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The Spirit of '45 resource Life of Pi online resource Great Expectations online resource Private Peaceful web resource More...

Chimpanzee resource Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3 online resource Frankenweenie online resource Mirror Mirror online resource The Muppets online resource More...

International Women's Day resource World Book Day resource Teaching Trailers Spring 2013 E-Safety and Film resource Human Rights Day More...

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Teaching with film

E-Safety and Film Film and Citizenship Film and English Film and history Film in the Classroom More...

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Teaching with film: primary topics

Articles and information on incorporating film into the curriculum at primary level

Teaching Trailers Spring 2013

The latest edition of our Teaching Trailers resource for secondary schools is now available. Suitable for media, film and English students aged 11-19

Thinking Film resource series

A series of Bett-award nominated, free teaching resources covering primary literacy, secondary English, history, French, film and media studies. Full supporting resources and introductory videos can be found on the site.

Romeo and Juliet in Performance: new resource

Shakespeare in Performance – Romeo and Juliet is a free CD-ROM resource designed to actively engage students with Shakespeare’s play through a series of exercises that are both critical and creative

Positive? Resource to raise awareness of HIV

Suitable for 14-19 PSHEE, citizenship, science, English and media, this topic page looks at Positive?, an interactive resource using film-based approaches to raise HIV awareness and challenge stigma

The Muppets online resource

Online study materials on The Muppets , suitable for 7-11 year olds. The activities cover aspects of literacy, music and ICT, and features key clips and interactive activities for the classroom or computer suite.

War Horse resource

Online resource on Steven Spielberg's War Horse , suitable for KS3 English, Media and History and KS2 Science and PSHEE. Features interactive learning tools and visual content from archive and the film

Coriolanus resource

Interactive online resource on Ralph Fiennes's adaptation of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, exploring the film alongside extracts from the play text. Suitable for use in English at GCSE and equivalent.

Wuthering Heights Resource

Online study materials on Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights, suitable for AS/A2 and equivalent English, Film and Media. Resource features key clips and a downloadable study guide for the classroom.

Sket online resources

Online resources to and student workbook to accompany the release of this hard-hitting British drama. Exploring aspects of PSHE, Media and Film Studies the materials are suitable for students 15-19.

About our resources

At Film Education we believe in the power of film as a tool for learning within a wide range of educational contexts. Since 1985, we have been producing materials to support teachers who want to use film in their classrooms, whether they are teaching in primary, secondary or further education.

Our curriculum-focused materials, which span many subjects and areas of study, range from print-based guides on specific films to fully interactive learning content exploring a broader subject or issue.

We hope you enjoy our resources.

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Secondary Resources

Our free resources cover a wide range of curriculum areas and include film clips, Teachers' Notes and a range of activities

Online War Horse resource for KS3 English, Media and History, and KS2 Science and PSHEE

The King's Speech resource

Resource suitable for KS4 English and Media.

Made in Dagenham resource

Online resource for History, Media, Film Studies and English at KS4 and KS5

Thor resource

Online resource for KS3 and KS4 English develops reading skills through interactive tasks.

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Primary Resources

The fox and the child.

Interactive resource for KS2 Literacy and Art & Design

Primary Animation Topic

A beginner's guide to Animation for Primary schools.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Microsite resource with accompanying free clips DVD suitable for Primary Literacy.

Online materials The Muppets , suitable for ages 7-11, covering literacy, music & ICT.

See more Primary resources

The complete collection of downloadable film study guides, activity sheets and teacher''s notes for primary and secondary teachers.

Let the Right One In

Study notes for A2 and GCSE Film Studies, Media Studies

Somers Town

Study guide, suitable for AS Film Studies, Media Studies.

As You Like It

Study guide for KS4, AS/A2 level English, Film and Media Studies

Study Guide for KS2 Literacy, P.S.H.E and Geography

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Curriculum Units

The Story of Movies curriculum includes multiple components that educators can download and incorporate into their lessons, maximizing students’ immersion in meaningful film study.

Materials include a Teacher’s Guide with learning objectives, “engage” or warm-up activities, “explain and explore” guided discussion questions with recommended answers and prompts for extension and enrichment activities.

Activities for students emphasize critical-thinking and critical-viewing. These include screening, research, reading. and writing activities.

Curriculum materials include supplemental film clips and stills to illustrate concepts covered in the lessons.

Primary source materials are provided for each unit and may include articles, essays, song lyrics, paintings, archival photographs and documents, editorial cartoons, vintage advertisements, maps and graphic organizers.

Materials for assessment include lesson quizzes, chapter tests, and projects for individual and group work.

A Teacher’s Guide , featuring lessons with teaching objectives, detailed, step-by-step instructions for presenting each activity, and answer keys. Appendices include chapter tests with answer keys, performance-based assessment activities, and National Film Study Standards. A glossary provides definitions of key terms relative to the study of film. In addition, transparencies for projecting graphic organizers are included. 

A Student Activities Booklet , which includes graphic organizers, Screening Sheets to be used while viewing the film clips, and reading, writing, visual-thinking, and group activities sheets.

A DVD that includes selected film clips or segments, most of which have a running time of 3 minutes or less. Also included on the DVD are movie stills and photographs.

Portraits of America: Democracy on Film

Eight thematic modules present films for in-depth study: 

     1. The Immigrant Experience        5. Politicians and Demagogues      2. The American Laborer               6. The Press      3. Civil Rights                                    7. Soldiers and Patriots      4. The American Woman                8. The Auteurs

Curriculum Outline

The Day the Earth Stood Still

In the post-World War II climate of nuclear weapons testing, this film was a warning to nations on Earth to find peaceful solutions to their differences. Still relevant today, the film engages students in the science fiction genre while examining the era’s concerns about atomic warfare, as well as its fascination with the idea of visitors from outer space.

Lesson Grid Overview

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Selected as a historically and culturally significant film by the Library of Congress, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is the story of an idealistic but inexperienced senator who confronts corruption in government. At the time of its release, the Second World War had begun in Europe, and Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy banned the film. In America, it became the focus of a controversy when some American politicians and journalists labeled it unpatriotic.

To Kill a Mockingbird

This Academy Award® winning film, based on the novel by Harper Lee, tells the poignant story of childhood and loss of innocence, and of racism and justice during a period of civil rights strife. The film both shaped and was shaped by society, and maintains great relevance today.

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Teaching Ideas

8 Ways to Teach With Short Documentary Films From The Times

How to use our weekly Film Club feature to teach close reading and critical thinking skills via an eclectic mix of nonfiction videos.

By Jeremy Engle

Death metal-singing grandmothers. Gravity-defying dancers on nine-foot stilts. The dangers of “sharenting.” Coming-of-age with autism. What really happened at Stonewall. The whereabouts of smooth-voiced, permed-haired Bob Ross’s vast collection of lost paintings. These are just a few stories and themes we have explored in our weekly Film Club since it began in 2015.

Every Thursday during the school year, we feature a short documentary film from The New York Times and a set of five open-ended questions intended to encourage thoughtful and honest dialogue, either in your classroom or in the comments section. These films — drawn from Times Video series like Op-Docs , Modern Love , Diary of a Song and Conception — offer viewers an intriguing and unique perspective of the world and ask students to think deeply about themes like ethics, human rights, gender identity and scientific discovery. And each one is typically under 12 minutes.

As with other short texts like stories, poems and articles, mini-documentary films can stimulate discussion, debate, thinking and writing. And, they can serve as a refreshing break from print media to help students explore curriculum themes and practice important literacy skills.

You might use Film Club weekly in your class as a tool for regular writing and discussion. Or, if you’re looking for specific ways to make short documentaries a part of your curriculum, below, we present eight ideas for teaching with the series. For each topic, we suggest several films to watch, questions for discussion and activities to go further.

Let us know in the comments section or by emailing us at [email protected] how and why you are using Film Club and if you have any suggestions to improve our feature.

Explore a Theme or Big Idea

A concerto is a conversation, a virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from jim crow florida to the walt disney concert hall..

All right. It’s a real pleasure to welcome Kris Bowers, our composer, who has written a concerto, “For a Younger Self.” Welcome. [APPLAUSE] Can I ask a question? All right, Granddaddy. Can you tell me, just what is a concerto? So it’s basically this piece that has a soloist and an ensemble, an orchestra. The two are having a conversation. And so sometimes that conversation can be this person speaking, and now this person speaking. Sometimes the conversation — It’s a question. — is at the same time. Yeah. And it really depends on how the composer wants to, or how I want to frame that conversation. Did you ever picture yourself doing what you’re doing now? Huh. [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] I’m very aware of the fact that I’m a Black composer, and lately actually I’ve been wondering whether or not I’m supposed to be in the spaces that I’m in, or supposed to have gotten to the point that I’ve gotten to. Well, I can tell you one thing. Never think that you’re not supposed to be there. Cause you wouldn’t be there if you wasn’t supposed to be there. It goes back to slavery. [MUSIC PLAYING] My grandfather, who I found out has cancer a little while ago, I wanted to spend some more time with him and talk to him about his life, about our family, ask him as much as I can before he passes. [BELL RINGING] Granddaddy. Mm-hm? Need a bit of help with this. Do what? Getting this seamed out for the show. OK. Don’t step on the pedals. Push it right in the corner. OK. Wow. OK. We’re going to make it real handsome here. You’re going to be ready to go. Thank you, sir. Growing up in the South was quite a thing for me. Bascom, Florida, as far back as I can remember, I think the plantation was the Bowers plantation. All 13 of you all grew up in that house? Mm-hm. Wow. How all of us stayed in two rooms, I don’t know. We would start on the porch singing. And there were people, I don’t know how they could hear it that far, would come drive in the front yard and listen to us sing at night. People in that area was, the Blacks were Bowers, and the whites was Beavers. Beavers had the grocery store. But when Dad would walk in the store, this kid about my size, small kid — How old were you about this point? Like how old? I probably was 6 or 7 years old. Oh, wow. And he would go up to my dad and say, what could I get for you, boy? That stuck with me forever. Why are you calling my dad a boy? And Daddy would answer him, sir, yes sir, no sir. But it was something that stayed with me because I knew then when I got of age I was going to leave there. I didn’t want no parts of the farm. I didn’t want no parts of that part of the country. I just wanted to leave. Wherever I could get a ride to, that’s where I was headed to. [MUSIC PLAYING] What was that process like, hitchhiking as a Black man in America in the 1940s? I had to be crazy. Now, the first place I remember being is in Detroit. A man picked me up. He was saying that he could get me a job and a place to stay and all this. I asked him, does it snow there? And he said yes. And that was the end of that, because I didn’t want to be any place that was cold. But I hitchhiked from there to Denver, Colorado. And I was in this Greyhound bus station, cause they had two counters, white and Black. So I could get something to eat. And I heard somebody say, Los Angeles, California. I said, that’s where I want to go. Never heard of Los Angeles before. I had $27 or $28. I didn’t know how I was going to make it, but I knew I was going to make it. So I said well, I’m going to pretend to be an employment agency and call around to get a job. Wow. I got the telephone book, started at the A’s. A Cleaners. And I don’t think I made more than five calls, and the phone rang, and it was the A Cleaners, and they said they needed a presser. I got all the information. I said, OK, I’ll send someone right out. And that was me. [LAUGHING] That’s where I met your grandmother. [MUSIC PLAYING] How old were you when you bought the cleaners? I was 20. Wow. So within two years I had gone from homeless to I was in business. [MUSIC PLAYING] But I never could get a loan. And I owned the place. I said, something wrong with this picture. I told them I come in for the loan, and he said no, I don’t have anything. And I left later, and picked up an application, and I mailed it in. A few days later, I got a call, your loan is approved. I said, it’s the color of my skin. I said in the South they tell you. In Los Angeles they show you. From then on we started buying property, I would get things at the cleaner, everything, but nobody ever saw me. Everything was done by mail. People are constantly throwing up things to stop you in life. But you’ve got to know you cannot stop me. [MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Kristopher Bowers, and I want to play “Shining Star in Atlantic City.” My parents decided before I was born they wanted me to play piano. Literally, I think it’s called like “Piano Sampler No. 5” that they used to put on my mom’s stomach every day. Actually, one of the first pieces of music I ever wrote was on this piano. And I remember, you know, just playing around here all the time. But we were up at a restaurant one, I believe it was a Sunday. At Marie Callendar’s? Marie Callendar’s. They had a piano in there, and I asked the guy could you play it. And they said yes. I carried you over there, and you were playing it, and I was proud of you. [LAUGHING] [MUSIC PLAYING] There aren’t that many opportunities for young kids of color to showcase their talents or to interact with other kids of color playing music and doing those things, and you talking about being my manager, essentially, from the very beginning. If I didn’t have that, I probably wouldn’t have been as confident pursuing music. I remember — where were you in school at that I was up there? What, in New York? At Juilliard? Juilliard? Wherever it was, you enjoyed it. So that’s all I was thinking. If you enjoyed making a living at it. I knew that, boy. And the winner is Kris Bowers. “Green Book.” [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] What do you think your biggest challenge is today? My biggest challenge today, being honest, is my health. It’s just trying to stay healthy. That would be my challenge today. [MUSIC PLAYING] I’ve got a few more years to go, but I’m almost to the top. [LAUGHING] Ten more years, I’ll be at the top. [LAUGHING] So now I just keep trying to do the best I can. Yeah. And enjoy seeing my children and grandchildren being successful. That’s glory in itself. It’s just something that I hope I had a little something to do with it. [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] (SINGING) Then sings my soul, my savior, my God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art. You did it! You did it! You did it! [LAUGHING] See, it surprised you. [LAUGHING]

Why is it important to preserve our historical memory? What will be lost if we can’t? Can we trust what we see and hear? How can art give us purpose and meaning?

