Creative Visions Foundation
Finalizing Films and Writing a Reflection
Wrap up a documentary creation project with the final lesson 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 group...
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
Watershed Documentary
Students research and produce an iMovie documentary about the human and natural history of a stream basin (watershed).
Curated OER
War Story Documentary
Students research and create an aspect of a war. They practice on writing a bibliography and essays.
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...
Curated OER
The Insurgency In Iraq: A Quandary for the U.S.
Students read articles, conduct Internet research and participate in a mock debate to explore the pros and cons of withdrawing from Iraq or remaining in conflict with the insurgency. They consider the difficulties of consensus building...
Channel Islands Film
Eminent Domain
After viewing the documentary The Last Roundup, a documentary about the transitioning of Santa Rosa from a privately own island to a National Park, class members debate the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that permits the...
PBS
Exploring Parent-Child Relationships Through Letter Writing
The PBS film, Bronx Princess, launches a study of complex parent-child relationships. Using the provided reading guide, viewers respond to clips from the film and compare Rocky and Yaa’s relationship to other parent-child relationships....
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...
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...
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War Story Documentary
Learners review research skills and determine an aspect of war to research. They research an aspect of a war experience and bring history to life through iMovie.
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Watershed Documentary
Students 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.
New York State Education Department
Global History and Geography Examination: June 2017
Learners respond to multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions to demonstrate their understanding of global history and geography.
National Gallery of Art
The First African American Regiment
Young historians examine a memorial sculpture of the first African American regiment in the Civil War, and then compare how the experiences of the regiment are portrayed in letters and poetry, as well as in the motion...
Curated OER
Exploring US Foreign Policy after WWII--The Cold War
Scholars explore U.S. Foreign Policy and Cold War ideologies adopted after WWII. They conduct Internet research on a topic or issue related to the Cold War Era, watch two films, and compose a time line and a multimedia presentation to...
Curated OER
On the Oregon Trail
Students work with primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail. Working in groups, they write a scene for the movie that is historically accurate and based on the kinds of...
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Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program
Here’s the overview for a series of lessons about the Japanese American internment introduced by the resource entitled “A Fence Away From Freedom.” Included are the link to the Smithsonian website on which the lessons are based, a list...
Curated OER
The Roots of Prohibition: Examining the Effort to Prohibit Alcohol in America
Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary...
Curated OER
Global Eyes
Twelfth graders consider global issues and their effects. They identify the themes of human needs, human rights, and the environment, select a topic and research articles for a Global Current Events Portfolio. Working in small groups,...
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20th Century II: The 1940's - The War
Learners watch the movie The Tuskegee Airmen. Write a one page typed paper that describes the obstacles the African-American servicemen, particularly these aviators, had to over come to defend their country. They use specific scenes from...
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
Sacred Giving: How?
Students explain how tzedakah is performed and what it's purpose is in the Jewish tradition. In this tzedakah lesson plan, students learn about the Jewish traditions and how they are carried out through the commandments. Students write a...
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...
Channel Islands Film
Magic Isle: Lesson Plan 1
What are the factors that limit growth and expansion? As part of their study of Catalina Island, class members view the West of the West's documentary Magic Isle and research William Wrigley and the Santa Catalina Island Company. After...