Our educational resources and content are often shared by other premium educational organizations like Share My Lesson, Edutopia, Video Librarian and others. On these sites, and others, you’ll find free lesson plans, articles of relevance for educators, film reviews and filmmaker interviews and much more. Here are just a few examples of where you’ll find Journeys in Film around the web!
We’d love to hear from you about your favorite educational resource sites: What are your go-to sites for educational resources? What additional educational sites would you like to see us on? How can we support your teaching initiatives? Get in touch and let us know!
Navalny: Another Oscar Winner Comes to Journeys in Film
Navalny for the Win
We are pleased to announce that we are creating a Discussion Guide and adaptable Learning Guide for the powerful political thriller and multi-award winning documentary Navalny. This documentary follows follows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in his quest to identify the men who poisoned him in August 2020.
At Journeys in Film, we are committed to educating the next generation to be globally competent and socially active by harnessing the power of film. We create free curriculum guides and discussion guides for films. Last year, we released a 6 Lesson Plans for Summer of Soul.Summer of Soul was the 2022 Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature Film. Now, another Oscar winner is coming to Journeys in Film.
We are proud that we’re representing the Best Documentary Feature in back-to-back years with Summer of Soul and Navalny and see the value of both films for educational purposes.
Oscar Winners and Nominees in Our Library
Navalny is just the latest in the robust Journeys in Film library of films with Oscar recognition.
The Post received two nominations: Best Actress (Meryl Streep) and Best Picture in 2018. Our8-lesson curriculum guide for The Post features a lesson on fake news.
Our Hidden Figures curriculum guide is our most downloaded guide. Hidden Figures received three nominations in 2017. They were Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer).
Bridge of Spies received six nominations. They were Best Supporting Actor (Mark Rylance), Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Production Design and Best Sound Mixing.Our Bridge of Spies discussion guide focuses on the Cold War and implications for today.
The beautiful film Whale Rider garnered Keisha Castle Hughes a Best Actress nomination (2004). Our10-lesson curriculum guide for Whale Rider offers resources on exploring Maori culture as well as math, science, media literacy and more.
Children of Heaven received a Best Foreign Language Film nomination in 1999. It is a relatable, touching film about siblings in Iran. OurChildren of Heaven guide features10 lessons and offers opportunities to teach about Iran as well as the science of earthquakes and more.
Big Winner: Schindler’s List
Finally, Schindler’s List, one of the first films we created resources for, dominated the Oscars in 1994. The film received 7 wins and a total of 11 nominations. Wins include: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction (Set), Best Film Editing, Best Music (Original Score). Nominations include: Best Actor (Liam Neeson), Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Makeup. Our Schindler’s List curriculum guide features 8 lessons. Our updated antisemitism lesson is now available! Get it now in our special edition Schindler’s List 30th anniversary guide or as a standalone lesson. It pairs well with our Navalny Learning Guide section on propaganda.
Sign-up for our newsletter to receive notice of our release of free resources for Navalny and these other two powerful documentary films as well as our updated lesson on Antisemitism.
We are so proud of Navalny. We hope you will join us in bringing this important film to your classroom. Together, let’s bring the power of film to students. It can inspire, engage and educate!
???? UpdateOur Navalny guides are now available in our library. Get yours now.
Written by Jennifer Fischer. Updated by SJ Evans.
Differentiated Learning: Journeys in Film Resources & Basic Tips
Different Learning: Journeys in Film Resources
Differentiated learning—adapting classroom techniques to maximize learning for students at different levels and with different learning strengths and weaknesses—has always been important for educators. At Journeys in Film, our teachers write lessons that are accessible to a wide range of students. Further, our writers understand that individual teachers, who know the strengths and weaknesses of their own students, will adapt our lessons to suit their own needs. As such, we encourage educators using our resources to consider the needs of their students and make the changes they deem necessary.
Additionally, our guides themselves are flexible and adaptable. Teachers may choose to do one activity in the lesson while omitting another. They may give more or less time to a lesson than is suggested. For example, a writing assignment could be done in class with additional pre-writing activities provided by the teacher. Or, the assignment could be done at home by a more advanced group of students working independently. Small group activities offer flexibility as well. Likewise, groups can be assigned randomly or with specific input from the teacher. Moreover, our resources are created with “scaffolding” options available to educators.
A perfect example of how our resources provide flexibility in your classroom is our new independent learning guide for the documentary Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down.
Different Learning: Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down and Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops
The independent learning guide for Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Downis extremely flexible and was created specifically with adaptability in mind. As such, each section features a driving question. Also, there are personal reflection questions for students who thrive on independent learning and quiet work on their own, discussion questions for group engagement, and extension activities created with a wide range of student learning levels and comfort levels in mind. Therefore, you should check out this new guide here: https://journeysinfilm.org/product/gabby-giffords-wont-back-down/. It features sections relevant for civics classrooms, advisories, classroom discussions around career pathways, media literacy, psychology appropriate components and much more.
