Civil War Trust
Civil War Newspaper
One photograph can represent so much more than the images on the film. Eighth graders select a photograph from the Civil War era and conduct additional research based on the subject matter from the picture. Once they complete the...
Curated OER
Lesson: Mathias Poledna: Crystal Palace
Film analysis takes critical thinking, connections, and context. Upper graders look at the film installation, Crystal Palace in terms of the film makers choices, presentation, and perspective of truth. After an analytical discussion of...
Albert Shanker Institute
Who Was Bayard Rustin?
Who was Bayard Rustin? Pupils analyze a series of primary source documents to learn about this important figure in the civil rights movement. The lesson contains a short film to watch along with guiding questions and other resources...
Curated OER
Film Study: Albert Maysles and Direct Cinema
Students Discuss the contributions of Albert Maysles to documentary filmmaking and learn how to correctly operate video recording and editing equipment to create a short film.
PBS
Hemingway Educator Guide
A 17-page Educator Guide is designed to support classroom discussions of Ken Burns' documentary on Ernest Hemingway. The guide includes background information on Hemingway's life, the themes found in his works, essential and discussion...
Curated OER
Western-Genre Films
Students watch westerns and analyze them. They identify the plot, characters and the sounds in the film. They research icons of the American west and prepare a presentation. They share their presentation with the class.
Curated OER
Arabia: Educator's Resource and Activity Guide
MacGillivray Freeman's film Arabia presents viewers with remarkable images and insights into this ancient and mysterious land. An educator's guide is designed to provided teachers with the materials they need to support a showing of the...
PBS
The Diary of Anne Frank
While designed to supplement a viewing of the PBS Masterpiece Classic The Diary of Anne Frank, this resource can also serve as an excellent informational text and activity source for your students on the historical context and timeline...
Curated OER
General Lesson Plan for Documentary Lens
Use this general lesson guide to inform your instruction surrounding a documentary. The lesson is made up of five activities. The activities are intentionally general because they are designed to adapted for specific films. While the...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 3
Imagine being part of a team of scientists that discover the oldest human remains in North America. Imagine being part of the crew that documents this discovery. Class members get a change to be part of such an exciting adventure in a...
Curated OER
Marketing to Teens: Parody Ads
High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...
Curated OER
KS5 Film and Media Studies: Documentary
Learners generate their own definition of documetary. They watch and discusss a series of extracts that demonstrate the breadth of the documentary form. Students create a defintion of the term documentary that takes into account the...
Hot Docs
Docs for School: Viewing and Teaching Guide
Teaching documentary in your class? Inform your instruction with a guide meant to support teachers as they begin with documentary. The resource includes information on what a documentary is as well as documentary modes, elements, and...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Vocabulary Lesson
Pupils participate in an introductory instructional activity that focuses on communication. The two types of extrapersonal and interpersonal are covered. The instructional activity uses questions in order to guide the class discussion...
Curated OER
What's your favourite film?
Students poll other students on their favorite films today and of all time. A rubric is devised to tally the results. The results are shared with the class. In the end, Students taking the poll vote themselves.
Curated OER
Smoking On TV and In Films
Students identify and discuss young peoples' attitudes towards smoking and the power of TV and film on their daily lives. They critically evaluate comments about tobacco smoking. In addition, they place on a graph the reasons people give...
Curated OER
"War of the Worlds": A Broadcast Re-Creation
Why did Orson Welles' 1938 Broadcast of a adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds cause such a panic? To answer this question, class members listen to the original broadcast and research the panic that resulted. They then engage...
Media Smarts
Cinema Cops
A study of how public perception is both reflected and influenced by film and television, this instructional activity helps learners develop an awareness of audience as well as a critical view of media. Depictions of police in television...
Media Education Lab
Propaganda Techniques
In an age of fake news, alternative facts, and biased reporting, it is more important than ever that 21st century learners develop the critical-thinking skills necessary to recognize, analyze and resist the propaganda techniques used in...
Curated OER
The Battle of Good and Evil on the Big Screen
Students evaluate how the movie industry depicts heroes, villains, and events, and how these characters and plots relate to the society and time period in which the films are created.
Curated OER
Making Media for Democratic Citizenship
Students examine global development issues. For this media awareness lesson, students analyze current event issues and create video podcasts based on their research.
Curated OER
Ethnic Stereotypes in the Media
Students examine the existence of stereotypes and how various forms of media help to reinforce them. Groups discuss common stereotypes on a list of popular television shows. Student groups design a storyboard for an autobiographical...
Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 1 Day Lesson
After analyzing newspaper articles portraying different perspectives of the explosion of the Battleship USS Maine, your young historians will take a stand on which position is the most believable in both discussion and writing.
Curated OER
Into the Fifties: Understanding the Context of Film Genres in the Fifties
Learners discuss prior knowledge of American culture during the 1950's. They complete KWL charts, participate in class discussions and view the documentary film Atomic Café. They record their observations from the film.