Tip: Try Hidden Figures, Inside Out, Shakespeare, Bullying, Empathy or Full Curriculum
Collection: Full Year Film Curriculum | Film as Literature, Cinematic Arts, Movie Analysis Unit Collection
This collection is for teachers who want an actual film course — not just a movie guide. Here you’ll find:
Full-year film electives with daily pacing, lesson plans, and assessments
High-rigor Film as Literature / Cinematic Arts for advanced ELA
Add-on 9-week and thematic units (Star Wars, Civil Rights)
Assessment-only Star Wars evaluation packs you can plug into what you already teach
Videos are not included. Always confirm streaming access with your site policy. Films in the Film Studies / Star Wars tracks are intentionally chosen because students can usually watch them on Disney+ or other mainstream school-approved streaming services.
Who This Is For
High school ELA, humanities, film studies, media studies, civics / social studies electives, advisory / flex blocks, credit recovery, and “Friday film day” structures that still need standards alignment.
Teachers who want an actual pacing map instead of “just a movie worksheet.” Many units include day-by-day plans, bell work, discussion prompts, exit tickets, and summative assessments tied directly to the films.
Departments or PLCs that need consistency: shared scope & sequence, common assessments, and repeatable expectations for behavior / academic accountability during movies.
Admin-visible documentation: many bundles include syllabus language, parent / guardian communication letters, and (where provided) permission slips or content advisories so you’re covered before you press play.
Editable files: most curriculum packs include Google Docs / Slides or equivalent editable versions (plus PDF / PPTX / DOCX backups) so you can adapt without rebuilding from scratch.
1. Full Year Core Courses (2 options)
Film Studies & Movie Analysis — Full Year Elective
This is a complete, standards-aligned Film Studies elective for general high school classes and mixed-readiness groups. It’s built around accessible, high-interest movies that are easy to stream (heavily Disney+ compatible), so you aren’t chasing DVDs or fighting IT/media approvals. This one is built for access and survival. It assumes mixed skill levels, behavior management needs, and admin scrutiny. It’s the easier on-ramp.
What it includes:
Day-by-day pacing for the whole year, broken into quarters / units
Bell work, guided discussion, exit tickets, and formative checks mapped to each film
Summative assessments at the end of each unit
Editable Google Docs / Slides plus PDF / PPTX / DOCX backups for print or Drive
Parent / admin communication language and viewing expectations
A focus on media literacy and accountability during viewing (students always have a task, not just “watching a movie”)
Who it’s for:
Teachers running a Film Studies elective, an ELA support block, advisory / flex block, or credit recovery
Anyone who needs “plug-and-play tomorrow” pacing with minimal prep
Classes where you need engagement but also need proof of standards-based work
This is the academic / honors track. It treats film the way you’d treat novels in a traditional ELA class. Across ~36 weeks, students work through film guides, structured comparative essays, multi-step summatives, and cinematic craft workshops. It expects close reading of visual text, formal written analysis, and argument writing at a true high school English level. This one is rigorous. It’s built to satisfy “Film as Literature,” “Cinematic Arts,” “Media Studies,” and advanced ELA expectations with real writing output, not just viewing.
High school ELA, Humanities, Media Studies, Film as Literature, Cinematic Arts
Honors / pre–dual enrollment students who can write and defend claims with evidence
Teachers who want to prove “film is text” with essays and rubrics
Key Difference Between the Two Full-Year Options
Film Studies & Movie Analysis (Full Year) is designed for wide accessibility and classroom manageability. It leans on popular, Disney+-available films, daily pacing, scaffolds, behavior accountability during viewing, and admin-friendly documentation. Think: “entry-level film elective / mixed-readiness / credit recovery / advisory that still counts.”
Film as Literature & Cinematic Arts (Full Year) is positioned like an honors English elective. It leans on sustained analysis, formal writing, cinematic theory, and multi-stage summatives across 36 weeks. Think: “Film as Literature course on the transcript / advanced media analysis / cinematic arts pathway.”
Both give you pacing, assessments, and editable teacher + student materials. The main difference is readability level, writing rigor, and how “college-style” you want the conversation around film to be.
2. Add-On Quarters / Thematic Units
These are high-engagement units you can plug into any quarter or semester. They assume you’re already comfortable playing movies in class, and they give you structure, writing expectations, and a final assessment. They’re perfect for post-state-testing weeks, end-of-year engagement, advisory, media literacy Fridays, or a themed quarter inside either of the full-year courses.
Star Wars Saga Film Studies & Movie Analysis — 9 Week Full Curriculum (Grades 9–12)
A complete 9-week mini-course built on the Star Wars saga (Episodes I–IX). Students build cinematic vocabulary, track The Hero’s Journey across trilogies, analyze visual worldbuilding and environment design, discuss score / leitmotifs, and practice argumentative writing using evidence from different eras of Star Wars. The final assessment can lean toward cinematography, myth/hero arc, music/leitmotif, or biomes & environment. It’s designed around films students can watch on Disney+, which keeps logistics simple.
What it includes:
Week-by-week pacing for ~9 weeks of class
Guided viewing notes, vocabulary, and discussion prompts
Comparative analysis tasks across trilogies
Multiple summative assessment options at the end
Use this if you want a high-engagement quarter (or last nine weeks of the year) that still produces real grades and writing, not just “we watched Star Wars.”
Civil Rights Film Studies Unit | Movie Analysis | Cinematography
A focused civil rights / social justice film unit that blends ELA and Social Studies. Students look at how film portrays protest, law, leadership, and community pressure, and they also study cinematography choices (framing, lighting, point of view) as persuasive storytelling. Strong for U.S. History, Government/Civics, Black History Month, or cross-curricular English + Social Studies collaboration.
What it includes:
Film viewing guides and discussion prompts tied to civil rights themes
Cinematography analysis mini-lessons
Comparative + summative assessment tasks teachers can grade
Teacher-facing pacing support so it’s not just “play a movie and hope”
3. Star Wars Assessment-Only Packs (No Daily Lesson Plans)
These are not pacing guides. They’re evaluation frameworks and end-of-unit assessments built so you can prove standards-based learning while watching Star Wars in class. You hand students the packet, they gather evidence film-by-film across all nine episodes, and at the end they submit graded written work. These map cleanly to ELA standards, science standards, or music/media standards. They match the same Disney+–available Star Wars saga used in the 9-week Star Wars curriculum.
Students treat Star Wars planets like biome case studies. They log abiotic/biotic factors, adaptations, and resource concerns for each world (desert, ice, forest moon, city-planet, etc.). The final deliverable asks them to apply ecology thinking and evaluate “Could humans survive here, and why?” This lets Biology / Earth Science teachers keep standards-based work while still using Star Wars.
Targets traditional ELA / Mythology / Media Studies. Students track The Hero’s Journey arc, character development, and visual storytelling choices (framing, shot type, lighting, editing) across the saga. The final deliverable is structured written analysis with evidence from multiple films.
Students study how recurring musical themes (leitmotifs) signal character, mood, tension, loyalty, prophecy, etc. Perfect for Band, Music Appreciation, Media/Audio Production, or any teacher who wants kids to analyze score as narrative text. Structure matches the others: evidence collected during viewing → graded written task at the end.
How to use these:
Already show Star Wars every spring? Hand one of these out on Day 1 and you now have 9 weeks of collected evidence and a real summative grade at the end.
Want to bolt Star Wars into science, ELA, or music without rewriting pacing? These do exactly that.
