Many of my Fall Semester 2023 students will develop film history research projects.   We begin with a favorite film based on a historical event, idea, or person.  Our academic goal is to research the story behind the story.  We compare what we see on the screen to what we find on the college databases.   The result is a six-eight-page MLA style research paper. 

It's FUN and INTERESTING, says me.  In our classroom modules, I model steps for developing an essay on the real Bonnie and Clyde.  It's my favorite movie.  Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are among my favorite actors.  But more important, the real-life Bonnie and Clyde robbed and killed during th 1930s.  This was at the height of the Great Depression. Above on our Jamboard I ask this question:  WHY do we consider two cold-blooded killers to be American Folk Heroes.  WHY do people ( JAY-Z and BEYONCE) write songs about them?  Why do we still watch movies about them (on NETFLIX)?  What's it say about US as a CULTURE?  I will  ask my students to share their own research questions on a Jamboard. 

My students in the past have written about Frida Kahlo, Pearl Harbor, The Assassination of President Kennedy, Jackie Robinson Breaking the Color Barrier, etc.  Under normal circumstances, I plan a Research Party in the classroom.  Usually, I come to class with charts, images, and other materials to help my students jump-start research of their topic. To make it a real party, I bring Food and Drink.   But, this semester, we are not in the classroom.  We are on Zoom.

LET'S JAM, PEOPLE!  On our Jamboard,  I will  ask my students to share their own research questions (see above).  I hope for THEM to work in groups to create EFFECTIVE research questions.  The activity is designed to help them look  below  the surface at a topic.  EVERYTHING is INTERESTING  I encourage them to write with a PURPOSE.  We work together to formulate the best questions to address in our research papers.  What is it that their readers/classmates need to know about their topics?  If they can ask significant questions and provide interesting answers, their essays will go places.

I hope students that some of their BEST research questions will come from their own classmates.

Come along, pack your bags
Get on up and jam y'all   –  Lakeside: "Fantastic Voyage"