CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Amelia Simmons Date: 9/28

School: Rocky Mountain HS Grade Level: 12 Content Area: English (Media Analysis)

Title: Sound and Silence in Film Lesson #: 1 of 1

Identify which part of the lesson meets 1 or more of the 4 part Mission of the National Network for
Educational Renewal (Equal Access and Excellence, Stewardship, Nurturing Pedagogy and
Enculturation.): What are you and your students doing today to advance the 4-Part Mission? Does this
lesson connect to one or more parts of the Mission? Please briefly explain.

Equal Access- The lesson uses video and audio texts, to help create equal access, all videos will have
captions on them.

Stewardship-

Nurturing Pedagogy-

Enculturation- The lesson’s overall purpose is to get students to think deeply about the specific choices
filmmakers make in regard to sound. This allows students to better analyze and think critically about
texts with audio which today include a vast array of texts every day of their lives, including political ads.

Lesson Idea/Topic and Rational/Relevance: The overall unit is Film Analysis; understanding sound in
What are you going to teach and why is this film is a very important way to understand movies. Most
lesson important to these students? What sound in movies comes after the actual filming of the
has already happened in this classroom movie being added in at the editing phase. Dialogue is
surrounding the subject you will be the only major sound type recorded on set. This means
teaching? What do students already know? that every piece of sound is carefully selected and
Why are you going to teach this topic now fine-tuned by the director and sound design team.
(how does it fit in the curricular sequence)? Students will already know some basics about film
What teaching methods/strategy will you analysis. This lesson is one of the deeper dives into
be use and why? specific avenues of analysis.

What is the key vocabulary necessary for soundtrack (score)

students to know in order to learn the
material? dialogue

silence

sound fx

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Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson: (Write Content Standards directly from the standard)

Reading for All Purpose: 1. Interpret and evaluate complex literature using various
critical reading strategies.

Understandings: (Big Ideas)-(Learning Target) Students will interpret and evaluate film media texts
through the choices in regards to sound.

Literacy Standards: (Above standard as this is a literacy class)

Understandings: (Big Ideas) (Learning Target) (ditto)

Math Standards: “Think critically, analyze evidence, read graphs, understand logical arguements, detect
logical fallacies, test conjectures, evaluate risks, and appreciate the role mathematics plays in the
modern world, i.e. be quantitatively literate.

Understandings: (Big Ideas) (Learning Target) Students will think critically about choices made by
filmmakers, analyze evidence of themselves and their peers as the audience, and test how music impacts
tones of scene.

Democracy and 21st Century Skills

Understandings: (Big Ideas) (Learning Target) Students will think critically about a type of text
(audio/visual) become more prevalent and pervasive in all aspects of modern life.

Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of instruction, select
applicable questions from standard)

What is sound’s impact in movies? What types of sounds occur in movies? What choices can directors
make with sound?

Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets) AND (Success Criteria) Next to each Learning Target OR
Objectives, state how you are addressing literacy AND numeracy within this lesson.

I can: Explain some of sound’s impact in movies.

This means: I know the impacts of sound in movies (emotion, themes, seriousness, etc). I can state those
impacts in a clear sentence.

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I can: name types of sounds in movies.

This means: I know the three main types of sound in movies (dialogue, music, sound fx), and I can define
them.

I can: explain the choices directors can make in regard to sound.

This means: I know the effects different types of sounds can have on a project. I can link those effects to
specific sounds. I can explain the effects of specific sounds in a scene from a film.

List of Assessments: (Note whether the assessment is formative or summative?)

Avengers Endgame 2:30 min sound analysis - check for understanding/formative

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Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of Lesson
Should be a creative title for you and the students to Sound and Silence in Film
associate with the activity. Think of the purpose as
the mini-rationale for what you are trying to
accomplish through this lesson.
Approx. Time and Materials
How long do you expect the activity to last and what Powerpoint -
materials will you need? https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1o-Fid3m_oFYiHz3g-JnMd02Bn2HL4ELk3D7Gv7
UTV7Q/edit?usp=sharing

Anticipatory Set Zoom-In (Making Thinking Visible) [zoomed in on few seconds of soundtrack]
The “hook” to grab students’ attention. These are Students identify movies by soundtrack moments (in 5 seconds?)
actions and statements by the teacher to relate the ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXjI2kuNkhE - Lion King (0:00)
experiences of the students to the objectives of the ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXDnFYu91vY - Star Wars (0:27)
lesson, To put students into a receptive frame of ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjbSKknc2rc - Toy Story (end of 0:02)
mind. How were you able to recognize them? What gave it away? What does that
● To focus student attention on the lesson. recognizability say about these movies?
● To create an organizing framework for the
ideas, principles, or information that is to
follow (advanced organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any time a different
activity or new concept is to be introduced.
How do you intend to engage your students in The strategy I intend to use is _Zoom-In__________________________________
thinking during the Anticipatory Set?
I am using this strategy here because: only gives students a small bit to work with to
Why are you using it at this point in your lesson? better highlight the recognizability of movie soundtracks.
Procedures 3 Types of Sound (Teacher Explain)
(Include a play-by-play account of what students and 1. Dialogue - spoken word, captured on set
teacher will do from the minute they arrive to the 2. Soundtrack/score/music
minute they leave your classroom. Indicate the 3. Sound FX
- gonna go through them all in most obvious to least obvious order

