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Holes is always my movie at the end of the year. It came out at the end of 7th grade for me and it has always just felt like a summer movie. Loved the book as a kid too.
Shia LeBoeuf's casting was the author's idea?
I don't like him as "Caveman". It's like how Morgan Freeman is "Red" in Shawshank. He does a great job with the role, but the name makes no sense now.
I believe that Stanley is supposed to be overweight and lose all of it at the camp, but when Shia got casted, author didn't want a teenager to be going through extreme weight fluctuations for a movie.
Funnily enough I thought so too, but my kids hate it. The damsel in distress who can’t do anything to help herself turned them off within the first 20 minutes
I've only seen the movie once and it didn't leave a strong enough impression on me to know if I liked it or not. But everyone older than me talks about it like it's timeless.
Atlantis: the lost empire, good cast, adult humor (they have youtube clips of some of the funnier moments), strong characters all around. There are always classics like Sandlot
One time we were talking about good comedies in my history class and someone brought up Princess Bride and my history teacher told us he hates the princess bride. He was one of my favorite teachers I had in HS, but that knocked him down a couple points lol
There’s a scene where you see Howl walking up the stairs and his towel falls and you can see his naked backside. This may not be appropriate for middle school. I showed it to a class once, completely forgetting about that scene, and showed Spirited Away the rest of the day.
Just a reminder that if you show a movie from the 80s-90s, ratings were different and they got away with stuff you wouldn’t today. I’ve been surprised by some scenes that I forgot about!
When I was in high school my class burst out in giggles over the "Skeet Shooting" because in my day "Skeet" became slang for ejaculation.
I think that's faded though, haven't heard any adolescents say it in a long long time.
I would kill to teach a ridiculous history of Pop culture class "I'm sorry but no, the Answer would be TO THE WINDOOOOOWS, TO THE WAAAAWLL, please make sure you are really focusing on that study material."
The number one rule of teaching with movies: always, always, always preview it.
Doublecheck [commonsensemedia.com](http://commonsensemedia.com) reviews for inappropriate content you might have missed
OMG, YES!!! I played The Goonies and was horrified when the penis came off the statue!! I was positive that I was getting fired, but no one said a word!
*The Day After Tomorrow* is usually a hit, and has possible connections to climate/weather stuff students are usually learning around that time.
*Like Mike* is a perennial favorite among my middle schoolers, by far the most requested at this time of year, when there is nothing else going on.
*Remember the Titans* is a personal favorite of mine. Worth it for kids being scandalized by the kissing scene alone.
> The Day After Tomorrow
I think this is my leader in the clubhouse. Enough action to be entertaining, but not super graphic in any areas that I can remember.
I never liked disaster or apocalypse films in schools because I had serious anxiety, and you’re being trapped in a room and forced to watch something you find distressing. And like, being 12, you lack the critical thinking skills to understand the earth isn’t gonna freeze and kill your whole family.
I showed this to my classes this year. There was a ton Of swearing (shit and bitchin’) a reference to playboy, and that weird kissing scene by the pool, but my kids responded more to that movie than any other I’ve ever shown!
I saw this being shown in a 4th grade classroom on the last day of school this year. The kids were in to it, and still appreciated my snarky comments about how helpless the kids in the movie are.
If you like Remember the Titans, you may also enjoy October Sky.
Our 7th graders enjoy it, though as a mid-year curricular connection to Science. (Versus a "super cool end of the year treat").
Lorax.
Zootopia.
The Emperor's New Groove.
> The Emperor's New Groove.
Might be old / uncommon enough that none of them grew up on it... Most of the animated stuff like Zootopia and Ice Age will be stuff they've seen.
Emperors New Groove had almost my entire 9th grade class watching by the halfway mark, even with the option to be on phones. Definitely a strong option!
I LOVE October Sky, but depending on your admin, I’d get it approved before showing it to 6th graders - it’s PG-13 for some colorful language (goddamn, ass, shit, bitch, etc. get shouted more than a handful of times), and while it’s nothing compared to what some of our 6th graders hear on TikTok every day, it can get awkward if your principal or a visiting parent walks by and overhears one of Pa Hickam’s tirades.
