Teacher Notes
These notes support a five-week unit with Year 9 students. The packet is generic and public: it does not contain a class program, a school calendar, student data or any formal reporting instrument. Adapt the sequence to your context.
Purpose and scope
The unit teaches students to analyse how documentaries construct truth claims and to plan a short documentary of their own. It focuses on framing, editing, sound, testimony, archive and ethics. The central discipline is the shift from describing what a film shows to explaining how it shapes what the audience believes.
The packet contains 16 public pages: this overview and 15 resources. The index states the count, and the sources and provenance page records the copyright position.
Choosing extracts
- Use material that is age-appropriate and cleared for classroom use.
- Check for distressing content, sudden loud sounds, discrimination or graphic imagery.
- Preview the whole extract, not only the clip you plan to teach.
- Provide captions or a transcript for students who need them.
- Have a backup extract if the technology fails.
- Do not upload a full documentary to a public site or share it beyond the classroom.
- Use short extracts for analysis rather than screening entire films without a licence.
Pacing
| Week | Core sequence | If time is short | If time allows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Truth claims, modes, rhetorical situation, framing. | Combine modes and framing into one lesson; use two short extracts. | Compare an expository and an observational extract on the same subject. |
| 2 | Editing, sound, interview, archive. | Teach the Kuleshov effect and one sound concept; set the interview plan as homework. | Run a paper edit workshop with printed shot cards. |
| 3 | Narrative structure, argument, manipulation, fact-checking. | Keep the beat sheet and one fact-check table. | Stage a structured debate about whether an extract is fair. |
| 4 | Close analysis, treatment, storyboard, pitch. | Keep the treatment and one analytical paragraph; shorten the storyboard. | Invite a media teacher or film-maker to give feedback. |
| 5 | Rough cut or paper screening, revision, presentation, transfer. | Use a paper screening and a written reflection instead of a finished film. | Hold a class documentary festival with permission. |
Lesson routines
| Routine | Time | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| What does this shot do? | 5 minutes | Move from observation to effect without naming a technique in isolation. |
| Before and after the cut | 5 minutes | Explain what the sequence invites the audience to infer. |
| Mute and listen | 5 minutes | Notice what sound contributes by removing it. |
| Who is speaking? | 5 minutes | Identify whose perspective is present and whose is missing. |
| What does it prove? | 5 minutes | Distinguish evidence from suggestion. |
Differentiation
Differentiation is built into the task design rather than published as a separate student page. The same core concepts apply to all students; the amount of scaffolding, the choice of medium and the complexity of the analysis can vary.
| Need | Support | Extension |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding documentary modes | Provide a one-page table with two examples of each mode. | Ask students to analyse a hybrid text and explain why it fits more than one mode. |
| Analysing framing | Provide a grid with shot size, angle, light and effect columns. | Ask students to compare two framings of the same subject and evaluate which is fairer. |
| Analysing editing | Provide a five-shot sequence and ask students to describe what each cut suggests. | Ask students to re-edit the sequence on paper to create the opposite argument. |
| Analysing sound | Provide a sound map with the categories already labelled. | Ask students to analyse a sequence with no music and explain how it creates tension. |
| Interviewing | Provide three open questions and a consent script. | Ask students to design a follow-up question that tests an assumption in an answer. |
| Fact-checking | Provide two sources and a partly completed claim table. | Ask students to find a source that complicates the film's central claim. |
| Writing analysis | Provide the five-step paragraph frame and a model. | Ask students to write a counter-reading of the same sequence. |
| Planning | Provide a treatment template with the central question already framed. | Ask students to plan a film that acknowledges the strongest opposing view. |
Sensitive content
- Distressing footage. Warn students before screening material involving violence, disaster, grief or discrimination. Allow a way to step out without attention.
- Personal disclosure. Do not require students to discuss their own experiences on camera or in class.
- Representation. Monitor plans that use a person's hardship as a symbol or that speak for a group without consulting them.
- Consent. Follow school policy for filming students, staff and members of the public. Record consent and allow withdrawal.
- Online publication. Check permissions, comments and personal information before anything goes public.
- Political neutrality. The packet does not endorse a party, candidate or campaign. Students should analyse arguments rather than adopt a prescribed position.
- Trauma-informed practice. If a student discloses harm, follow the school's safeguarding procedures rather than turning the disclosure into material.
Formative feedback
| Look for | Feedback that moves learning forward |
|---|---|
| Retelling the documentary | "What does this sequence make the audience believe, and how?" |
| Technique without effect | "You named the close-up. What does it make us feel or notice?" |
| Archive treated as proof | "Who filmed this, when, and what is outside the frame?" |
| One interview as the whole community | "Whose perspective is missing, and how could you find it?" |
| Emotional claim without evidence | "What evidence would make this judgement fair?" |
| Plan without a question | "What is the one question your film is trying to answer?" |
Materials
- Two or three short, cleared extracts for analysis.
- A projector, speakers and captions.
- Printed frame grabs or shot cards for paper editing.
- Paper, markers and index cards for storyboards.
- A camera or phone, a tripod and a simple microphone if filming.
- A secure folder for consent notes and anonymous feedback.
Checking the film
- Does the film answer a clear question?
- Is every factual claim traceable to a source?
- Are interviews and archive used fairly and with consent?
- Is the strongest opposing view represented?
- Does the sound support the argument without overriding it?
- Is the film accessible to its intended audience?
- Is there a plan to correct errors and respond to feedback?
This packet is a teaching resource, not a formal reporting instrument. It contains no scores, bands, weightings or confidential school material.