Since the beginning of the 20th century, the film industry has confronted, challenged, and explored various social issues through its films. Social issue films are an excellent resource for teaching social issues. Teachers will find this book to be a valuable resource for teaching social issues. This book includes a discussion on teaching social issues, teaching with film, and how social issue films can be utilized to enhance the curriculum. This volume offers teachers an effective means for teaching social issues to today's digital and media savvy students. Furthermore, this volume details how film can be used to teach social issues, discusses relevant legal issues surrounding the use of film in the classroom, and details two separate models for teaching social issues with film. The heart of the book includes a detailed filmography of 180 films that pertain to 30 social issues. Each social issue includes a definition/explanation of the social issue and details six films. Each film detailed includes complete bibliographic information and a synopsis. This volume is clearly organized and expertly written for educators and is beneficial to librarians and teachers at the secondary and college level, particularly in social studies, sociology, history, political science, literature, film studies, and other social sciences.

Offers a fresh overview of teaching with film to effectively enhance social studies instruction.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the film industry has confronted, challenged, and explored various social issues through its films. Social issue films are an excellent resource for teaching social issues. Teachers will find this book to be a valuable resource for teaching social issues. This book includes a discussion on teaching social issues, teaching with film, and how social issue films can be utilized to enhance the curriculum. This volume offers teachers an effective means for teaching social issues to today’s digital and media savvy students. Furthermore, this volume details how film can be used to teach social issues, discusses relevant legal issues surrounding the use of film in the classroom, and details two separate models for teaching social issues with film. The heart of the book includes a detailed filmography of 180 films that pertain to 30 social issues. Each social issue includes a definition/explanation of the social issue and details six films. Each film detailed includes complete bibliographic information and a synopsis. This volume is clearly organized and expertly written for educators and is beneficial to librarians and teachers at the secondary and college level, particularly in social studies, sociology, history, political science, literature, film studies, and other social sciences.

Action! Film is a common and powerful element in the social studies classroom and Cinematic Social Studies explores teaching and learning social studies with film. Teaching with film is a prominent teaching strategy utilized by many teachers on a regular basis. Cinematic Social Studies moves readers beyond the traditional perceptions of teaching film and explores the vast array of ideas and strategies related to teaching social studies with film. The contributing authors of this volume seek to explain, through an array of ideas and visions, what cinematic social studies can/should look like, while providing research and rationales for why teaching social studies with film is valuable and important. This volume includes twenty-four scholarly chapters discussing relevant topics of importance to cinematic social studies. The twenty four chapters are divided into three sections. This stellar collection of writings includes contributions from noteworthy scholars like Keith Barton, Wayne Journell, James Damico, Cynthia Tyson, and many more.

Debunking myths in U.S. history : will the real story of Pocahontas please rise? / Nancy Sardone -- The new world, gender roles, and issues of point-of-view / Anne Perry -- Pocahontas saves John Smith / Kristen Wobler -- Myth busters : the Salem witch trials / Brianna Scatorchia and Nancy Sardone -- The various roles of African Americans in the American Revolution / Paul J. Yoder, Katrina Yoder, and Aaron P. Johnson -- Contributions of African Americans during the Revolutionary War / Ryan Warriner -- John Henry vs. the machine / Kristal Curry -- Years a slave: using film to explore freedom and (in)humanity / Gregory and Amy Samuels -- Did he really create the Great Lakes? Tall tales and their place in history / Megan Cullen -- Portrayals of American slavery in film : a study of Gone with the wind, Roots, and Unchained memories / Dennis Urban -- Women and the wild, wild west / James Nunez -- The ox bow incident : a historiographical lesson in vigilantism and due process / Michael Lovorn -- Suffragettes parade for the vote / Michele Celani and Elizabeth Blackmon -- The iron jawed angels and the fight for women's suffrage / Wendy Rouse -- The economic and social effects of the Dust Bowl / Rebecca Bidwell -- "The greater good" : using Flags of our fathers for critical thinking and historical inquiry / Mark Percy -- Rosa's refusal : serendipity or sustained activism? / Eric Groce, Theresa Redmond, and Robin Groce -- Chicano power and youth resistance : walking out for civil rights / Tim Monreal -- Amish neighbors / Ronald Morris -- Exploring the lives of others in the social studies classroom : where dissent and technology intersect in contemporary America / Rory P. Tannebaum.

Popular media has become a common means by which students understand both the present and the past. Consequently, more teachers are using various forms of popular culture as pedagogical tools in the history classroom. With their emphasis on issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, sex, race, gender, and violence, social problem films, or “message movies,” offer a compelling look at the eras in which they were made. In order to facilitate the use of social problem films as learning tools, however, teachers of history need a dependable resource. Teaching History with Message Movies is a guide for teaching US history using these films as vivid historical illustrations and tools for student engagement. In addition to covering key themes and concepts, this volume provides an overview of significant issues and related films, a tutorial in using film in historical methodology, user guides for thinking about social problems on screen, and sample exercises and assignments for direct classroom use. Focusing on the issues that plaguing society, the book draws on films such as I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), The Snake Pit (1948), Silkwood (1983) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), among others. This resource enables teachers to effectively use films to examine key social and cultural issues, concepts, and influences in their historical context. Teaching History with Message Movies will be an invaluable asset to any teacher of history in middle- and secondary school settings, as well as at the undergraduate level.

Teaching History with Film provides a fresh, engaging, and clear overview of teaching with film to effectively enhance social studies instruction. Using cases of experienced teachers to illustrate accomplished history teaching through movies, this text provides pre- and in-service teachers with ideas for implementing film-based lessons in their own classrooms and offers a deeper understanding of the thorny issues involved in using film to teach history. The second edition is completely revised and updated including: two entirely new case studies; a new chapter focusing on using international film and incorporating a more global view in the classroom; and additional material on using film to tackle difficult and controversial issues; as well as updates to all of the cases. Each section of the book focuses on how teachers can effectively support the development of students’ historical film literacy through topics such as using film to develop interpretive skills, to explore controversial issues, and to develop historical empathy. By developing the skills students need to think critically about the past or what they think they know about history, the lessons in this book illustrate how to harness the pedagogical power of film to provide the tools necessary for rigorous inquiry and democratic citizenship. Special features include: "Reflection on the Case," following each chapter, analyzing and discussing the strengths and limitations of the teacher’s approach as well as providing strategies for using and choosing films specific to the educational outcome Sample unit outlines, descriptions of class texts and films, worksheets, essay questions, viewer guides, and exercises for the classroom throughout Discussion of the practical considerations facing classroom teachers, including juggling time restraints, issues of parental permission, and meeting standards