Many courses, curricular units, projects and activities are organized around themes and essential questions. Perhaps your students are about to read a novel dealing with love or loss; investigate the concept of evolution in science; or explore the subject of suffering and sacrifice during wars. A short film can be a great way to dive into a big idea or essential question.

What makes the many mini-documentaries featured in Film Club so powerful is that they can present a compelling theme, such as justice, adversity, responsibility or freedom, in just a few minutes. Each Film Club begins with an essential question to help frame the lesson like the three that begin this section.

Suggested Films

Here is a sampling of films that explore common essential questions in different subject areas:

Why is it important to preserve our historical memory? “ 116 Cameras ” (15:16) Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor and stepsister of Anne Frank, participates in an interactive hologram project to preserve her story for conversations with future generations.

How can art give us purpose and meaning? “ A Ship From Guantánamo ” (6:17) Moath al-Alwi has never been charged with a crime, but he has spent over 19 years in prison. In this Op-Doc video, Mr. al-Alwi tells the story of the art he makes to survive — and escape.

How did the discovery of microorganisms change our view of the biological world and our place in it? “ Animated Life: Seeing the Invisible ” (6:35) This animated documentary celebrates Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a 17th-century citizen scientist, and his discovery of microbes.

How has your life been shaped by the sacrifices, strength and wisdom of your elders? “ A Concerto Is a Conversation ” (13:24) A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather, from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Activities to Go Further

Teachers, what big themes and ideas are you exploring in your classrooms? Which of the suggested films address themes that connect what you are studying with your students? Don’t see something that resonates yet? Check out our archive of over 200 films in the Film Club spotlight. You can also search The New York Times’s Video spotlight page for more offerings.

You might use a film as a warm-up activity to begin a larger study, or as fodder for discussion and debate around a key idea. Ask students: How does the film illuminate and challenge your previous understanding of the big idea or theme? What new perspectives and insights does it offer?

Or, consider curating your own series of films based on a single theme. Have students compare and contrast the pieces in the collection both for form and content.

Open a Window to a Different World

Arctic boyhood, coming of age on the greenland tundra..

<begin subtitles> 01:00:35:00 01:00:36:04 There’s one. 01:00:36:10 01:00:37:22 I just missed it. 01:00:55:03 01:00:57:17 I’ve done this so many times, 01:00:58:04 01:01:00:15 my teeth hurt now. 01:01:04:15 01:01:07:10 Soup is all I’m good for. 01:01:10:22 01:01:13:03 You’re ready. Go on. 01:01:13:10 01:01:14:12 Pull. 01:01:14:16 01:01:15:15 Like this? 01:01:15:19 01:01:17:08 Come on, with all your might. 01:01:18:09 01:01:19:11 Harder, harder! 01:01:20:02 01:01:22:12 Poor kid, not too hard. 01:01:23:11 01:01:25:18 Almost finished. 01:01:28:05 01:01:30:14 And here’s your dog’s harness. 01:01:32:17 01:01:35:10 When you’re on a sled 01:01:35:17 01:01:37:06 with your dogs, 01:01:37:23 01:01:40:02 you’ll put this harness on them, 01:01:40:11 01:01:42:18 and you’ll think of me. 01:01:51:20 01:01:52:21 Hey, you. 01:02:20:02 01:02:21:11 Scoop up the ice. 01:02:21:20 01:02:23:01 Scoop up the ice. 01:02:29:14 01:02:30:22 Here, look. 01:02:31:11 01:02:32:19 Like this. 01:02:57:02 01:02:59:21 Once upon a time there was a village 01:03:00:04 01:03:03:12 where the hunters who left in kayaks, 01:03:04:09 01:03:07:21 disappeared one by one. 01:03:08:10 01:03:12:14 So food started running out and the village was without its men. 01:03:13:02 01:03:18:00 Soon only a little boy remained who had never left the village. 01:03:18:13 01:03:23:13 He decided to take his kayak to find out what was going on. 01:03:24:02 01:03:26:20 “Qajaarngaa! Qajaarngaa!” 01:03:27:08 01:03:29:16 “Come, please.” 01:03:29:20 01:03:32:08 So he paddled toward the cries. 01:03:34:11 01:03:36:09 It was an old woman 01:03:37:04 01:03:41:14 who was calling from the shore. 01:03:42:13 01:03:45:14 The little boy followed her into her house. 01:03:46:16 01:03:51:09 He looked down and saw human bones. 01:03:51:19 01:03:55:17 And on the walls hung severed heads. 01:03:55:21 01:04:00:08 The faces belonged to the village’s hunters. 01:04:01:17 01:04:04:20 The boy, listening only to his courage, 01:04:05:06 01:04:08:15 grabbed her by the hair. 01:04:09:20 01:04:14:05 He picked up a woman’s knife off the ground, 01:04:14:15 01:04:17:21 and in one fell swoop, cut her head right off. 01:04:21:13 01:04:26:11 Qajaarngaa went home. 01:04:28:04 01:04:31:12 Now alone among all the women, 01:04:31:16 01:04:37:09 he became a great hunter. 01:04:38:00 01:04:40:09 The best in the whole region. 01:04:40:17 01:04:43:07 The village never went hungry again.

Films can give us a glimpse into someone else’s life. They can bring us inside a stranger’s home or to a foreign country. They can chip away at social and class divides. They can foster empathy for those who are different from us.

In 2018, Michael Kellen, an English teacher in Florida, shared with us how he uses Film Club in his A.P. Capstone Program to expand his students’ awareness of other countries and cultures and to help them explore their own beliefs.

In a final class reflection, his student Valenca Charles, reflected on how the assignment broadened her understanding of the world:

Throughout the school year, the Film Club assignments have actually helped me learn about new things. I learned that scientists are working to help those with missing limbs from the film “ The Bionic Man .” I learned about a language that is on the verge of extinction and how one person is attempting to save it from the film “ Who Speaks Wukchumni?’ ” I have constantly thought about the lives and troubles of people like the ones from the film “ Arctic Boyhood ” and “ Death Row Doctor .” Learning about these two different people and how they live their lives has opened my eyes to different cultures and lifestyles.

Invite students to watch one or more of the following films and then reflect: In what ways do these films open their eyes to new cultures, experiences and perspectives? In what ways do the films make them more empathetic to the situation of others? How does a window into a new or unfamiliar world make them see their own lives differently?

“ The Midnight Gardeners of Mumbai ” (11:27) Meet the people who keep their city running while the rest of the world sleeps.

“ Tears Teacher ” (10:53) A teacher travels across Japan to encourage adults to cry more.

“ Sensations of Sound ” (6:20) At age 20, Rachel Kolb received cochlear implants that gave her partial hearing. In virtual reality, experience how music felt for her, before and after.

“ Dancing In the Air With 9-Foot Stilts ” (3:20) In Trinidad, a group called “Touch D Sky” dances on stilts to practice the art of Moko Jumbie.

“ Arctic Boyhood ” (5:25) What it’s like to come of age on the Greenland tundra.

Ask your students to storyboard or make a short film about life in their hometown for other students around the world: What would they show? What people, groups or traditions would they profile? What would they want people around the world to know about where they live? What visual and audio elements would enhance the project? How might their film inform and engage audiences?

Afterward, students might consider entering The Learning Network’s annual fall multimedia contest , where teenagers from around the world can submit videos about growing up today, or to one of many other competitions for youth art .

Another idea? You might invite students to write a letter to one of the people featured in one of the films. What did they learn from this person? What questions do they have for him or her?

Make Connections to Students’ Lives

The lonely goalkeeper, arsenal legend bob wilson on the loneliest role in soccer..

[MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] Hello, chaps. My name’s Bob Wilson. Arsenal goalkeeper, Arsenal legend, if you like. “Wilson leading off Liverpool once again. Bob Wilson Cup. Rock solid once again.” [CROWD CHEERING] “Oh! And a great save by Wilson.” I was a nervous goalie. And that was the buildup. The day before I started to get worked up about it. And I went off into this unknown world. By the time the bell went in the dressing room to go out, I was a bag of nerves. My stomach was churning. I’d been to the loo four times. And then I’d go down the tunnel, and I hit daylight — [CROWD CHEERING] — and the 40 ... 50 ... 80,000 and went, yep, this is what you’ve chosen, boy. This is great. Football is a team game. It’s 11 players gelling together, understanding each other. The whole purpose of a game of football is to score goals. And the one villain in the piece is the bloke between the sticks, the goalie. They’re the only individual in what is a team game. There is an incredible loneliness about it. The other 10 guys can make numerous mistakes in a game. Even the star striker, he can miss five, six, eight chances in a game and score a winning goal in the 89th minute of a match, and he goes home the hero. “Oh, that was beautiful!” On the reverse situation, you are putting yourself in this position where for 89 minutes you play brilliantly. And in the 90th minute, you make a positional error, or the ball moves, swerves and dips. And it looks as if it’s your fault because it just makes you look a fool, an absolute total fool. And everybody behind the goal goes home casting dispersions about your parentage. You know you think about it, this thin tightrope that a goalie walks. You’re underneath your crossbar in between your posts, which is a massive area anyway. People don’t realize it’s eight yards wide, and it’s eight foot high. And it’s a chasm! It’s not just a big area. It’s a chasm! And you are very capable of falling off at any opportunity. I think you have got to be different. All great goalies need a desperate sort of courage within their makeup. When all is lost, when their defensive barriers and their structures and playing 4-4-2 or catenaccios, like the Italians do. When all else fails, those guys in front of you, those 10 guys, need to look ‘round and say, “The goalie will save us. The big man will save us.” That’s when you’re tested. And that’s why I went head first, hand first, for the sake of winning a game of football. It’s suddenly that belief in yourself. I belong. That is the ultimate. You have the respect of all of your team. And that was my greatest reward, and it’s the greatest reward any footballer can ever get. [MUSIC PLAYING]

As much as these films help us to see a different world, sometimes the most powerful moments are when students make connections to their own lives — and perhaps even see themselves a little differently.

For instance, after watching “ The Lonely Goalkeeper ,” a short animated film that profiles the British soccer legend Bob Wilson as he reflects on the “desperate courage” required to be a goalie, Sarah Elgart, a student from Wilmington, N.C., shared:

I am a basketball player and I can definitely relate to the feeling of nerves and feeling alone. In basketball when you get fouled on a shot you go to the free throw line. That’s when the crowd goes silent. All eyes are on you. Waiting for the ref to give you that ball so you can take the two free shots. It’s literally two free points with no defense! It should be extremely easy to make both shots. But the nerves take over. Thinking in your head, “what if I miss this one?” “what if I miss both?” “what if coach is disappointed?” But, getting into a routine can overpower those nerves. Deep breaths and positive thoughts.

Students can explore the theme of coming-of-age through one or more of these films. They might consider questions like: What do you learn about childhood and growing up from these films? What do you discover about the opportunities and challenges that young people face across the globe? In what ways do these films reveal childhood to be a universal experience? In what ways do they show it to be shaped and influenced by culture and society?

“ Girl Boxer ” (6:13) Jesselyn Silva, known as “JessZilla,” is a 10-year-old girl who loves to box. She dreams of someday winning an Olympic gold medal.

“ Summer’s Choice ” (9:40) A talented teenager in the Mojave Desert is torn between ​​​her goal of attending art school and her desire to help support her family.

“ Why I’ll Raise My Daughters to Be Strong. Not Polite ” (4:33) Kind. Obedient. Agreeable. Check check check. Now with two daughters of her own, she will make a new set of rules.

