Project Showcase #1 – Using @EDpuzzle To Analyze A Streetcar Named Desire #edtech #edchat

This is my first year in the role of Technology Coordinator at my school. I’ve learned a ton (and then some)! I want to do a series of posts highlighting some of the project ideas that we have given a go this year. Here is project #1…

Brad Kosegarten and I worked to create a project for his English III class using EDpuzzle to break down and analyze a scene from the film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Assignment: A Streetcar Named Desire Film Analysis Project

Student Exemplars:
Analyzing Scene 10
Analyzing Scene 9

Introduction to Assignment
Usually, this year, when we have been analyzing text, it has been in the form of the written word: short stories, plays, poems and novels. Texts exist beyond the literary world however; you can closely study a campaign poster, a commercial, a piece of artwork, etc for structure and meaning.

In this project, you and a partner will select a scene from the film version of Streetcar and use EDpuzzle to break down and analyze the film adaptation of the scene and share the deeper meaning you’ve found with your classmates.

Objectives

To understand how film can be analyzed as text
To analyze film for tone, theme, structure, characterization, etc.
To learn to use EDpuzzle as an audio-visual presentation tool.

Instructions

Select a partner and a scene (this will be determined in class)
Read the play version of A Streetcar Named Desire and watch the Elia Kazan film version.
Complete the following questionnaire using complete sentences and proper grammar. (a series of questions was given for students to think about)
After searching for your YouTube clip in Edpuzzle, work with your partner analyze your scene using. It is best if you stop 5-7 times to make commentary based on your answers above. Focus on sharing your most interesting findings: a shift in tone, interesting structure, a central theme, dramatic irony, etc.
Using EDpuzzle, ask three discussion questions at the end of the scene so the class can re-cap what they’ve learned by watching your presentation. Facilitate short discussion.

Materials

What worked well with this project?

Students enjoyed working on the project. Even students who are often times less enthusiastic about projects were having fun with this one.
Students were able to facilitate discussion well by having “discussion” questions at the end of the scene (using free-response “quiz” feature in EDpuzzle)
Technology was relatively easy to use, so students were able to focus on the analysis & learning goals
Modeling helped students well (teacher made a sample project)

What would be done differently in the future?

Have students include their names in the title of their EDpuzzle project
Finding clips from youtube can tricky. Teacher needs to make sure proper clips are available ahead of time.
Make sure that comment a) explains in an expository way what is happening in the scene that students might miss and b) analyzes the significance of the scene. Adding this to the rubric would help students structure their comments.
There were some tech problems with sound, but EDpuzzle resolved immediately & is working on long-term fix.
As the teacher, be more technical with the film criticism language.