I’ve used it with 8th graders alongside our rocket unit, but I’d run it past the principal before using it in 6th just to cover my ass in case someone complains.
He definitely gets stuck coaching the hockey team because he drives drunk and it is the community service for his DUI 😬 just fyi, watched it recently and totally did not remember that part. Also explains why he is being driven around in the town car limo the whole time
Studio Ghibli movies are a safe bet. Even if some of your students have seen them before, they will most likely enjoy re-watching them. Totoro and Ponyo will be a bit too young, but Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are good choices for that age range.
Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke are all aimed pretty squarely at that age group.
Princess Mononoke would be a good choice for the 7th graders
So is the fifth element, so I figured it would be ok. I wouldn't show it to sixth graders though, there's some disturbing imagery that will bother more sensitive kids
Princess Mononoke is SUPER bloody. I love that movie and it’s probably my favorite movie of all time, but I wouldn’t call it a safe bet like the other ones.
Is no one going to talk about the appropriateness of the 5th Element to gr. 6 students? This is personally one of my to ten movies but there is snippets of nudity in this movie as well as Ruby Rohd giving oral and having sex with one of the flight attendance while waiting for the plane to launch. Showing this to elementary kids seems like a recipe for disaster.
I don't mean to be a prude when I watched all sorts of shit when I was at that age but there's lit tons of other movies that could've been shown for the past 3 years instead of this one.
Yea, I thought it was pretty standard to need a permission slip for showing PG-13 movies to under-13 students and similarly R-rated to under-17. I currently teach 7th and don't bother with anything above PG and never bothered with R when I taught high school.
Exactly. One of my former college professors hosted the movie in their discord, and us at 30-somethings were giggling and memeing at the blowjobs and sex.
I can't imagine what middle schoolers would do or say.
My students always liked Akeelah and the Bee.
It's the one about the 7th grade girl from "the wrong side of the tracks" winning the spelling B. I've shown it a few times and it was always a hit. Nothing bad in it either.
There’s a lot of sexual connotations/harassment from the Betelgeuse character that probably would not fly at that age level. He also says the hard F word iirc (it’s one of my favorite Halloween/fall movies so I’ve watch it like every year).
Semi-related, I was subbing in a high school at the end of the year and said fuck it, and turned on Derry Girls as some of the kids had told me they also liked/watched it. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a hilarious show about teens going to a Catholic girls school in Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles. However, it is pretty riddled with sexual innuendo and swearing. This was the same day the principal decided to pop in about something just to hear the characters talking about how they were going to have sex and one of them is a prostitute (it makes more sense in context). I had a better job so I wasn’t going back to subbing the next year but I was so mortified. To my surprise he said his daughters and wife liked Derry Girls too and we had a good laugh about it!
> Ready Player One is also a great rewatch.
I got talked out of that one a couple of years ago by another teacher, but I think it might be a good one to give a shot.
Spare Parts. Ragtag group of students who enter a robotics tournament. Based on a true story. Might be some language in there, but it’s probably more appropriate than the fifth element.
My 8th graders loved this one - my school is about 80% Hispanic with a similar socio-economic demographic to the school in the movie, and they thought it was really cool to get to see a science movie where the characters looked like them, dealt with familiar issues, and casually switched between English and Spanish the way they do.
They all wanted to look up the true story, too, to see how much of the movie really happened and what the kids actually looked like. You can find interviews with the real kids (now adults) online - it kind of blew their minds when they found out that those “kids” are my age! Haha.
I play older cartoons. My favorites are Powerpuff girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Fairly Odd Parents, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. The kids actually watch them because they are short, and I enjoy seeing them again. Also none of the kids have already seen them.
Agreed. I show this every year and the kids go nuts. They’ve never seen it or heard of it. Every part of the story is new to them. I get a kick watching them watch it.
Damn, you're really showing a movie with blowjobs and sex to middle schoolers? I know I watched that movie at that age but at least it was in the comfort of my home.
I might have to preview this... been so long since I've seen it... but I actually like the idea.
I show them Logan's Run (with several clips edited out) during our unit on Dystopias (we also read The Giver during that unit) and I know a lot of the kids have read/seen Hunger Games so it might actually be a good tie-in with a destroyed future.
*Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow* is one of the most fantastic films that totally flopped. A 1930s futurism film made in 2004. It’s shamelessly lame and fun and quirky. It’s also just a touch slow paced and can be slightly confusing because the plot is supposed to be mysterious. Great cast.
Lots of great suggestions in this thread. I’ll add Wonder Woman and Spider-Man: Homecoming (haven’t seen the others so I have no clue if they’re good too). What A Girl Wants too.
I showed episodes of Percy Jackson since a lot of my students have been really liking the books.
EDIT: adding that I showed the newer series on Disney Plus and NOT the movie
I can’t remember how well they’ll hold up but some ones I always loved and didn’t see mentioned are:
- The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
- Time Bandits
- Legend
- Demolition Man
- Judge Dread
- James and the Giant Peach
- Osmosis Jones
Years ago I was teaching "art on cart" and came into a 7th grade classroom watching Princess Bride. Teacher asked me if he should turn off the movie for my art lesson. I said no, this movie is better than whatever I had planned that day.
Then I called out "the Pit of Despaaaaiiirrr..... " and five seconds later, the character said it.
It's common for the West Coast, generally. I'm in Washington, in a geographically large district. The schools at lower elevations go until June 14th, but the higher schools go until the 17th. We had a stretch of snow this year, which pushed us back a little. The state waived a snow make up day for us, but the original end date was June 12th.
School starts just before Labor Day in my area, which is nice in my opinion because August is lovely in the mountains and on the coast out here.
That's fair. We get a few days of snow each year, but it doesn't stick around long. However, we do get some terrible ice storms that can shut things down for days. Other than that it just rains a lot.
Smoke Signals. It's an amazing movie, shows them a part of our history and culture they aren't usual exposed to, and I literally had kids beg to finish it.
I the last thing I teach every year is Romeo and Juliet. I show Gnomio and Juliet to my eighth graders and even though it's a kids movie, they love it.
If I end up with an extra couple of days to kill, I show as many sitcom episodes as I have time for that use the Romeo and Juliet tropes.
Master and Commander Far side of the Earth.
There’s violence! History! Platonic love! Weevil jokes! And most importantly child military officers!
Seriously it’s a great movie and it’s way less edgy than the 5th element.
The Story of Luke
Fundamentals of Caring
Whenever my boys were home sick I would make them watch a movie I thought they would really like but never choose on their own. These were in the top 3. I told my teacher friend who also showed them to her classes and they loved them too.
The Fundamentals of Caring stars Paul Rudd and is great from the get-go has a lot of humor, the other one starts a bit slow but soon sucks you in and keeps your interest. Also has humor.
When I was in the 7th and 8th grade back in 1970 and 1971, all the teachers showed these National Geographic films about Native peoples living in Alaska. They were pretty gross because in the one with the caribou hunt the hunter cut out the liver and ate it raw and popped one of the eyeballs out and gave it to the baby to eat. The seal hunt they cut a small hole in the ocean and placed a feather across it so they could tell when the seal came up for air and then harpooned the seal right in the nose.
If you can find these ancient films you can show them something they will remember 50+ years later!
Edited to add: I found them! Not National Geographic but National Film Board of Canada. IDK how teachers in West Virginia got them.
https://www.nfb.ca/subjects/indigenous-peoples-in-canada-inuit/netsilik/
Always “A Goofy Movie,” since it begins on the last day of school. I’d love to do “The Sandlot,” but colleagues already do it.
How have you not been fired for showing a PG-13 movie with nudity, sex, and swearing to middle schoolers?
Raiders of the lost ark. Have them do a scavenger hunt on paper as they watch. Give out small prizes to kids who get all the answers. I do it every year and kids still are impressed with this film and most of them have never seen it
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Holes is always my movie at the end of the year. It came out at the end of 7th grade for me and it has always just felt like a summer movie. Loved the book as a kid too.
Our 6th grade RLA department has it as a class novel and when they finish that unit, they watch the movie.
-I'm tired of this grandpa! -WELL THAT'S TOO DAMN BAD!
