Inspiring Creative Writing in the Classroom through Movies

By Jerelle Hendon, Ed.S., Strategies for Student Success blogger

As a former classroom instructor, one of the hardest things to see was the face of a frustrated student trying to translate to text the thoughts or ideas floating around in his or her head. In my professional opinion, this task was more difficult for boys because our cultural norms don’t encourage them to process their feelings and emotions. Speaking from the perspective of a male instructor, I had a difficult time trying to transfer this learned skill to my students because I was never taught as a kid how to write creatively.

While talking with some of my colleagues about our experiences as students in our English language arts classrooms, many of us recalled learning subject-verb agreement and having to memorize a verse from a piece of literature we were required to learn. In our modern world, this poses a challenge for students because we expect them to create and not emulate. How do we expect students to extend and expand knowledge when educators are forced to only teach them how to recall and regurgitate?

During a recent interview with actor Gregory Alan Williams, one of the stars of the hit television show “Greenleaf,” he shared how he made his first film as an eighth-grader. His film project was part of an assignment given to him by his teacher. Inspired by this classroom assignment, Williams encourages classroom teachers to use videos to help inspire students through writing and literature to explore their creative side. With the advancement of technology, the idea of using a smartphone to produce, edit and record a video in the classroom is feasible with the click of a few buttons. Having access to online sites such as YouTube also gives students an opportunity to learn from their peers.

To view the short interview with Gregory Alan Williams, please click here.