Pick up any of our guides that work with your curriculum and you will find flexible lessons that can easily be adapted to the needs of your students. Additionally, our Extension Activities often offer more complex activities for advanced students. For example, you can see this on page 77 of our curriculum guide for Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops. You can download that guide here: https://journeysinfilm.org/product/climate-emergency-feedback-loops/.
Different Learning: Additional Resources and Tips
By far, one of the resources we’ve seen is the All Kinds of Minds program. You can learn more here: https://allkindsofminds.org/. There’s a library of resources on differentiation and a way to create a profile of students. This site features many practical suggestions. Also, there are a number of books on All Kinds of Minds for teachers, parents, school leaders, and kids themselves. These books help students recognize their own strengths as well as areas for growth. All of our brains are different and this resource honors that.
Furthermore, Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development Peabody offers a three-hour online module on differentiated instruction for which a professional development certificate is available. The module offers sound advice on how to assess students and how to differentiate both process and content. It can be found at https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/di/#content
If you are looking for books to learn more about differentiated learning, we recommend the work of author Carol Ann Tomlinson. Here are a few titles.
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners
How to Differentiate instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms
Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiate Classroom
Written by Jennifer Fischer and Eileen Mattingly
Summer of Soul Lesson Named #1 Partner Resource of Share My Lesson 2022
Share My Lesson, a project of the American Federation of Teachers, is a free award-winning, community based site featuring bringing together educators, parents, caregivers, educational resource creators, paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel. It is a vibrant community and rich site of resources including articles, lesson plans, webinars and much more.
Several Journeys in Film lessons and webinars are available on the Share My Lesson website. This year, Lesson 3: 1969, A Unique Year from our Summer of Soul curriculum guide was selected as the #1 partner resource of the year. You can check it out here: https://sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/summer-soul-1969-unique-year-401164.
You can check out all of the fabulous Journeys resources on the Share My Lesson site, including free on-demand webinars for Share My Lesson and more: https://sharemylesson.com/partner/journeys-film.
Journeys in Film After-School Film Club Launches in Florida
Journeys in Film’s amplification of the power of storytelling through film and media content expands as our first After-School Film Club launches in Florida this September. Programming for the film club centers around youth action and social justice. As such, we curated a diverse slate of short films. These films highlight the work of young people all over the world. Furthermore, we are offering support for the student-led group with guiding questions for thoughtful discussions. The club’s goal is to empower, inspire and engage students in their journey toward youth leadership.
The club reflects Journeys in Film’s mission to educate the next generation to be globally competent and socially active. Additionally, it underscores the power of film to broaden perspectives and encourage empathy and action.
We hope this pilot program will be the first of many, empowering students to develop media literacy and create meaningful discussions around issues important to participants. So, if you want us to consult with you or develop a program for your community group or after-school club, reach out, we are here for you! Email: je******@************lm.org directly to learn more.
In sum, this initiative reflects our understanding that education happens everywhere. Learning communities, film clubs, book clubs, library discussion groups and homeschooling cooperatives provide powerful and important opportunities for discovery and growth. This is why we create discussion guides, in addition to our standards-based curriculum guides, which you can find our resource library. These discussion materials are designed with a wide array of communities in mind.
Discussion Guides for Learning Communities
Discussion guides are available for the following films. Click on the title of the film to be directed to the film’s resource page and add the discussion guide to your cart. All guides are free and simply require a Journeys in Film account. We’ve also noted where the film is available to stream or rent for your convenience (streaming links take you to the services landing page).
Youth v Gov(available for institutions through Good Docs, for home viewing on Netflix)
Written by Jennifer Fischer
Big Sonia Now Available on PBS Through 2025
Big Sonia is now available on PBS for the next three years! This makes the film even more accessible for your classroom use. Our free curriculum guide for the film features 5 lessons. These include an introduction to the Holocaust, an oral history assignment and more. This incredible film is 96 years in the making. It’s a film you don’t want your students to miss.
Certainly, Sonia’s enormous personality masks the horrors she endured. At 15 she watched her mother disappear behind gas chamber doors. Additionally, Sonia’s teenage years were a blur of concentration camps and death marches. On liberation day, she was accidentally shot through the chest, yet again miraculously survived. Thus, Sonia is the ultimate survivor. She is also a bridge between cultures and generations.
Her story must never be forgotten.
Filmmakers Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday spent over 12 years creating this loving and thought-provoking portrait. Clearly, they persevered against some of modern history’s most jaw-dropping events. Such events include: the election of president who had never held office, the storming of the US Capitol, and now the invasion of a sovereign nation. Altogether, we see that Sonia’s story is more relevant than ever.
