Lesson Plans

YMI's educational outreach programs tap into popular culture to create a dynamic learning experience. Browse by subject through our library of free study guides and online resources, to find standards-based lesson plans for your grade level and programs for learners outside the classroom.

Language Arts
STEM Skills
Social Studies
Health & Safety
Sports & Fitness
Preschool
College
Home-Based Learning

Social Studies

Grades 3-5

Ever wonder what makes you, YOU? In Pixar Animation Studio’s all-new feature film Soul, Joe, a middle school band teacher, explores the answer to this…

Middle, High School

Introduce your students to the exciting careers available on the open waters with activities that will challenge them to work as a team and problem…

Elementary – Grades 1-3 and 4-6

Take your students on a learning adventure with activities and games that incorporate analytical thinking and creativity to explore the science behind avian migration, how…

K-12

Adopt a Cow is a FREE year-long educational enrichment program that pairs K-12 classes with a dairy calf in New England. Once registered, your class…

Grades 2-12

Add a close-to-home perspective to your curricula with expanded programs and activities inspired by dairy farmers for students from grades 2 through 12. Science on…

Grades 4-6

Take your students behind-the-scenes of the exciting world of agriculture with the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee. These lessons delve into the different stages of…

5-8

Help your students understand the importance—and fun—of using science as a tool for solving real world problems with The End Is Nye. The series, hosted…

K-2, 3-8

Help support your students’ language skills and social-emotional learning with two programs from got milk? For K-2, the “Never Doubt What You Love” program uses…

Middle School (grades 6-8)

Help your students become active citizens in their community and empower them to make changes they’re passionate about with We the People. The series of…

High School

Introduce your students to the concept of sustainable nutrition — food that promotes good health and a healthy environment — with help from the dairy…

Elementary (K-6)

Join Snoopy — a seasoned space traveler — in celebrating the 20th anniversary of humans living on the International Space Station! Students will learn about…

Elementary (Grades 1-4)

Explore space and the North and South Poles with activities that complement themes from two books in The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, an…

Elementary & Middle

Part of the New England Dairy & Food Council’s “Farm to School” initiative, What’s Your Moo I.Q.? provides school food service managers and classroom teachers…

Elementary (2-4)

Find out how milk and other nutritious foods make their way from local farmers to your students’ homes and school lunches. Students learn about dairy…

Elementary (2-4)

Take your students on a virtual field trip to five dairy farms in the southeastern United States with Meet the Milk Makers!, a video-based online…

High School & College

Enhance your Black History Month class plans with this study guide for Season 2 of the acclaimed WGN America Original Series UNDERGROUND. This gripping saga…

Middle & High School

Get set to bring the spirit of the 60’s back to life in your classroom when Hairspray LIVE! kicks off the holiday season in an…

Elementary (2-4)

Take your students on a virtual field trip to five Michigan dairy farms with Meet the Milk Makers!, a video-based online learning game (COMING SOON!)….

K-8

Add some fun to your social studies curriculum with the PEANUTS classic, You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown, now available on DVD. Use these standards-based activities…

Middle School

Introduce your students to the new 2015-2020 USDA Dietary Guidelines with these standards-based lesson plans for family and consumer sciences, health, science, social studies, and…

High School, College & Libraries

Reimagined for the 21st century, ROOTS is the epic story of an American family’s journey from slavery to freedom and their struggle to pass on…

Elementary (K-4)

Take your students on a virtual field trip to five Florida dairy farms with Meet the Milk Makers!, a video-based online learning game. Then explore…

High School & College

Bring the fight for equality to life in your classroom with SUFFRAGETTE, the stirring new film about the women who were willing to lose their…

Public Libraries

Use this viewer’s guide to invite your library patrons to discover Manhattan, the acclaimed WGN America original series beginning a new season on Tuesday, October…

High School & College

Bring a project shrouded in secrecy to life in your classroom with Manhattan, the WGN America original series beginning a new season on Tuesday, October…

Middle School

Use these standards-based lesson plans to help your students learn more about where eggs come from and how they move from the farm to our…

Elementary (K-6)

Celebrate the end of the school year with the FUN-raising excitement of Red Nose Day, the all-new, laugh-packed, star-studded, three-hour live television event airing Thursday,…

High School & College

Bring the Revolution to your classroom with learning resources based on TURN: Washington’s Spies, the AMC series that tells the little-known story of America’s first…

Elementary (3-6)

Introduce your students to the All-American grain — rice! Students learn how rice growing has contributed to American history since colonial times, and how today’s…

Middle School

Help bring life-saving vaccines to children around the world with the Shot@Life civics engagement curriculum. Students become informed citizens by exploring the need for childhood…

Elementary (2-4)

Take your students on a virtual field trip to five dairy farms with Meet the Milkmakers!, a video-based online learning game. Then explore the history…