“ Growing Up Ethan ” (15:18) How do you find independence when you’re coming-of-age with autism?

“ We Became Fragments ” (12:37) Ibraheem was just a regular kid — until he lost everything. This Op-Doc video profiles a teenage refugee from Syria as he adjusts to his new high school and life in Canada.

“ A Conversation About Growing Up Black ” (5:11) What is it like to be a young Black man or boy in America?

Ask your students to storyboard or make a short film about their own lives: What aspects of their lives would they share? What audio and visual elements, images and words would they include? How might other students learn from their experiences?

Or, you can match one of the coming-of-age films above with one of these writing prompts:

How Would You Describe Your Identity?

What Does Your Accent Say About Who You Are?

How Do You Connect to Your Heritage?

What Does Your Unique Style Say About You?

How Much Has Your ZIP Code Determined Your Opportunities?

Additionally, to more deeply explore their own identities in relation to the films, before or after watching, students might create an identity chart , or write a bio-poem or a “ Where I’m From ” poem. These activities come from our friends at Facing History and Ourselves .

Bring Current Events and Issues Into the Classroom

Films can be a great way to bring current events and today’s headlines into your classroom — powerfully showcasing the human dimension of often complex and challenging issues like inequality, police brutality, homelessness, terrorism and war.

After watching a film on the current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and how many women are returning to their homeland to rescue loved ones, Genesis, a student from New York City, wrote:

Seeing all of these people in the film going back to Ukraine in order to save their families is heartbreaking. That takes an immense amount of courage and strength. This film puts a lot of this chaos going on in perspective, how much of a difficult situation they’re going through. I’m aware of all the destruction happening in Ukraine, but I’m not living through it. It’s insane to feel so afraid for them and not be in their situation, imagine how it is for the Ukrainians.

Which current events are you teaching in your classroom? Here are several films that explore headline news, and you can find many more by searching our Film Club column .

Invite students to watch and then discuss: How is watching a video on the subject different from learning about the events or issue from a traditional news story? In what ways did the film challenge or deepen your previous understanding of the topic? What perspectives or viewpoints, if any, are still missing?

War in Ukraine : “ ‘I Must Save My Mom’: The Women Returning to Ukraine ” (4:22) As millions seek to escape Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some women are risking the dangers of war to rescue relatives or defend their homes.

Climate Change : “ Greta Thunberg Has Given Up on Politicians ” (7:48) An animated Op-Doc profiling the 18-year-old Swedish activist who calls climate change “the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced.”

The Coronavirus Pandemic : “ An Ode to the Before Times ” (3:06) A filmmaker ruefully recalls all of the small things she misses from normal life before the pandemic.

Politics : “ ‘It’s Like You Want to Stop People From Voting’: How U.S. Elections Look Abroad ” (6:59) Times Opinion asks people from other democratic countries to share their thoughts on the American election process.

Immigration : “ Darlin ” (15:33) A family divided by immigration authorities struggles to reunite.

Homelessness : “ Lullaby ” (7:25) Young mothers living in the Siena House shelter in the Bronx write lullabies to bond with their babies.

Policing : “ Inside the Battle Over George Floyd Square ” (6:33) The intersection where George Floyd died beneath the knee of a police officer has become a memorial site — and a controversy of its own.

Ask students to create something to inform others about the current event they explored in the selected film: What is important for people to know, and why? What can audiences do with the information?

Here are some ideas:

Make an infographic : Students can use statistics and numbers cited in the film or from additional research to create an infographic that shows the size, scale and impact of the event or issue. They can design their work on paper or with a free program like Venngage .

Design a one-pager : Students can synthesize and present what they have learned by identifying key words, themes, images and quotations from the film. You can find templates and examples here .

Create a public service announcement : Students can storyboard or make a short video using stills from the film along with their own text, narration and music.

Write an editorial : Students can write an opinion piece to be published in your school or local newspaper, or to submit in our annual editorial contest . They can look at our 2021 Student Editorial Contest for editorial writing resources and read some of the 2021 winning entries for inspiration.

For additional background and research, many Film Club entries include an article for learning more at the bottom of the post. And films can also be connected to our Lessons of the Day or Student Opinion prompts, or, of course, to the wide range of coverage on issues The Times offers daily.

Learn to Think Like a Filmmaker

Music and clowns, what i wish people understood about having a family member with down syndrome..

Do you know that — Mm. — you’re a complete mystery to me. I don’t know what you’re thinking. Mm, mm. Can you give me a clue? Queen. You were thinking about the queen? Mm. O.K. How do you feel about me — Mm. — making a film about you? [LAUGHS] You just kissed my microphone. [MUSIC PLAYING] Can you help me introduce the characters in the film? So what’s your name? Jamie. And what’s my name? Clown. I’m not a clown. Here’s some family photos. Show me who you can see. Who’s that? Mummy. And who’s that there? Who’s that at the end? That’s Daddy. Daddy. Who’s that? Alex. And next to him? D. “No, no.” [LAUGHTER] Who is it? Jamie. That’s right. Mm, mm. What are you doing? Well, it’s my place, sitting over here. Yep. Ready? Steady? What do you imagine he thinks of you? I don’t think he analyzes things at all as you tend to. When I’m stressed or maybe not even known I was stressed, he’s come up to me and just touched my arm. And you can almost feel it draining away. It feels like a lightning conductor, just a small touch. What do you think he’s trying to do? I don’t think he’s trying to do anything. He’s just empathetic. So he understands how you see things. I think he understands how you feel probably better than you do. What he thinks is a mystery to me. I have no idea what’s going on in his head. Maybe nothing is. It could be a total blank. Mm, mm. Mm. But I’ve no idea. I’ve no idea how — what goes on in his head. I mean, he loves food. Anything to do with cooking and food, he’s there like a shot. Because he enjoys his food. But then he hasn’t got that much else in his life really. Music. Music, yes. Oh yes, he likes music. ABBA [MUSIC PLAYING] Mm. And of course, the circus. He’s mad about clowns — The circus. — and the circus. [HORN PLAYING] Do you know where that came from? No, not at all. I mean, he’d obviously like to be a clown. Maybe that’s — hiding behind the mask. I don’t know. No, no, no. I don’t think he wants to be a clown. I think he likes what they portray, which is a nice and simple mime of life. But he’s got the family sense of humor. [MUSIC INTENSIFIES] I just looked at him. I just knew. And that was good, knowing from the beginning. Because I think it’s harder if you think you’ve got a normal child and then find out later that then there’s something wrong with them. So you could sort of grieve all at the beginning really. So it was. It was like a bereavement. You’re grieving for the child that you hoped you’d have instead of which you’ve got this other child. I remember finding out that he got Down syndrome and just holding him and thinking, oh dear, start again. When did your own feelings settle down? No, no. That was just an instant. Clearly life would not be the same without Jamie. He’s a blessing. Yes, I, I — a bit bemused when people hear they’re having Down’s children and only see the negative side. But there are lots of positive sides. There’s a video of Jamie and Guy playing recorders. And he’s about 6 maybe, and he’s full of energy. And that slowly, slowly diminished. I feel like it correlates with moving out. Yes, it does actually. Because that’s the same time he stopped getting any sort of educational programs, even, like, not being around the rest of the family. Yeah, no, you’re right. It did change him. We worry about the future of how he will cope when we’re dead. So our plan was to find somewhere, which we have. He’s got to get used to the place. And then we’ll disappear, and it won’t be quite so bad. The impact is that carers are paid to do things for him. So he no longer talks or does things for himself because he doesn’t need to. Yeah, no, you’re right. But you never know. You can only do what you think is best at the time. And really, you can’t regret what you do. What’s your plan for Jamie in the future in terms of living? I found an institution, a charity that provides housing and all sorts of things. So I don’t want to put that guilt onto any of my children. But I just hope they would look after him. I know people get busy lives and forget. But I should hate to think of him in his own little world and then none of his siblings taking an interest. We’re all quite spread out now. We are, yeah. But that’s irrelevant. O.K. I feel like I’m being told off. [LAUGHTER] You are, you are. [MUSIC PLAYING]

What makes a good documentary? What draws you in? What turns you off?

Responding to, analyzing and interpreting the subject matter of films is central to Film Club, but students can also learn to understand and appreciate the artistry and craft of documentary film. In Film Club, we curate an eclectic and diverse group of films showcasing a variety of styles, techniques, methods and approaches. Students can learn to identify and assess different filmmaker “moves” and how they shape a film — its meaning and its effect on a viewer.

You might have students watch several of the following films, or assign small groups to watch each one and then share what they found with the class in a jigsaw activity .

Ask students: What do you notice about the film’s style and approach? Which audio and visual elements — for example, narration, archival footage, interviews, music, graphics or re-enactments — did the filmmaker use? What do you notice about the camera shots, framing and composition? What role did these play in the storytelling? Which perspectives are included and which are missing? What was the filmmaker’s objective, goal or message? How effectively and fairly was it communicated?

Animated: “ Music and Clowns ” (7:37) A filmmaker searches to better understand his brother who has Down syndrome.

Traditional (Interview-Based): “ The Queen of Basketball ” (21:53) An Oscar-winning film that tells the story of Lusia “Lucy” Harris Stewart, one of women’s basketball’s most accomplished — but largely unknown — players.

Cinéma Vérité : “ Volte ” (12:53) Zuzia, 12, navigates her changing body and her position on her vaulting team.

Opinion/Argumentative: “ It’s Quitting Season ” (4:55) In this Times Opinion video, the filmmakers argue that despite what many of us were taught in childhood, sometimes the bravest thing you can do is quit.

Virtual Reality: “ Sanctuaries of Silence ” (7:19) A 360-video that follows an acoustic ecologist as he travels from noisy city streets to the Hoh Rain Forest in western Washington state in search of quiet.

First-Person: “ How Life Looks Through My ‘Whale Eyes’ ” (12:11) A filmmaker shows what it feels like to live with several disabling eye conditions. “I don’t have a problem with the way that I see,” he says. “My only problem is with the way that I’m seen.”

Students might compare films on the same subject or theme that are told through different styles, techniques or approaches. Which resonate with them more and why?

Or, you might ask students to write a documentary film review and submit it to our annual Student Review Contest . Their review should express an opinion and back it up with compelling evidence. Look at our 2021 Student Review Contest for review writing resources and read some of the 2021 winning entries for inspiration . They can also watch our five-minute video “ Review Writing Tips From New York Times Critics ” for guidance.

Another creative option: Students can create a movie poster that captures the essence of the subject, story or themes of the film in an appealing and visual look that grabs the audience’s attention and that is also consistent with the documentary’s style and tone.

Develop Media and Visual Literacy

If you didn’t ‘sharent,’ did you even parent, children are concerned about online privacy violations. the culprits their parents..

I’m Lucy. I’m 7 years old and my mom posts pictures of me. on Insta– online. I’m Elmer, I’m 18 years old. My mom shares too much about me online. I’m Zoya. I’m 16 years old and my mom shares my whole life. If you’re going to be so worked up about it then I’ll take it down. But I don’t agree with you, just for the record. Why are we here today? To talk about the photos. Yes. Let me show you a few. This. What’s the big deal? I think you look so cute. And it was a nice moment. What’s wrong with it? Yeah because you didn’t ask. I also think of it as connecting to other people that I know in real life. You know, like just think, like Abu and grandpa? How else do they know about you guys, except to see you there? You can call and FaceTime. You can – You can do many other stuff to see them instead of through social media. Yeah, that’s true. That’s a really good point. By age 5 the average kid has 1,500 photos of them online. Technically yes. It’s a photo where I’m shirtless and I’m not ready for a photo. All it takes is one person and one hack and there goes all your privacy. Remember when I was getting my debit card? No, I know you didn’t, but it was like the ... By 2030 parents sharing about their kids online will account to two-thirds of identity fraud. What is everybody so worried about? The sauce-on-the-face photo like what is it going to do that is like wrecking everybody’s life in their imagination? I think the sauce-on-the-face photo ... that’s just an embarrassing photo, but you know the photo of me in a bathing suit ... Someone out there could look at my body and think something of me that I wouldn’t want them to think. But you go on the beach in those clothes, and strangers could take photos of you on the beach and do what they want with those photos. But you’re my parent, you’re my mom ... Right. Yeah, I would think about that. Yeah. You would? So now you would say that you would consider ... I would maybe. Not really. Unless we stop taking vacations together, and stop having good times together, that it would actually, honestly would be depressing, if I couldn’t document it for Insta. If it’s not on Insta, it didn’t even happen. You really feel that way? Yeah because ... yeah. Yeah. Do you think kids should have veto power, the ability to say, please take that down. You have to. I absolutely think that kids should have veto power. And again, it’s because of how aware I am of the implications of the digital footprint that I say that. Some facts: In France, kids can sue their parents for sharing too much about them. I mean, I would. What should I say? They just don’t know what they’re doing, France. If I’d asked you about that picture would you be O.K. if I posted it? Uh, Yes. Oh, really? So it’s actually, about the asking not about the picture itself. Uh-huh. Posting any private information or anything online should be my call. I really try to limit the amount of things I aggravate you with. And if a photo or an upload is causing so much aggravation, is it worth it? It’s probably not. So I understand where you’re coming from.

