Hoosiers ELA 20-2 film study

The film In the 1950s high school basketball was something special in rural Indiana. Whole towns rallied around their team. What boys did or didn't do as 17 year olds on the basketball court were important events throughout their lives. In this film, Norman Dale, formerly a successful college basketball coach, is hired to coach the team in a small high school in Hickory, Indiana. The total enrollment is 161 students. Dale has spent the last 12 years in the Navy and is trying for a comeback as a coach. Can he keep his job and make this small town team good enough to compete in the state championships? This film is a study in the growth of character and many of the elements of sportmanship. Coach Dale once believed that winning was everything. Through the movie he comes to understand that there are things more important than winning and he finds himself. The film, inspired by the events of the 1954 Indiana State basketball championship series also tells a great David and Goliath story.

viewing View the first time for the enjoyment of the story. View the second time to “review” and answer the questions from Lesson One.

“Hoosiers in reel life” Be sure to read the document in Lesson Two which compares real life and “reel life”. " Hoosiers is one hour and 54 minutes long. Although, as Bobby Plump said in his ESPN chat, ‘the film captured what it was like growing up in a small town in Indiana and how important basketball was,’ there's probably more truth than accuracy in the film. ‘The final 18 seconds were the only thing factual in the movie about the Milan-Central game," Plump told the Saturday Evening Post in "From the time the ball was in bounds after the final timeout, the movie was accurate.’"

power point scrapbook Develop a personal scrapbook for ONE of the characters. You will create memorabilia based on what you learn about that character. As you watch the film, think about motive – what motivates someone to save something? – what events have occurred and what might your character keep to remember these events? – What has your character learned during the film? – What might be kept as a result of gaining this new knowledge? You will gather at least ten "items". These items will be presented in a slide show. These items should show that you are familiar with the plot and the characters in Hoosiers.

... EACH slide will contain... an illustration of one piece of memorabilia (Microsoft clipart) a paragraph, of at least FIVE SENTENCES, that will explain the significance of the item to this particular character You must create at least 10 of these slides. Memorabilia may include such things as a postcard, photograph, T-shirt, rock, jewellery, CD, blanket, book, shoe, pottery....etc. The list is endless. Think carefully about what would be important and or significant to your chosen character.

... some suggestions... Coach Dale - basketball, history lesson plan, basketball programme Jimmy Chitwood - funeral card, basketball Shooter - empty liquor bottle, basketball programme, hospital ID bracelet The possibilities are limited only by your imagination!

example – Billy Bishop’s scrapbook