Instructional Video7:11
Tangient

Glory: The Movie Study Guide & Discussion Questions

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Check out this simple and organized viewing guide for the film Glory! Questions prompt learners to consider the evolution of characters over the course of the film, and to analyze the effects of the film and the efforts of the 54th...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

“The Hero’s Journey”: Analyzing a Model Narrative and Continuing to Plan a New Hero’s Journey Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
Many elements go into an engaging narrative story. Using a helpful resource, scholars analyze a model narrative and deconstruct it using a graphic organizer. Next, they apply their learning from the model to update their plans for their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Movies That Rock": Moulin Rouge

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders explore musical film and the Bohemian lifestyle common in Europe during the turn of the century through the musical Moulin Rouge. After listening to (or viewing) songs from the movie, they discuss the Bohemian era and how...
Lesson Plan
1
1
NPR

Women in Early Film Lesson Plan

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The role of women in the early film industry, both on screen and behind the scenes, is the focus of a resource that asks class members to analyze movie posters and DVD covers from the 1910s and 1920s. Using examples drawn from the...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing: Analyzing the Conclusion of “The Golden Key” and Drafting a Compelling Conclusion for the Hero’s Journey Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
There's something different here. Using a note-catcher, scholars determine the differences between the conclusion of a piece of analytical writing and the conclusion of a narrative. Next, they begin drafting their own narrative...
Lesson Plan
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence

Media Literacy with Focus of Strategies for Collaboration

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing and Describing Music

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students analyze instrumental music.  In this instrumental music lesson, students investigate musical works of art.  Students describe the instruments they hear and discover the relationship between music and other...
Unit Plan
Film Foundation

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: What Is a Movie?

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Watching is not the same as seeing. Transform viewers from passive watchers to active students of film with this 34-page packet, filled with lessons and activities that use Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to examine the technology, the...
Interactive
Annenberg Foundation

Placing Artifacts in Time

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Can history distort the true story behind famous people? Scholars analyze the many faces of the Native American Pocahontas. Incorporating technology and historical thinking skills, they uncover the many different sides to the Pocahontas...
Lesson Plan
Macmillan Education

Christmas: #SadTree

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Christmas trees can be as large and elaborate as the tree in Rockefeller Center, or as small and understated as Charlie Brown's tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas. But where did the tradition of Christmas trees come from? An engaging...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Planning the First Draft of the Character Confessional Narrative

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars read and analyze a model character confessional narrative to help guide their writing. Then, they plan the first draft of a character confessional based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Discussing and Identifying Themes: What Makes a Good Children’s Book?

For Teachers 7th Standards
Working in small groups, scholars look closely at a children's book to evaluate narrative techniques. Next, they complete a Children's Book Scavenger Hunt worksheet to analyze the literary elements of their selected stories. 
Unit Plan
EngageNY

Grade 12 ELA Module 4: Literary Analysis

For Teachers 12th Standards
Does identity come from within, or do external forces shape it? Explore the complex identity concept with a two-unit module for 12th-grade language arts. The first unit uses A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and "A Daily Joy...
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Latino Patriots

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Pupils may not be familiar with Bernardo de Gálvez or Juan Seguín, but these Latinx patriots played important roles in American history. Using biographies of the Revolutionary War hero and Texan politician, historians consider how Latinx...
Lesson Plan
2
2
National Endowment for the Humanities

Theme Analysis in A Christmas Carol

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Why does Charles Dickens have Ebenezer go from scrooge to light-hearted and generous? From "Bah, humbug!" to "God Bless Us, Every One!" After rereading Dickens' preface to A Christmas Carol, learners analyze quotations from the tale that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is the Brady Bunch Biased

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine gender bias on television and in the movies. In this social science lesson, students watch various shows and when an instance of stereotypical behavior, or gender bias situation occurs, students think about the problem....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Literary Criticism

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students evaluate and debate whether movies, television shows, and other mass media cause violent behavior in students and whether books are the same as or different from these other media in their potential for causing violent behavior...
Lesson Plan
2
2
Historical Thinking Matters

Spanish-American War: 1 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sense, Sensibility and Sentences: Examining and Writing Memorable Lines

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Involve your readers in finding works of literary genius. Have each individual write down compelling sentences that they read or hear, whether in a newspaper, advertisement, book, movie, song, or any other place! Once each person has a...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Smithsonian Institution

Mobilizing Children

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Scholars find out how the government used propaganda to mobilize children to help in the war effort. Lesson exercises include analyzing a quote from Franklin Roosevelt, viewing propaganda images and posters, and participating in a lively...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Miscast and Seldom Seen

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Consider how well students' favorite TV shows, movies and video games reflect the diversity of society. The lesson plan introduces your class to several media literacy concepts, such as how media conveys values and messages, as well as...
Lesson Plan
2
2
PBS

Women's History: Parading Through History

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Want to teach your pupils about debate, effective speech techniques, propaganda, and the women's movement? The first in a sequential series of three, scholars analyze real propaganda images from the the historic women's movement, view a...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Advertising and Healthy Decisions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze alcohol and tobacco ads and create parodies of them. The eight lessons in this unit include discussions about why teens smoke or drink, the psychology behind the advertising, and writing persuasive letters to agencies,...
Lesson Plan
Shakespeare Uncovered

War and Leadership in Shakespeare’s Henry V

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
“Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” These two views of war, embodied in George Patton’s statement and Lorraine Schneider‘s famous 1966...