4 More Days!

I have 4 more days of school left (at least, with students)! Although the end of the school year can be a bit crazy, I enjoy it. This is when I'm just wrapping up my final units and getting ready for final exam. In my mind, a great way to do this is to show the movie that's based on the novel we're finishing up. With my 9th graders, this means showing the 1962 movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird. This movie won 3 Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Gregory Peck), and it was nominated for a total of 8 Oscars. Considering that I show this movie to three different class periods, it's a good thing that I love listening to Gregory Peck talk!

With my 10th graders, I'm showing the 1975 movie version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I had never watched this movie until I showed it last year, but I like it. This movie won 5 Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture, and it was nominated for a total of 9 Oscars. In a fun little side note, this was one of Danny DeVito's first films!

A lot of my students seem to think that if a movie was made before they were born, it is automatically "old" and, therefore, not worth watching. I love that both of these movies tend to shatter those illusions for many of them. I also love that many of my students acknowledge that the book is better than the movie. :)

Once we're done with the movies, all we have left is the final exam! Then we're done for the summer!