During 50 years of marriage and raising children, we came to realize that carefully selected feature films could supplement curriculum and foster social-emotional learning. In 1998 we started TeachWithMovies.org as a way of sharing this concept.
By 2002 tens of thousands of teachers and parents were logging on to TeachWithMovies.org each month. Websites maintained by hundreds of schools, libraries, state departments of education, and national educational associations provided links to the site and recommended it. TeachWithMovies.org was selected as a contributor to the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM), a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide a central clearinghouse for the best lesson plans and teacher resources on the Internet. TWM has been selected to present at the 2019 National Conference of the National Council for the Social Studies, Austin, Texas, scheduled to take place in November.
In 2018 TWM released its first film made specifically for teachers to show to students, Cesar Chavez: Respect for All. The movie accompanies a Learning Guide which will help teachers develop lessons showing that Mr. Chavez was not only a leader of farm workers but he was an ethical pioneer who applied the principal of respect to all. For the lesson plan for this movie click here.
Beginning with just a handful of Learning Guides in 1998, TeachWithMovies.org has grown to encompass more than 450 Learning Guides and lesson plans, as well as articles on using movies to further education. Through word of mouth, the search engines, and a little press coverage (including the LA Times and USA Today), usage on the site has ballooned.
Educators comprise 80% of the site’s audience. The next largest contingent is made up of homeschooling parents. The most common request from users has been for more Learning Guides.
Most recently TeachWithMovies.org has been selected as a presenter at the 2019 Convention of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), Texas Council for the Social Studies (TCSS), and National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). TWM will present its lesson plan on our first ever TeachWithMovies.org film, Cesar Chavez: Respect for All. The movie is available free on the Internet.
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THE TWM "FAMILY"
James Frieden
TWM founder, James Frieden, has been granted single subject teaching credentials by the state of California in English, Health and Social Studies. Mr. Frieden has given lectures and presentations on the use of movies in education for the following conferences and teacher education forums:
- 2019 conference of the National Council for the Social Studies;
- 2020 conference of the California Council for the Social Studies;
- 2007 convention of the National Council of Teachers of English;
- 2007 Northeast Media Literacy Conference, University of Connecticut, April 2007;
- California Teachers Association, Good Teaching Conference South, February 2007; and
- Palisades Charter High School, Teacher Professional Development class, April, 2007.
Mr. Frieden received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University and a JD from Boston College Law School where he was a contributing editor to the Boston College Industrial and Commercial Law Review. In addition to his teaching activities, Mr. Frieden is also a trial lawyer with a litigation practice in Santa Monica, California, since 1988. Before that he practiced law in Massachusetts and coauthored a four-volume legal text, Standardized Massachusetts Civil Practice Forms, Garrity & Frieden, Little, Brown and Company, 1986. Like many contemporary fathers, Mr. Frieden was actively involved in raising the couple’s children. Mr. Frieden may be contacted at jfrieden@TeachWithMovies.org.
Deborah W. Elliott
Deborah W. Elliott is a co-founder of TeachWithMovies.org, which has provided high-quality curriculum materials to teachers for more than 20 years. Ms. Elliott has given lectures and presentations on the use of movies in education for the following conferences and teacher education.
- 2019 conference of the National Council for the Social Studies;
- 2020 conference of the California Council for the Social Studies;
- 2007 convention of the National Council of Teachers of English;
- 2007 Northeast Media Literacy Conference, University of Connecticut, April 2007;
- California Teachers Association, Good Teaching Conference South, February 2007; and
- Palisades Charter High School, Teacher Professional Development class, April, 2007.
Ms. Elliott has been granted single subject teaching credentials from the state of California in English, Health, and Dance. Ms. Elliott has served as a long-term substitute for the English and History Departments at Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles. Ms. Elliott graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She has a Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Management from Radcliffe College. In 2003/2004 Ms. Elliott taught a year-long elective class called “It’s More Than Just A Movie” at the New West Charter Middle School, Los Angeles. Ms. Elliott also served as a dance critic for “Boston After Dark” magazine in the 1970s and judged the 2020 national student film contest for Population Connection.