Are your students savvy news consumers? Are they good at distinguishing reliable from unreliable information on the internet? Have they ever fallen for misinformation or fake news of some kind? Do they ever unwittingly spread it?

We have several films in our collection that can help students think critically about media literacy with questions like: Should parents share images and videos of their children without their consent? How do people get drawn into conspiracy theories and what are the consequences? What happens when what you show on social media isn’t real? And with “deepfakes” on the rise, can we trust what we see and hear?

You can use any of the films below to explore different issues in media. As they watch, students might consider the questions: How worried should we be about mis- and disinformation? What are some strategies to be a critical consumer of media and to see through its lies, distortions and manipulations?

“ If You Didn’t ‘Sharent,’ Did You Even Parent? ” (4:52) Children are concerned about online privacy violations. The culprits? Their parents.

“ This Video May Not Be Real ” (3:38) What should we really be worried about when it comes to “deepfakes”? An expert in online manipulation explains.

“ What Do We Do About Q? ” (10:27) The conspiracy theories seem ridiculous, but the consequences are real.

“ Love Factory ” (13:00) Livestreaming your life to a devoted audience is big business. What happens when the cameras are off?

Teachers might pair one of the films from the suggested list above with one of these writing prompts:

How Do You Decide What News to Believe, What to Question and What to Dismiss?

Do You Think Online Conspiracy Theories Can Be Dangerous?

Should Media Literacy Be a Required Course in School?

Or one of these lessons:

How to Deal With a Crisis of Misinformation

‘‘Belonging Is Stronger Than Facts”: The Age of Misinformation

Covid Test Misinformation Spikes Along With Spread of Omicron

Additionally, The Times has critically examined the role of mis- and disinformation in a three-video Opinion series called “ Operation Infektion ,” which examines how a fake news story from the pre-internet era has led to a “worldwide war on truth.”

To help students think deeply about their relationships with the news, you might invite them to audit their media intake, and then devise a personal “news diet” that works for them. Here is a lesson plan that can help . How can they use what they learned from the films to be more savvy news consumers?

Challenge Stereotypes

A conversation with native americans on race, native americans challenge their invisibility in society..

I’m Apache, but really that’s the government’s name, because they can’t say “Dził Łigai N’dee.” They will tell me how awesome they think it is that I’ve decided to be a part of my culture. And it’s funny to me. It hits me really weird, and I don’t like it. And I didn’t know why at first, but it’s because I haven’t decided to be a part of my culture. I live it every day. I’m more comfortable with the term “native,” divorced from “Native American.” I know there are people who use “indigenous.” If there is one term I do not like to be called, it is “American Indian.” And for me, to be indigenous is to have an intimate and interconnected relationship to a homeland. And so that’s really important, because land is, you know, tied to every aspect of who we are. Being native in a city is almost a daily reminder of your people’s erasure. Of the fact that people don’t even remember that you’re here and that you exist. But what I did encounter was just this preconceived notion that all Native Americans are dead. I’ve had older white men come up to me and say, “Oh, man, if this was 40 years ago, I could just do whatever I wanted to you.” You know, the cattle outside doing the work and the dog inside the house, those are property. Those are the black folks in America. They are property to white men. Then the exotic antelope on the wall or the exotic — that’s how natives are perceived in America. We’re treated like animals. They monitor our blood quantum. I mean, besides dogs and horses, I don’t know of any other animal that they monitor the blood quantum. The way I explain it to people is, imagine a pizza with different slices, and let’s say 32 slices. Of the 32 slices, I’m 28 Apache. That’s my particular blood quantum. And Native Americans in the U.S. are the only minority group who have to prove their nativeness on an Indian card. It’s used to divide native people against each other, because it can be used as a way to say, I am more native than you. And I was a part of that, too. I used my 4 fourths to kind of make myself feel better against other people. The one drop rule, meaning that one drop of black blood makes you black, that was to keep as many people oppressed or legitimize their oppression as possible. But on the other side, one drop of anything else completely dilutes you as a native person. So if you’re a native person, you have the one drop of something else, then suddenly you’re less native. So it’s the opposite. Traditionally, within the Apache society, you go by the mother. And if the mother is recognized as Apache, she has her clan, the children are unquestionably Apache. Not in the American context, not when patriarchy trumps matriarchy. So what does that mean? My sisters are short 1/16 of a degree. What does that mean? Does it mean their pinkies aren’t Apache? What does that mean? You know, being a mixed race person is a whole other side of it, but that’s a very common experience in our tribe. So it’s not as if we’re unusual in that way. What is unusual is the admixture of black. My grandfather actually doesn’t want people — if he hears that somebody from the tribe is coming over, he won’t come out of his room. Because he doesn’t want them to know that he’s that complexion, that he doesn’t — I guess he doesn’t want me to be affiliated with having African-American blood. But I mean, I say it. It’s not going to change anything. If it were up to the American government, natives wouldn’t be around. Because after a certain time, that blood will dilute. It will go out. And so if there’s no native peoples to provide benefits, then we’re not obligated to meet these treaty rights. And if we’re not obligated to meet these treaty contracts, then the land is available, the resources are available. And I think that that essential point about our claim to sovereignty, our claim to land, our claim to a culture, our claim to resources is one that gets lost if we don’t insist upon the fact that we are nations. And we have taken huge steps to decolonizing, and that proof comes from people being able to have the opportunities to speak their language, to be on their ancestral land. But the thing with decolonization is that it’s an ongoing process, just like grieving, just like any loss. As much as possible now, I try to tell people that I have a Native American name, and maybe it doesn’t mean anything to you, but it means everything to me. My name, maybe, doesn’t have a romanticized, Hollywood Indian name, but my name has more meaning than that. My name means that my family survived. My family survived disease. My family survived Catholicism. My family survived settler colonialism, and my family, they survived. I survived. My existence is resistance. Me saying my name is Skiumtalx, that is resistance in and of itself.

Many of our films directly challenge issues of prejudice, discrimination, bias and stereotyping. A good place to start is our “ 26 Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias and Identity With Students ” collection that comes with numerous film choices, activities to have safe and productive conversations, and resources for further exploration.

These films examine race, ethnicity, age, disability and gender. As students watch, they might consider: In what ways do the films offer you a new perspective? In what ways do they provide you an opportunity to be seen and known? What role does media play in creating and disseminating stereotypes? In what ways can it be a vehicle for breaking them?

“ Coronavirus Racism Infected My High School ” (3:42) A Chinese American teenager on what she and her friends are encountering during the outbreak.

“ Never Too Old for a Tiara ” (6:02) The Ms. Senior America pageant caters to women who have experienced life in all of its joys and sorrows.

“ Perfectly Normal ” (12:01) Through music and relationships, a man with Asperger’s syndrome finds another way to be “normal.”

“ A Conversation With Native Americans on Race ” (6:23) Seven people with a range of perspectives on what it means to be Native American today.

“ Just Girls ” (13:00) From period pains and hip dips to bullying and catcalling, five girls talk about the trials of growing up.

“ I’m an Actor of Color. My Curls Aren’t Wanted. ” (3:07) A Dominican-American actor reflects on the hundreds of crew cuts he’s gotten over the course of his career in hopes of winning over casting directors who often have a limited vision of what a star actor should look like.

What kinds of stereotyping or prejudice do your students face or feel passionate about working against? How might they explore that through film?

Students can storyboard or create a public service announcement about stereotyping to raise awareness and prompt change. Invite them to consider: What would your message be? Who is the target audience? What would you hope audiences would learn or do? What audio and video elements would you include? What’s your tagline or slogan? For tips and a lesson plan on making a P.S.A., see this resource from Learning for Justice.

Or, teachers might pair a film from the suggested list with one of these writing prompts:

What Assumptions Have People Made About You Based on Your Race, Religion, Gender, the Way You Dress, or Anything Else?

How Much Racism Do You Face in Your Daily Life?

Should All Americans Receive Anti-Bias Education?

Is a Chinese-Style Prom Dress Worn by Someone Who Is Not Chinese Cultural Appropriation?

Inspire Action

After parkland, turning trauma into change, samantha fuentes, 18, was hit by gunfire from an ar-15 rifle at marjory stoneman douglas high school last month. onstage, she’s helping to lead a national conversation about gun control. behind the scenes, she’s reeling from mental and physical trauma..

“— our future. I say, get your résumés ready.” My name is Samantha Fuentes and I am a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas school shooting. “It’s as if we need permission to ask our friends not to die! Lawmakers and politicians will scream, ‘Guns are not the issue,’ but can’t look me in the eye. [sputtering] I just threw up on international television, and it feels great!” [cheering] You don’t see us when we get offstage. You don’t see us when the cameras turn off. You don’t see when you have panic attacks or when you cry, and you cry, and you can’t stop crying. “You all right?” [sobbing] [yelling] “Yeah, Sam!” “Thank you so much.” “Woo!” When I got shot, the bullet was deferred into a wall first, before hitting me, and then broke apart. So I have pieces of metal in my face. And like, I can stick my finger on the top of my lip and feel a piece of metal. And that alone — that’s not normal. Like, there’s nothing normal about having metal in your face, unless it’s braces. When I got to D.C., I really didn’t know what to expect. “D.C.’s honestly really pretty. I wish I could appreciate it more, but I can’t.” I feel like sometimes I’m not the right person, or maybe this isn’t my job. Or maybe, as an 18-year-old, like, this isn’t the path that I was supposed to take. “This is for MSNBC.” “We have another 14.” “I can move, also.” “We can move somewhere else.” “I’m just not ready for this. I’m sorry.” “It’s O.K.” “I’m sorry.” “Yeah, we’re going somewhere else.” “O.K., cool.” “These are some of the families from Parkland.” “Hi, I’m Josh.” “Oh. No, no, it’s fine.” Ever since the shooting, I have been suffering from PTSD. You don’t really think you notice it at first, until, like, something sets you off. Sometimes when someone beeps their horn or they slam their door, or if someone, like, sneezes too loudly, it freaks me out. “I’m really honored to have a chance to meet with you. And you guys have really been through a lot, haven’t you?” “Yeah.” “I’d really love to just hear what’s on your mind, how you guys are doing.” “I don’t ever want someone to be in my position. I don’t ever want someone to be afraid of loud noises and afraid to go to school. And I think, out of all the people who can speak efficiently about the topic are the people who have been in front of a barrel of an AR-15.” “The voice of moral authority that you all have is just a really, really powerful voice. It’s really powerful.” Some people don’t believe that participating in a cause will ever make a difference. “So I would like to bring to the stage a poet from Stoneman Douglas, Samantha Fuentes.” And some people don’t believe that they matter. [applause] And if you’re just that one person, just speak up for yourself. Just having those ears available and having those faces to look at and to speak to is the first step. “Can my present love breach the past tense? Does loving the dead make any sense? I love you. I love you. I love you. Will you come back to this place?” I feel like I’ve been changed. Like, maybe not — like, yes, maybe physically. But like, I feel like something more is there, like, when I look at myself. Like, there is this feeling that I really can’t wrap my head around that, like, just confuses me. And like, it always happens when I look at myself in the mirror. And like, I have to realize that I’m not the same person and I had no control of that transformation. “Today is March 24, the March for Our Lives.” “Protect our schools like we do our other government establishments! And one more request — listen. [cheering] Will you give up, or is enough enough?” [cheering]

Film Club has chronicled change makers big and small, past and present. And many feature young activists, such as Greta Thunberg, who is leading a global fight against climate change; a victim of the Parkland High School shooting who pushes for gun control; and the Young Lords, Puerto Rican activists who took over a hospital in the 1970s to demand accessible health care.

These films show us how to channel pain and anger into action, explore the variety of ways we can make change, and prove that you’re never too young to try to make a difference.

Responding to the 2019 film, “ After Parkland, Turning Trauma Into Change, ” Olivia Pereira, from Providence, R.I., wrote:

I find it so empowering that throughout going through the school shooting and now suffering with PTSD, this young woman has still built enough strength to speak at protests, speak in this documentary, and travel to D.C. to be another’s young voice making an attempt at tackling the poor gun laws.

