From: Cassio O'Keefe <cassio>
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 22:26:11 -0500

Hello, I teach fourth grade. I see many benefits for students when the books they love are made into movies. One incredible benefit is that some books are made accessible to students who would otherwise be unable to read the book. Some of my lower readers love Harry Potter. The books are complicated and long. They work through them, but the movies help confirm plot or fill in parts that they may have missed. The students are also comparing the movie and the book. No matter which they experience first, students generally appreciate that the book is better. They recognize that some things need to be left out of a movie. The Harry Potter movies have been great for this. There is no way that everything in any of those books can be put into a movie. This just raises students awareness to the difficulty of adapting a book to a movie. Most importantly students seem to be very excited to read the books that have been made into movies. I recommended Holes to some of my higher level readers early in the year, but it wasn't until the movie that most kids wanted to try it. I think anything that helps point kids in the direction of a great book is worthwhile.
 I think instead of keeping kids from reading, these movies are showing kids the richness and variety of the written word. I hear most of my students already stating that they like to read the book and then see the movie. It is more fun that way! Cassie O'Keefe
Received on Sun 06 Jul 2003 10:26:11 PM CDT