Zeezok Publishing believes, "It is better to build children than to repair men." They work to provide quality literature and educational books for teaching the next generation. They have products in categories such as American Government, Character Building, Curriculum, Great Musician Series, Presidential Series, and Z Guide to the Movies. We had the opportunity to use and review one of their new products Z Guide to the Movies. Z Guides are a great way to incorporate media into your history/social studies curriculum. There are several Z Guides available for different movies in different time periods in history. Choices include: 12 Angry Men, A Man for All Seasons, A Tale of Two Cities, Amazing Grace, Ben Hur, Cromwell, Driving Miss Daisy, Father Goose, Flyboys, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Inherit the Wind, Jason and the Argonauts, Johnny Tremain, Kit Kittredge, Knights of the Round Table, Les Miserables, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, My Side of the Mountain, One Night With the King, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sergeant York, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, The Count of Monte Crisco, The Hiding Place and the Red Badge of Courage. You can purchase Z Guides in two formats either as an e book or on CD for $12.99. Those not showing an e book version will be coming soon. Most of the Z Guides available are for High School age children with a couple being geared for elementary/middle school. The guides do not come with the DVD. Many of the DVD's can be purchased on the http://www.zeezok.com/ site and also many can be found on http://www.netflix.com/ if you have a membership.
We chose the movie The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 Warner Home Video. The 32 page Z Guide is written for High Schoolers and the topics covered are:Middle ages, Medieval English History, Ethnic Conflict, Chivalry, and Civil Disobedience. The guide contains a topic overview, movie synopsis, and 10 learning activities split into a 5 day schedule based on this famous film. Some of the activities are: Movie Review Questions, Research Questions on Prince John and Richard the Lion Hearted, Are you Norman or Saxon Research Activity, More about the Feudal System Research Activity, Take the Oath Activity, Target Practice Activity to practice your skills at something you enjoy, Robin Hood Word Search, Feast for your Enemies Activity to improve your relationship with an "enemy", Worldview Activity to evaluate your beliefs, and the Filmmaker's Art Activity to probe the director's mind. The Guide also has a list of questions for family discission and an answer key.
We really enjoyed watching the movie The Adventure's of Robin Hood. It is even better to view it not just as a great movie but to use it as a learning experience. One of the first questions Chelsea asked was what was the difference between a Norman and a Saxon as it is mentioned several times in the movies. The next day she had an opportunity to find out as she woked on the research questions from the activity, "Are You a Norman or a Saxon?" The questions on all of the research activities give the student a thorough understanding of the topic being discussed. Chelsea is now an expert on Normans and Saxons, the fuedal system, Prince John and Richard the Lion-hearted. The worldview questions are also very well done and make for great family discussion questions.
One thing that Chelsea did mention is that she wished there were more hands on activities included. Her idea was that it would have been better with some arts and crafts ideas, or some time period appropriate recipe ideas. She thought that adding those things in would make this study even better. I also hope that they come out with more for younger age students so we could have the whole family involved.
To see what other crew members had to say click here.
I received a complimentary copy of The Adventures of Robin Hood Z Guide to the Movies for the purpose of writing a fair annd honest review. I recieved no other compensation.
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