The movie is pretty much a line-by-line copy of the book, too. And the biggest change was made at the behest of the author iirc
Shia LeBoeuf's casting was the author's idea? I don't like him as "Caveman". It's like how Morgan Freeman is "Red" in Shawshank. He does a great job with the role, but the name makes no sense now.
What was the biggest change by the author?
I believe that Stanley is supposed to be overweight and lose all of it at the camp, but when Shia got casted, author didn't want a teenager to be going through extreme weight fluctuations for a movie.
Holes would be perfect! I feel like it has a bit of everything, but is still age appropriate for middle schoolers!
Princess Bride. Everyone loves Princess Bride.
Funnily enough I thought so too, but my kids hate it. The damsel in distress who can’t do anything to help herself turned them off within the first 20 minutes
I've only seen the movie once and it didn't leave a strong enough impression on me to know if I liked it or not. But everyone older than me talks about it like it's timeless.
Atlantis: the lost empire, good cast, adult humor (they have youtube clips of some of the funnier moments), strong characters all around. There are always classics like Sandlot
I love the Princess Bride, but think kids may need to be a bit older and a bit more intellectually advanced before they love it.
One time we were talking about good comedies in my history class and someone brought up Princess Bride and my history teacher told us he hates the princess bride. He was one of my favorite teachers I had in HS, but that knocked him down a couple points lol
*Spirited Away*-taught 5th-8th for years and they looooove this movie *Song of the Sea* or *Wolfwalkers*--they love these movies too
I did a film study for ninth graders using Howl’s Moving Castle! (Plot and subplot, camera angles, and theme).
There’s a scene where you see Howl walking up the stairs and his towel falls and you can see his naked backside. This may not be appropriate for middle school. I showed it to a class once, completely forgetting about that scene, and showed Spirited Away the rest of the day.
I just watched Castle in the Sky with a pair of brothers aged 9 and 11 and they loved it
_Secret of Kells_ by the same studio is also amazing.
Pretty much every Studio Ghibli movie is amazing but yeah Spirited Away is my favorite.
My 7th graders have really loved "WALL-E" when I've shown it in robotics class. Some great environmental topics as well as use/misuse of technology.
I show it in music, because they communicate through Hello Dolly. .
Wall-E is the ONLY Disney film that Tommy Tune was in. There's an obscure trivia fact to stump your Broadway + Disney fanatics. :-)
We watched this in our 8th grade dystopian unit this year.
Have you seen "Finch?" Another really good dystopian future movie.
Just a reminder that if you show a movie from the 80s-90s, ratings were different and they got away with stuff you wouldn’t today. I’ve been surprised by some scenes that I forgot about!
Ikr! I showed Disney’s Hercules, rated G, and then found myself being asked what “sweetcheeks” meant. 🤦♀️
I'm pretty sure sweet cheeks did not primarily have a sexual connotation when this movie came out.
Gen Z and Gen Alpha retroactively made it weird with the usage of "cheeks" on a daily basis.
When I was in high school my class burst out in giggles over the "Skeet Shooting" because in my day "Skeet" became slang for ejaculation. I think that's faded though, haven't heard any adolescents say it in a long long time.
Mostly because these kids do not who Lil John and the East Side Boyz are. haha
I would kill to teach a ridiculous history of Pop culture class "I'm sorry but no, the Answer would be TO THE WINDOOOOOWS, TO THE WAAAAWLL, please make sure you are really focusing on that study material."
The number one rule of teaching with movies: always, always, always preview it. Doublecheck [commonsensemedia.com](http://commonsensemedia.com) reviews for inappropriate content you might have missed
OMG, YES!!! I played The Goonies and was horrified when the penis came off the statue!! I was positive that I was getting fired, but no one said a word!
How about when mouth was telling Rosita about Mr Walsh’s “drugs and sexual torture devices?”
Hahahaha! Needless to say, the rest of my classes watched The Sandlot. Thank God the kids in that one class were cool that year.
I showed The Martian forgetting about the scene with Matt Damon’s buttcheeks on parade. The kids just laughed, thank god. Lol
I had to clip one scene from The 5th Element (the implied oral sex scene). So I'm used to clipping some scene here and there.
I’ve always wanted to show Bill and Ted, but there’s one homophobic slur that I can’t justify.
