Teach your students to make their own films or podcasts! In our free downloadable step-by-step 4-week curriculum. You can pick and choose lessons that fit your classroom without doing the full curriculum. Lessons include:

1. Exploring Theme and Selecting a Topic
2. What Makes a “Good” Interview Question
3. Practice Filming/ Recording
4. Interview Practice with Classmates
5. Class Interviews Guest
6. Community Interviews
7. Understanding B-Roll
8. Local Primary Sources
9. Putting the Story Together
10. Editing and Polishing
11. Now What? Share Your Film or Podcast

Our lessons introduce key topics and skills, with room for hands-on practice and creative exploration.

Each location and student population is different, so please use this as a guide to develop your own units/lessons that will work best for your teaching situation. Teachers can adjust the pace and content as needed, using the curriculum as a resource rather than a rigid structure.

Some educators may devote a quarter or semester to an in-depth digital storytelling project and implement the entire curriculum. Others may implement only one or two lessons, for example conducting interviews only, or skipping interviews and making short simple recordings.

The curriculum is designed with modular elements, allowing teachers to select specific topics or skills to focus on based on their students’ needs and interests. For instance, you might dedicate one week to researching and writing, another to filmmaking basics, and yet another to editing techniques. This approach allows for in-depth exploration of each element while maintaining the overall flow of the course.

Don’t forget to check out the group forums and other aspects of our TeacherTools