars yesterday and my dh asked
how watching 6 hrs of Star Wars is educational. I didn't have an answer so
I thought I might pose the question to the group. I figure you all with
more experience in seeing the learning in everything would be able to help
put things in a school subject category. Of course, him watching the series
didn't bother me and he even stopped the last movie part way through to go
outside and play with his friends that are in school. I quote, "I didn't
want to miss a chance to play with my friends." He is watching the rest of
the last movie today since he missed it yesterday by going out to play.
How is watching 6 hrs of Star Wars educational?
In Gratitude,
Christy Putnam
Unschooling Mom to Aden (1) and Seth (11)
Loving wife of Chet (ann. 7/4/04)
<http://blog.myspace.com/personal_balance>
http://blog.myspace.com/personal_balance
"Go confidently in the direction of your
dreams. Live the life you have always
imagined." - Henry David Thoreau
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
how watching 6 hrs of Star Wars is educational. I didn't have an answer so
I thought I might pose the question to the group. I figure you all with
more experience in seeing the learning in everything would be able to help
put things in a school subject category. Of course, him watching the series
didn't bother me and he even stopped the last movie part way through to go
outside and play with his friends that are in school. I quote, "I didn't
want to miss a chance to play with my friends." He is watching the rest of
the last movie today since he missed it yesterday by going out to play.
How is watching 6 hrs of Star Wars educational?
In Gratitude,
Christy Putnam
Unschooling Mom to Aden (1) and Seth (11)
Loving wife of Chet (ann. 7/4/04)
<http://blog.myspace.com/personal_balance>
http://blog.myspace.com/personal_balance
"Go confidently in the direction of your
dreams. Live the life you have always
imagined." - Henry David Thoreau
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
marji
At 12:33 3/7/2006, you wrote:
really speaks volumes about what a kid might be getting out of
watching a move or the TV for any length of time. Perhaps you can
extrapolate some good answers to your question after reading this:
http://sandradodd.com/t/gilligan
Kindest regards,
Marji
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>While not directly about Star Wars, I think this particular essay
>How is watching 6 hrs of Star Wars educational?
>
really speaks volumes about what a kid might be getting out of
watching a move or the TV for any length of time. Perhaps you can
extrapolate some good answers to your question after reading this:
http://sandradodd.com/t/gilligan
Kindest regards,
Marji
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Malinda Mills
Tristan (9) is a huge Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan; right now he is on a big "Return of the Jedi" kick for some reason, watching it daily. Movies (and TV in general) have been great jumping off points for him when it comes to new interests.
Now...these might not all be things that are happening RIGHT when Tristan is watching a movie, but the movies often inspire so many things after.
Tristan often tries to really analyze the characters....Why did Anakin turn so quickly to the Dark Side? What other options did he have? Why did so-and-so choose to do what they did? These conversations usually occur DURING the movie, when I'm enjoying the movie with him. This can easily carry over to any movie/TV show. (ethics, decision making, etc.).
He often uses the Star Wars Galaxy and Middle Earth as backdrops for games, written/oral stories, and drawings he creates. Often when he makes games they are stylized after D&D or other role playing game, where players have hit points that they gain/lose. Tristan doesn't like writing math down so he tallies all the numbers in his head (and somehow is able to remember not only his own but all the other players hit points at the same time). He seeks out the many books written about Star Wars, and other movies he enjoys. In addition to fueling his love of reading, he now knows more about Star Wars than both of his geeky, Star Wars loving parents. ;o) (reading, art, writing, math)
Tristan also is really getting into the making of movies...he'll watch the behind the scenes features over and over and often chooses to watch the movies with the director/actor commentaries. He has watched "The Two Towers" with all three commentaries (actors, director, art/set design). He learns about the areas where the movies were filmed, different special effects, how the shots were created, the obstacles that had to be overcome in making the films, etc. This has lead him to create his own movies and then insists on making his own "behind the scenes" feature where he sits in front of the camera to tell the audience his reasoning for making the movie.
The Star Wars movies, particularly Episodes I-III are basically one special effect after another. Tristan has learned SO much about CG effects and will often compare one movie's effects to another and searches out movies done by the same special effects guys (like Stan Winston, etc.). This has lead him to looking into how to make latex masks and other "simple" special effects.
I don't know if all my ramblings are helpful, Christy, but maybe they'll give you a few ideas. :o)
Malinda
Now...these might not all be things that are happening RIGHT when Tristan is watching a movie, but the movies often inspire so many things after.
Tristan often tries to really analyze the characters....Why did Anakin turn so quickly to the Dark Side? What other options did he have? Why did so-and-so choose to do what they did? These conversations usually occur DURING the movie, when I'm enjoying the movie with him. This can easily carry over to any movie/TV show. (ethics, decision making, etc.).