Middle & High School

Add a service learning dimension to your social studies curriculum with Operation Change, the online documentary series that takes viewers on humanitarian adventures around the…

Elementary (3-5)

Get your students excited about learning with Ken Jennings’ Junior Genius Guides, a new series of kid-friendly, informative books that fit right into your lesson…

Elementary (2-4)

Find out how farm and city lifestyles connect to help both kids and our planet stay healthy. Students use a Venn diagram to compare Annie’s…

Elementary (3-5)

Turn your students’ enthusiasm for NFL Football into standards-based learning with lessons based on the TV series NFL Rush Zone: Guardians Unleashed. Students use map…

High School

Introduce your students to the “Big History” perspective on our past with Mankind The Story of All of Us, a groundbreaking 12-part series coming to…

Elementary & Middle School

Fasten your seat belt for a thrilling ride through the history and science of aviation with this study guide to Air Racers, a documentary of…

High School

Mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s ill-fated maiden voyage with this program inspired by the return of the Academy Award®-winning TITANIC, now in stunning…

Elementary (5-8)

Travel the globe in search of clues to a mysterious treasure with this study guide to the hit film The Adventures of Tintin, from Academy…

High School & College

Was Shakespeare a fraud? Weigh the evidence on both sides of the authorship debate with this study guide to the film Anonymous. Students examine what…

Middle & High School

Discover how tactics, technology, and fierce emotions combined to create a turning point in the Civil War with this study guide to the HISTORY documentary…

High School

Take a closer look at leadership and the courage required to face one’s fears with this study guide based on the PG-13 version of the…

Elementary (1-4)

Join two unlikely friends (who happen to be wolves) on an adventure-filled trek across the great Northwest with this study guide to the film Alpha…

The Terrific Tootsie Roll: A Tasty Story

Elementary (K-4)

Unwrap the history behind one of America’s favorite treats with activities that reinforce geography, language arts, and math skills. Students learn how Tootsie Roll got…

Middle & High School

Trace the impact of innovation on American history with activities that use primary sources drawn from the HISTORY documentary series America The Story of Us….

Middle & High School

Take a walk through time to meet every U.S. President from George Washington to Barak Obama with this field trip guide to the Presidents Gallery…

High School & Public Libraries

Enrich discussion of a contemporary classic with these study guides to Peter Jackson’s film, The Lovely Bones, based on the novel by Alice Sebold. The…

High School

Empower your students to improve their performance in school and make a positive difference in their community with these study guides based on Telemundo’s El…

Elementary (4-6)

Get a behind the scenes look at some of our nation’s most inspiring historical treasures with this study guide to the hit film Night at…

Summer Programs (ages 6-10)

Add an “extraterrestrial” dimension to your summer program with this activity kit based on the hit film Aliens in the Attic. Kids compete in a…

Church Groups & Libraries

Launch a “Hero Project” in your community with this discussion guide and toolkit inspired by the hit TNT television series Hawthorne. Includes thought-starters for planning…

Elementary (3-6)

Build self-confidence with this study guide based on the true story of Dr. Ben Carson, an African American whose talents and determination carried him from…

Church Groups & Libraries

Celebrate the gift to make a difference with this discussion guide to Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, based on the inspiring career of a…

High School & Public Libraries

Meet a band of heroes who fought to save lives during the Holocaust with this study guide to the film Defiance, based on the true…

High School

Sports history intertwines with world history and the African-American struggle for equal rights in this study guide to the HBO documentary Joe Louis: America’s Hero—Betrayed….

High School & College

Bring Beowulf to life with lessons on the historical background, characters, and themes of this epic story, now told onscreen. Students explore the family dynamics…

High School & College

Witness the tragic ending to the Native American struggle for independence, and learn how that struggle continues, with this study guide to the HBO docudrama…

High School & College

Weigh the challenges faced by a woman who led her nation to the pinnacle of power in a world dominated by men with this study…

Elementary (3-6)

Help your students discover the best in themselves and their power to make a real difference with this character education program based on the annual…

Middle School

Bring the history of golf to life with this language arts program based on the film The Greatest Game Ever Played — the true story…

High School & College

Tread the Forum alongside Cicero and Caesar to learn what life was really like in ancient Rome with this study guide to the HBO mini-series….

Elementary thru High School

Bring American history to life with this study guide to the hit film National Treasure. Students work with primary sources as they search out the…

High School & College

Explore the moral anguish of a Holocaust survivor with this study guide to Roman Polanski’s Academy Award-winning film The Pianist. Students gauge their own reactions…

Middle School

Uncover the science behind the greatest wonder of the ancient world with this study guide based on the ground-breking BBC documentary series Building the Great…

High School & Public Libraries

Bring America’s most beloved storyteller to life with these study guides based on the Ken Burns documentary Mark Twain. The high school program invites students…

High School

Add activism to your students’ extracurricular activities with this community action program inspired by Newman’s Own, the food company that was founded to fund charities…