Through PBS, the film is currently available to 80% of U.S. markets. You can access the full broadcast schedule here. Critics praise the film. Students connect with the film because Sonia was their age during the Holocaust.
“Engaging and thoughtful…An unforgettable woman refuses to forget in this thoughtful exploration of history’s fallout.”
“Sonia is a powerful subject.”
Big Sonia’s Story Empowers Student Learning
BIG SONIA interweaves Sonia’s past and present using first-person narrative with stories from family and friends. Along the way, we learn valuable life lessons – “Soniaisms” – from a woman who can barely see over the steering wheel, yet insists on driving herself to work every day to run her late husband’s tailor shop, John’s Tailoring. Her influence spans generations and cultures, and we see first-hand how she transforms a room of self-involved teenagers into thoughtful citizens.
You can read an interview that our Director of Programs and Outreach did with filmmaker Leah Warshawski on Video Librarian.
Summer of Soul – Now an Oscar Winner
At Journeys in Film, we are committed to educating the next generation to be globally competent and socially active by harnessing the power of film. As such, we create free curriculum guides and discussion guides for films. Our newest resource is a guide featuring 6 Lesson Plans for Summer of Soul – now an Oscar winner. To its many laurels, the film now adds the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. You can download this free curriculum guide with lessons focused on U.S. History, Civics, Music and more here.
Moreover, Summer of Soul‘s Oscar win comes on the heels of a slew of awards throughout award season. These include the BAFTA for Best Documentary Feature, Film Independent Spirit Award and several others. The documentary tells the story of the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Previously, this historic event was lost to the annals of history, but is now front and center.
Oscar Winners and Nominees in Our Library
Several other films in our library also received honors in the past from The Academy in the form of nominations and wins. The Post received two nominations: Best Actress (Meryl Streep) and Best Picture in 2018. Our 8-lesson curriculum guide features a lesson on fake news. Hidden Figures, our most popular curriculum guide, received three nominations in 2017. They were Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer). Bridge of Spies received six nominations. They were Best Supporting Actor (Mark Rylance), Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Production Design and Best Sound Mixing. Our discussion guide focuses on the Cold War and implications for today.
The beautiful film Whale Rider garnered Keisha Castle Hughes a Best Actress nomination (2004). Our 10-lesson curriculum guide offers resources on exploring Maori culture as well as math, science, media literacy and more. Children of Heaven received a Best Foreign Language Film nomination in 1999. It is a relatable, touching film about siblings in Iran. Our 10-lesson curriculum guide offers opportunities to teach about Iran as well as the science of earthquakes and more.
Finally, Schindler’s List, one of the first films we created resources for, dominated the Oscars in 1994. The film received 7 wins and a total of 11 nominations. Wins include: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction (Set), Best Film Editing, Best Music (Original Score). Nominations include: Best Actor (Liam Neeson), Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Makeup.
More Resources Coming Soon
Additionally, next month we’ll be releasing our free curriculum guide for the powerful documentary film Crip Camp. This essential film about disability rights and the disability justice movement was nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 2021. Sign-up for our email list to receive notice of the guide’s availability.
We are so proud of Summer of Soul. We hope you will join us in bringing this important film to your classroom. Download the curriculum guide today! Peruse additional resources as well. Together, let’s bring the power of film to students. It can inspire, engage and educate!
Written by Jennifer Fischer
Celebrating Women in History Through Film
Every year on March 8th, the world celebrates International Women’s Day. This holiday highlights gender inequities. It also draws attention to the importance of a world free of bias, discrimination and stereotypes. Additionally, March is Women’s History Month. Both provide opportunities for educators to highlight and celebrate women in history in their classrooms. We provide free resources to achieve this goal through the use of film. We also encourage educators to include the important contributions of women in history throughout the year!
Free Resources Celebrating Women in History
Hidden Figures tells the story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. These women, known as “human computers,” worked for NASA in in the 1960s. Our FREE curriculum guide for this film features 8 lessons focusing on topics including the Cold War, segregation, the math of space travel and more. Additionally, we offer a free discussion guide for this film.
He Named Me Malala is a dynamic documentary about the true life story of Malala Yousafzai. She was only 11 years old when she began detailing her experiences in Pakistan for the BBC. Terrorists shot and almost killed Malala when she was still a teen. She survived and continues to advocate for gender equity around the world. Teach her inspirational story with our free discussion guide and extensive curriculum guide.
JANE is a documentary film from National Geographic showcasing the important work of Jane Goodall. She was a pioneer in the field of primatology. We’ve created a free discussion guide for this film.
More Timely Women’s History Resources
We recommend that you consider and explore more additional resources and films.
Big Sonia is a documentary about Holocaust survivor Sonia Warshawski.
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down documents how US politician Gabriel Giffords survived an assassination attempt and went on to become one of the most effective activists in the battle against gun violence.
