I only briefly heard about Z-Guides in passing early last year. 
They peaked my interest then so when I was offered the chance to review a guide last December I was excited. The hard part was choosing which Z-Guide to review. I ended up choosing The Red Badge of Courage for Marie because she is learning American History. Zeezok has a wide variety of Z-Guides to choose from with plans to release 25 additional titles in the spring.
If you click over to the Zeezok site you will find the Z-Guides organized by historical time period. On the left sidebar, starting with Ancient Civilizations and going down through the Vietnam War, making it very easy for a parent/educator to find a suitable movie with a guide. It’s as easy as clicking on the time period you are getting ready to teach and the you will see which movie guides fall into that time era. Zeezok offers a free sample guide for The Count of Monte Cristo if you have a Highschooler.
Each 25-35 page Z-Guide contains the following features:
- A topic overview that provides the student with additional information about the specific time period of the movie.
- A movie synopsis that assists the student in understanding what is going on in the movie and how relationships, situations, and events all relate together.
- A useful method of incorporating media into any curriculum.
- Review questions that the student answers while watching the movie.
- Questions and activities that require the student to research the historical time period in which the movie was based. Students have the opportunity to practice research and writing skills by writing an essay.
- At least one hands-on activity for active learners, which vary from guide to guide.
- A worldview activity, that encourages students to think critically of the movie’s worldview.
- A Filmmaker’s Art activity which helps the student recognize the tools – such as filming techniques, humor, character development, music, lighting,irony, foreshadowing, and even the character names – that were used to influence the viewer.
Z-Guides are priced at $12.99 each and to get the most out of the guides, Zeezok recommends that students complete two activities per day. This makes it possible for the whole guide to be completed within a week. Z-Guides recommend a specific movie version for the student to watch and most of the movies are available from Netflix which makes it easy if you have an account. If not, Zeezok also sells copies of the movies on there site in addition to the guides. Guides can be downloaded or sent by CD, also just $12.99 (but you must pay shipping). There is also a Co-op/Classroom version available for $49.99.
Overall, we enjoyed our experience with the Z-Guides. It was a nice change of pace for Marie during the holiday business. I would wholeheartedly recommend Zeezok and their Z-Guides to anyone looking to add in a movie component to there homeschooling; and it does not even have to be homeschooling, I think Z-guides could serve anyone learning because there are so many guides to choose from. Over the summer I would like to try out the Kit Kitteridge: An American Girl Z-Guide with my younger girls. We enjoyed the movie the first hundred few times we watched it and I think adding the Z-Guide component will bring the movie more to life.
Check out what my Crewmates thought about the Z-Guides they had to review by clicking HERE.
Company ~ Zeezok Publishing
Product ~ The Red Badge of Courage Z-Guide
Price ~ $12.99 download or CD (must pay shipping), Co-op/Classroom $49.99
Ages ~ 9-12th grade *this particular guide*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I received a copy of The Red Badge of Courage Z-Guide, in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided.
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