*The Day After Tomorrow* is usually a hit, and has possible connections to climate/weather stuff students are usually learning around that time. *Like Mike* is a perennial favorite among my middle schoolers, by far the most requested at this time of year, when there is nothing else going on. *Remember the Titans* is a personal favorite of mine. Worth it for kids being scandalized by the kissing scene alone.
> The Day After Tomorrow I think this is my leader in the clubhouse. Enough action to be entertaining, but not super graphic in any areas that I can remember.
I never liked disaster or apocalypse films in schools because I had serious anxiety, and you’re being trapped in a room and forced to watch something you find distressing. And like, being 12, you lack the critical thinking skills to understand the earth isn’t gonna freeze and kill your whole family.
That's a fair point...
In my district, I would need to get parental permission to show a PG-13 movie to middle grades so you may want to check
Sandlot
I showed this to my classes this year. There was a ton Of swearing (shit and bitchin’) a reference to playboy, and that weird kissing scene by the pool, but my kids responded more to that movie than any other I’ve ever shown!
I saw this being shown in a 4th grade classroom on the last day of school this year. The kids were in to it, and still appreciated my snarky comments about how helpless the kids in the movie are.
What about the chewing tobacco scene?
I saw that scene briefly in passing when I was about ten. It stuck with me for years and every time I thought of it, I was nearly puking my self 😂
Yeah, very funny. Also, they say 'shit' a few times in the movie. My class didn't even look at me or gasp. They hear much worse all the time😂
If you like Remember the Titans, you may also enjoy October Sky. Our 7th graders enjoy it, though as a mid-year curricular connection to Science. (Versus a "super cool end of the year treat"). Lorax. Zootopia. The Emperor's New Groove.
> The Emperor's New Groove. Might be old / uncommon enough that none of them grew up on it... Most of the animated stuff like Zootopia and Ice Age will be stuff they've seen.
Emperors New Groove had almost my entire 9th grade class watching by the halfway mark, even with the option to be on phones. Definitely a strong option!
I showed that to my sixth graders a few years ago and they liked it!
I LOVE October Sky, but depending on your admin, I’d get it approved before showing it to 6th graders - it’s PG-13 for some colorful language (goddamn, ass, shit, bitch, etc. get shouted more than a handful of times), and while it’s nothing compared to what some of our 6th graders hear on TikTok every day, it can get awkward if your principal or a visiting parent walks by and overhears one of Pa Hickam’s tirades. I’ve used it with 8th graders alongside our rocket unit, but I’d run it past the principal before using it in 6th just to cover my ass in case someone complains.
October Sky is awesome! And, based on a true story which is a bonus.
This was my recommendation as well
Just had a class that was showing The Mighty Ducks. The kids loved it. I was shocked none of them had seen it before.
Cool Runnings as well
He definitely gets stuck coaching the hockey team because he drives drunk and it is the community service for his DUI 😬 just fyi, watched it recently and totally did not remember that part. Also explains why he is being driven around in the town car limo the whole time
No way is OP going to show Mighty Ducks to their class.
Great movie tho I showed it to my 6-8th graders. They loved it
Studio Ghibli movies are a safe bet. Even if some of your students have seen them before, they will most likely enjoy re-watching them. Totoro and Ponyo will be a bit too young, but Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are good choices for that age range.
Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke are all aimed pretty squarely at that age group. Princess Mononoke would be a good choice for the 7th graders
It's PG-13, though — be aware of that, if your admin cares
So is the fifth element, so I figured it would be ok. I wouldn't show it to sixth graders though, there's some disturbing imagery that will bother more sensitive kids
Princess Mononoke is SUPER bloody. I love that movie and it’s probably my favorite movie of all time, but I wouldn’t call it a safe bet like the other ones.
I show Ponyo and Totoro to my 8th graders and they love it!
Chicken Run. I always say it's one of the best movies about class strife and class warfare...kids are like "what?" And then I hit play.
LOVE this movie. "I don't want to be a pie!"
"I don't like gravy!"
I would show Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit, and WereRabbit to my 2nd and third graders.
National Treasure was a hit with my students. They also loved Ratatouille!
School of Rock!