As they watch any of the films below, students might consider: How can we identify problems, their causes and effects, and become agents of change? What are effective ways to bring about action? How can you apply the lessons you learned from the film to your issues facing you and your community?

“ Greta Thunberg Has Given Up on Politicians ” (7:48) The 18-year-old Swedish activist argues that the climate crisis cannot be solved within today’s political and economic systems.

“ Takeover ” (38:24) In 1970, the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group, occupied a hospital in the Bronx demanding safer and more accessible health care. What can we learn from this overlooked history?

“ ‘I’m Worried That I Will Die:’ Hong Kong Protesters Write Final Goodbyes ” (3:10) Letters written by young protesters to their loved ones chronicle the mental and emotional state of frontliners coming to terms with risking death for their beliefs.

“ Meek Mill: Prisoners Deserve a New Set of Rights ” (2:26) The multiplatinum hip-hop artist and advocate of criminal justice reform, describes how men and women of color are treated unfairly by a broken criminal justice system.

“ After Parkland, Turning Trauma Into Change ” (5:09) Onstage, Samantha Fuentes is helping to lead a national conversation about gun control. Behind the scenes, she’s reeling from mental and physical trauma.

“ Taking a Knee and Taking Down A Monument ” (11:00) In a Louisiana town, a mother navigates racial tensions that flare up around her son’s wish to take a knee during the national anthem, and her own wish to have a local Confederate monument removed.

What issues matter to your students? How do they affect your community? What are teenagers willing to stand up for — in small or big ways?

Teachers might pair the films with one of these writing prompts:

What Are You Doing to Change Your School?

Is Your Generation Doing Its Part to Strengthen Our Democracy?

Do You Think Teenagers Can Make a Difference in the World?

Then, students might create a civic self-portrait or a civic action plan to identify the issues that are important to them and develop clear steps to address and remedy the problems. See “ From Reflection to Action: A Choosing to Participate Toolkit ” from Facing History and Ourselves for these and more resources and ideas.

Another creative option? Students can create an Instagram post using a design website like Canva . Their post should outline the problem, causes, effects, and possible solutions or recommendations for action. They can look at some of the examples from the article “ Swipe-Through Activist Guides Are the New Zines ” to see how activists are using Instagram to educate and create change.

Jeremy Engle joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2018 after spending more than 20 years as a classroom humanities and documentary-making teacher, professional developer and curriculum designer working with students and teachers across the country. More about Jeremy Engle

Behind the Lens

Lesson plan: introducing documentaries to your students.

Download the Lesson Plan PDF

POV documentaries can be recorded off-the-air and used for educational purposes for up to one year from their initial broadcast. In addition, POV offers a lending library of DVDs and VHS tapes that you can borrow any time during the school year -- FOR FREE! Get started by joining our Community Network .

Please visit our Film Library to find other films suitable for classroom use.

This lesson helps students understand that documentaries are a type of storytelling that explores factual stories and issues using film or video. By the end of the lesson students should know the difference between fact, fiction and opinion, and be prepared to watch documentaries in class.

GRADE LEVELS 6-9 with adaptations for 10-12

SUBJECT AREAS Language Arts, Visual Arts, Life Skills

ESTIMATED TIME NEEDED Two 50-minute class period

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Viewing Guide (PDF)
• Vocabulary Handout (PDF)
• Internet access with computers available to small groups of students

Note: If computer and internet access are not possible, focus on Steps 1 and 4. As a whole group exercise, use the prompts in Steps 2 and 3 and analyze downloaded documentary and filmmaker clips.

SUBJECTS/TOPICS By choosing film clips and filmmakers related to particular topics, you can customize this lesson to focus on core curriculum topics. In addition, the lesson offers opportunities to cover: media and digital literacy, ethics, observation

STEP 1: PIQUING INTEREST

• Ask students what meanings they find in these words. Encourage them to explore all possible meanings and ask them to list things they encounter in and out of school that "represent" or "re-present" other things.
• Wrap up the discussion by telling students that these words are related to a particular form of storytelling called "documentary" and that by the end of the lesson, rather than you telling the students what a documentary is, they will be asked to tell you what a documentary is and how it is different from other types of films and videos.
• IF TIME ALLOWS, or with older students, follow this discussion with discussion of a second word pair:

Ask students to think about what each term means separately and what they might mean when put together.

STEP 2: VIEWING CLIPS

• Ask students what they already know about documentaries. After soliciting a few answers, divide students into teams of three and tell them that they are going to begin looking more closely at what distinguishes documentaries from other forms of media.
• Give each student a copy of the Introducing Documentaries: Viewing Guide handout. Tell them they are going to be viewing a clip from a documentary film and that each person on the team should look for the answers to one of the questions, except for question 4, which can be answered by anyone (or everyone) on the team. Also let students know that they should be prepared to report their results. For older or more advanced students , you might want to add more challenging questions to the handout, e.g., for interview footage: "When you see a person speaking in a documentary, you're seeing them answer a question asked by the filmmaker off-screen. What questions do you think the filmmaker was asking in this clip?"
• Re-enactment and live action (vérité) footage
• Stock or historical footage and images shot by the filmmaker
• Depending on the age and ability of your students and your curriculum needs, you can allow students to select a clip from the POV website under " Classroom Clips " or you can select several clips related to your curriculum ahead of time and assign one to each group. It is important for the activity that each group is looking at a different clip. Note that allowing students to choose their own clips may increase their interest in the task, but it will also take more time. Also be aware that in order to complete the handout, teams may need to watch their clips more than once.
• While students are viewing clips, create a master display on which you can record yes/no answers from each team. You might try affixing dots or check marks in the appropriate boxes, or entering results into an electronic audience response system. The important thing is that everyone has a chance to see their results in combination with everyone else's.
• Solicit and display results for the yes/no parts of the handout. Remind students that they were all looking at different clips and ask if they can make any generalizations about the techniques that are commonly used in documentaries. For example, in many of the clips, interviews will be prominent. You might note how this is different than Hollywood films by asking if anyone can recollect a movie they have recently seen that relied on interviews to tell the story.
• Continue the discussion by asking students whether they think what they watched was fact, fiction or something else (e.g., opinion or a fictionalized account of an actual event). Be sure they explain their reasoning and the evidence on which they based their conclusion. HINT: If everyone was viewing POV clips, no one was viewing fiction.
• Wrap up the discussion by asking volunteers to share what they wrote in answer to question 4. Encourage them to think about what their answers might tell them about documentaries.
• IF TIME ALLOWS, or with older students , continue the discussion by exploring what types of people appeared (e.g., experts), and who was telling the story. You might also ask if anyone is interested in watching the entire film from which the clip is taken, make the film available, and offer individual students an opportunity to write a review or summary of the film and report back to the class (or post it on the class website).

STEP 3: LISTENING TO FILMMAKERS

• Remind students of the major task: At the end of the lesson they need to be able to tell you what a documentary is and how it is different from other types of films (or videos). In the previous step they looked at what is in documentary films; now they are going to have a chance to listen to the people who make documentary films.
• As in the previous step, depending on the age and ability of your students and your curriculum needs, you can allow students to select a clip from those available on the POV website under "Filmmakers," then " Filmmaker Interviews ", or you can select clips related to your curriculum ahead of time and assign them to each group. Students may be interested in selecting an interview with the filmmaker(s) who made the clip that they previously viewed. In many cases that will be possible, but it is not required for the purpose of this activity.
• What things are important to the filmmaker(s)?
• Listening to the filmmakers, what did you learn about what a documentary is?
• who are passionate about the issues they cover,
• who express opinions as well as present facts about their topic,
• who make films to try to persuade people to take a particular position on an issue or to inspire people to a particular action,
• who want to tell a story about a unique person or event, and/or
• who want to use film as an art form to explore a particular subject, issue, person, or event.

All of the above would be common for documentary films.

• Wrap up by asking students to name some important things they learned about documentary, not only from their own investigation, but also by listening to answers from the other groups.

Note: If you are splitting this lesson up over more than one class period, this is where you would end the first day. Let students know you will come back to their exploration of documentaries in the next class and that in the meantime they may want to take their handouts home and look for how the media they use outside of class compares with what they discovered about documentaries.

STEP 4: MAKING A DOCUMENTARY ROLE PLAY

• In this step students take on the role of being a filmmaker. Working in groups of 4 to 6, students should consider the following scenario:
• In preparation for a community-wide open house, students and teachers at Anyburg Middle School decided that it would help people understand the school experience if each class recorded a video of a typical day. The school had a limited amount of video, sound, and lighting equipment, so staff worked out a schedule for each class to have the cameras for two days.By chance, Ms. Perez's science class ended up with the cameras on days when students were doing test prep. The students didn't think that footage of them mostly reading, taking notes, and occasionally asking questions was representative of their normal, vibrant class with hands-on labs and real-world research problems. But that left them with a dilemma. Should they shoot what was actually happening in their class that day, or should they re-enact what would happen on a more typical day? To make things even more complicated, on the second day of their video shoot, someone accidentally knocked over a tray with test tubes and beakers. This had never happened in class before. Students disagreed about whether to leave in or edit out the footage of the accident and cleanup.Ask students to discuss the following in their groups: In your view, in these circumstances, what production choices would a documentary filmmaker make and why? How about a Hollywood filmmaker? How about a reporter from a local television station? What would be the best representation of the class and why?
• After giving students several minutes to discuss the questions, call the groups together to share responses. Help students make links between what they discussed and what they learned about documentaries and documentary filmmakers from steps 2 and 3.Note: There is no "right" answer. Even experienced documentary producers disagree about how best to convey "truth" and whether things like re-enactment are appropriate. The idea here is to get your students talking about what values are in play for each type of media-maker. The Hollywood filmmaker might be more concerned with drama, the news reporter more concerned with accuracy and what footage they can get during the ten minutes they are in the school, and the documentary maker might step back and ask what is most important for the community to understand about this class.
• IF TIME ALLOWS, or with older students , ask students to brainstorm additional production options. Are there things this class could have done to convey their message besides re-enactment or shooting students reading? If your students were going to document their own class, what kinds of things would they want to shoot and why? What would count as a good representation of their class experience? Would it be the same for every student?

STEP 5: WHAT'S A DOCUMENTARY?

• Then, going around the room, ask each student to contribute just one idea, develop a co-created explanation of what a documentary is and what distinguishes the form from other types of films. Jot down answers as you go so the class has a visual record of their response. Keep going until you run out of answers.
• Ask everyone to look at what they have created and see if anyone has any disagreements or clarifications. The answer should include something about documentaries being both factual and artistic. It may also include something about opinions, issues, and persuasion.

The best assessment would be to have students make their own short documentaries and to critique one another's work based on what they have learned.

If that is not possible, you might show clips from several different types of films or videos (e.g., a clip from a Hollywood film depicting an historical event, a YouTube clip of a stunt in someone's backyard, a clip from a POV documentary related to class curriculum, and/or a cartoon of a historical event or person). Ask students to identify whether the clip is a documentary or not and have them explain their reasoning.

• Show a documentary related to a topic you are teaching in class. In addition to discussing the content of the film relevant to that topic, use POV's Media Literacy Questions to analyze the film.
• Have a discussion about filmmaking ethics: When filmmakers tell someone else's story rather than their own, what responsibilities do they have to their film's subjects? What are the ethics that should govern putting someone else on film? Should the subjects of the film be shown the footage? Should the subjects have a right to decide what is or is not included in the film?
• Engage students in a hands-on activity that will deepen their understanding of how a filmmaker's purpose influences content.
• A list of the things they need footage of
• Potential interviewees, including roles of those interviewees (Are they the film's subjects? Experts? Opposition?)
• Main questions they would ask or address
• Allow them 10-20 minutes to plan their film and discreetly give each group a specific angle to take when thinking about their plans:

Group 1 - How does the student body feel about the school cafeteria? What do the students like? What do they think can be improved?

Group 2 - What kind of food is being served? What is the nutritional value? How does the quality of food compare to that of neighboring schools' cafeterias?

Group 3 - Profile the head chef in the cafeteria.

