Editing a Lesson Plan ¶

To edit a lesson plan that you’ve already created, simply click on the "Edit My Profile" button on the top-menu bar. The top menu bar can be found at towards the top right-hand corner of the screen. You should now see the Edit Profile screen. On this screen, you can edit anything you’ve created for the website. Scroll down past the two gray boxes until you see a section called Lesson Plans. If you’ve submitted any lesson plans to the website, they will be listed here. Just scroll through the titles until you see the name of the lesson you want to edit. Then click the "Edit" link underneath that title. You should be brought to the Add/Edit Lesson Plan page. Just simply follow the steps outlined in the "Adding a Lesson Plan" section to make adjustments to your lesson plan.

Adding a Film to the MEDb Directory ¶

Let's say you want to list the films that will be used in the lesson plan you've created. To do this, you need to first add your film(s) to the MEDb Film directory. This tutorial will guide you through that process.

To add a film to the MEDb directory, click the "Directory" button found in the "Films" section on the side menu bar. (The side menu bar is located on the left of the screen. The "Films" section is the third block of buttons on the left.)

You should now see the Film Directory page. On this page, all of the films which are currently in the MEDb database will be listed here alphabetically. You should be aware that there may be more than one page of films here. To access any of the other pages, click on the page numbers listed at the top of the page (just underneath the top menu bar).

To add a new film, click the "Add a New Film" link at the top of the page. This will take you to the Add/Edit Film screen. Now follow these steps:

1. Title: Add the name of the film in this field.
2. Release Year: From this pull-down menu, select the year the film was made. To do this, click on the arrow and scroll down to the correct year.
3. Director: In this field, type in the name of the film’s director.
4. Country: From this pull-down menu, select the name of the country in which this film was made. (HINT: The USA is listed as "United States." You can get to that section of the menu faster by typing "U" or the first letter of the country you're looking for.)
5. Length: In this field, type how long the film is in minutes.
6. IMDB Number: The IMDB Number field is optional because it’s so complicated. You can leave this field blank if you would like to. Our database tries to link to the Internet Movie Database to provide more in-depth information about the film. To provide the database with this link, go to the Internet Movie Database and follow these steps:
   • In the box on the left menu bar called "Search the IMDb," select "Titles" from the pull-down menu bar. Type the title of your film in the field below. Then click the "Go" button.
   • Once you’ve found your film, click on the link to that film’s entry. Now, take a look at the URL (web address) for this title. You should see an address that looks something like "http://www.imdb.com/tt0211915/." Highlight the number after the "tt" (in this example, it would be: 00211915) and press Ctrl+C (on Windows) or Apple+C (on Macintosh). This will copy that number to the computer’s clipboard.
   • Then, return to the MEDb. Put your cursor in the IMDb Number field and press Ctrl+V (on Windows) or Apple+V (on Macintosh) to paste that number into this field. Voila!
7. Summary: In this field, type a brief description of the movie’s plot.

Click the "Save and Continue" button. Ignore the next page. We're going to eventually remove it from the database. Your film should now be added to the website.

Adding a Lesson Plan ¶

This is by far the most complicated thing you could do on the Media Education Database. It may look tough, but once you've done it a few times, it will be easy for you. So, don't worry if the following instructions look intimidating.

To create a lesson plan, make sure that you are logged in as a user on the Media Education Database. (If you’re not logged in the top menu bar will say "login." Click this link and enter your login information.) Once you are logged in, click the “add lesson plan” link at the top menu bar. The top menu bar can be found towards the top right-hand corner of the screen.