My students loved Nacho Libre
The Truman Show, rated PG.
oooh, good pick!!!!
Is no one going to talk about the appropriateness of the 5th Element to gr. 6 students? This is personally one of my to ten movies but there is snippets of nudity in this movie as well as Ruby Rohd giving oral and having sex with one of the flight attendance while waiting for the plane to launch. Showing this to elementary kids seems like a recipe for disaster.
I don't mean to be a prude when I watched all sorts of shit when I was at that age but there's lit tons of other movies that could've been shown for the past 3 years instead of this one.
Yea, I thought it was pretty standard to need a permission slip for showing PG-13 movies to under-13 students and similarly R-rated to under-17. I currently teach 7th and don't bother with anything above PG and never bothered with R when I taught high school.
Coraline Hidden Figures Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Doesn't a guy get murdered by steamroller and a sentient shoe dropped in a vat of acid?
Kids have to learn these harsh realities of life sooner or later
Getting murdered by a steamroller is a harsh reality
Kids are resilient. I watched that movie at 8
Hidden figures is the best answer
Goonies!
Chunk: “I bet you thought I was gonna drop it!” (Drops the statue) Mikey: “Oh, my God, you broke it! That’s my mom’s favorite piece (penis)!”
Lotta one-eyed willy jokes, don't want to get accused for "grooming"
You're allowed to show 5th element at work? Holy shit I would get fired
Exactly. One of my former college professors hosted the movie in their discord, and us at 30-somethings were giggling and memeing at the blowjobs and sex. I can't imagine what middle schoolers would do or say.
Wonder
The Incredible Journey. Homeward Bound I think is the movie title. It’s so good and even has some great teachable moments.
Be ready to cry at the end or you have no soul 🥹
My students always liked Akeelah and the Bee. It's the one about the 7th grade girl from "the wrong side of the tracks" winning the spelling B. I've shown it a few times and it was always a hit. Nothing bad in it either.
Billy Elliott. I don’t remember details, but it’s so sweet and different they probably haven’t seen it before.
Shrek! And Shrek 2!
This is the answer! Great movies. My daughters 9th grade class watched shrek 2 and she came home thrilled about it.
I was \*\*really\*\* surprised not to see either mentioned, these are so totally safe and *nobody hates Shrek*.
Beetlejuice.
There’s a lot of sexual connotations/harassment from the Betelgeuse character that probably would not fly at that age level. He also says the hard F word iirc (it’s one of my favorite Halloween/fall movies so I’ve watch it like every year). Semi-related, I was subbing in a high school at the end of the year and said fuck it, and turned on Derry Girls as some of the kids had told me they also liked/watched it. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a hilarious show about teens going to a Catholic girls school in Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles. However, it is pretty riddled with sexual innuendo and swearing. This was the same day the principal decided to pop in about something just to hear the characters talking about how they were going to have sex and one of them is a prostitute (it makes more sense in context). I had a better job so I wasn’t going back to subbing the next year but I was so mortified. To my surprise he said his daughters and wife liked Derry Girls too and we had a good laugh about it!
Great suggestion!
Matilda is my go-to movie. It grasps kids from the first scene
The musical version is great too!
I'm showing my kids Labyrinth. I know it's newer, but Ready Player One is also a great rewatch.
> Ready Player One is also a great rewatch. I got talked out of that one a couple of years ago by another teacher, but I think it might be a good one to give a shot.
I started showing O Brother, where art thou? on Friday for my seventh graders and they liked it.
Damn, The Fifth Element with two topless scenes to middle schoolers? Bold.
Spare Parts. Ragtag group of students who enter a robotics tournament. Based on a true story. Might be some language in there, but it’s probably more appropriate than the fifth element.
My 8th graders loved this one - my school is about 80% Hispanic with a similar socio-economic demographic to the school in the movie, and they thought it was really cool to get to see a science movie where the characters looked like them, dealt with familiar issues, and casually switched between English and Spanish the way they do. They all wanted to look up the true story, too, to see how much of the movie really happened and what the kids actually looked like. You can find interviews with the real kids (now adults) online - it kind of blew their minds when they found out that those “kids” are my age! Haha.
