Monday, October 20, 2008

Seen any good movies lately?

Hey everyone. I need your help. In order to keep my cross country kids motivated to keep working hard this season, I set up a points system and promised them a movie if they earned enough points. This has worked pretty well. At least once a week I have kids asking how many points they have or how many more they need. The season is winding down, and I still need to pick out a movie for them. I need some help selecting a movie. Here are my criteria:
  • The kids are 6th and 7th graders, so to play it safe, I'd like a PG movie. 
  • It would be cool to have a running-related movie, but not necessary.
  • The movie can only be about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or have some parts we can easily skip.
I'm planning to ask the kids for ideas, but I'd love your help if you have any ideas. Thanks!

9 comments:

Phil said...

I should be able to answer this one...running and movies are my two favorite hobbies. PG and inspirational... let's see -

'Spirit of the Marathon' just came out on DVD. It's age appropriate and it's easy to skip over sections, but I'm not sure if 6th & 7th graders would respond to it. Maybe...

What about 'Breaking Away'? I loved that movie in 7th grade, but maybe it's too dated now.

SuperDave said...

Looks like Phil beat me to the punch. "Breakin Away" is a good inspirational film, but it is older. How bout "Rudy" or "Seabiscuit." Both are clean, exciting, and inspirational and sports related. Especially "Rudy!"

Topher said...

Have you seen "Facing the Giants"? It's a really good flick, but was made by a Christian church; I don't remember if you teach in a public school, but if so, it might be one the "administration" would frown on because it does have a Christian message. Either way, it's a great movie you should see if you haven't already.

Nitmos said...

I remember "Saint Ralph" being pretty good about a little boy who decides to run the Boston Marathon (I think?) on a whim. I can't remember the details though so you would definitely want to check out the rating and thematic elements. I thought it was PG though.

Vava said...

Another vote for "Breaking Away"! The kids will laugh at the 70's clothing and such, but the story stands the test of time to be sure.

AddictedToEndorphins said...

Oh oh.
Spirit of the Marathon was amazing.
Run Fatboy Run was fun.
St. Ralph was great too. I wish he was real though. Maybe the kids could relate to him.

Theres one out in theatres--The Express. About if you put your mind to something you can acheive it.

I also really loved Without Limits--it might be kinda long though. And he died.

Unknown said...

The Polar Express should do it.

Ax said...

So I got "Breaking Away" from the library last night and watched it with my wife. It was pretty good. Definitely old! And surprisingly, a whole lot of language. Wow! That's PG? I don't know if this will work, especially coming from a coach who is constantly reminding the kids to "Watch your language." Thanks for the ideas though! If you have any others, keep 'em coming.

Fig said...

I love Remember the Titans, but that's because my emotions are easily manipulated and I'm a sucker for a corny teamwork building-bridges movie. Anyway, it's kind of running-related, since football players do some running.
Kind of old and they've all probably seen it, though. My other suggestion would be Poltergeist. You know, for Halloween.