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length of each segment of the lesson. List actual Dialogue

minutes.) - most of plot/character development expressed through dialogue
Indicate whether each is: - Show vs tell
-teacher input Soundtrack
-modeling - All clips played beginning were soundtrack
-questioning strategies - emotional manipulation through music (start playing
-guided/unguided: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tMqcARKRSE ask how feeling)
-whole-class practice - horror soundtracks, amp up music, climatic battles
-group practice - What scenes that get you on the edge of your seat before
-individual practice anything really starts?
-check for understanding - music themes (atla agni kai)
-other - development of themes in music show same idea/character evolving
- first agni kai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV0t0sjvPJk (0:20-1:00)
- Final agni kai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRkI15fIJ1w
(1:20-2:00)
- what was the emotional difference between those 2 scenes?
- Experiment time!
- Play clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2oby0e65jA&t=75s)
without sound
- Ask students in groups to pick a song they think would fit with the tone
of the scene
- (play a little bit of the song each time?)
- Ask students/group what emotions/feeling/vibe they were going
for with the song choice
- Finally, play clip again with sound
- did the tone match up?
Sound FX
- made in studio rather than on set
- everything (feet walking, doors opening, street sounds, nature sounds etc)
- makes world feel full
- best shown by old radio shows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jbNpGQnTQI (1:50-2:20~)
- What sound effects did you notice? (door, shoes, car, phone ringing)
- How did those sounds add to the story?

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Silence
- What do moments of silence mean for you? What do they offer a film?
- stilling a moment, seriousness, centering
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIjs9eWyqVk (0:40-1:30)
- what effect did that have on you as the audience (music cutting,
heartbeats, moment of silence, then chaos of battle)?
- Why did they not keep the score playing? If you made that choice as the
filmmaker, why would you do that? Or would you choose differently?

How do you intend to engage your students in

thinking during the PROCEDURE? The strategy I intend to use is ___Why_would_you_say_that?________________

Why are you using it at this point in your lesson? I am using this strategy here because: I ask a lot of questions to guide thinking and I want
them to truly answer them, not just say what they think I want to hear.

Closure Wrap-Up/Check for Learning

Those actions or statements by a teacher that are
designed to bring a lesson presentation to an - What do you notice from this scene?
appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrGMENN1iaY (0:05-2:20~2:30)
things together in their own minds, to make sense - Dialogue? Soundtrack? Sound FX? Silence?
out of what has just been taught. “Any Questions? - Share?
No. OK, let’s move on” is not closure. Closure is used:
● To cue students to the fact that they have
arrived at an important point in the lesson or
the end of a lesson.
● To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to consolidate.
How do you intend to engage your students in
thinking during CLOSURE? The strategy I intend to use is ____Check_for_Understanding_______________

Why are you using it at this point in your lesson? I am using this strategy here because:
I want to check what the students’ understanding after the lesson is.

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Differentiation:
● Group vs Whole class discussion (scaffolding in so everyone may feel comfortable
Differentiation should be embedded contributing)
throughout your whole lesson!! ● Option of typing or writing
This is to make sure you have met the
needs of your students on IEPS or 504
To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a child,
how will you modify it so that they can be successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child, how
will you extend it to develop their emerging skills?
Assessment Reflection: (data analysis)
How will you know if students met the learning Students will be able to express specific choices made by the filmmakers in the provided
targets? Write a description of what you were clip and explain the impact it had on them as an audience.
looking for in each assessment.

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Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize assessment data to justify
your level of achievement)

The basics of the objectives were achieved; I wished they were able to go a bit deeper.

2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?

I would have liked to include a greater diversity in my film clips. Both the movie makers and the
faces on screen, but I did not have the depth of knowledge in films to know films that feature
diverse cast and crew that included the sound elements I needed. With more time, I’d do more
research and watch films for that purpose.

3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice, reteach content, etc.)
If my sound lesson was part of a series of lessons that deep-dived into aspects of filmmaking,
then I might end the lessons with an activity in which students chose a scene they wanted to
analyze and they looked for the aspects of filmmaking we covered and wrote about their effect.

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