• Have each group present the elements of their plan without revealing their assigned focus. After all three groups have presented, ask for observations about the similarities and differences between plans. Ask them to guess what accounted for the differences. Then, reveal the three different angles and discuss how three films, all looking at the cafeteria, could turn out to be so different. Be sure that by the end of the discussion students understand the link between content and perspective. Advanced students might also discuss how content might have differed if they had the same assignment, but wanted to convey different points of view (e.g., they were all looking at the nutritional quality of the food, but one group wanted to highlight improvements in recent years, another group hoped to raise additional funding by highlighting improvements that still needed to be made, and the third group opposed the changes and wanted a return to foods that a greater number of kids liked, such as pizza, burgers, chicken fingers, and fries.
• Discuss why a television series and website that showcases independent documentary films would choose the name "POV."

These standards are drawn from " Content Knowledge ," a compilation of content standards and benchmarks for K-12 curriculum by McRel (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning)

Language Arts

Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.

Standard 10: Understands the characteristics and components of the media

Visual Arts

Standard 1: Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes related to the visual arts

Standard 4: Understands the visual arts in relation to history and culture

Life Skills

Standard 1: Contributes to the overall effort of a group

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS

The term "documentary" was originally used in a 1926 review of Robert Flaherty's Moana , a film about residents of Samoa. Prior to that, terms like "actualities" had been used for informational films. Because editing capabilities were limited, the films tended to be short and without any elements of narrative storytelling or creative cinematography (e.g., straightforward footage of a train leaving a station).

Flaherty is credited with changing the documentary landscape in 1922 with the film Nanook of the North , an ethnographic look at Arctic-dwelling Inuit Eskimos. The film instigated some of the most important debates about the practice of documentary filmmaking. Flaherty was accused of staging some of his scenes, and in response, said, "One often has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit."

Another debate was raised in the 1930s with Leni Riefestahl's Triumph of the Will (1934), a record of a Nazi Party Congress, and Olympia (1938), which documented the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Both were considered cinematographic masterpieces, but many also believed that they were more propaganda than documentary.

As the use of film spread, the types of documentaries diversified. Since the 1930s, documentaries have included:

• Educational films (made primarily for classroom use)
• Newsreel depictions of events
• Nature films
• Biographies
• Autobiographies
• Films designed to raise awareness about social issues and inspire people to action

One of the distinguishing characteristics of many documentary films is that they are not only informational but also artistic. Film Historian Tim Dirks describes them as "factual works of art."

For the purposes of awarding the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a documentary film as a:

Nonfiction motion picture dealing creatively with cultural, artistic, historical, social, scientific, economic, or other subjects. It may be photographed in actual occurrence, or may employ partial reenactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion, or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not on fiction.

The films featured on POV are also "independent" documentaries. The topics the films explore are selected not by big studios but rather by the people making the films, many of whom have a very direct, personal connection to the stories they are telling.

Sources: AMC Filmsite . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Faith Rogow, PhD, started Insighters Educational Consulting in 1996 to help people learn from media and one another. A frequent speaker and master trainer, she has served as a consultant and educational outreach designer for a dozen children's television series and has authored discussion guides for more than 120 independent films. She was also founding president of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) and served as the Director of Education & Outreach for WSKG Public Television and Radio.

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Film as Genre

|Film as Genre| | Movies by Title |

Analyzing Motion Pictures This 1-page teacher guide offers questions for students who are analyzing movies. From the U. S. Library of Congress, requires Adobe Reader for access.

Camera Angles How are a three-shot, a canted angle shot, and a dolly shot different from one another? Find the answers here.

City of Cranes This lesson in perspective includes both activities and the 14-minute video City of Cranes , available to watch online.

Film Canon Project A list of titles appropriate for the classroom, organized by grade level, by type, and by release date. List includes a one-sentence synopsis and a link to the trailer.

Film in the Classroom Resources, and more. Handouts (storyboard, viewing log) require Adobe Reader or compatible application.

Greatest Films Interpretive, descriptive review commentary and historical background for hundreds of classic Hollywood and other American films in the last century, a wealth of film reference material of all kinds, a famous film quotations quiz, a complete Academy Awards (Oscars) History and detailed Film History - by decade, and hundreds of colorful, vintage film poster reproductions.

How to Close Read the Language of Film Suggestions for how to teach this skill. Includes stills from Titanic , other films.

Movie Speeches This archive from the American Rhetoric collection includes a variety of clips and scripts organized alphabetically by title of movie. Titles starting with the will be found under "T".

Movie Trailers As Persuasive Texts This page is a resource for teachers who wish to consider using trailers to teach students about persuasive texts and techniques.

Studying Feature Films This page includes a list of recommended feature films by genre and suggestions for analyzing and writing about films in general. Scroll down for a list of related links.

Through the Lens of Robert Capra In this lesson, students will use guided reading techniques to learn about Capa's style and to discover the techniques that made him a great photographer. Students will also learn the basics of telling compelling stories through photos. In the culminating activity, each student will create a photo essay telling a story that has personal significance. This lesson from PBS is part of the American Masters series.

Using Documentary Film as an Introduction to Rhetoric This extensive unit plan was prepared by classroom teachers and designed for AP classes. This 65-page document requires Adobe Reader or compatible application for access.

Movies for Teaching a High School Film Course

1. Knives Out

2. Roman Holiday

3. Hannah and Her Sisters

4. Some Like It Hot

5. 12 Angry Men

6. Beetlejuice

7. Raiders of the Lost Ark

8. The Elephant Man

10. His Girl Friday

11. The Third Man

12. The Hudsucker Proxy

13. Pride & Prejudice

14. Days of Heaven

15. Jurassic Park

16. Brief Encounter

17. Singin' in the Rain

18. The Conversation

19. Eraserhead

20. Bonnie and Clyde

22. The Social Network

23. Run Lola Run

24. Grizzly Man

25. Hoop Dreams

More to explore, recently viewed.

• Our Mission

5-Minute Film Festival: Resources for Filmmaking in the Classroom

Explore classroom filmmaking with this video playlist of resources for teachers and students.

I'll admit I'm a bit biased here since I'm a filmmaker by trade, but I truly believe the process of planning and making videos can offer tremendous learning opportunities for students of almost any age. Not only is the idea of telling stories with video really engaging for many kids, filmmaking is ripe with opportunities to connect to almost every academic subject area. As the technology to shoot and edit films becomes more ubiquitous, where is a teacher with no experience in video production to begin? I've shared some resources below to help you and your students get started on making blockbusters of your own.

Video Playlist: Student Filmmaking 101

Watch the first video below, or watch the whole playlist on YouTube .

Young filmmaker Simon Cade 's channel, DSLRGuide , is one of the most popular for filmmaking tutorials. He's got hundreds of tips to share and started making videos when he was just 11.

Getting your filmmaking kit together is one of the hardest things to do on a budget, but you can't begin until you have the basics. There are links to some of the DIY projects to build your own gear on the YouTube page for this video.

One great resource is the YouTube Creator Academy channel , which has a variety of tip videos made by YouTube's most successful creators. This video by Mary Doodles and Whitney Lee Milam is one of the best intros to storyboarding I've seen.

It's less glossy than the other tutorials here, but I love that this video uses footage from student work to illustrate camera angles. It's produced by ChildFund Connect , an Australian organization that provides an online space for kids to post videos they've made.

Nashville video producer and tech reviewer Danny Winget gives excellent advice for filming with smartphones, which is probably the most accessible way to get started. He covers both gear and technique in this short video.

ProjectED was an Amplify program that hosted open video contests for students and teachers. Although they seem to have stopped running these, they still offer some great resources, like this fun advice video from filmmaker Sophia Dagher .

This is long (17 minutes) but fortunately filmmaker Darious Britt is really engaging. His advice is geared towards people trying to break into the film industry, but his tips are sound. Heads up for a little language that may not be appropriate for younger kids. 

While there are hundreds of more informative and concise tutorials on video editing basics, I chose this one because it features Jennifer Zhang , a teen YouTube creator, sharing how she taught herself to edit video using free tools. She posted a Part Two here .

More Resources on Student Filmmaking

As you can see, there are so many things to learn when it comes to basic filmmaking, and there are countless resources available to help get you started. I didn't even dig into sound, lighting, or scripting in the selection above, but you can find tutorials on every aspect of filmmaking on YouTube. Try some of the channels linked from the playlist for more. The list below includes some articles I've enjoyed on the value of filmmaking and digital storytelling for kids. Plus, there are some lesson plans that will help give you ideas. Share your favorite resources in the comments below, and I'll see you at the movies!

• " Filmmaking for Kids: Rough, Raw, and Real " via The Atlantic
• Teaching Film Resources via MediaEd
• Film in the Classroom Lesson Plans via The New York Times Learning Network
• " A Case for Filmmaking in the Classroom " via NWP Digital Is
• 3-2-1 Vocabulary: Learning Filmmaking Vocabulary by Making Films via ReadWriteThink
• " The Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in The Moving Image " via NYC Department of Education
• " 16 Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation " via Graphite

Online High School Filmmakers Workshop

The Tisch High School Filmmakers Workshop is now available online! Aspiring young filmmakers anywhere in the world can experience the best of  The Kanbar Institute of Film and Television  degree program, through NYU’s innovative platform specifically designed for collaborative online film education.

Tisch Online High School Filmmakers Workshop

High school students will work together online with other emerging artists to create and upload skill-building projects, inspired by daily exclusive video lectures. You’ll connect for one-on-one video meetings with your Tisch instructors to get valuable feedback. You’ll develop your writing, directing, shooting, and editing skills to produce a variety of short films — all while taking part in a new form of creative community that is the next wave of film education.

In this course, each student will be expected to deliver a crew-based documentary, a crew-based music video, 3 technical assignments, and a final narrative film that they write and direct.

Experience NYU’s longstanding commitment to visual storytelling and start your journey toward becoming a filmmaker.

What Students Are Saying About NYU Tisch x Smashcut

"I was interested in the flexible schedule that an online program allows, but also how it leaves more of the responsibility up to the student to get their work in on time and forces us to take the initiative to reach out to our film crews via online collaboration tools. The flexible schedule allowed for me to have time to participate in other activities and travel while still being an active member of class. I was also able to use the resources around me in terms of nature and actors that I would not have been able to use had it not been online."

— Evelyn Telloni, summer 2023 Online High School Filmmakers Workshop

Core Curriculum

Filmmakers workshop.

SPEC-UT 200 4 units Summer 2024 Tuition: $7,376

This online workshop introduces students to the theory and techniques of developing and producing short films that are shot and edited digitally. As most students enter the program with little or no experience in film or video, early assignments familiarize them with equipment as well as documentary, experimental, and narrative approaches. Working in online crews, students will collaborate to develop their directing, shooting, and editing skills as they produce music videos and short films (three to five minutes in length). Special emphasis is placed on storytelling through visual language. Students learn the basics of screenwriting through writing exercises, reading assignments, viewing online media examples, as well as the script development and research of their short films. Through streaming lectures and video meetings this online workshop will highlight the fundamentals of story structure, character development, communication of thematic statements, and visual storytelling, among other topics. Notes:

• The fall and spring workshops are six-week courses with daily deliverables. 
• The summer workshop is a four-week course with daily deliverables.
• Students should be prepared to dedicate 6-10 hours per week for this course.
• Students are required to supply their own technology – camera, sound, and editing – for this class. 
• Students can shoot with their own prosumer camera, DSLR or cell phone that can shoot high quality footage. 
• Students must use a desktop or laptop computer with a webcam, microphone, and audio capability. 
• This online course works best with a fast, reliable internet connection, and requires Chrome web browser.

Application and Program Dates:

Summer 2024

Monday, July 8 - Friday, August 2, 2024

Application Deadline: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET

Course Format and Schedule

This class will be delivered through an asynchronous model, which means you will not have to meet at a designated time each day. Instead, the program is offered through online lectures that are pre-recorded and released each week. You can view those modules at your own pace. However, there are daily deliverables and/or weekly assignments you will have to complete and upload onto the Smashcut platform by the deadline provided in your syllabus, and faculty/TA/classmates will be interacting/collaborating with your work on this timeline. The entirety of the class takes place on the Smashcut platform. Synchronous sessions will be scheduled during the term with your professor/TA/classmates. We understand you signed up for an online course to have the flexibility of online learning, so you will have the opportunity to choose the best meeting time for your schedule.

Take a tour of the Smashcut online platform.

Important information, program dates.

Summer 2024*

Monday, October 14 - Friday, November 22, 2024

*Students should be prepared to dedicate 6-10 hours per week for this course.

Summer 2021 Students

Tuition and Fees

Total Program Cost: $7,376

Please review the Tisch Special Programs cancellation policy .

The summer 2024 priority application deadline has passed. Late applications will be reviewed on a space-available basis. Please email  [email protected]  to request a late application. Please note: Late applicants are ineligible for a scholarship.

The fall 2024 application will open May 22, 2024.

