Creative Visions Foundation
Developing a Structure for Documentaries
Provide some group brainstorming and story-planning time with the fifth lesson plan in a series on examining and creating documentaries. After you've explained the purpose of each section of a documentary, groups meet to plan the...
Curated OER
Watershed Documentary
Students research and produce an iMovie documentary about the human and natural history of a stream basin (watershed).
Creative Visions Foundation
Studying Documentaries Like a Writer - Looking For Persuasive Techniques
Revisit the documentaries viewed in the previous lesson in this series in order to take a look at the persuasive techniques employed by the documentary creators. Small groups watch the films a second time, taking notes on two provided...
Dream of a Nation
Creating Awareness through Action Oriented Writing and Research
Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...
Creative Visions Foundation
Writing and Developing Storyboards
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...
Curated OER
United States Entry into World War I: A Documentary Chronology of World War I
High schoolers identify several important events that led to U.S. involvement in World War I. They examine different explanations, form an opinion about the evidence for each rationale and then create a slideshow to present their findings.
Curated OER
War Story Documentary
Young scholars research and create an aspect of a war. They practice on writing a bibliography and essays.
Nikola Tesla documentary student worksheet
PBS documentary: Tesla - Master of Lightning; this worksheet will keep the students engaged while watching this excellent documentary about Tesla. The documentary can be found on Netflix or YouTube. It will take two class periods to...
Curated OER
United States Entry into World War I: A Documentary Chronology
Learners complete a unit of lessons on the events that led to U.S. involvement in WWI. They complete a Webquest, conduct research, complete a Venn diagram, read and discuss the reasons for entering the war, and create a slideshow.
Creative Visions Foundation
Introduction to Pre-production: Developing Ideas
Continue with creating documentaries with the fourth lesson 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 provided questions...
Creative Visions Foundation
Finalizing Films and Writing a Reflection
Wrap up a documentary creation project with the final lesson plan in this series. Class members reflect on their learning and compose responses to four questions relating to what they learned, whey they would do differently, and how 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...
Dream of a Nation
Read, Watch, Write for Pathos, Logos and Ethos
Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...
Ashbrook Center at Ashland University
Bill of Rights
Do citizens need protection from the federal government? Scholars investigate why the framers of the Constitution created the first 10 amendments and what these amendments mean to citizens of the United States more than 200 years later....
Curated OER
Reality Film
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.
Curated OER
Watershed Documentary
High schoolers conduct research and collect data about a local watershed area. They create an iMovie showing the human and natural impacts on the creek and watershed areas.
Media Smarts
Defining Popular Culture
What part does media play in creating, defining, and perpetuating popular culture? High schoolers chart their encounters with fads, trends, and icons and reflect on the media's influence on popular culture.
Curated OER
Facing Reality
Students explore social issues that are meaningful to them and create documentaries in which they share their information, thoughts and impressions.
Captioned Media
Creating Dramatic Monologues from The Grapes of Wrath
Set in Oklahoma in the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath presents a powerful view of life during the Great Depression. An insightful lesson plan takes a closer look at the characters in John Steinbeck's classic novel, combining the descriptions...
Curated OER
People Behind the Parks
Explore U.S. geography with your class by viewing a documentary. Show a portion of the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks," and identify the individuals responsible for keeping the parks in order. Elementary and middle schoolers...
Apple
A Curriculum for Digital Media Creation
Consumer technology has made it possible for filmmakers to create entire movies from the comfort of their home computer. Guide high school film buffs through the process of designing a documentary with an extensive unit published by...
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...
Curated OER
Health Outreach -- Creating Research -- Based on Pamphlets on STDs
Students view a video clip about people affected by STDs. They research causes, symptoms and cures of a sexually transmitted disease of their choice. They create a pamphlet to share information.
Indiana Historical Society
Lesson One – Vietnam War Time Line
To prepare for an in-depth study of the Vietnam Era, class members research and create a timeline that tracks the United States' involvement in Southeast Asia and especially Vietnam.