I am not going to hide the fact that I have used film in my work as a social studies teacher so I will be honest and say I have used film as a means to show my students how things would have looked and sounded like in the past. I have also used film as a means of giving character and humanity to historical figures and participants. Film is also a great way to put historical figures and events in context. Eighth grade students have difficulty understanding/conceptualizing the past because they have lacked an exposure to it. The cinema is not as popular as it once was and youth culture is more fragmented than unified when it comes to popular media due to cellphones and social media. After reading and learning what I have, I am planning to use film a lot more than I originally have. The line of historical inquiry I will use will rely on a similar line of questioning associated with photo analysis. Who is the creator? When was the film created? When and where does the film take place? What historical event(s)/people are depicted? And, so on. However, a different line of questioning will be given to students based on specifics associated with the given film.

I have used clips from films like Last of the Mohicans (1992), John Adams (HBO Mini series, 2008) and Gone with the Wind (1939) to give context to historical moments, figures, and participants as well as to give reasoning for the causes and effects behind historical events. I am on the lookout for other films and television programs that are related to historical events from the 1700s to 1870s.

Learners can benefit from digital story telling because it allows them to conduct a more in depth study of historical content. Digital story telling can serve as a step up from traditional methods like essay writing by enabling students to interact with historical research in an innovative way. Students are more likely to experiment and take risks with new methodologies and multimedia resources that re-represent historical data and information. These projects can then be shared and revised more easily with collaborators and audiences.