Eligibility

Open to high school first-years, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

• Online application fee: $75

Please read through the  Online High School Workshops Application Requirements .

Additional important dates are available on the  Tisch Admissions Calendar .

Scholarships

Tisch has a limited number of scholarships for high school students to attend the Tisch summer online workshops. Scholarships are not available for the fall term. Scholarships are given to students who demonstrate the most financial need.

Review the Online High School Workshops Scholarships page for more information.

Never second-guess again. The new Creator License covers personal projects online and on social media. See details .

Home » Filmmaking » Film School 101: Filmmaking Fundamentals, Assignments, and Exercises

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Film School 101: Filmmaking Fundamentals, Assignments, and Exercises

Are you interested in becoming a filmmaker? New to the craft? Try out these five exercises to build your filmmaking skill-set.

As a graduate of a film program, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to just anyone. However, for someone just starting out and unsure how they’d like to develop their craft and find a career in the industry, a film program can be helpful. Some big takeaways I’d like to share based on my experience (and backed up by several friends, colleagues, and others online) are some of the assignments — or exercises — that you complete in film school to develop your filmmaking skills.

These all teach you different filmmaking fundamentals, and they challenge you as a filmmaker to develop your own creative voice. So let’s take a look.

1. Photo Stories

Image via  Rawpixel.com .

The first assignment in most film school courses is the “use photos to tell a story” exercise. It focuses on composition and shot selection. (It’s also fairly simple for any experience level.) All you have to do is use a camera that can take stills (whether its your DSLR or your smartphone), to take 15 to 20 photos to tell a story. This requires the initial processes of scripting and storyboarding, enlisting actors, securing locations, and using lighting — but without the more advanced problems of sound recording. Usually pairs or groups work on these assignments, but you can also work on them solo.

This assignment also requires some introductory steps into non-linear editing, as you’ll need to lay your photos out on some sort of editing program with a timeline and then choose the length for each shot. You can also add music to accompany your final edit (or even voice-over if you’d like to really challenge yourself).

Here are some resources to help you on this project.

• Translating Your Photography Skills to Cinematography
• Tips for Photographers Transitioning to Videography
• 7 Simple Photography Hacks 

2. Completed Action

Image via  Dean Drobot .

Once you’ve learned some of the basics of shot composition and editing, the next assignment usually pushes students to work with match cuts and completed action. This is a pretty short and simple assignment, but it’s an important one because it helps you practice how shots connect with movement across angles. You’ll need to choose a mildly complex everyday action to film. Some examples might be cooking a meal, wrapping a present, or doing a load of laundry. It helps if your action takes place in only one spot in one room where the lighting is consistent.

The challenge here is choosing which shots to record, then translating these in the edit to present a completed action seamlessly from beginning to end. When you’re just starting out, it may seem easier than it looks. But it forces you to carefully think about all the nuances of shooting and editing.

Here are some articles to read up on before diving into this assignment.

• Film Theory: Why Don’t We Notice All Those Editing Cuts?
• 8 Essential Cuts Every Editor Should Know
• Editing Theory: How to Manipulate The Passage of Time

3. Process Documentary

Image via  tsarevv .

The assignments get more challenging as you go. Moving from set shots, we then look at documentary filmmaking and the challenges of capturing elements that are out of your direct control. Similar to the completed action, a popular film school assignment is the “process documentary,” which is one of the most basic staples of documentary filmmaking.

For this assignment, you’ll need to choose a documentary subject that ideally completes one (or several) actions of its own. Some good examples would be a pizzeria preparing a pizza for delivery, a yard crew mowing a lawn, or a mechanic changing a tire, etc. The important thing is that the activity is out of your control as a documentarian, so you’ll have to plan to capture the footage you’ll need to create your process documentary in the edit.

Read up on these documentary articles for more inspiration.

• How To Find the Right Subject for Your Documentary
• 7 Reasons You Should “Script” Your Documentary Projects
• A Complete Guide to Documentary Filmmaking

4. Two-Person Conversation with Flashback

Image via  guruXOX .

One of the more entertaining projects I can remember was the first two-person conversation that we got to shoot — we were supposed to juxtapose it against a short flashback sequence. The two-person conversation is a staple of narrative filmmaking that teaches you all sorts of principles and techniques. You get to learn and apply the  180-degree rule , along with your standard shot-reverse-shot back and forth. You can add close-ups, over-the-shoulders, and reaction shots for more coverage to choose from in your edit.

The flashback adds another element: crossing dialogue from the conversation with a sequence that your characters could be describing or alluding to as a way to develop a story. Once you have all your footage for both, the edit starts to become very open-ended, and it’s exciting to see how many different ways you can put everything together.

Here is some more information on the basics of shot-reverse-shot filmmaking.

• How to Compose a Cinematic Shot Reverse Shot
• Camera Angles: Over The Shoulder or Single Shot?
• Learn to Work with Eyelines in Film and Video Production

5. Three-Act Structure Short Film

Image via  Nicoleta Ionescu .

While you don’t always learn this in a beginner’s film class, the classic three-act narrative structure is a huge step toward both short and feature filmmaking — virtually all of your favorite movies and TV shows have used this structure to some degree. ( Joseph Campell’s Hero’s Journey  is a good read if you want to see how a similar concept applies to narratives from around the world throughout history.)

This assignment requires you to script, storyboard, shoot, and edit a short film that follows the three-act narrative arc. You don’t have to hit every point, but it becomes a fun challenge to show the basic elements of the hero’s journey from beginning to end.

Here are some more resources on scripting and the hero’s journey.

• The Recurring Myth Behind Your Favorite Films
• Bending the Rules of the Three-Act Structure
• 5 Important Tools Every Screenwriter Should Have

If you view these “assignments” as prompts, you can start creating some projects of your own that you can share with friends or others in the filmmaking community. For more inspiration and technical tips, stick around the  PremiumBeat blog and YouTube page  to keep developing your skills. And for more film school-esque tips and tricks, check out some of the following articles.

• The Essential Back to (Film) School Reading Guide + 3 Free EBooks
• 7 Film School Clichés You Might Want to Avoid
• 10 Tips for Succeeding in Film School
• HBO’s Game of Thrones: Your One-Stop Film School
• 11 YouTube Channels Every Filmmaker Should Be Following

Cover image by  TZIDO SUN .

Never second-guess again. The new Creator License covers personal projects online and on social media

Colorado High School Activities Association

Girls Soccer 5/31/2024 11:13:03 AM

Girls Soccer: All-State Team Released for 2024 Season

AURORA - The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) has released the 2024 All-State Girls Soccer Teams, in addition to the Players of the Year and Coaches of the Year.

These teams are created by the Colorado High School Soccer Coaches Association (CHSCA).  

Player of the Year:  Lily Boydstun, Mountain Vista Coach of the Year:  Theresa Echtermeyer, Mountain Vista

Second Team

Honorable Mention

• Kennedy Albertson, Castle View, Sophomore, Forward
• Brooklyn Arnold, Chaparral, Sophomore, Defender
• Cami Ayandele, Monarch, Senior, Forward
• Sydanni Bauer, Vista Ridge, Junior, Defender
• Madeleine Burr, Poudre, Senior, Midfielder
• Addison Cadwell, Ralston Valley, Senior, Midfielder
• Addy Colangelo, Broomfield, Junior, Goalkeeper
• Alexa Cruz, Horizon, Senior, Defender
• Karalyn Dail, Arapahoe, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Abigail Davis, Rampart, Senior, Defender
• Lania Dayhuff, Legacy, Junior, Defender
• Mia DeJohn, Boulder, Junior, Midfielder
• Sophia DeJoia, Pine Creek, Senior
• Hilary Delgado, Adams City, Freshman, Forward
• Jaya Dern, Castle View, Sophomore, Defender
• Holly Engelking, Ralston Valley, Junior, Midfielder
• Leah Fanning, Poudre, Senior, Defender
• Alyssa Green, Chatfield, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Isabel Guerrero, Fort Collins, Freshman, Midfielder
• Emma Hill, Valor Christian, Senior, Midfielder
• Madalynn Hopkins, Grandview, Senior, Midfielder
• Olivia Jackson, Pine Creek, Sophomore
• Grace Johnson, Chaparral, Senior, Midfielder
• Makyla Magid, Lakewood, Senior, Midfielder
• Isabella Martinez, Ralston Valley, Junior, Defender
• Janessa Mendoza, Adams City, Senior, Midfielder
• Addison Mercer, Legacy, Junior, Midfielder
• Ashley Moody, Castle View, Senior
• Mattea Morris, ThunderRidge, Senior, Midfielder
• Emma Naftanel, Rampart, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Sydney Nelms, Fossil Ridge, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Alina Noga, Arvada West, Junior, Defender
• Sam Nunez, Grandview, Senior, Midfielder
• Brooklynn Pollmiller, Rampart, Sophomore, Forward
• Bailey Pottratz, Fossil Ridge, Junior, Midfielder
• Scarlett Roe, Arapahoe, Senior, Defender
• Brooke Roth, Smoky Hill, Senior, Midfielder
• Isabelle Schroder, Chaparral, Sophomore, Forward
• Jersey Scyoc, Denver South, Senior, Midfielder
• Marsella Segovia, Greeley Central, Junior, Midfielder
• Charlee Sheinbaum, Boulder, Senior, Midfielder
• Kate Short, Denver East, Junior, Midfielder
• Ivy Sobel, Denver South, Junior, Midfielder
• Kikki Sparrow, Cherokee Trail, Senior, Midfielder
• Casey Tadlock, Cherry Creek, Senior, Midfielder
• Keira Truofreh, Pine Creek, Junior
• Ashley Vogler, ThunderRidge, Sophomore, Defender
• Ali Vohsman, Liberty, Senior, Midfielder
• Kate Walker, Legacy, Senior, Defender
• Zoe Whiddon, Heritage, Senior, Defender
• Sophia Whiddon, Heritage, Senior, Midfielder
• Abby Wright, Valor Christian, Senior, Midfielder

Player of the Year: Nadia Leunig, Evergreen Coach of the Year:  Peter Jeans, Evergreen

• Makenna Agrimson, Air Academy, Junior, Midfielder
• Kee Awi, Gateway, Senior, Midfielder
• Leah Bacon, Windsor, Junior, Goalkeeper
• Taylor Balding, Palisade, Junior, Midfielder
• Rylee Beck, Northridge, Senior, Midfielder
• Alaina Bonacquista, The Classical Academy, Senior, Midfielder
• Margaux Boyer, Niwot, Senior, Defender
• Emily Burkdoll, Canon City, Senior, Midfielder
• Sasha Calanni, Green Mountain, Junior, Midfielder
• Piper Carlson, Green Mountain, Junior, Defender
• Kassandra Carpenter, Eagle Valley, Senior, Defender
• Chloe Catalano, Palmer Ridge, Junior, Defender
• Jacy Chandler, Littleton, Senior, Defender
• Peyton Coil, Green Mountain, Sophomore, Defender
• Carly Cox, Air Academy, Senior, Defender
• Maddy Culp, Dakota Ridge, Junior, Defender
• Sedona Czarnecki, Grand Junction, Junior, Forward
• Ingrid Dalla, D'Evelyn, Senior, Midfielder
• Lauren Davis, Standley Lake, Senior, Defender
• Mia De Villegas-Decker, Palisade, Senior, Forward
• Alea Dukes, Thomas Jefferson, Senior, Forward
• Ellie Duncan, Montrose, Junior, Forward
• Mia Duncan, Montrose, Senior, Forward
• Rumeli Espinosa, Coronado, Senior, Defender
• Daysie Evans, Sand Creek, Sophomore, Goalkeeper
• Kylee Farrer, Pueblo Centennial, Junior, Midfielder
• Lea Gentry, Denver North, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Langley Grow, Air Academy, Junior, Defender
• Kate Hageman, Lutheran, Freshman, Defender
• Abby Hawkins, Riverdale Ridge, Sophomore, Forward
• Jasmine Hernandez, Grand Junction Central, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Maria Herrera, Gateway, Senior, Midfielder
• Tulla Jensen, Thompson Valley, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Sydney Jussel, Dakota Ridge, Freshman, Forward
• Kayla Kirchoffner, Erie, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Brynn Konrad, D'Evelyn, Senior, Midfielder
• Eliza Kugler, Cheyenne Mountain, Senior, Midfielder
• Sarah Langley, Coronado, Senior, Forward
• Sophie LeDoux, Canon City, Sophomore, Defender
• Olivia Lyman, Summit, Junior, Defender
• Makayla Maldonado, Pueblo South, Sophomore, Forward
• Charlotte Manes, Skyline, Senior, Forward
• Reese Martinez, Golden, Junior, Midfielder
• Caitlin Mazurek, Riverdale Ridge, Junior, Defender
• Gwen McAllister, Lewis-Palmer, Junior, Defender
• Emery Miller, Durango, Senior, Forward
• Moriah Nates, Skyline, Junior, Defender
• Hadley Nauslar, Golden, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Carter Neiman, Durango, Senior, Defender
• Ava Odil, Palmer Ridge, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Maddie Orlowsky, Discovery Canyon, Junior, Defender
• Reese Ormsby, Mead, Junior, Midfielder
• Mattea Parsons, Mullen, Senior, Midfielder
• Kaitlyn Peterson, Pueblo West, Senior, Midfielder
• Pearl Phillips, Denver North, Junior, Forward
• Rachel Robuck, Montrose, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Paige Russell, Niwot, Senior, Midfielder
• Marisol Sanchez, Skyline, Sophomore, Defender
• Zoe Schroder, Golden, Sophomore, Goalkeeper
• Zoey Stupnik, Pueblo County, Senior, Defender
• Anna Taylor, Northfield, Sophomore, Defender
• Jocelyn Thompson, Pueblo West, Junior, Forward
• Paige Wagner, Thompson Valley, Senior, Forward
• Pierson Weimer, Pueblo County, Senior, Midfielder
• Averi Williams, Mead, Senior, Midfielder
• Sunnie Yarnell, Northridge, Senior, Forward
• Stella Zinis, Mullen, Senior, Defender

