Film History Lesson Plans

Students study the work of William Shakespeare. They survey the elements of comedy and tragedy and read plays and poems. They discuss the texts they read and recite poetry. They dramatize poems with movement and sounds and write poetry in verse forms.

Eighth graders research historical events in specific West Virginia counties. In this local history lesson, 8th graders create a timeline using Excel of 10 events in the history of the county. Students create a bibliography of the sources where they obtained the information found in their timelines.

Learners discover some important people in the genre of documentaries. They examine their contributions made to the movement as well. They discover the history of documentaries as well.

Students review the style techniques related to the American Method Acting and practice using them in groups. Using various scenes from films, they try to recreate the scene using props. In groups, they discover the proper way to get into character and use improvisation to develop a skit.

Learners use computer to type a response to what they learned during their documentary film project. They share with the class what they did for their project and ask for questions.

Students examine the the historical and cultural roots of the Hollywood movie industry. They watch and discuss movie clips, read articles and participate in a jigsaw activity, and summarize their article to their group.

Students explore the history of coal mining in West Virginia. In this coal mining lesson, students interview senior citizens who have ties to the mining industry. Students also watch "History of West Virginia" or "The Rock That Burns" and compare information from their interviews with information from the films. 

Students watch the Charlie Chaplin film "The Kid". They apply the concepts of realism and formalism to the film text. They discover how to "read" a film for different components.

Learners identify different transitions used in the editing process. They discover the contributions of D.W. Griffith to the development of film art. They discover how to analyze films more carefully.

Students identify basic characteristics of the science fiction film genre and consider how those characteristics are parodied in film. They view "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and participate in a discussion to compare the film to the Cold War.