Full video and clips with detailed introductions: allow students to immediately engage in the topic you are teaching.
Pre- & post-screening discussion questions: drive students to get a comprehensive and deep understanding in the video content.
In-class activities and suggested homework: challenge students to make connection between the video and the topic, and help students see both the big picture and the subtleties of the topic.
Social Studies/Science – History
Help students understand how events taught in traditional history classes affect ordinary people everyday.
Social Studies/Science – Economics
Help students to think about the relationship of economic systems and practices as they impact the lives of everyday people.
Social Studies/Science – Labor
Labor studies examines questions of employment, work, workers’ rights, and regulations in the workplace.
Government/Politics – Government
The following lesson plans provide a look into the inner workings of the different vehicles of government.
Government/Politics – Politics, Protests
Politics help shape the civic discourse that guides and shapes everyday life within a society. This includes decisions about the government officials that we elect and discussions about which policies should be enacted.
Protests are a critical tool through which individuals and communities can make their voice heard en masse, often providing an important barometer of the issues and opinions that are currently prevalent to a society’s citizens.
Media Studies – Journalism
Journalists are charged with reporting the “facts” of events and telling stories about people’s lives. The videos in this collection are meant to help students examine the practice of journalism and the ethics of reporting.
Media Studies – History of Video
The history of video since the 1970s covers the production, distribution, and uses of video. In these lesson plans, students will find materials that question the power of the medium, as well as the subjects video producers choose to tackle.
Gender Studies – Gender Equality
These videos raise questions about the “social construction” of gender categories that dictate particular masculine and feminine behaviors based on biology, and not on the social realities of how people live their lives.
Gender Studies – Men & Masculinities
The videos in this section ask students to think about which characteristics are traditionally defined as “masculine” and “feminine”.
Chicago: The People & Personalities – The People of Chicago
Media Burn, based in Chicago, has an extensive collection of video about the people and personalities of Chicago in the late twentieth century. The films provide a look into the lives of everyday ‘Chicagoans’. These videos will be especially useful for showing students a look at Chicago at a time when many Americans across the country thought cities were dying.