Guides and Articles
Each study guide or facilitator guide available from California Newsreel is unique to the film it accompanies. In the classroom, in an informal group setting or viewing on your own, our companion materials will help you to make personal connections to the subject matter and examine more closely the issues addressed in these films. Taken together you will get the most out of your viewing experience.
Educators - Many of our guides provide multiple levels of exploration for varying age groups. They can be easily adapted to meet the needs of middle school, high school and college viewers.
Home Viewers - All of our guides may be useful to home viewers wanting to think critically about the film they have seen and get more out of their viewing experience. They are also useful for hosting an informal discussion.
- Diversity Training Resources
- Global Economy Resources
- Health and Social Justice Resources
- African American Literature Resourcess
- History and Social Studies Resources
- African Cinema Resources
Diversity Training Resources
- Blacks and Jews
Segment Summaries, Discussion Questions, Activities and Research Project Suggestions
- Blue Eyed, The Essential Blue Eyed &Thirty Minute Blue Eyed
Exercises, Discussion Points, Diversity Training Overview
- Frosh
Facilitator Guide for Staff Training and Student Orientation, Background Info and Awareness Activities
- Seniors
Facilitator Guide, Synopsis, Activities, Resources
- Shattering the Silences
Thematic Guide, Facilitation Notes, 4 Levels of Use, Points of Discussion
- Skin Deep
Background on Diversity Training, Discussion Questions, Facilitation Guide
- What's Race Got to Do with It?
Companion Web Site with Facilitator Guide, Engagement Games, Resources for Intergroup Dialogue and More
Global Economy Resources
- Beloved Community
Facilitator Guide and Discussion Guide
- Maquilapolis - Bilingual Study Guide in English (3.34 MB pdf) and Español (3.12 MB pdf)
- Struggles In Steel
Background, Discussion Questions, Activities, Resources
- Where Do You Stand: Stories from an American Mill
Illustrated in PDF Format, Background, Discussion Questions, Advocacy Activities, Suggested Web Sites
Health and Social Justice Resources
- Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
Interactive Web Site with Lesson Plans, Discussion Guide, Action Tool Kit to use with the series.
- The Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of our Nation
Interactive Web Site for used with the series: Watch, Discover, Take Action
African American Literature Resources
- Furious Flower I
Poet Biographies, Selected Bibliographies, Discussion Questions
- Furious Flower II
Background, Poet Biographies
- Ralph Ellison: An American Journey
Questions, Activities, Film Segmented for Discussion
- Richard Wright-Black Boy
Extensive Teacher's Guide and Bibliography
- White Scripts, Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books
A Discussion Guide
History and Social Studies Resources
- Agents of Change
Classroom Activities for Grades 9-12, based on National Standards
- Big Mama
Background Information on Issues, Resources and Links
- Black Is…Black Ain't
Film Summary and Notes, Film Quotes, Discussion Questions
- Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story
Classroom Activities for Grades 9-12, based on National Standards
- February One
Illustrated in PDF Format, Timeline, Activities, Bibliography, Web Sites, Additional Discussion Questions
- Goin' to Chicago
Lesson Plans, Bibliography, Handouts
- Long Night's Journey Into Day
History of Apartheid, Essays
- Negroes With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power
Discussion Questions, Bibliography
- Review of Oh Freedom After While
by Ken Robinson, Associate Professor of Film, Vassar College.
- Race-The Power of an Illusion
Interactive Web Site with Lesson Plans, Discussion Guide
- Revolution '67
Hands-On High School Curriculum
- A Son of Africa
Resources for Teachers, Excerpts from The Interesting Life of Oladuah Equiano
- Soul of Justice
Discussion Questions
- The Willmar 8
Women's Worth: Valuing Our Own Worth - Realizing Our Own Value (Scan of the 1982 study guide, 4.54 MB)
African Cinema Resources
The following study guides accompanying films from the Library of African Cinema offer a 'before the film reading', reflection questions and facts on the film's country of origin.
- Flame
- Keita:The Heritage of the Griot
- Le Franc
- La Petite Vendeuse De Soleil
- Pieces D'Identites
- A Walk In the Night
- Also Long Night's Journey Into Day with extensive study guide.
Articles on viewing African cinema, by African filmmakers and scholars are also available.
- Film Text and Context: Reweaving Africa’s Social Fabric Through Its Contemporary Cinema by Mbye Cham, Howard University
- The Hyena's Last Laugh: A conversation with Djibril Diop Mambety by N. Frank Ukadike, from TRANSITION 78
- Imagining Alternatives: African Cinema in the New Century by African filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno
- Viewing African Cinema: Six Pointers
- Ousmane Sembene: The Life of a Revolutionary Artist – by Samba Gadjigo, Mount Holyoke College, author of the authorized biography of Ousmane Sembene