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...
National Endowment for the Humanities
John Steinbeck’s "The Grapes of Wrath": The Inner Chapters
Here’s a must-have resource for anyone using The Grapes of Wrath. Everything from guiding questions to background information, from photographs to documentary films, from activities to assessments is included in a richly detailed packet...
Carolina K-12
Public Christmas Displays and Lynch v. Donnelly
Does a Christmas display on government property violate the Constitution? Learners study the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and learn about the landmark Supreme Court case Lynch v. Donnelly through watching a documentary and...
Respect for All Project
Let's Get Real Curriculum Guide
"Let's Get Real," a documentary about cyberbullying, is the cornerstone of a curriculum guide intended to help instructors design an anti-bullying unit for middle school classes. Packet with suggestions for how plan the unit, for...
BW Walch
Unexpected Family History
The history of the northern states' involvement in the slave trade is not widely known. This resource uses the PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade, and the nonfiction book, Children of the New England Slave Trade, to examine this aspect...
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...
US National Archives
WWII: Western Europe 1939-45 – Battle of Britain
Had Britain not emerged as the victors of the 1940 Battle of Britain, World War II would have ended much differently—and the world as we know it would be catastrophically altered. Learn more about this pivotal moment that kept the Nazis...
American Documentary
Religion in Culture & Politics: Women’s empowerment in Syria
What defines a woman as empowered, and how does this definition compare to the ideas and actions of a group of Muslim women in Syria? After watching a series of video clips from a documentary film about a school for girls in Damascus,...
PBS
Evolution of the Presidency: Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin D. Roosevelt
How much power should a president be allowed to exert? Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt exercised their power according to their interpretations of the United States Constitution, and these interpretations affected the...
PBS
The Black Panthers
Stanley Nelson's acclaimed film, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution uses interviews, archival footage, and images to document the story of the radical political party established in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. A...
Channel Islands Film
Sa Hi Pa Ca (Once Upon a Time): Lesson Plan 2
What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a history of the...
Channel Islands Film
First Contact: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 5-6
After watching Treasure in the Sea, a documentary about Channel Islands National Park and the video First Contact, about the voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to the Channel islands, groups research and then compare the experiences of...
Channel Islands Film
Once Upon A Time (Saxipak’a): Lesson Plan 1
As part of a study of the history of the Chumash on California's Channel Island chain, class members view the documentary Once Upon a Time, respond to discussion questions, and create a timeline for the different waves of migration.
Channel Islands Film
Once Upon a Time (Saxipak’a): Lesson Plan 4
How did the environment and natural resources found on the Channel islands influence the culture of the Chumash? Archaeology meets technology in an activity designed for middle schoolers. After viewing West of The West's documentary Once...
Educa Madrid
Prehistory
Images of the Atapuerca Caves, the cave paintings at Altamira, and a Neanderthal skull found at Forbes' Quarry on Gibraltar serve to introduce kids to prehistoric sites in Spain. Designed to support a study of prehistoric Spain, the...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Two Different African-American Visions: W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington
The strategies civil rights activists Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois proposed for blacks to achieve racial progress is the focus of an activity in which class groups identify the strategies as well as the benefits and drawbacks...
Global Oneness Project
Protecting Wilderness
Would you live in a tree for three years to protect a redwood forest? Viewers of Rainhouse Cinema's Among Giants documentary consider the actions of Earth First! environmental activists who moved into the treetops of a grove of giant...
Curated OER
Ballou High School Marching Band Documentary Lesson Plans
Students examine the journey of the Ballou Marching Band. In this America's Promise lesson, students read about Colin Powell and examine the history of America's Promise. Students explore the Five Points of the program and then watch a...
Curated OER
Las Vegas: We Are Just Like You
Students practice making multimedia documentary films by investigating cities of America. In this U.S. geography lesson plan, students examine Las Vegas and compare the state of Nevada to 15 other states and discuss their main...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Channel Islands Film
Restoration Channel Islands Debate
Introduce learners to the debate format with an activity that uses the National Park Service's controversial Channel Islands restoration program as a topic. Class members learn how to generate provocative debate questions, how to prepare...
Carolina K-12
Marsh v. Chambers and the Establishment Clause
1983 Supreme Court case Marsh v. Chambers, which centers on whether opening a legislative session with a prayer violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the US Constitution, is the focus of a series of discussions and...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 2
After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in her...
K20 LEARN
This Is How the World Ends: Coronal Mass Ejections/Space Storms
Is this the end of the world as we know it? Pupils prepare for a coronal mass ejection during a lesson from the K20 Center. The activity combines video and Internet research in a collaborative assignment that focuses on public safety...