Teaching with Historical Film Clips

You’re just gonna have to trust me on this. There are awesome resources, materials and ideas over at TeachingHistory.org. I’ve said it before. I’m pretty sure I’ll say it again.

Head over and be prepared to get lost in its awesomeness for a few hours.

Need a teaser? Okay. Here ya go.

Teaching with Historical Film Clips

This guide explains an approach for teaching with historical film clips that meets two purposes: teaching students that film needs to be questioned just like other historical accounts, and deepening students’ historical understanding of particular topics.

You’ll get sample lessons, a couple of helpful how-to videos and access to suggestions like these listed below.

Non-fiction film clip
Use short clips, under 15 minutes. This allows students to pay close attention to the entire clip. You can also show a clip multiple times so students can watch it closely.

Background knowledge
Update and deepen your knowledge of the clip’s historical topic and time and any accompanying sources. Also ask yourself: What background information will my students need about this clip and the events it portrays? When and how will I include this in my lesson?

Supplementary historical sources
Select accompanying sources to make for a more complete and complex historical story. Students can consider how these sources support, contest, or extend the clip’s story. They engage in the historical work of reading and synthesizing multiple sources.

Core questions
Good questions help focus and direct students. They help scaffold historical reading and thinking about the clip and sources.

Historical thinking focus
Identify one or two aspects of how we know what we know about the past that each set of sources can be used to teach. Visit our elementary, middle school, and high school examples for ideas.