Film as Literature & Cinematic Arts Curriculum – Full Year | SAVE 35%

Bring film into every ELA block with this 36-week, eight-unit curriculum.

• 45 movie guides (print & digital)
• 23 comparative analyses
• 10 summative assessments
• 4 cinematic skill workshops
• Full-year pacing & standards

Why use this curriculum to teach your Film Elective course this year?

Film as Literature & Cinematic Arts transforms 32 feature films and 13 alternates into 36 weeks of rigorous, media-rich learning. Students analyze dystopian futures, heroic underdogs, wartime courage, historical icons, literary classics, and Shakespeare adaptations—building critical-viewing skills while meeting every anchor standard in the ELA Common Core.

What's Included

• Year-at-a-Glance pacing guide (9 pages) with one-sheet views of each five-week unit
• Full-year Educator Planning Guide, Student Syllabus, and Editable Parent Permission Pack
• 144 pages of weekly lesson plans (Units 1-8)
• 45 student movie-guide slide decks with answer keys
• 23 comparative-analysis essays + rubrics
• 10 summative performance tasks on themes, heroism, leadership, and adaptation
• Four hands-on workshops: Loglines, Plot-Point Mapping, Cinematography, Theme Tracking
• Live-link Movie Purchase & Rental spreadsheet for every title
• Comprehensive Standards Alignment matrix

Are you a visual person? Download the free sneak peek preview here to get a feel for this curriculum.

Units at a glance

• Unit 1 — Dystopia and Environment
• Unit 2 — The Underdog
• Unit 3 — Golden-Age Blockbusters
• Unit 4 — Modern Crowd-Pleasers
• Unit 5 — War Movies
• Unit 6 — Historical Biographies
• Unit 7 — Literary Classics
• Unit 8 — Shakespeare in Movies
  

Representative titles (core with alternates available)

• Unit 1: The Giver (2014), 1984 (1984), Fahrenheit 451 (2018, TV), Brave New World (1998, TV), The Maze Runner (2014), City of Ember (2008)
• Unit 2: The Karate Kid (1984), The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019), Rudy (1993), Greater (2016), Edward Scissorhands (1990), 12 Mighty Orphans (2021)
• Unit 3: Gone With the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) — alternates: 12 Angry Men (1957), The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Unit 4: The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017), Gladiator (2000), Forrest Gump (1994), Avatar (2009), The Blind Side (2009) — alternate: Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
• Unit 5: The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008), Midway (2019), 1917 (2019) — alternate: Dunkirk (2017)
• Unit 6: Temple Grandin (2010), Lincoln (2012), Invictus (2009), Hamilton (2020), 42 (2013) — alternates: Remember the Titans (2000), McFarland, USA (2015)
• Unit 7: The Odyssey (1997), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The Outsiders (1983) — alternate: The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• Unit 8: Romeo and Juliet (1968), Romeo + Juliet (1996), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999), Get Over It (2001), Hamlet (1990)

How to Use This Curriculum

Enable “Convert uploads to Google Docs editor format” in Drive, then drop in the DOCX and PPTX files for instant editing—or print the PDFs. Show each film over two 45-minute periods, complete the matching movie guide, and follow the week-by-week plans. Seasonal alternates (Edward Scissorhands, The Man Who Invented Christmas, Dunkirk, The Grapes of Wrath, Hamlet) let you adjust for holidays and testing weeks without losing alignment.

Standards Alignment

All eight units explicitly address CCRA.R.1-4, CCRA.R.7-8, CCRA.W.1-3, CCRA.W.7, CCRA.SL.1, CCRA.SL.3, and CCRA.L.4-5, ensuring balanced practice in reading, writing, speaking-listening, and language throughout 180 class periods.

Disclaimer: This product is not endorsed by or affiliated with any film studios. All images © their respective owners and are used under fair-use guidelines for educational commentary.

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