Thought the piece posted on the ASCD Brief website was worth taking a look at. As teachers we are always looking for ways to connect our past history to our current history and making it relevant for students. Below is a snippet from the website and the link which provides information on making connections to important periods of history. Notice there are lessons posted, along with resources to make it worthwhile to view. Through discussion high level questions have been included to prompt students to be critical thinkers.
Three of this year’s Oscar contenders — “Lincoln,” “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty” — invite viewers to look at history, either through the lens of the distant past (as in the case of “Lincoln”) or through recent events (like “Zero Dark Thirty”), and to question the degree of truth and fiction at work in the retelling of these events.
These same three movies have also prompted some serious debate and reflection on American politics, and the direction the nation should be headed.
learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/teaching-history-with-film-lincoln-argo-and-zero-dark-thirty/