The Magic of Silent Movies in Creative Writing!

I want to give a  SPECIAL "THANK YOU" to Adrianne Meldrum of The Tutor House for being a guest blogger today! She does, without a doubt, always have clever and spectacular ideas/activities to share. So, without further delay...
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There's something magical about silent movies.  Even without dialog, a story is conveyed.  How would the story be different if you could add dialog?  Using silent movies for a creative writing project or exercise could liven up your students creative juices.


I found three fun (short) silent movies that lend themselves well to adding dialog.  Two of them are old silent movies and the other is a modern day silent movie.  All of these videos are under a creative commons license. 


Divide your students into teams and assign a video.  Students will then work together to come up with dialog that goes along with the video.  They will need to come up with a title and then perform the voices for the videos.  Of course, you'll need to set some ground rules with no profane or inappropriate content allowed. 


You could also have students do their own voice over of the videos.  If you would prefer this method, please email me to receive an editable version of the video.

What kinds of stories do you think your students will come up with?


Video Sources: Video One, Video Two, Video Three


Adrianne Meldrum is a private tutor and author of The Tutor House, a blog dedicated to helping tutors find curriculum and business tips.

Diggin' in the $1 Bin Again...

     I'm sure many of you recall the link up for "You Know You are a Teacher When..."
Well, mine was about digging in the dollar bins at Target and shopping at Dollar General ALL the time!
     Did it again this week! I went to Target for an item or two and spent 30 minutes in the dollars bins....YEP! I couldn't even get all the way into the store and beyond the checkout area! Stopped by the newly filled dollar bins! LOVE LOVE LOVE...
     There's something about atmosphere that changes my mood. At home, it's a habit for me to cut every lamp on and have a clean (furniture polish-smelling clean) house. At school, I change things up all the time! I've been hunting some of these below at a bargain price. They are a little smaller than what I wanted but, $1 will make you holler!!!!! I bought twelve!
Here's what I'm about to hang in my classroom:

Hot Pink, Yellow, and Lime Green Paper Lanterns! YES!

I would've bought more, but 12 will work I guess!

They take all of 2 secs to put together, string them with fishing line and hang! Instant change in atmosphere. An inviting classroom really does make a HUGE difference. 

Next on my list? A miniature wind chime! Yes, the teacher across the hall has one and it's super!

What is something cool you have in your room at school? Tell us where you got it so we can go get it!! 

FYI, to those of you participating in the weekly post for the "Innovative Teacher-Author You Should Get to Know," I have decided to make it a monthly (maybe 2X/month) post instead of every week! So, don't think I've forgotten you!