Last year with the Crew I was able to review many great products from various businesses. One of those was the Z-Guide to the Movies from Zeezok Publishing. I’ve been blessed to review another Z-Guide to the Movies from Zeezok -and I’m still saying this is a great resource!
Last time I chose Johnny Tremain, this time A Man for All Seasons. I chose each because they fit in nicely with what we were studying at the time. Although A Man for All Seasons is marked for high school, I think it is suited fine for middle school grades as well. Most likely it is geared toward high school because it is more detailed than it may be in middle school for this time period. Both Lee (my high schooler) and Fox (my middle schooler) watched this movie with no problem. The guide could easily be adapted to middle schoolers as well, imho.
High School
$12.99 (available as a download {no delivery fee} or shipped CD {plus shipping})
The guide is designed to be used specifically with the 1966 version (you can purchase the DVD from Zeezok for $14.98 {plus shipping}), which we found easily enough at our library.
The Z-Guides are movie specific, with almost all available thru Netflix, or through your local library. They include topic overview, movie synopsis, and review questions (in hopes of encouraging active learning versus passive viewing). Also highlights historical time frame of the movie (more about the people or events that happened in the movie). These questions cannot be answered from watching the movie. The student needs to have or develop research skills using libraries and/or the internet to properly answer these questions. The Z-Guides encourage research and writing skills through the activities included. All of the guides include at least one hands-on activity, a worldview activity, and The Filmmaker’s Art activity (with the goal of helping the student to be able to discern not only the agenda of the movie, but also how they are being influenced by it). A worldview activity helps get the student to think critically through what he believes and what is being presented in the movie. Family discussion questions are included that also develop critical thinking from the worldview promoted within your family. And answers are provided for all of the questions. *read “What is a Z-Guide?” at the website*
And, this may sound a bit odd, but I really like the cover of the Z-Guide! It is simple but not boring
The movie itself seemed to be extremely long to us. It actually took us two viewings to get through it. Zeezok has given a good suggestion of how to break up the Z-Guide but we didn’t use it the way suggested. And they do say feel free to omit or change the order to best suit your family/learners/situation. We are obviously a family that takes more than one week (as they suggest) to complete this type of thing…I know we aren’t the only ones…right??
It took us two viewings (or was it three?) to watch the movie and the guide is more than one weeks worth of ‘study’ for our family. We didn’t use the crossword puzzle but that’s a good thing with the pdf file- it is easy to print off what we want and not worry about what we don’t.
A very interesting ‘activity’ was #10, The Filmmaker’s Art. This put a different spin on watching a movie for history’s sake because while we were watching it for learning history, we were learning something else that I didn’t expect. We learned a bit about how the filmmaker used different tactics in the movie to develop the theme, achieve foreshadowing, and it helped us to see how the inclusion and omission of certain aspects (even characters) makes the movie more dramatic. It sometimes affects how you feel about a character by they way they are portrayed- the lighting, the props, by omitting or including them in particular scenes, etc.
The only thing that I can think of that I would like to have seen more of is the Additional Resources for Further Study. There are only three listed. One we had already used in our school, another I could find at the library but I had to search some for the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. I just felt there could have been more resources added. But… this is a movie guide to be used along with study of the time/person, so perhaps this isn’t an oversight. *Z-Guides are meant to supplement your current history curriculum. They are not intended to replace your core curriculum for history.* from the publishers
Look at a sample Z-Guide to the Movies from Zeezok Publishing.
Both of my kids have ‘had enough of More’, they say. That translates to “they learned quite a bit” and I say this is a great resource. I would definitely recommend Zeezok Publishing’s Z-Guide to the Movies to others. They also offer resources for Government and History, Presidential Penmanship, Great Musicians, Reading and Literature, ebooks and audio books.
At their website, you can browse by category (such as the linked above) but within each category they’ve also made it easier to search for what you want. For example, when clicked on, Z-Guide to the Movies gives you a Timeline to choose from. A Man for All Seasons fits in 16th Century Europe. There are quite a few other Z-Guides to the Movies that I am wanting to get.
Interestingly, I discovered that they are just ‘up the road’ from me also! That has absolutely nothing to do with my review
Bottom line:
GREAT RESOURCE.. I am definitely a fan. I’m watching and waiting for more additions to these.
Read what other Crew Members had to say about this at the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.
***Disclaimer: I received this download from Zeezok Publishing via TOS Homeschool Crew free in exchange for an honest review. No compensation was given. All opinions stated are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***
We really liked this one too!
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