Experiencing Oz Again

I bought The Wizard of Oz over the weekend as the students have been watching the same English videos (yes, I mean VHS)over and over again. The Parents Club gifted a DVD player to each classroom at the end of the previous school year but not one DVD has been purchased so they are gathering dust. I decided to buy three - The Wizard of Oz, Enchanted and Hook.

Guess which one has gone down the best?

You guessed it...the eighty year old with more bounce in its step than Betty White.

Watched these kids watch this movie for the first time was amazing. It was like seeing it for the first time. I took many pictures and a little video of their reactions but privacy won't allow me to post them.

My class is a talkative bunch. They make noise doing everything and yet when Glinda floating down to Munchkinland, the room was silent. More interesting? The boys dug it more than the girls.

Their favourite?

Tinman.

Largely because of the dance where he pats his knees, then his chest and then toots his hat. I have been seeing their interpretation of this for days now and it never gets old.

Other observations:

• Black and white film did not phase them one bit.
• When the tornado swept up the Gale's house there were audible gasps and one 'wheeeeeeee'.
• The Wicked Witch of the West needs "...to go to the thinking chair".
• They tapped the beat for the Tinman's dance on their knees without realising they were doing it.
• They were terrified of the Lion until he came into a close shot and then they thought he was hysterical.
• The Lion's tears were discussion worthy.
• They love the red smoke.

What did I get out of this little exercise:

• It's much more preferable getting rained in when you have DVDs you can tolerate.
• The Tinman was more camp than a row of tents but I adore him.
• I keep forgetting that Judy Garland was sixteen when she made this movie.
• The Scarecrow's dance was funnier when I was a kid.
• Glinda's bubble kinda rocks.
• Teaching Japanese kids to say 'munchkin' and also introducing them to the Lollypop Guild (my fave part of the movie) is priceless.
• Flying monkeys rock my world.
• It's the music of The Wizard of Oz that initially pulls the kids in. I don't meant the songs, though they are fantastic. The compositions for this movie are so memorable and catchy that kids hug them with ferocity.