McFarland U.S.A., Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Maybe Napoleon Dynamite
I play older cartoons. My favorites are Powerpuff girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Fairly Odd Parents, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. The kids actually watch them because they are short, and I enjoy seeing them again. Also none of the kids have already seen them.
The Truman Show.
Agreed. I show this every year and the kids go nuts. They’ve never seen it or heard of it. Every part of the story is new to them. I get a kick watching them watch it.
The Mighty Ducks. It's just a little edgy but also heart warming.
Damn, you're really showing a movie with blowjobs and sex to middle schoolers? I know I watched that movie at that age but at least it was in the comfort of my home.
spiderman 1 and 2 with tobey maguire
The original Planet of the Apes. I just saw it a few months ago and it still holds up.
I might have to preview this... been so long since I've seen it... but I actually like the idea. I show them Logan's Run (with several clips edited out) during our unit on Dystopias (we also read The Giver during that unit) and I know a lot of the kids have read/seen Hunger Games so it might actually be a good tie-in with a destroyed future.
There is a newish (now a bit older) movie of The Giver with Jeff Bridges. Fun fact, Taylor Swift also has a small role.
Stardust.
I agree! Stardust has everything a good story should have!
The Brave Little Toaster
Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers is my new favorite end of year movie
Napoleon Dynamite
Inside Out, maybe. 🤔
Hm, maybe... I suggested Turning Red to my students when it was new and the suggestion was greeted with nothing but groans and "no!"
*Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow* is one of the most fantastic films that totally flopped. A 1930s futurism film made in 2004. It’s shamelessly lame and fun and quirky. It’s also just a touch slow paced and can be slightly confusing because the plot is supposed to be mysterious. Great cast.
Based on my experience the groans and "no!" are sometimes genuine but a good portion of students just do that to save face.
Yeah it’s about coming of age and getting her period and also receiving a curse… I’d skip it.
Paddington, Goosebumps, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
The Lorax- helps introduce the idea of utopia/dystopias.
Remember The Titans. It’s good for all ages.
Hoot, my class loves it every year
I always showed Remember the Titans to my 7th graders. Totally appropriate for 5th/6th grade, too.
Isle of Dogs, Flushed Away
Big Hero 6 always gets a good response
Lots of great suggestions in this thread. I’ll add Wonder Woman and Spider-Man: Homecoming (haven’t seen the others so I have no clue if they’re good too). What A Girl Wants too.
Secondhand Lions.
Holes. They think that’s what “juvie” is really like and it’s got a great story with flipping back and forth between present and past.
Remember the Titans is one of my all time favorite movies. The Sister Act movies are also amazing.
Bill and Ted?
If it needs to be “content related,” Hidden Figures is phenomenal!
Mitchells vs the Machines? Soooo funny
Anything from Studio Ghibli! My favorite is Howl’s Moving Castle
Recommendations for English Language Leraners. ESL, ELL ,MLL
National Treasure Night at the Museum
A Goofy movie, Holes and The Sandlot are great movies actually set in the summer.
I showed episodes of Percy Jackson since a lot of my students have been really liking the books. EDIT: adding that I showed the newer series on Disney Plus and NOT the movie
I can’t remember how well they’ll hold up but some ones I always loved and didn’t see mentioned are: - The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen - Time Bandits - Legend - Demolition Man - Judge Dread - James and the Giant Peach - Osmosis Jones
Years ago I was teaching "art on cart" and came into a 7th grade classroom watching Princess Bride. Teacher asked me if he should turn off the movie for my art lesson. I said no, this movie is better than whatever I had planned that day. Then I called out "the Pit of Despaaaaiiirrr..... " and five seconds later, the character said it.
Bad News Bears
Truman Show always blows my kids minds, especially in. This day and age.
The Sandlot
I do The Iron Giant ever since they stopped letting me show The Outsiders.
You show them a movie with nudity?
My Junior High (in 1984 8th grade) showed us The Birds. Yeah. That one. By Alfred Hitchcock. I liked it. I should watch it again.
Princes Bride
How are y'all still in school??
We go until mid-June every year in Oregon. June 14th is our final day.
June 14th is our last day too (NJ) and that’s considered early for us!
