Here are guides and other suggestions for educators, homeschooling individuals, community groups, and others for what to teach in April!
Celebrate Earth & The Environment
April is Earth Month! Plus April 21 – 27 is Earth Week, April 22 is Earth Day and April 26 is Arbor Day. We have collections of teaching resources that can help you celebrate the environment all month long across the curriculum: Teach With Film for Earth Month.
April Teaching Highlights
For Arab American Heritage Month, Wadjda is a film that students love.
For Genocide Awareness Month, we recommend our Holocaust Education films: Big Sonia, Defiant Requiem, and Schindler’s List, and our Facilitation Guidelines for leading sensitive group discussions of difficult topics.
Summer of Soul is a fantastic film to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month.
For Mathematics & Stats Month, enjoy the math lessons in our film guides for Children of Heaven, Hidden Figures, Like Stars On Earth, Please Vote For Me, The Cup, The Way Home, Walden, and Whale Rider.
For Poetry Appreciation Month, check out Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, the animated feature film about a poet based on the poetic writing of Kahlil Gibran.
Teach April Holidays With Film
Passover takes place April 22 – 30, 2024: introduce your students to Judaism with the lesson plan on Judaisim in The Story of God, and share Steven Spielberg’s moving Passover Story from the making of Schindler’s List.
In 2024, Ramadan takes place March 10 – April 8 followed by Eid al-Fitr “The Feast of Breaking the Fast” April 9-10. Celebrate Islam with Film: Children of Heaven, He Named Me Malala, The Neighborhood Storyteller, Wadjda, and The Story of God.
More April Teaching Ideas
Teach about public health in April:
- National Interprofessional Healthcare Month
- World Minority Health Month
- National Public Health Week April 1-7
- Black Maternal Health Week April 11-17;
- National Infant Immunization Week April 22-29
- World Immunization Week April 24-30
The Invisible Shield is a powerful teaching tool for exploring the importance of public health and public health workers, the critical role of immunizations in public health, and the urgency of addressing public health inequities to make healthcare available for all.
For School Library Month, National Library Week (April 7 to 13, 2024), National School Librarian Day (April 4), and World Book and Copyright Day (April 23), check out these tips to Bring Books and Films Together to Inspire and Engage Students. Plus also check out our article on Educational Film Distribution: What Librarians and Teachers Need to Know.
Celebrate Stress Awareness Month + National Psychology Week (April 14-20, 2024) with films about stress and mental wellness: Big Sonia, Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, Happy, and The Dhamma Brothers.
Volunteering Month is a great time to teach with our film guides featuring Service Learning & Community Service Lessons: Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops, He Named Me Malala, and Landfill Harmonic.
Week of the Young Child (April 6-12, 2024) is a great time to screen Children of Heaven.
Discover the magic of forests for National Parks Week (April 20-28, 2024): Learn about Forests.
April 3: Pioneering primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall was born on this day in 1934. Celebrate with her biographical documentary Jane. Learn more about teaching with this film with our article at Share My Lesson: Inspiring a Love of Nature and Learning: Celebrating Jane Goodall.
April 5 is International Day of Conscience. We have a large selection of human rights-themed films that are perfect to teach on this day. Among our favorites, we recommend: Crip Camp, He Named Me Malala, Rebel Hearts, and Summer of Soul.
April 7 is World Health Day. Teach about Coal and Public Health with From the Ashes. Explore the intersection of soil health, food quality and individual health with Greener Pastures. Celebrate the heroic public health system with The Invisible Shield.
International Day of Pink on April 10 (2024) is a great day to teach with Finding Pride.
Celebrate International Day of Human Space Flight on April 12 with Hidden Figures and One Strange Rock.
April 20 is Chinese Language Day. Students will enjoy our Chinese-language film Please Vote For Me with cross-curriculum lessons for grades 4-12.
April 21 is World Creativity and Innovation Day. Celebrate innovation with The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.
April 23 is English Language Day. We are pleased to offer over two dozen film guides with English Language Arts lessons. A great place to start is the oral history assignment for Big Sonia (grades 7-12), the Crip Camp lesson on language power and ableism (high school) , the lesson based on Malala Yousafzai’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech at age 17 for He Named Me Malala (grades 7-12), and rich, engaging lessons combining language arts, music, and social studies for The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (grades 7-12).
April 23 is Spanish Language Day. We offer film guides in Spanish for Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, River of Gold, and The Love Bugs. The lessons for The Love Bugs are appropriate for Grades 3-5.
Celebrate Syria Independence Day on April 27 with The Music of Strangers.
April 25 is International Girls in ICT Day (Information and Communication Technology) inspires your students of all genders about ICT careers with Hidden Figures.
April 28: Oskar Schindler of Schindler’s List was born on this day in 1908. Introduce your students to this remarkable and complex man with Who was Oskar Schindler.
April 28 is World Day for Safety and Health at Work: Explore the impact of the coal industry on coal miners with From the Ashes.
April 30 is International Jazz Day. Wrap up April with the joyful sounds of Summer of Soul.