He often uses the Star Wars Galaxy and Middle Earth as backdrops for games, written/oral stories, and drawings he creates. Often when he makes games they are stylized after D&D or other role playing game, where players have hit points that they gain/lose. Tristan doesn't like writing math down so he tallies all the numbers in his head (and somehow is able to remember not only his own but all the other players hit points at the same time). He seeks out the many books written about Star Wars, and other movies he enjoys. In addition to fueling his love of reading, he now knows more about Star Wars than both of his geeky, Star Wars loving parents. ;o) (reading, art, writing, math)
Tristan also is really getting into the making of movies...he'll watch the behind the scenes features over and over and often chooses to watch the movies with the director/actor commentaries. He has watched "The Two Towers" with all three commentaries (actors, director, art/set design). He learns about the areas where the movies were filmed, different special effects, how the shots were created, the obstacles that had to be overcome in making the films, etc. This has lead him to create his own movies and then insists on making his own "behind the scenes" feature where he sits in front of the camera to tell the audience his reasoning for making the movie.
The Star Wars movies, particularly Episodes I-III are basically one special effect after another. Tristan has learned SO much about CG effects and will often compare one movie's effects to another and searches out movies done by the same special effects guys (like Stan Winston, etc.). This has lead him to looking into how to make latex masks and other "simple" special effects.
I don't know if all my ramblings are helpful, Christy, but maybe they'll give you a few ideas. :o)
Malinda
----- Original Message -----
From: Christy Putnam
How is watching 6 hrs of Star Wars educational?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Deb
A really easy one is an introduction to roman numerals since the
episodes are numbered I-VI not 1-6, granted that episodes I-III are
pretty simple (but I'm betting IV-VI aren't far behind in the
marathon plans). Also, time - how long is it, can I watch the whole
thing and still play with my friends or do I have to stop it? I know
my DS (almost 8) has gotten good at finding the runtime of videos
and checking the clock to see if he has enough time before x to
watch the whole thing. Then there's literature: the good vs evil
genre; the 'tragic flaw' - Anakin's fear and anger and regret
regarding his mother plays into his fears for Padme which eventually
drive him to the Dark Side - it's classic (you can probably even
find similar themes in Shakespeare!); plot devices; all that kind of
stuff is the makings of literature. History - even though it isn't
specifically *our* history, it's not a far stretch from watching how
Palpatine used fear of the Separatists to consolidate power and
bring the Empire to war and how Hitler used fear in the aftermath of
WWI to come to power and plunge Europe and the world into war
(obviously very over simplified); there's also the concepts of
democracy, republic, empire forms of government involved. Science:
cloning is a big obvious one - is it possible to do what they did to
make the clone army?; Mustafar - the volcanic planet - is it
possible or would such a heavily volcanic planet break apart or cool
down?; why does the space ship break up/burn up on re-entry when
they rescue Palpatine? what's a laser? the whole realm of robotics
is up for grabs here too. Art/music are important - the music cues
and feeds off the action - odds are your son can tell just by
listening, which part it is, which characters are involved, and so
on. The artistic and creative imaginings to make the planetscapes
and creatures/aliens and all - not to mention how they tie in to the
model making, CG, make up/costume fields.
So, yeah, there's probably a lot you could whip together if you
needed that sort of thing. The bigger issue, though, seems to be the
idea of separating "educational" from everything else in life.It can
be hard for the person who isn't home to see how things flow
together. Even though I could put together a list of stuff, I might
choose to instead ask more questions, find out what is behind the
questions being asked - what are the concerns involved? Then, format
the answer using his own frames of reference - what does he love?
does he learn from exploring it? If so, then make the connection
that *learning* occurs all over the place, whether it 'fits' the
school/education model.
--Deb
--- In [email protected], "Christy Putnam"
<personal_balance@...> wrote:
episodes are numbered I-VI not 1-6, granted that episodes I-III are
pretty simple (but I'm betting IV-VI aren't far behind in the
marathon plans). Also, time - how long is it, can I watch the whole
thing and still play with my friends or do I have to stop it? I know
my DS (almost 8) has gotten good at finding the runtime of videos
and checking the clock to see if he has enough time before x to
watch the whole thing. Then there's literature: the good vs evil
genre; the 'tragic flaw' - Anakin's fear and anger and regret
regarding his mother plays into his fears for Padme which eventually
drive him to the Dark Side - it's classic (you can probably even
find similar themes in Shakespeare!); plot devices; all that kind of
stuff is the makings of literature. History - even though it isn't
specifically *our* history, it's not a far stretch from watching how
Palpatine used fear of the Separatists to consolidate power and
bring the Empire to war and how Hitler used fear in the aftermath of
WWI to come to power and plunge Europe and the world into war
(obviously very over simplified); there's also the concepts of
democracy, republic, empire forms of government involved. Science:
cloning is a big obvious one - is it possible to do what they did to
make the clone army?; Mustafar - the volcanic planet - is it
possible or would such a heavily volcanic planet break apart or cool
down?; why does the space ship break up/burn up on re-entry when
they rescue Palpatine? what's a laser? the whole realm of robotics
is up for grabs here too. Art/music are important - the music cues
and feeds off the action - odds are your son can tell just by
listening, which part it is, which characters are involved, and so
on. The artistic and creative imaginings to make the planetscapes
and creatures/aliens and all - not to mention how they tie in to the
model making, CG, make up/costume fields.
