News
Filmmaker Talks Stories with 5th Grade
One of the concepts our 5th grade language arts curriculum emphasizes throughout the year is identifying the elements of great stories.
Since the beginning of the year, students and teachers have regularly read books together and actively discussed the authors’ choices. Students have spent months practicing descriptive writing in an effort to turn their thoughts into words that create vivid scenes and a variety of moods. They’ve written “story starters” to pull in the reader and dialogue to make their characters come to life. They love discussing things the characters know and the reader does not and vice versa.
With the realities of remote learning now part of the daily learning experience, 5th grade teachers continue to build on this foundation and provide opportunities for kids to expand and share their work. Recently, students in Jeff Stone’s class met and creatively collaborated with director and Stone’s close friend Marc Webb.
Webb, a director of music videos, TV programs and movies, has worked with people and shows familiar to many of Stone’s students. His films include The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2, 500 Days of Summer, Gifted and The Only Living Boy in New York. He is currently working with Disney in pre-production on a big-budget live-action movie of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Webb’s TV credits include The Office, Limitless, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Lonestar, The Society and many others. He is also an award-winning music video director for artists including Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Avril LaVigne, Maroon 5, Miley Cyrus, Fergie and more.
In his initial Google Meet with the class, Webb shared the story of how he and Stone meeting as students at Colorado College. From there, he described how his personal love of movies led him from college to work as a documentary video editor, eventually placing him closer to the movie-based storytelling work that is the basis of his reputation and acclaim.
Stone encouraged and facilitated questions from his students on topics ranging from Webb’s personal process as a storyteller to working with famous talent, to his personal favorite movies and moments in his films. Stone also screen-shared the opening moments from Webb’s film Gifted and invited Webb to lead a discussion on its storytelling techniques.
As students engaged with the visiting artist, Stone helped connect the content of their discussion to the creative writing concepts they had been working on all year. They acknowledged that music videos and films were both forms of storytelling, each with its own unique constraints and possibilities. Stone emphasized the importance of revisions as part of the process as well as the necessity for empathy in all parties when collaborating on a project. Through this discussion, students could relate to Webb and his work, making for an exciting follow-up experience yet to come.
The following day, students met in small groups with Webb and Stone on Google Meet. Stone shared samples of student work with Webb, who was able to offer questions, comments and suggestions based on his prior work. In these exchanges, the depth of thought and ability the students brought to their work impressed Webb, and he offered praise as well as advice, all with a smile and touch of humor.
Many thanks to Marc Webb and Jeff Stone for facilitating this unique opportunity with our students to help connect their work in the classroom with professionals working in the wider world.
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.