High School ELA/Social Studies: Research & Outline Your Own Allegory Horror Film
In this 9-lesson self-paced course, learners will learn about allegory and horror's connection to historical events. Using their research on a current societal issue, learners will outline their own scary movie and explain their rationale.
Mr. Steven M.Ed.
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5.0
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What's included
9 pre-recorded lessons
9 weeks
of teacher support1 year access
to the contentHomework
1-2 hours per week. Each lesson will end with a homework assignment. Some will require reading film summaries and articles, and each of these readings should take less than an hour to complete. Some lessons also provide optional worksheets, allowing learners to practice and assess their understanding. Learners are not expected to submit the optional homework but have the option to do so. Feedback can be expected within a two-day turnaround.Projects
Lessons 6 through 9 focus on all aspects of the project, such as researching and annotating. These activities must be completed for learners to successfully complete their final project. Work towards the final project may require 1-2 hours of independent work per lesson, depending on the learner. The course builds towards a final project, which can be submitted after lesson 9. Submitting is NOT REQUIRED but is encouraged so we can see the awesome allegory you created. Please let me know at any point before submitting the final project if feedback and grading are desired. For the optional feedback and grading, expect a seven-day turnaround once the final project is submitted.Assessment
The course builds towards a final project, which can be submitted after lesson 9. Please let me know at any point before submitting the final project, if feedback and grading of the final project is desired since it is not automatic. For the optional feedback and grading, expect a 7-day turn around once the final project is submitted.Class Experience
US Grade 9 - 12
This is a 9-lesson self-paced course that develops various skills, including research, critical thought, creativity, and writing. Lesson are pre-recorded. No live meetings. In this course, we will learn about allegory with the eventual goal of creating our own allegory. We are using the horror genre as our gateway to learning, since the genre has often been used to comment on our society. Learners will gain an understanding of history and social studies as they discover the links between the horror genre and events like The Second Red Scare and 9/11. They will then study a current societal issue in preparation to write their own horror movie outline. We will be watching some short horror films in Lesson 1 and reading horror film summaries in the first half of the course, so please visit the parental guidance section to see the materials that will be included and how they will be used. Note: These video lessons are on the lengthy end. Most are in the 30-40 minute range, and lesson 5 is closer to 50 minutes.
Learning Goals
Understand how different historical events impacted society and horror filmsExplain rationale for creative choices
Syllabus
Curriculum
Follows Teacher-Created CurriculumStandards
Aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS)9 Lessons
over 9 WeeksLesson 1:
Project Overview & Introduction to Allegory
The lesson will introduce learners to the goal and project of the course.
Then, learners will be introduced to the concept of allegory. We will watch and analyze short horror films to further their understanding of allegory, as well as commentary. Lesson 2:
The Red Scare & Key Terms
Part of the lesson will cover the basics of the Second Red Scare/McCarthyism. Learners will discover how the Red Scare impacted society by creating several anxieties, including spy paranoia and a fear of standing out.
The lesson will also introduce learners to the terms protagonist, antagonist, and conflict. We will explore several horror movie loglines to identify the 3 terms.
For homework, students will read the film summaries for 2 1950s McCarthy-allegory horror films. Lesson 3:
Conflicts & Endings
The beginning of the lesson will recap the assigned film summaries as we identify the protagonist, antagonist, and conflict in each. Learners will then try to figure out which Red Scare anxieties are represented in both films.
The lesson will then focus on how allegories end with commentary. Learners will be guided to discover how the endings of the 2 assigned film summaries comment on real-life society. Lesson 4:
The Atomic Era & Considering Audience
The lesson will cover the basics of the Atomic Era and its impact on society, such as mutually assured destruction and radiation effects.