Player of the Year: Naomi Wolff, Colorado Academy Coach of the Year: Sean Stedeford, Colorado Academy

• Mayte Alvarado, Middle Park, Senior, Midfielder
• Juliana Anch, Salida, Senior, Forward
• Alika Bassi, Aspen, Senior, Forward
• Sierra Bennett, Prospect Ridge Academy, Junior, Midfielder
• Sarah Briggs, Middle Park, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Autumn Button, Liberty Common, Junior, Goalkeeper
• Eva Capozza, Salida, Senior, Midfielder
• Riley Cheney, Coal Ridge, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Jaycee Christie, Delta, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Brenna Cote, Manitou Springs, Junior, Defender
• Mady Douglass, Frontier Academy, Junior, Midfielder
• Kara Donegan, Manitou Springs, Junior, Midfielder
• Serenity Gambrell, Englewood, Junior, Defender
• Arianna Harrison, Bennett, Senior, Midfielder
• Lyla Hinchey, Kent Denver, Junior, Defender
• Lexi Jamsay, Frontier Academy, Junior, Forward
• Andrea Jaquez, Coal Ridge, Junior, Forward
• Anna Jensen, Montezuma-Cortez, Senior, Midfielder
• Elly Kaplanis, Middle Park, Senior, Forward
• Payton Kauffman, Liberty Common, Senior, Midfielder
• Maia Kub, Timnath, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Eden Lander, DSST: Green Valley Ranch, Junior, Midfielder
• Danie Lewis, Stargate School, Sophomore
• Gwyn Marks, Berthoud, Junior, Midfielder
• Baili McKim, James Irwin, Junior, Forward
• Kylie Mildenberger, Sterling, Freshman, Defender
• Alexandra Munro, Aspen, Junior, Midfielder
• Sydney Rey, Bayfield, Junior, Forward
• Daisy Rodriguez, Kennedy, Senior, Defender
• Kaite Roy, Woodland Park, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Anna Grace Schultz, Wellington, Sophomore, Goalkeeper
• Jamie Seehusen, Elizabeth, Senior, Midfielder
• Nici Sharon, Manitou Springs, Junior, Goalkeeper
• Maria Storch, St. Mary's Academy, Senior, Defender
• Sara Swenson, Timnath, Sophomore, Goalkeeper
• Emmy Tibbitts, Alamosa, Junior, Goalkeeper
• Tyara Vazquez, Harrison, Senior, Midfielder
• Sarah Welsch, Jefferson Academy, Senior, Midfielder
• Samantha Whitted, Longmont, Senior, Midfielder
• Jayden Wubben, Alamosa, Sophomore, Midfielder

Player of the Year: Annabelle Rakers, Flatirons Academy Coach of the Year: Kinsey Bowdle, Buena Vista

• Gabriela Aguilar Gil, Ellicott, Junior, Defender
• Stephanie Bak, Rye, Senior, Goalkeeper
• Kristianna Brann, Ignacio, Senior, Defender
• Dillan Brown, Windsor Charter Academy, Junior, Forward
• Lucia Calvanese, SkyView Academy, Sophomore, Forward
• Emily Carman, Loveland Classical, Junior, Midfielder
• Riley Chavira, Lamar, Senior, Defender
• Sara Christensen, Thomas MacLaren School, Sophomore, Forward
• Izzy Curtis, Rocky Mountain Lutheran, Sophomore, Goalkeeper
• Kaelyn Doan, Loveland Classical, Sophomore, Forward
• Keira Doan, Loveland Classical, Sophomore, Goalkeeper
• Makenna Duntsch, Denver Christian, Junior, Midfielder
• Sawyer Ezzell, Crested Butte, Senior, Defender
• Kamiree Fuller, Denver Christian, Junior, Defender
• Isabel Garza, Fountain Valley, Junior, Midfielder
• Alexa Gonzales, Loveland Classical, Freshman, Defender
• Clara Kirr, Lake County, Senior, Forward
• Elena MacAdam, Colorado Springs Christian, Senior, Midfielder
• Kailey Martin, Front Range Christian, Junior, Midfielder
• Naomi McWilliams, Florence, Junior, Goalkeeper
• Kaylae Medina, Grand Valley, Senior, Midfielder
• Molly Grace Miller, Crested Butte, Sophomore, Forward
• Avery Murray, Front Range Christian, Senior, Midfielder
• Jiselle Osteboe, Gilpin County, Junior, Forward
• Alessandra Paez, Lamar, Junior, Defender
• Abigail Ruppert, Loveland Classical, Sophomore, Forward
• Emma Speakman, Grand Valley, Senior, Forward
• Rachel Sternhagen, Rocky Mountain Lutheran, Senior, Defender
• Issy Taussig, Front Range Christian, Senior, Defender
• Nora Thomes, Crested Butte, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Alyssa Trujillo, Addenbrooke Classical Academy, Senior, Midfielder
• Ella Turner, Colorado Springs Christian, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Yamilet Valdes, Bishop Machebeuf, Freshman, Defender
• Elise Vincent, Gilpin County, Sophomore, Midfielder
• Chloe Williams, Grand Valley, Senior, Defender
• Rylie Young, Clear Creek, Senior, Forward

KSHSAA, NFHS Network respond after announcer’s degrading comments caught on hot mic

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A high school announcer caught making degrading comments during a girls’ soccer match in Kansas has been fired.

In a video circulating on social media, play-by-play announcer Toby Moore can be heard talking to a press box worker while he believes that microphones are turned off.

First, Moore can be heard saying things like, “Was that first half as ugly as I thought it was?” and “My mind kind of flicked the ‘kill me now switch.”

Then, the conversation shifts to the stands. He and the other worker can be heard commenting on the women watching the game, talking about their “curves” and wishing for them to “tear their clothes off.”

The Kansas High School Activities Association heard the comments and said in a release that they “do not reflect values or standards of the KSHSAA or the NFHS Network,” which was airing the soccer match.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Network said neither Moore nor the other press box worker would be affiliated with any Kansas postseason games for the NFHS Network.

State from KSHSAA:

During halftime of the 4-1A Girls State Soccer Consolation game on Saturday, May 25th, inappropriate comments were made by the webcast commentator and press box personnel. The KSHSAA does not tolerate the degrading comments about the teams nor the inappropriate comments relative to referenced spectators. These comments do not reflect the values or standards of the KSHSAA or the NFHS Network.

In conversations with the NFHS Network, the KSHSAA is confident they understand and agree with the KSHSAA perspective on this issue and the unacceptable behavior. The NFHS Network and site host administration has assured us the individual and other press box personnel will no longer be affiliated with any Kansas postseason games for the NFHS Network.

The KSHSAA sincerely apologizes to the students, coaches and communities of McPherson, Rose Hill and the viewers of the broadcast.

Statement from NFHS:

Atlanta, GA — The NFHS Network sincerely apologizes for the inappropriate comments made by an announcer contracted by our local production affiliate during halftime of the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) 4-1A Girls Soccer Consolation game on Saturday, May 25th. These comments do not reflect the values or standards of the NFHS Network.

We immediately removed the audio containing these comments from the on-demand broadcast. Additionally, our production affiliate has terminated its relationship with the announcer.

We regret that this incident detracted from the incredible achievement of the players, coaches, and fans involved in the championship. The NFHS Network is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of student-athletes and high schools across the country and we do not tolerate any behavior that undermines this mission.

Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email [email protected]

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Teachers learning how AI can enhance education

Teachers exploring AI as additional education tool

There is NO AI content on this website. All content on TeachWithMovies.org has been written by human beings.

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MOVIES AS LITERATURE HOMEWORK PROJECT

Screens show the literature of today’s students whether it’s a movie, a television program, or even a video game. Today’s English Language Arts curriculum originated in past centuries to teach people about the popular culture of their time, written stories. But today’s literature no longer relies on print alone; instead it has expanded to include stories told on screens. Most of the reasons to teach the structure and devices of fiction apply with equal force to screened stories. In fact, the need to teach about screened fiction becomes more urgent every day as today’s youth increasingly shift their attention toward screens and away from the written word. For these reasons, TWM contends that ELA teachers who desire to impart lifetime lessons about the wonder of stories will give students the tools to analyze screened fiction. Since the best filmed stories use many of the elements and devices of written fiction, ELA educators are well qualified to provide instruction on how the elements and devices of fiction are used in screened stories.

However, there are obstacles to teaching film as literature in ELA classes. The Common Core Curriculum Standards give minimal attention to the need to teach screened fiction and teachers are bound by their contracts to teach to the standards. In addition, class time is extremely limited.

Some teachers have pointed out that today’s students are often so unused to reading that teaching the elements and devices of written literature by showing appropriate film clips assists students in applying those concepts to written texts. Reading in the Dark: Using Film As a Tool in the English Classroom (2001) written by John Golden, published by the National Council of Teachers of English Publications. While this is a valuable insight, it doesn’t teach students that the entirety of a filmed work of fiction can be subjected to literary analysis. Moreover, just as reading an entire book in class is by necessity an infrequent occurrence, showing a movie and leading the class through an in-depth literary analysis of the film is something that can be done only once or twice a semester.

Part of the solution to this conundrum is TWM’s Movies as Literature Homework Project which requires students to watch movies at home and prepare an analysis of the film based on TWM’s Film Study Worksheet .

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE ASSIGNMENT

The assignment consists of the following documents: (1) The Movies as Literature Homework Project and (2) a list of films. Click here for TWM’s suggested list . Keep a large number of TWM’s Film Study Worksheets for students to take them home when necessary.

Make sure that students understand each term used in TWM’s Film Study Worksheet . For classes below the tenth grade, go through the questions and demonstrate how they can be answered. In the alternative, have students respond to the prompts in the worksheet (or a shortened worksheet) after seeing a movie in class. After students have had time to write short responses to the prompts, discuss the responses in class.

This project can be used directly as presented by TeachWithMovies or it can be adapted to enhance its benefits. For example, teachers can have students make presentations to the class about literary elements or devices that they have seen in the movies they have watched for the assignment. If the class has been focusing on a group of literary devices, question #10 of the Film Study Worksheet can be modified to refer to them. Teachers can, over the semester, require students to view a popular and easily accessible movie outside of class that can then be analyzed during school. In this case, teachers should also show the movie once or twice after school for those who can’t get access to the film.

Other variations include the following: Students can be required to watch three or four movies. Students can also be separated into groups of four or fewer with each group being asked to give an oral presentation in response to a question on the Worksheet. For middle school or junior high school classes, the Worksheet can be simplified by eliminating some of the questions or by requiring that fewer examples be given. For students who are not familiar with archetypes, delete question #10 or substitute another question. For example, the following question can replace #10 “Describe three images or scenes that stand out in your mind when you think about this movie.” Questions relating to topics that have been studied in class can be substituted for some of the questions in the Worksheet. Students can be given time in class to peer review each other’s Worksheets. The possibilities are endless.

TWM has developed a list of films to attach to the assignment. This list is based on movies for which a Learning Guide or Lesson Plan is available on TWM. Teachers should add movies that they feel would be appropriate.

Review the instructions on the assignment with students after handing out the project.