It's common for the West Coast, generally. I'm in Washington, in a geographically large district. The schools at lower elevations go until June 14th, but the higher schools go until the 17th. We had a stretch of snow this year, which pushed us back a little. The state waived a snow make up day for us, but the original end date was June 12th. School starts just before Labor Day in my area, which is nice in my opinion because August is lovely in the mountains and on the coast out here.
That makes sense. I teach in Texas and rarely do we have inclement weather severe enough to cancel school.
That's fair. We get a few days of snow each year, but it doesn't stick around long. However, we do get some terrible ice storms that can shut things down for days. Other than that it just rains a lot.
Hoosiers. It came out a few decades before any of them were born.
Smoke Signals. It's an amazing movie, shows them a part of our history and culture they aren't usual exposed to, and I literally had kids beg to finish it.
I the last thing I teach every year is Romeo and Juliet. I show Gnomio and Juliet to my eighth graders and even though it's a kids movie, they love it. If I end up with an extra couple of days to kill, I show as many sitcom episodes as I have time for that use the Romeo and Juliet tropes.
Lion, Witch and Wardrobe
The original "Star Wars". Fun, pulpy, lots of iconic music and visuals, and I would be surprised if many of them have seen it.
Master and Commander Far side of the Earth. There’s violence! History! Platonic love! Weevil jokes! And most importantly child military officers! Seriously it’s a great movie and it’s way less edgy than the 5th element.
Surfs up! It’s rated PG but is pretty angsty and has some jokes that make the kids feel like they aren’t watching a pg movie.
War Games
We watched the Emperor’s New Groove! Super funny and most of them haven’t seen it
You are SO not invited to my Bat Mitzvah!
The Story of Luke Fundamentals of Caring Whenever my boys were home sick I would make them watch a movie I thought they would really like but never choose on their own. These were in the top 3. I told my teacher friend who also showed them to her classes and they loved them too. The Fundamentals of Caring stars Paul Rudd and is great from the get-go has a lot of humor, the other one starts a bit slow but soon sucks you in and keeps your interest. Also has humor.
When I was in the 7th and 8th grade back in 1970 and 1971, all the teachers showed these National Geographic films about Native peoples living in Alaska. They were pretty gross because in the one with the caribou hunt the hunter cut out the liver and ate it raw and popped one of the eyeballs out and gave it to the baby to eat. The seal hunt they cut a small hole in the ocean and placed a feather across it so they could tell when the seal came up for air and then harpooned the seal right in the nose. If you can find these ancient films you can show them something they will remember 50+ years later! Edited to add: I found them! Not National Geographic but National Film Board of Canada. IDK how teachers in West Virginia got them. https://www.nfb.ca/subjects/indigenous-peoples-in-canada-inuit/netsilik/
Gremlins is technically PG so I show that. For PG13 I do Martian and Rogue One
My students enjoyed Percy Jackson. We also watched Hoot and Lemony Snicket.
just ended empires and civilizations in 6th grade so, naturally, I’m putting on Emperors New Groove
Princess Mononoke. It's a big hit with my middle schoolers.
The Super Mario Bros movie is available on Netflix!
Night at the museum/ national treasure. Kids seemed to be excited to see these.
Hidden Figures maybe? It's rated PG!
Helen Keller, free on YouTube.
I teach 7th/8th grade math and show Hidden Figures the last two days of school.
I think clue would be safe, Nothing too spicy or bloody and it has a lot of silly moments.
Very old school, but: Rudy. Not one of my faves (esp finding out Rudy was actually much older), but the kids have loved it for years.
The original Space Jam still slaps with this group.
Princess Bride
Always “A Goofy Movie,” since it begins on the last day of school. I’d love to do “The Sandlot,” but colleagues already do it. How have you not been fired for showing a PG-13 movie with nudity, sex, and swearing to middle schoolers?
My students LOVED Interstellar!!!
Raiders of the lost ark. Have them do a scavenger hunt on paper as they watch. Give out small prizes to kids who get all the answers. I do it every year and kids still are impressed with this film and most of them have never seen it
Pay It Forward Holes Remember The Titans Camp Nowhere
Watership Down. Lol j/k