News Flash: First Graders Understand Silent Film

And just how old is a first grade kid?  Ranges from 5-6 years old, and so that means their taste in humor is as sophisticated as one of this week's spelling words, which is "but".  Studying the short /u/, you see.  However, when writing the word on the board for them to copy into their journals, I am supposed to sound it out then say it, "buh-uh-ttt, but".  Snickers are barely stifled, and I hear, "Ms. Coburn said but."  I hear the word repeated several times until  I glance over my shoulder at the miscreants, then return to the board.  Repeat the roster of six words with me, boys and girls: sun, run, fun, but....BUT!!  Wooooohoooheehooohahahahahhaaa!!! Okay.  By the second day, they're over it.

I have two runners; what's that, you think; well it refers to students who either get so overwrought that they bolt out of the classroom because you insist they put their name on the paper, or just think it's fine to go visit their cousin in the third grade down the hall up on the next floor when I let them go to the bathroom and then it's Hiyo Silver!

So because I have runners, I am supposed to tag them, but how the hell can that happen without the kid ripping it off as fast as they are made, unless administration allows staples.  That part was a rough day; the kids were tired, cranky, and it was 1:30 in the afternoon.  This, I thought, is a perfect time for Social Studies, yeah, Social Studies; so I prepped the kids in case any one of the higher ups, like my boss, walked in while the lesson was going on.  Girls and boys, I have a treat for you, this is a movie where there was NO TALKING, they hadn't figured out how to record sound on film so you could hear the actors speaking.  They put signs in the movie to read, called intertitles; let's see which words you know, and for our observation, I want you to be able to tell me what part you liked best.  This is history, how they watched movies in the old days.  If anybody asks you, THIS IS HISTORY. Six year olds will throw you under the bus if they think it means they will get an M&M.

My laptop was connected to the Promethean board, and I punched up Buster Keaton's "The Scarecrow".  The piano accompanying the film was quick, punctual, and accentuated Buster's various dilemmas.  They liked the breakfast table scene with the hanging condiments; when breakfast was over and Buster and Eddie Cline dumped the remains down a chute to the pigs, my inner city kids yelled LOOKIT THE COWS!

These scenes got laughs: anytime Buster fell or did a roll; Sibyl Seely snapping her fingers under Joe Keaton's nose with his missed kick of retaliation; Luke the Dog chasing Buster, climbing the ladder, running around the top of the stone structure after Buster, then diving into the hay was a very big attraction.  I GOT A PIT BULL AT HOME.  MY DOG CAN DO THAT TOO!  Buster, scooped into the winnowing machine, and then being ejected in his underwear elicted EEWWWWs.  His dressing himself as a scarecrow and kicking the two men arguing got the loudest laughs, the scene where he walks across the water on his hands received admiring whispers of lookit that, that's awesome!   Buster slid down a bank and took off running; my guys helped him out by taunting the pursuing men, BUH BYE SUCKAHS.  The largest participation happened when he tried riding the replica of a horse; the kids kept yelling "THAT'S NOT REAL, THAT'S A FAKE HORSE, congratulating themselves that they were smarter than that guy on the screen.

The closing frames got a big laugh, and it went by so quick I was surprised the class caught it; Buster, after being submerged, stood up and spat out a stream of water.  The kids roared, then clapped as the last intertitle announcing the end appeared.  Lights came back on, and we discussed what they saw that was different, what they thought was funny, did they like a film where you couldn't hear what people were saying?  Overwhelmingly so.  My observational one said it well, "The piano did the talking."  Brilliant child, not bad for 6 years old. Welcome to the Coburn Film Historical Social Studies Find a Word You Can Read and Learn About Buster Series.

When the moon rose earlier, just before five p.m., it was a paten, a gong, the polished breastplate of an idol's armor; rose gold and exalted as it ascended, phantasms reaching out from either side, like the halo surrounding an angel's tumbled hair.  Now silver, it sees you as well as me, busy in life, pushing on, dragged forward by the sun; yet, pause and wait under this celestial waxing.  Tomorrow will be a full moon, let your lunacy shiver through your core and become, fall, tilt the balance; rock the leveling scales and find your dearest dream, the one that will and has been with you always.

Sleep, the moon will watch over you, the stars shall echo your sighs.