Unit on World War II concentrating on historical documentaries that tell a good story. Students use the Ken Burns formula to create their own documentary about one aspect of the war experience.

1. Teaching the
Documentary
Dolores Frazer
Ashland Middle School
dfrazer@ashland.k12.ma.us
www.frazerenglish.com
www.teachertoteacher.info

2. The Power of
Story
Everyone loves a
great story.
Stories teach us
things, move us
emotionally, and
form the basis for
how we understand
the world.
But what is the formula for a
great story?

3. Common Core Alignment
• Understand analyze, evaluate, and create
texts in various media formats
• Understand, analyze, and evaluate
appropriately complex selections of
informational text.
• Use technology to produce and publish
work for a specific audience and purpose.

4. Considerations for Mentor Texts
• Interesting topic to
explore
• Scaffolding of lessons
to teach content
• Differentiation of
assessment product
• Access to technology

5. Unit Topic: World War II
• Bomb
by Steve Sheinkin
• Flags of Our Fathers
by James Bradley
• Maya Lin: A Clear Strong Vision
by Freida Lee Mock

6. The Ken Burns Effect
Documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns, talks about the techniques that
make up his signature style.

7. The Ken Burns Effect:
Content Vocabulary
Visual
• Photograph
• Newsreel
• Interview
• Live Cinematography
Oral
• First Person
• Third Person
• Sound Effects
• Music

8. The Photograph
Content Vocabulary
• Focal point
• Foreground/Ba
ckground
• Framing
• Movement (pan
and zoom)
Style
• Where is the story?
• What is the
emotional impact ?
• If the image were
moving, what would
you hear, smell,
feel?

9. Teaching
Photographic
Analysis
1. Observe
2. Explore
3. Make Inferences
4. Inquire Further
“It isn’t what a picture is
of, it is what it is about.”
John Szarkowski

10. Modeling in the Curriculum

11. Lesson
Common Core RI 8.7
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of
using different mediums to present a particular
topic or view.
Objective
Students will compare and contrast how George
Strock’s photograph “Dead Americans at Buna
Beach” and Ernie Pyle’s article “The Death of
Captain Wascow” portray the high cost of war.

12. Essential
Questions
• Is there such a thing as a
just war?
• What is the journalist’s
role when documenting
war?
• How do filmmakers use
the Ken Burns formula to
create documentaries that
tell good stories about
real people or events.
Learning Activities
1. Define just war.
2. Watch video clips of
Pearl Harbor
3. Analyze photo
Americans at Buna
Beach
4. Discuss animating
photographs with Ken
Burns effect.
5. Read and respond to
Ernie Pyle’s article.

13. Life Magazine’s Response
“And so here it is. This is the reality that lies behind
the names that come to rest at last on monuments
in the leafy squares of busy American towns. The
camera doesn’t show America and yet here on the
beach is America, three parts of a hundred and
thirty million parts, three fragments of that life we
call American life: three units of freedom. So that it
is not just these boys who have fallen here, it is
freedom that has fallen. It is our task to cause it to
rise again.”

14. The Interview
Salvatore Guinta’s Story
Content
Style
Point of View

15. The Comparative Analysis
Salvatore Guinta
Mike Strank Capt. Wascow

16. Introduction to
Flags of Our Fathers
The Mission
The Men
Two Photographs,
One Big
Controversy
The Legacy

17. Assessment
Scoring the Response
• Checklist or Rubric
• Expectations
• Feedback
• Reflection
Curriculum Embedded
Experiences Mirror
PARCC Expectations
Common Core W.2
Write informative/explanatory
texts to examine a topic and
convey ideas, concepts, and
information through the selection,
organization, and analysis of
relevant content.

18. Bomb
While reading Bomb, students watch a variety
of documentary films to support reading of
informational text, and analyze for
documentary features
The Saboteurs of Vermok
(BBC)
Hitler’s Sunken Secret
(NOVA)

19. Maya Lin: A Clear, Strong Vision
Content
• What are the purpose of
memorials and how are
they designed and built.
• What was the controversy
over the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial and
why is that a good story?
• Which memorial best
exemplifies what a
memorial should be and
why?
Style
• How does
the
filmmaker
use film
techniques
to tell
Maya Lin’s
story?

20. Differentiating the Project
Choice of Topics
• War correspondents
• A Veteran’s Story
• The Japanese Internment Camps
• Memorials

21. Curating Resources
Social Media Google

22. The Tool: iMovie
Give it to them and they will create

23. iMovie Basics
• Collect photos on camera roll.
• Drag and drop onto timeline
• Record and add audio
• Sync images to soundtrack
• Add music

24. The Documentary
Student Samples Reflections
The
Effect of
Fear

25. More Student Samples
A Sad
Chapter in
US History
A
Forgotten
Moment
The Story Tellers
of War

26. Student Feedback
Choice of Topics is Appealing
War Correspondents 27%
Japanese Internment 70%
Veterans 13%
Memorials 30%