Point Pleasant Borough High School Hosts First Annual Italian Film Festival

Gone are the days when learning a foreign language consisted of memorizing flashcards and phrases unlikely to ever be uttered in normal conversation. Visit a foreign language classroom today and you are likely to see an animated information exchange between teacher and students.

The shift can be partially traced to the implementation of the Total Physical Response method in second language education. The method, created by Psychologist Dr. James Asher, relies on the use of physical actions to aid in foreign language comprehension.

The concept is currently in use in several classrooms at Point Pleasant Borough High School.

"Total Physical Response helps students learn foreign languages in a contextual manner," said Italian Teacher Miss Amy Wood. "Rather than automatically translate words to English, TPR allows students to connect the action to the word or phrase resulting in better language retention and improved fluency.”
 
"I currently use TPR in all my Italian classes," said Miss Wood. "But this year I wanted to expand the concept for my second year students by conducting Point Pleasant Borough High School's First Annual Italian Film Festival."

Currently pursuing dual masters degrees in Italian and Educational Technology, Miss Wood said that she modeled the festival after a graduate course she took at Rutgers entitled “Italian Cinema in the Classroom.

“The film festival not only combined both of my academic concentrations but it also provided a unique opportunity to help students review the concepts they learned in Italian I,” she continued.

Miss Wood said the students worked in pairs to write, direct, produce and star in original short films that were scripted, acted and scored in Italian.
 
The result was a molto bene (very good) cross-curricular event encompassing elements of Technology, Visual and Performing Arts as well as Language Arts.

"In class we discussed the elements of what makes a good movie from plot development, setting, rising and falling action and climax," she said. "The students considered some of their favorite films and what makes them good films and the project really took off from there."

Miss Wood said the students came up with the ideas for their films and wrote the scripts with her acting as editor. The completed films were screened over a three-day period for the students and special guest audience of teachers and administrators.

Some students drew inspiration from popular films.
 
Italian II Honors students Billy Bowers and Angelo Falabella produced a parody of the hit horror film Paranormal Activity. "Strana Attivita" centered on a couple being haunted by a supernatural entity.

While others opted for more light-hearted fare.

For “Scienza Vita In aZione” (Life Science in Action), students Emily Smith and Camille Grieci demonstrated the famed Mentos and Diet Coke experiment before breaking into a dance routine set to an Italian techno beat.

Students Hope D’Amore and Katie Stabile’s “Incubo In Via Carlo” (Nightmare on Charles Street) employed the use of music to set the suspenseful tone, garnering rave reviews from the guest audience of Assistant Principal Mrs. Jacquelyn Moore and Technology Teacher Mr. Pete Casalino.

“I thought the production value was very good,” said Mr. Casalino inquiring about the video editing software that was used.

According to Miss Wood, alternate options were available for students without access to a movie camera and included the use of still photography and voiceover using Microsoft Photo Story or PowerPoint.
 
“All my classes were equally enthusiastic and capable and they produced excellent material,” said Miss Wood.

Nearly 30 videos were shown over the three-day festival. The films were graded on verb utilization, successfully hitting all grammar points, audio and creativity.

"All Core Curriculum Content areas are in the process of being rewritten to incorporate aspects of technology," said District Director of Curriculum & Instruction Mr. Robert Alfonse. "This project was great because it satisfied that goal while also touching on various other curriculum areas. Reinforcing additional content areas is the key to effective instruction.”

“Communication is a verbal and physical process,” said Superintendent of Schools Vincent S. Smith. “Total Physical Response provides a revolutionary approach to learning language by utilizing both aspects to achieve language cognition and internalization. The results are evident,” Mr. Smith continued. “Admittedly, I am not fluent in Italian, however, through the medium of the students’ videos I was able to thoroughly comprehend and enjoy their features.”