by Alicia Menchaca
| Recently, I asked teachers to share contests and competitions they love, and Alicia Menchaca, an Enrichment Coordinator in Uvalde, Texas, commented that her students had participated in – and won- the 90-Second Newberry. I asked if she would share more, and she generously agreed. I love the concept of dramatizing the entire plot of a book in a 90-second video, and even if you don’t enter the contest, you’ll appreciate this explanation of how Alicia’s students prepared their entries! |
I came across the 90 Second Newbery Contest as I was searching the internet for contests that I could share with my upper elementary gifted and talented students. I was having trouble keeping my 6th-grade pull-out students engaged. After I reflected on the projects and activities we had done in the past few years, I came to the conclusion that my students thrive when presented with a competition.
The contest calls for young filmmakers to write and produce a film that “tells the entire story” of a Newbery award-winning novel in 90 seconds. Filmmakers are encouraged to be creative with their films by adding a cinematic spin to their genre, storylines, and media presentations. Films can be produced and submitted by individuals or groups of any kind: families, local libraries, and school groups.
The contest is in its 13th year, and film screenings are held all around the United States: in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and most importantly in my case, San Antonio. The idea that I could foster creativity in students, encourage reading, and potentially end with the real-life experience of attending a film screening and awards ceremony just 90 minutes from Uvalde was too good to pass up! So, I did it!
All of our 6th-grade gifted and talented students participated in the contest. We submitted six films to the contest, five of which were nominated across six different categories. I am proud to share that our film, “The Wednesday Wars” was awarded Best Adaptation in the San Antonio 2023 Film Festival.
If you like the sound of this contest as much as I did, answering the following questions will help you determine if you can implement this contest in your school or at home. While I used this contest specifically for my gifted pull-out students, this could easily be incorporated into ELA classrooms as an enrichment project.
ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:
- Do my students have access to Newbery novels?
- Do we have the technology required to film and edit?
- How much time do I have to dedicate to this project throughout the school year?
HERE’S HOW I ANSWERED:
Question 1: Do my students have access to Newbery novels?
For this project. students do have to have access to physical books. They do, after all, have to read a novel and utilize the book to plan their films. I was fortunate to obtain approval for one class set. After careful consideration of the countless Newbery Award Winning Novels, I decided on The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt. This novel caught my attention because it is a historical fiction coming-of-age story that included an overarching theme of perseverance and underlying tones of romance and the social-emotional experience of middle school. The novel is a slow start, but the students really became engaged once they realized the unfortunate luck of the main character, Holling Hood Hood. For us, reading the same novel provided an opportunity for healthy discourse and collaboration as we met together in class. However, if you are able to determine that your students would have easy access to different novels, this project can be planned in such a way that allows students to read a variety of the available texts and develop their films using the same activities.
Question 2: Do we have the technology required to film and edit?
This question was easy for me to answer because, in my district, we are one-to-one with iPads. All students have a recording device right in their hands, equipped with apps such as Clips and iMovie that are perfect for editing films. I would highly recommend obtaining microphones for students, and maybe a green screen. I think our film quality suffered as a result of only using the microphones from the iPad itself. If your school or district does not have consistent access to technology, this may be where you should start.
Question 3: How much time do I have to dedicate to this project throughout the school year?
For me, again, this was a simple question, because I have a detailed meeting schedule with my gifted students. For your implementation, you will just have to decide how often it makes sense to spiral in the project. Deciding where to start the planning process is super simple using the website’s Make Your Own Page. This page includes recommended steps for getting started, tips for filmmaking, blog posts, and even a sample curriculum. This blog post, written by the Zen family, was particularly helpful in detailing their filmmaking process. Armed with this knowledge I began to develop the pacing for our students.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Once it was decided that we would participate in the contest, I reached out to teachers nearby, and Tammy Krumm, Instructional Specialist for Gifted and Talented in San Antonio ISD, answered my call and shared with me her process. She showed me how to approach the project with 7 easy steps:
- Watch and review previous awesome submission videos.
- Pick a Newbery book and read it.
- Choose the top 10-15 most important events.
- Decide on a story twist and determine resources needed.
- Write a script and storyboard.
- Rehearse and begin filming.
- Edit and submit video.
My biggest takeaway from communicating with Tammy was to provide the students with a clear timeline from the very beginning of the project. This helps with keeping students accountable for their reading, and production throughout, especially if they are working in a group. During class, we focused on identifying key story elements that could be highlighted in their films, brainstorming plot twists, and reviewing filmmaking tips. We finished the novel at the end of our fall semester and began the real production process when we returned from winter break. For our San Antonio screening, we had a film submission deadline of March 3rd. Therefore the month of February was our big filming and editing season.
CONCLUSION
I highly recommend attempting this project with any age group. It may feel a little overwhelming and like herding cats during the filming and production process. However, the end result is worth it!
We had an intimate local screening here in Uvalde as part of our showcase, where we displayed the films we created for family and friends. We had popcorn donated from our local theater. Going into our second year, we’ve decided to implement the project across two grade levels. I have big hopes to host a much larger local screening in the spring before the San Antonio Screening occurs.
In the end, I feel very confident that anyone can complete this project by using the resources provided on the contest website and by reaching out to others for guidance. Good Luck Filmmakers!