The Story of Movies is a FREE interdisciplinary film literacy program for classroom use, created and distributed by The Film Foundation.

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We have to treat all these moving images coming at us as a language, to understand what we’re seeing and sort it all out.
– Martin Scorsese

Film Lesson Library

Activities for Students

A collection of lesson plans on a variety of film study topics.

  • Interpreting a Short Documentary Film
    Interpreting a Short Documentary Film
  • Writing About History Using Moving Images
    Writing About History Using Moving Images
  • Nominating a Film to the National Registry
    Nominating a Film to the National Registry
  • Harold Lloyd's [i]The Freshman[/i]
    Harold Lloyd's [i]The Freshman[/i]
  • Exploring Chinese Cinema
    Exploring Chinese Cinema
  • Film Piracy
    Film Piracy

JOIN US FOR “CRITICAL THINKING AND VIEWING: INTEGRATING NATIONAL FILM STUDY STANDARDS IN THE CLASSROOM” – A FREE WEBINAR AT THE 2024 AFT SHARE MY LESSON VIRTUAL CONFERENCE, PRESENTED BY AUTHOR CATHERINE GOURLEY, TUESDAY 3/14 AT 4 PM ET. EARN 1 HOUR PD CREDIT FOR ATTENDING. https://sharemylesson.com/

  • "The Film Foundation has created this amazing vehicle; a course that gives our students a three dimensional education experience that is like no other, to transport them to infinite life learning possibilities and experiences."
    11th grade Communication Arts Teacher Cardinal Hayes High School | Bronx, NY
  • "The Story of Movies remains one of the best instructional resources I have ever come across."
    8th grade Technology Teacher Camino Nuevo Charter Academy | Silverlake, CA
  • "We are all very excited about this opportunity. Excited is really an understatement. This is a great way for our kids to get a very unique education in film studies."
    6th–7th grade Language Arts Teacher Home School Cooperative | O’Fallon, MO
  • "The lesson plans are amazing. They are laid out so clearly that all I need to do is to follow the script. I really like what my students are learning with this curriculum. They are not reading a dry analysis of a variety of different movies."
    7th–8th grade Media Teacher Nibley Park School | Salt Lake City, UT
  • "This was exciting and invigorating for me to teach and really got the kids thinking in profound and complex ways!"
    8th grade English and Drama Teacher Tapp Middle School | Powder Springs, GA
  • "I've been using the Story of Movies for 4 years now. I first heard about the program when I brought up a Film Studies class as an ELA elective/intervention. We strive to teach Film Literacy for all our students, along with production."
    6th–8th grade Media Studies Teacher Morton Middle School | Fall River, MA
  • "I love the program. I teach “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” to my 7th grade class and “To Kill A Mockingbird” to my 8th grade as part of Civics class. I integrate the curriculum so students learn to see parallels between disciplines and learning."
    6th–8th grade Social Studies Teacher Montessori at Roseborough | Mt. Dora, FL
  • Introducing The Story of Movies
  • Portraits of America: Democracy on Film
  • Coming Soon - The American West and the Western Film Genre