Randy Reynolds
Joining the TWM family in late 2018, our webmaster Randy grew up with his Grandmother who was a teacher for 33 years. Randy is more than a webmaster, he also contributes creative ideas for new features to serve our users. The redesign, creative ideas, and ongoing maintenance he will provide to the TWM website allows him to give back and support teachers, who he feels are some of the most important people in the world. Should you come across an issue accessing one of the pages on our website or have ideas that could improve the site, please email him.
About Some of the People Whose Contributions have Enhanced TeachWithMovies.org
Mary RedClay
Ms. Redclay a retired English teacher with 40 years’ experience. She taught at Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles. James Frieden, tells the story of Mary RedClay’s involvement in TWM: “As I got more interested in teaching, I asked my two sons who had been students at Palisades High School to tell me the name of their best teacher. They both said, ‘Mary RedClay’. So, I went to Mrs. RedClay and asked if I could observe some of her classes. They were right. She is an amazing teacher.” Over the years, Mary RedClay’s contributions to the site have been tremendous.
John Golden
Mr. Golden taught English at Grant High School in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of the National Council of Teachers of English publications Reading in the Dark: Using Film As a Tool in the English Classroom (2001) and Reading in the Reel World: Teaching Documentaries And Other Nonfiction Texts (2006). (TWM strongly recommends these books.) Mr. Golden has delivered presentations and led workshops around the country in order to help teachers use film actively in the classroom as a way for students to improve their reading, analytical and critical thinking skills. Mr. Golden is a leading expert in using movies in the classroom.
Kathleen Minnix
Dr. Minnix graduated from Emory University in Atlanta and has a Ph.D. in history from Georgia State University. She is the author of “Laughter in the Amen Corner: the Life of Evangelist Sam Jones” and is currently working on a biography of Hannah Whitall Smith, the Quaker evangelist and women’s rights activist. After teaching at several Georgia colleges, she and her husband moved to Alexandria, Virginia. She currently teaches at Johns Hopkins University. She and her husband Larry have been married 35 years and they have two children. The whole family loves both history and movies, and especially the two in combination!
Don Mizell
Mr. Mizell was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College and a JD from Harvard Law School. Mr. Mizell has been active in the music and entertainment industry for two decades. A few of Mr. Mizell’s accomplishments include: development of the successful marketing strategy for creation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday; — author of Stevie Wonder’s speech launching the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday; — the first NAACP Image Award for Broadcasting (1981); — served as Interim Head of Business Development/Consumer Products Division of the Walt Disney Company, responsible for marketing the Little Mermaid music products line; — wrote and narrated a documentary film entitled “Ghana, Land of the Gold Coast,” a MonuMint Films Production; — produced and directed a documentary, “Black Across the Tracks: Old Black Fort Lauderdale,” Broward County Florida Library, African American Research Library, Oral History Preservation Project, 2002. Mr. Mizell has lectured at various colleges, including the University of California at Berkeley, University of Rhode Island, Wellesley College, and Rutgers University. He is the father of two daughters. In 2005 an album that Mr. Mizell participated in producing, “Genius Loves Company”, won the Grammy for Best Album of the Year (2004).
John A. Tures
Dr. Torres received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Communication from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, a Masters in International Affairs from Marquette University and a Ph.D. in political science from Florida State University. Dr. Tures is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science, at La Grange College, La Grange, Georgia.
Betty Bardige
Dr. Bardige was awarded a Doctorate in Education from the Harvard School of Education. She is the author of materials for parents as well as educational software, textbooks, and other curriculum materials. For a complete description of Dr. Bardige’s publications, see A Wealth of Words. We are sad to report that Betty Bardige died in December, 2019. She is sorely missed by her loving family and many friends. Betty, we miss you. Love forever. The founders of TWM.
Aris Erik Stengler
Dr. Stengler holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, England. He pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Cologne, Germany. Mr. Stengler is presently lecturer of Science Communication at the University of the West of England in Bristol. He was formerly the Head for Education and Public Outreach Activities and Deputy Director at the Museo de la Ciencia Y el Cosmos — The Science Centre of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). Dr. Stengler is a freelance collaborator in many science communication initiatives.
Lauren Humphrey
Ms. Humphrey served as an employee of TeachWithMovies.org for several years. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in English (Creative Writing) cum laude. Ms. Humphrey has been a major contributing author to the Talking and Playing Guides published by TeachWithMovies.org.