See · Hear · Feel · Film
Part of the Barrie M. Ford Children's Visual Literacy Program
See · Hear · Feel · Film (SHFF) is an innovative elementary school arts education program that promotes visual literacy and teaches kids to write with clarity and confidence using activities based on short films from around the world.
Ours is an increasingly visual society, and we all receive an ever-growing amount of information from moving images on tablets, laptops, and the many screens we encounter in our daily lives. By teaching students to understand visual media, young people learn active-viewing and critical-thinking skills, as well as storytelling techniques. Through learning about film and media as constructed visual narratives, they become informed and impassioned creators of their own unique stories, and more thoughtful about visual media more broadly.
SHFF encourages students to appreciate the verbal and non-verbal elements of film that help tell the story, and to use these lessons in visual media to enhance their own self-expression and oral and written communication. In the words of one participating educator, the program “brings students unforgettable experiences and teaches them to live more examined lives.”
Thanks to funding from the Commonwealth’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program, BMFI is able to offer this program COMPLETELY FREE to public schools.
How it Works
- The core of SHFF consists of a two-hour field trip to BMFI during which students will watch and discuss two short films and participate in small-group creative-writing activities.
- If you want to go further in teaching your students about visual literacy, there are additional, optional opportunities:
- You can bring your students back to BMFI—or our SHFF teacher can come to your school—for a one-time follow-up visit where more films, concepts, and activities will be explored.
- All educators receive access to even more SHFF curriculum materials—lesson plans, activity instructions, handout templates, teaching scripts, and the movies—for additional lessons you can teach in your classroom as best suits your needs and schedule.
Educational Goals
- Introduce students to visual literacy and prepare them to thoughtfully engage with the many screens that surround them.
- Enhance students’ critical-thinking skills while improving their writing and communication
- Teach students how to write with confidence, clarity, and joy.
- Improve their active viewing, creative expression, and storytelling skills.
SHFF Helps Students
- Develop critical-viewing skills and imagination;
- Experience a variety of films from around the world;
- Examine how filmmakers tell stories;
- Engage their senses to focus on their inner and outer worlds; and
- Inspire creative expression and storytelling skills using the tools of a filmmaker.
About SHFF
The SHFF curriculum was designed by Anne Marie Santoro of the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York in 2001. Bryn Mawr Film Institute proudly became the first film center to license this program in 2005 and remains its exclusive source in the Greater Philadelphia region, having brought the program to dozens of schools and thousands of students over the past two decades and counting.
Cost
This program is completely FREE to all area public schools thanks to funding from the Commonwealth’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. Even the cost of school buses for the field trip will be reimbursed. BMFI Community Partner schools may attend this program free of charge. We invite area private schools to participate at a cost of $500 per class.
Participate
For more information about SHFF at BMFI, please use our SHFF contact form.
Volunteer
We are seeking volunteers to assist BMFI staff members during field trips at the theater. These take place during the school year on weekday mornings. Volunteers will be trained to lead small-group writing activities with the students during their visits to BMFI. All volunteers must complete a Pennsylvania Criminal History Record Check.
For more information on volunteering to help with SHFF at BMFI, please use our SHFF Volunteer contact form.
Teacher Resources
Educators will find the resources they need to teach the See · Hear · Feel · Film program available here. Please address any questions to Jill Malcolm, Programs and Education Manager.
