Appropriate for students: it should be known that the "appropriate for students" category is subjective based on the school and community. Generally, though, nothing below what I would deem a 7 will be posted on this page.
Quality footage/images: this category is for how well the documentary was put together. A high scores means that it uses quality images and video, that is/are pertinent to the topic, and the use of that footage or video progresses the learning objective of the documentary.
Engaging for students: This is slightly self-explanatory. This is a grade of how actively engaged the students are while watching the video. Of course this is a skewed scale, none of these videos are a blockbuster hit, so the scale is just a relative scale of 1 being a documentary anyone could easily nap through, and a 10 being a documentary that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Educational value for students: This is a rating of how beneficial it would be for a student to watch this documentary. Low scoring movies might just be good as filler activities, while high scoring ones are videos I might show to my students every semester.
Quality of Interviews/Interviewees: this is a rating based on how well the documentary highlights certain people, and if those people were truly experts on the subject. It is also a rating of how well utilized those people were used in the documentary.
Appropriate for students: 10/10
Quality footage/images: 8/10
Engaging for students: 1/10
Educational value for students: 3/10
Quality of Interviews/Interviewees: n/a
This video is a good background movie to put on while students work on missing work/make up work. After viewing the whole thing, I wouldn't JUST show it to my students due to it's poor engagement level.
It's a good video to put on in a pinch (out sick and need a quick lesson for the sub).
Would highly recommend a viewing guide to keep students awake.
Appropriate for students: 9/10
Quality footage/images: 10/10
Engaging for students: 7/10
Educational value for students: 9/10
Quality of Interviews/Interviewees: 9/10
This video is my go to video while discussing the Civil Rights Movement in Utah. It's interviews are very good, and the choice of who they interviewed in great.
My only concern when showing it is that the end of the video starts discussing immigration, which depending on your school and community, might be frowned upon due to its political nature.
Appropriate for students: 8/10
Quality footage/images: 8/10
Engaging for students: 4/10
Educational value for students: 9/10
Quality of Interviews/Interviewees: 6/10
This video has high educational value for the fact that it discusses really well the connection between the ancient past, specifically the Fremont People, and the people of today. It shows artifacts and the process through which the artifacts are found.
it is NOT very engaging though, so I would definitely make sure to have a viewing guide for the students as they watch to make sure they stay awake.
It's a good video for if you need a lesson in a pinch, such as being out sick.
The only concern while watching it is that the rancher, whose land is the center of the documentary, uses some colorful language. I usually explain it to my students by saying that the rancher speaks like a rancher. It's nothing too bad, but something to be aware of.
This is a preview of the movie. For full movie, purchase is required.
Appropriate for students: 7/10
Quality footage/images: 10/10
Engaging for students: 8/10
Educational value for students: 10/10
Quality of Interviews/Interviewees: 9/10
This is a great documentary, and you can use the clip to the left to introduce the subject of Downwinders, but I can no longer find the full version of the film anywhere. There is also a video of the first 5 minutes of the film found here.
The only place I've found to purchase the video is here, in DVD form. I have not bought anything from that website, so I can't promise any type of result from using it. It's just the only place I could find it for sale.
This film is a fantastic documentary that includes absolutely fantastic interviews with different people, so if you can find it, I highly recommend it.
There are 2 parts of the documentary that I skip. For more details, see the teacher's copy of the viewing guide
Appropriate for students: 9/10
Quality footage/images: 10/10
Engaging for students: 9/10
Educational value for students: 7/10
Quality of Interviews/Interviewees: 7/10
This documentary is pretty fun. It goes through Lagoons history (its founding linked to railroads), and the changes the park went through during the 1900's. It does a good job showing change over time, as well as showing cause and effect when it comes to how the park changed over time.
One thing to be aware of is that the video shows everything about Lagoon in a very positive light giving it a feel that it was produced for the purpose of promoting Lagoon.
This video is really best used as an emergency lesson, or a filler video at the end of a term. It doesn't have a whole lot of content, but is fun for the students because a lot of them have been to Lagoon, so it connects them a little bit to the video.
Appropriate for students: 10/10
Quality footage/images: 8/10
Engaging for students: 6/10
Educational value for students: 4/10
Quality of Interviews/Interviewees: 8/10
This video is a fun one to show towards the end of class. As part of the class I try to convince my students that they live in a really cool state, and this video/series does a good job showing the really unique, cool things about the state.
Again, I would probably only show this as a end of semester/year filler, or an emergency lesson plan.