Filmmaking Teacher Resources

Students investigate similarities and differences between popular films made in Asia and those made in the West.

Explore Autism by watching the CNN presentation: Autism is a World. Upper graders view and discuss the documentary  identify the symptoms and characteristics of autism, research treatment options, and create an informational brochure.

In pairs learners perform a silent skit portraying relationships between two known characters from a popular book or a play for their classmates. Next, the class will read and discuss a NYTimes article about a film school in the Bronx...

Build visual literacy, discussion, and critical thinking skills with an innovative art lesson. Young analysts discuss the use of decalcomania, surrealism, and automatism in various contemporary pieces, discuss constructed truth, and...

Bridge cultural awareness, community, government, and art with an introspective and thought-provoking instructional activity. Upper graders become globally and socially aware as they analyze and explore the art of Jeremy Deller. They...

Point of view is everything, especially when reporting about the war in Afghanistan. Class members compare and contrast the same event from the war in Afghanistan as reported by five different sources. Learners are also asked to rank the...

Class pairs select a prompt from a provided list and tell (and record) their story to their partner. They then examine linguist William Labov's model for natural narratives, and apply his model to their tale. Next, class members watch...

Are we alone in the universe? This brief informational text on extraterrestrial theory has been split into seven sections to help scholars practice note taking. They read the statements, underlining key words. Then, using the graphic...

Students view images of Warhol/Basquiat collaboration and discuss them using the questions listed in the lesson. They work in groups to choose a theme or topic relating to American culture and discuss ideas about symbols that could be...

Students research the life of an artist to make a comprehensive analysis of works and how they were formed through personal beliefs of the artist. The influence upon culture is the focus of the investigation to be conducted.

Students read and discuss the literary elements of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. They explore the elements of dramatic performance and create a TV news program based on life in Narnia. They videotape their...

In this volume and surface area worksheet, students find the volume and surface area of different solid figures. Students complete 8 problems.

Students examine how a scene in a movie or in literature is constructed. In this film and literature lesson plan students answer questions based on film clips then create storyboards depicting a scene from their life.

These passages don't look right! It's your grammarians to the rescue as they correct capitalization and punctuation issues in two informational paragraphs. They must circle all words missing a capital letter and fill in blanks where end...

Continue with creating documentaries with the fourth instructional activity in a series. After explaining the concept of preproduction, send groups off to make some decisions about their films. Groups can use the handout and the four...

Storyboarding is an essential part of planning a film. Introduce your class to storyboarding and allow groups time to plan out their documentaries in this sixth lesson in a series about creating documentaries. Class members review an...

Learners view a film about elections in Iraq. They examine the story of a doctor and his decisions to vote. They work together to complete a worksheet about voter turnout.

Students examine the reasons behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Exploring multiple perspectives, they discuss the concepts of peoples' rights and justice in the area. They practice applying conflict resolution principles as well.

Students research that a narrative film tells a story using camera movement, sound, lighting, editing and other film making techniques. The audience must be taken into consideration when making a film. They explore what makes their hero...

Learners read and analyze Jessie Benton Fremont's travelogue of her trip out west in 1849 to identify the gender roles, social attitudes and class distinctions of the time. They then adapt the the travelogue into a film script.

In this Of Mice and Men viewing guide worksheet, young scholars study movie terminology as they read brief descriptions and respond to 26 short answer questions as the watch the film based on Steinbeck's novel.

Students list the five best films of the year, in their opinion; brainstorm a list of criteria for a "good" film. They compare their own lists with the nominees in this year's Academy Awards; consider patterns in Academy Award winners of...

Students propose and create documentary films depicting a slice of "ordinary" life that reveals something unique or surprising about its subject. They, in groups, make films and present them to the school.

Learners watch the documentary AIDS: A Pop Culture History and discuss the issues the documentary raises. Students discuss the different facts and myths about AIDS, discuss stereotypes in relation to the disease and discuss common fears...