MCHS Early US History
Ken Burn’s Civil War, Episode 1: The Cause
Ken Burn's epic documentary miniseries The Civil War, broadcast in 1990, was the most-watched PBS program ever. A question sheet helps viewers keep track of events in the first episode of the documentary.
National Wildlife Federation
An Inconvenient Truth in the Classroom
Global warming — what a hot topic! A thorough unit challenges learners to research, read, explore, and write about carbon, its role and increasing nature in our atmosphere, and how global warming is affecting lives and environments...
Mrs. Burgess
End of the Year Geometry Projects
Geometry students will be ecstatic about these engaging and enlightening end-of-the-year projects! Types of project ideas include interviewing a geometer, an ABCs of geometry poster, an engineering lab report, and origami work.
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 1
Learning to craft quality questions is a skill that can be taught. Class members use the Question Formulation Technique to learn how to create and refine both closed-ended and open-ended questions. They then view West of the West's...
Teaching Tolerance
Film Festival
Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...
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...
Curated OER
Civil War Research Project
Give your WWI study collaborative energy using a group research project. Groups are assigned one of the six main themes (included). Each group has an outline to guide research but will need an assignment guide. Consider supplementing the...
Curated OER
The New Zoo
Students explore animal characteristics by researching the animals in a zoo. In this video documentary lesson, students view the local zoo and create a documentary about a single animal they found at the zoo. Students present their...
Curated OER
Las Vegas: We Are Just Like You
High schoolers practice making multimedia documentary films by investigating cities of America. In this U.S. geography lesson, students examine Las Vegas and compare the state of Nevada to 15 other states and discuss their main...
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
BBC Learning English, Reading
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read several passages about the film industry and then answer eight corresponding questions. Additionally, students write a short description of a documentary they would make about...
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Choosing to Remember
Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till and civil rights activist, believed that her son's murder was the last straw before public outrage over racial injustice spilled over into the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. A history...
Curated OER
What is Plastic?
Students experiment with plastics. In this what is plastic lesson plan, students make a simple polymer and discuss recycling. Students identify various types of plastics.
Curated OER
Our Town
Students read and discuss an online article as they consider what makes a center of activity in a city or town. They produce a documentary film of the hub of activity in their school.
Curated OER
Get Real!
Students reach a consensus as to what makes a good reality-based TV show. They create their own scenarios for a new such show, and critique it, based on the criteria the class establishes.
Curated OER
Arson
Students watch a documentary film about arson and why children sometimes commit arson. They role play a scenario in which the school was deliberately set on fire. They develop a news report in which they interview three people regarding...
Curated OER
Water, Water, Everywhere!
Students complete a WebQuest. In this water cycle lesson, students investigate the cycle through a WebQuest activity. Students research the water cycle through Internet resources and create a documentary video of their process.
Curated OER
Depicting Motherhood in Family Stories
Students examine the roles of mothers and grandmothers by looking at black-and-white photographs of one American family and comparing that family's multi-generational story with their own. In this mothers and grandmothers lesson plan,...
Curated OER
Human Rights And Civil Rights
While he may not be as well known as civil rights activists such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X, Ralph Bunche's contributions certainly made him a leader in the struggle for civil rights in the United States and...
Curated OER
Drawing Movement
Students analyze visual arts by creating drawings in their classroom. In this art analysis instructional activity, students identify the paintings of Keith Haring by researching the web. Students utilize paper and oil pastels to...
Curated OER
A Walk Through Time
Students investigate the types of footwear worn during ten periods of history. In this secondary, art/math/social studies lesson, students view documentaries and popular films to study the time periods. Students research the...
Curated OER
Hollywood and Higher Learning
Students watch a varietry of films showing college life. In groups, they take different scenerios from the films and determine how they would have reacted. As a class, they discuss more in depth the issues they might face in college. ...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Multiple Choice Worksheet 8
In this ESL vocabulary instructional activity, students focus on vocabulary enhancement. Students complete 8 multiple choice questions by reading each sentence and choosing the best word to complete each.
Curated OER
7 Steps for Creating a Socially Conscious Community
Twelfth graders examine the steps that one can take to turn awareness of a human rights abuse into action it. In this Current events lesson, 12th graders analyze the compelling factors which can influence personal action in any...