Queen of Katwe is a beautiful narrative film starring Lupita Nyong’o and based on the true life story of young chess champion Phiona Mutesi.
Rebel Hearts tells the true story of a group of rebel nuns who challenged the authority of the Catholic Church in the 1960s and who fight for human rights and social justice to this day.
Wadjda tells an uplifting story of a ten year-old girl committed to getting her own bicycle. The film’s director is Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker.
Whale Riderconnects with students as it shares the story of a Maori girl struggling to find her place in her community.
Written by Jennifer Fischer
Teaching with Primary Sources Through Film
Teaching with primary sources and educating students about primary and secondary sources is an important part of classroom learning. Similarly, teaching with film is a proven way to engage and excite students. However, did you know that films can be powerful tools for engagement around primary source learning for students?
We’re highlighting our free CORE-based curriculum guides that incorporate primary source learning activities. We’re here to help you in teaching with primary sources through film.
Teaching with Primary Sources Through Film – Six Films for Your Classroom
For the high school classroom, we recommend Just Mercy. This film tells the true life story of Bryan Stevenson, played by Michael B. Jordan. Specifically, the film focuses on Stevenson’s early work with the Equal Justice Initiative. Stevenson sought to provide quality legal assistance to individuals who have been unfairly sentenced, often because of their race.
Our curriculum guide for Just Mercy features four lessons. The primary source materials integrated into these lesson plans include political cartoons and the Bill of Rights.
The documentary River of Gold (for high school students) chronicles the clandestine journey of two war journalists and their guide into Peru’s Amazon rain forest. They hope to uncover the savage destruction of pristine jungle in pursuit of illegally mined gold. The film makes clear the consequences of this devastation on a global scale. Magnificent photography of plants, animals, and people inspires audiences to engage in solutions to protect the Amazon. Our eleven-lesson curriculum guide is particularly rich in STEM lessons.
This guide offers a creative approach to primary source learning, particularly Lesson 6 in which Landsat images become the primary source for student engagement.
Teaching the Holocaust
Another resource for high school students is Schindler’s List. This Academy Award Winning Film, directed by Steven Spielberg, tells the true life story of Oskar Schindler. Schindler joined the Nazi party. He took over a confiscated enamelware plant in occupied Krakow.
Initially, Schindler was eager to make a quick fortune on the labor of unpaid Jewish prisoners. Eventually, he risked everything to protect and rescue more than 1,100 Jews sheltered in his factory. Our comprehensive guide features eight lessons. It also includes survivor testimonials and stories, key primary source materials.
Similarly, Big Soniatells another important story from the Holocaust. Teenage Sonia Warshawski was living in Poland when the German army invaded. Her father and brother were shot. Her sister disappeared. Sonia and her mother became slave laborers and were deported to a death camp.
Now in her nineties, Sonia is a vibrant woman who shares her story of unimaginable suffering. Her story is also a story of hope, resilience, and of a refusal to hate.
Like Schindler’s List, the curriculum guide for the documentary Big Sonia includes Holocaust survivor testimonials and stories as primary source materials. Additionally, the documentary itself is a rich primary source. Integrating documentary and narrative films about the Holocaust into classroom instruction, alongside Holocaust testimonials, is a powerful way of teaching with primary sources through film.
Global Learning
Malala Yousafzai was a teenage girl, like Sonia, when terror struck her small community. She was shot in the head by representatives of the Taliban for insisting on girls’ right to an education.
He Named Me Malala is a documentary that tells Malala’s inspiring true life story. One of our most comprehensive CORE-based curriculum guides, this guide includes 10 lessons. Notably, Lesson 7 centers on Malala’s Nobel Peace Prize Address. This speech is a powerful primary source for students to explore.
Finally,Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet is a stunning animated film that brings to life Gibran’s book by the same name. With a corresponding lesson for each book chapter, our curriculum guide engages students with the rich primary source material that is Gibran’s poetry and art.
Our resources for He Named Me Malala, especially Lessons 1-5 and Lesson 7, and Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet are both adaptable for middle school classrooms.
The six guides featured here offer creative ways for educators to focus on teaching with primary sources through film. We’d love to hear how you utilize our resources in your classroom and what other primary source instruction you offer!
Update November 2023: To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Schindler’s List, we have launched a special edition Schindler’s List curriculum guide. Our new guide features an updated antisemitism lesson: Antisemitism Today. You can also use the new lesson on its own or pair it with our Navalny lesson on propaganda, or with Holocaust education films like Big Sonia.
Article Author: Jennifer Fischer, Executive Director for Journeys In Film. You can follow her on Twitter at @IndieJenFischer where she shares other educational articles, promotes cool film projects, celebrates her family and her creative writing, highlights various social justice initiative and more. She also has her own Medium page. Recently she highlighted the conflict in Ethiopia. Educators might enjoy her post about the Pueblo Revolt, America’s First Revolt.
