Movie Lesson really resonated with students

I decided to show the movie Lorenzo's Oil again in my classes for this semester as part of the nervous system in Anatomy and genetics in Biology. It still amazes me how much this movie resonates with the students. To start with, I give them an anticipation guide with agree/disagree statements about the movie (such as "If a person has a terminal illness, everything should be done to keep them alive as long as possible," or "Parents have the right to make life and death decisions about their children without discussing it with them first"). The discussion these statements provide is quite lively and really starts their brains thinking in a good way. Then when we watched the movie, they were all awestruck at what was happening. It was amazing how a movie where nothing blows up and there's no real cursing or violence kept their attention. After the movie, we revisited the anticipation guide to see if any of their responses changed, and a lot of them said they had. I then showed them the myelin project website and the current information about Lorenzo (still alive and about to turn 30!). We ended the discussion with a poem written by lorenzo's mother that was turned into a song ("Lorenzo") by Phil Collins. I then had them do a freewrite or write a letter to Lorenzo which we will send to him. The students were so excited to hear he was still alive and that they could write to him. Their letters were very heartfelt and showed a great deal of compassion and sympathy I didn't think that they were capable of. We've now been referencing back to the movie all week as we talk further about our material, and I think the students are holding on to it a lot better now that they've made the emotional connection to the content. this is definately one I'm keeping for my bag o tricks, even though it requires a parent permission slip!