So, yeah, there's probably a lot you could whip together if you
needed that sort of thing. The bigger issue, though, seems to be the
idea of separating "educational" from everything else in life.It can
be hard for the person who isn't home to see how things flow
together. Even though I could put together a list of stuff, I might
choose to instead ask more questions, find out what is behind the
questions being asked - what are the concerns involved? Then, format
the answer using his own frames of reference - what does he love?
does he learn from exploring it? If so, then make the connection
that *learning* occurs all over the place, whether it 'fits' the
school/education model.
--Deb
--- In [email protected], "Christy Putnam"
<personal_balance@...> wrote:
>
> Seth (11), was watching Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars yesterday and my
>dh asked
> how watching 6 hrs of Star Wars is educational.
Deb
--- In [email protected], "Malinda Mills"
<saprswife@...> wrote:
there's quite a time span of backstory to that...if you are looking
for it, you get hints of it, like when Anakin tells Obi Wan that he
doesn't like spying on Palpatine because he has mentored him for so
many years and so on - you get hints that it's way longer and far
deeper a process than just that short appearing bit in the movie.
--Deb
<saprswife@...> wrote:
>That's a question I had too but DH had read some of the books and
> Tristan often tries to really analyze the characters....Why did
>Anakin turn so quickly to the Dark Side? What other options did he
>have?
there's quite a time span of backstory to that...if you are looking
for it, you get hints of it, like when Anakin tells Obi Wan that he
doesn't like spying on Palpatine because he has mentored him for so
many years and so on - you get hints that it's way longer and far
deeper a process than just that short appearing bit in the movie.
--Deb
Manisha Kher
--- Christy Putnam <personal_balance@...> wrote:
that it can always be put in a school subject
category.
But if you must, Star Wars can lead to an interest in
space and then to an interest in science. Or it could
lead to an interest in martial arts - jedi knights
style. Or it may not lead anywhere immediately and
that's OK too. We learn by making connections. The
more things we experience the more dots we gather,
that enable us to make more connections. Many of the
dots cannot be seen till we have connected other dots.
Ugh! I cannot explain this at all. I have an idea in
my mind that I cannot put in words. So I'll just
redirect to other people.
http://sandradodd.com/connections
and
http://sandradodd.com/seeingit
Manisha
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> Seth (11), was watching Episodes 1-3 of Star WarsThere is learning in everything, but that doesn't mean
> yesterday and my dh asked
> how watching 6 hrs of Star Wars is educational. I
> didn't have an answer so
> I thought I might pose the question to the group. I
> figure you all with
> more experience in seeing the learning in everything
> would be able to help
> put things in a school subject category.
that it can always be put in a school subject
category.
But if you must, Star Wars can lead to an interest in
space and then to an interest in science. Or it could
lead to an interest in martial arts - jedi knights
style. Or it may not lead anywhere immediately and
that's OK too. We learn by making connections. The
more things we experience the more dots we gather,
that enable us to make more connections. Many of the
dots cannot be seen till we have connected other dots.
Ugh! I cannot explain this at all. I have an idea in
my mind that I cannot put in words. So I'll just
redirect to other people.
http://sandradodd.com/connections
and
http://sandradodd.com/seeingit
Manisha
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
Malinda Mills
Thanks, Deb! Both Tristan and I have read a number of the books so we were able to tackle that question...it just happened to be the first one to pop into my head (so I included it in my post). The books often give so much more insight into these types of things. That is one thing that Tristan really enjoys about the books, whether they are novelizations of the movies themselves or just a spinoff from them. :o)
Malinda
Malinda
----- Original Message -----
From: Deb
That's a question I had too but DH had read some of the books and
there's quite a time span of backstory to that...if you are looking
for it, you get hints of it, like when Anakin tells Obi Wan that he
doesn't like spying on Palpatine because he has mentored him for so
many years and so on - you get hints that it's way longer and far
deeper a process than just that short appearing bit in the movie.
--Deb
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]