ITVS Community Classroom lesson plans pair educational film modules drawn from ITVS’s acclaimed documentary films with standards-based lesson plans, activities, and other interactive content.
Lesson Plans
 | The Power of ExpressionThis lesson documents the importance of opening up through storytelling and song about the things that make us hurt and angry and challenges students to tell their story. From the Women and Girls Lead, Vol. 3: Women, Girls, & the Criminal Justice System Classroom collection |
 | The Right to WorkIn this lesson, students investigate the concepts of unemployment, unions and worker’s rights as universal human rights. After listening to various voices involved in an indigenous workers’ struggle in Bolivia, students research an organization and create campaign media for it. (includes 1 film module) From the Women's Empowerment Classroom collection |
 | Third-party VoicesThis lesson examines the political party system in the U.S. and in other democracies, especially the participation of independent parties. (Includes 1 film module) From the Vote Democracy! Classroom collection |
 | Understanding Immigration IssuesThis lesson focuses on the history of immigration in the U.S., current immigration reform issues and legislation as students work together to formulate plans for changing immigration laws in the U.S. (includes 3 film modules) From the Sentenced Home Classroom collection |
 | Universal Human Rights and the Ethics of GovernmentThis lesson explores the basic premise of human rights, the history of human rights abuse — both legislative and executive/military — and its consequences, human rights in the contemporary media, and the application of human rights issues to modern American life. From the The Island President Classroom collection |
 | Using Stories to Inspire Community ActionIn this lesson, students will explore how storytelling can be a powerful way to illustrate how problems affect people and to inspire collective action that can bring about positive change. The class will first analyze the potential impact of the experiences described by Rose Mapendo, a woman whose family suffered severe hardships during violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Students will then gather and share a true story from their own community that explains the human impact of a local issue. (includes 1 film module) From the Women and Girls Lead, Volume 1 Classroom collection |
 | What Is Democracy?In this lesson, students will consider the qualities that exist in a democracy and how different people would define democracy. They will create their own media expressions of what the concept means to them. (Includes 1 film module) From the Vote Democracy! Classroom collection |
 | What Is the Impact of My Decisions?This lesson asks students to reflect on decisions they have made that have negatively impacted others in order to build empathy and hold themselves accountable. From the Women and Girls Lead, Vol. 3: Women, Girls, & the Criminal Justice System Classroom collection |
 | What Makes Someone an American?This lesson explores what it means to be “American” and how children become assimilated into the culture in which they were raised, not necessarily the culture of their birth. (includes 4 film modules) From the Sentenced Home Classroom collection |
 | What to Do: The State of the Criminal Justice SystemThis lesson provides students with an opportunity to learn more about trends in the criminal justice system in the context of an exploding prison population. From the Women and Girls Lead, Vol. 3: Women, Girls, & the Criminal Justice System Classroom collection |