The lesson will then focus on Gojira. We will cover the events that inspired Gojira and look at the differences between the Japan-release and the U.S.-release. Students will be guided to discover how the audience of both countries influenced the differences between the releases. Other Details
Parental Guidance
This course has a focus on the horror genre and does contain some footage from PG-13 films. Further, this course explores societal issues that some might find uncomfortable or undesirable. Below is breakdown of different media featured in the course.
"Alma" dir. by Rodrigo Blass: features imagery that some might find creepy, though not graphic. The intensity of the short film is comparable to Laika's Coraline.
"Make Me A Sandwich" dir. by Denman Hatch & Matt Hamilton, PG-13: features a husband who repeatedly yells at his wife. A skeleton and maggots are featured and are intended to be slightly disturbing. One scene includes a man chewing glass and bleeding from his mouth. Students do have the option to skip over the short film.
"The Exortwist" dir. Laura Koval: an animated parody of The Exorcist. Religious references are made, such as crucifixes made of candy being turned upside down. Features a jump scare intended for comedic effect. This film is used for optional homework to further understand allegory.
Film summaries for 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Common Sense Media: 11+) and 1951's The Thing From Another World (Not Rated). The Thing does mention minor details of how some characters were killed. To emphasize, students will not be expected to watch the films. They will only read a summary.
Optional film summary for 1958's I Married a Monster from Outer Space (Not Rated). The film summary does feature a minor character who is mentioned as being a prostitute. To emphasize, students will not be expected to watch the film. They will only read a summary.
YouTube video titled “Godzilla 1954 - A Masterpiece of a Monster” uploaded by RealLifeRyan. Snippets from timestamp 6:45 to 16:23 are used. Students will not access YouTube.
YouTube video titled “Godzilla - The Soul of Japan” uploaded by kaptainkristian. Time stamp from 2:08 to 4:13. Students will not access YouTube.
YouTube video titled "The Y2K Scare | National Geographic" uploaded by National Geographic. Students will not access YouTube.
A 9/11 video clip of people running from a cloud of debris. Snippet comes from a YouTube video titled "Crowds run for shelter during September 11th attacks in NYC" uploaded by Eyewitness News NBC7NY. Time stamp from 1:10 to 2:08. Students will not access YouTube.
A similar clip from 2008's Cloverfield (PG-13). Some cursing can be heard in the scene. See YouTube video titled "Cloverfield (1/9) Movie CLIP - The Statue of Liberty's Head (2008) HD" uploaded by Movieclips. Time stamp from 0:00 to 2:12. Students will not access YouTube.
Similar video clip from 2005's War of the Worlds (PG-13) that shows aliens zapping people into dust. YouTube video titled "War of the Worlds (1/8) Movie CLIP - The War Begins (2005) HD" uploaded by Movieclips. Time stamp from 0:00 to 1:33. Students will not access YouTube.
Article: "Social Media and Self-Doubt" by Rae Jacobson. The article contains a reference to one teen having an eating disorder.
Lesson 7 will show students how to safely search for articles. While students are not expected or forced to use a specific search engine, I will demonstrate finding articles using Google Scholar, Kiddle, and KidzSearch. The pros and cons of each search engine will be discussed.
Pre-Requisites
Learners do not need to be familiar with horror movies, though their interest in this course and project would certainly benefit from a love of the genre.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined March, 2023
5.0
24reviews
Star Educator
Teacher expertise and credentials
3 Degrees
Master's Degree in Education from University of Redlands
Bachelor's Degree from University of California, Riverside
Associate's Degree from Riverside City College
I am an experienced educator who has worked both in-person and online. My Bachelor's is in Creative Writing and my Master's is in Education. I have taught allegory to high school students via The Crucible. However, as a horror fan, I always saw such an awesome opportunity to bring the history of horror movies into the conversation. This course has been on my mind for years, slowly refining itself based on new ideas and new experiences. I am excited to finally offer this course to you!Reviews
Self-Paced Course
$19
weekly or $165 for all content9 pre-recorded lessons
9 weeks of teacher support
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Ages: 13-18
