How I Craft Film Viewing Questions for High School English Class (Using Into the Spider-Verse as a Case Study)

When I introduce film into the ELA classroom, my goal is always the same: get students thinking deeply without pulling their eyes away from the screen.

Thoughtfully crafted viewing questions help strike that balance: they anchor attention, spark discussion, and lay the groundwork for analysis that extends beyond the surface.

In this post, I’m sharing my process for designing film viewing questions for high school English students, using my Into the Spider-Verse questions as an example. Whether you're teaching film as literature, exploring theme and symbolism, or just looking for a meaningful way to wrap up the year, this structure can help your students stay engaged while learning how to "read" a movie.

What Makes a Good Viewing Question?

When crafting film-based questions, especially for students in grades 7–10, I aim for a structure that’s...

• Purposeful, not overwhelming (1–2 pages max, double-sided)
• Chronologically aligned with the film’s narrative
• Divided by acts for pacing and clarity
• Focused on noticing, not essay-writing

I’m not asking for long paragraphs—I want students watching more than writing during the film. Think: jot notes, draw connections, circle key moments. Then we discuss and build from there.

🎬 Why I Love Using Into the Spider-Verse

Into the Spider-Verse is a goldmine for teaching literary and cinematic elements: identity, visual motifs, symbolism, tone, and more. But for younger students or those new to film analysis, its bold style and fast pacing can feel overwhelming.

That’s why I broke down the film into three acts and developed 8 accessible visual motifs students can track across the film:

• Trios (3 characters in a frame)
• Center-framed one-shots
• Dividers & divisions
• Glitches & fractures
• Masks
• Shadows & darkness
• Light & color
• Comic book style (panels, text boxes, narration)

I encourage most students to choose 1–2 motifs to follow closely. That small shift turns their attention into analysis—and it’s especially engaging for visual learners.

This is also a way to scaffold instruction:

While the more advanced students might try to track more than one of these items, for students where visual image analysis is a new skill, tracking 1 motif is accessible and fun.

For your more advanced students, simply knowing all of these motifs make meaning over the course of the film gives them a platform from which to notice how any combination of these motifs might work together in a single shot, scene, or sequence to make meaning.

Act 1: Identity & Internal Conflict

This section helps students notice how Miles’ world is introduced, especially through his relationships with his father and Uncle Aaron. One of the first questions points to the car ride with his dad, which is dense with thematic tension: Miles’ discomfort with school, his father’s views on responsibility, and their emotional distance.

Other questions in Act 1 highlight:

• Miles’ contrasting comfort with Uncle Aaron
• The spray-painted mural as symbolic foreshadowing
• The moment Miles is bitten—and how comic book style enters his reality

Act 2: The Call to Adventure

Here, the multiverse opens up, and I want students to engage with:

• Peter B. Parker as a foil
• Miles’ continuing inner conflict
• Comic-style intros for Gwen, Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham
• The “leap of faith” moment
• Humor and how it contrasts (or complements) emotional tone

These questions help students start to connect character, tone, and visual style, and set the stage for deeper activities later (like tracking each Spider-hero’s genre roots or crafting their own origin story).

Act 3: Climax, Transformation, and Resolution

Now, we zoom in on turning points:

• Uncle Aaron’s reveal and its impact on Miles
• A scene of dramatic irony involving Miles, his father, and Spider-Man
• The final use of motif (like shadows, color, or glitches) as Miles becomes his own Spider-Man

I want students to connect what they saw at the start of the film with how those same motifs evolve—or resolve—by the end.

Tips if You’re Creating Your Own Viewing Questions

• Keep it lean. Students don’t need 30+ prompts. I cap mine at 20–24, total.
• List questions in order. It helps everyone stay organized during the film.
• Tie in theme and symbolism. Think like a lit teacher: what’s recurring? What grows?
• Use the film’s structure. Acts work better than scenes for pacing and clarity.
• Keep their eyes on the screen. Ask them to notice more than they write.

Ready to Use My Questions?

If you're interested in trying this structured approach in your own classroom, you can grab my Into the Spider-Verse viewing questions below. They're designed for grades 7–10, print-ready or digital, and work beautifully in ELA settings—even if you're not teaching a full film studies course.

👉 Read the viewing questions details here
(Or click below to buy a copy and use it in your classroom!)