You should now see the Add/Edit Lesson Plan screen. Below this screen, you’ll see a box which is called Lesson Preparation. There are several fields listed underneath this title. These fields help other MEDb users to know what the lesson is about and what materials he or she will need to prepare to teach your lesson. For the most part, each of the fields you see here will be self-explanatory. You can skip this section if you don’t need to have it explained to you. However, if you have questions about what any fields mean or how these fields work, they are listed below:

• Lesson Title: In this field, type the name you wish to give this lesson plan. It will help if you give it a brief name which describes something about what the lesson teaches or what kinds of activities are involved in the lesson.
• Summary: In this field, enter in a brief but substantive description of your lesson. For example, you might discuss which concepts are taught in the lesson and some of the activities in which the students will participate during the lesson. In the future, when other teachers browse through the lesson plans on this website, they will be shown the lesson title and this description. So, you should make this description clear and easy to understand.
• Subject: This field is a drop-down menu which will indicate the subject (English, Theatre, History, Science, etc.) for which this lesson plan was originally intended. By default, it will automatically say "English (Language Arts)." That’s just because English is the first subject to appear alphabetically on this list. To change it to a different subject, click on the arrow next to this field and select your subject from the list. If your subject is not listed here, please contact the MEDb administrator.
• Age Group: In this drop-down menu, you will indicate the age group for whom this lesson plan was originally written (such as Elementary, Junior High, etc). By default, it will automatically list "Elementary" as the selected age group. To change this, click on the arrow next to this field and select the appropriate age group. If your lesson plan was originally written for a "fuzzy" age group such as sixth or ninth graders, just make your best judgment about which age group your lesson plan would be appropriate for.
• Objective: In this field, you will enter in the objective of the lesson plan. In other words, you will type in the goals that this lesson plan will try to accomplish. One way to think about the objective is to ask yourself: "What specific task(s) will the students be able to perform to demonstrate they understand the concepts taught in this lesson?" You’ll notice that there is some text that is automatically typed in this field. It states "Students will be able to" and then allows you to type in the rest. You can delete this automatic text if you would like, but we recommend using this phrase in all of your objectives statements. This is a required field.
• Concepts: Here you may type which specific concepts or skills that this lesson is designed to teach. You can write as many or as few as you would like. We recommend separating the concepts with a comma "," when there are more than one or two concepts.
• Strategies/Modes: This is not a required field. That means that you may leave it blank if you would like. If you leave it blank, it will not display this field on the final lesson plan when other people look at your lesson plan. If you prefer to use this field, you may list the "learning strategies" that you use in this lesson plan. Learning strategies are just the broad name given to the types of activities you use in your lesson plans---such as a Venn Diagram, a Comparison/Contrast Matrix, etc. You may write anything you’d like in this text field.
• Curricular Goals: In this field, you can write what larger curricular goals you are working to achieve by teaching this lesson plan. These can be state curricular goals (such as the Core Curriculum), national curricular goals (such as the National Standards of Theatre Education) or goals that you have set for your own class. It’s up to you. If you know HTML, this text field accepts all HTML codes. It also accepts hard returns.
• Materials Needed: In this field, you will indicate the types of materials that the teacher would need to make sure he or she had prepared before teaching this lesson. Will they need a TV/VCR? Will they need an overhead projector? 3x5 cards? Construction paper? List all the materials here. It’s also a good idea to be as specific as possible. Don’t just assume that every teacher will have these materials on hand.

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The next section on the Add/Edit Lesson Plan page is the Lesson Directions section. In this space, you will write the specific directions a teacher would need in order to successfully deliver this lesson. Once again, each of the fields you see here will be self-explanatory, for the most part. You can skip this section if you don’t need to have it explained to you. However, if you have questions about what any fields mean or how these fields work, they are listed below:

Warm-up/Anticipatory Set: In this text field, you can write the directions for the beginning part of the lesson plan. Typically, the anticipatory set is used to get the student’s attention and get them ready to learn the concepts which will be covered that day. This text field is not required, which means that you can leave it blank if you would like. You should also be aware that this field accepts all HTML codes. It also accepts hard returns.

Instruction/Main Activity: In this text field, you can write the directions for the main instruction or the main portion of the activity. This is the "meat" of the lesson plan. This text field is not required, which means that you can leave it blank if you would like. You should also be aware that this field accepts all HTML codes. It also accepts hard returns.

Practice/Reinforcement: In this text field, you can write the directions for the final part of the activity. This is the part of the lesson plan when the students practice what they’ve learned. This is also the point in the lesson during which they demonstrate to you that they have successfully understood the lesson for that day. This text field is not required, which means that you can leave it blank if you would like. You should also be aware that this field accepts all HTML codes. It also accepts hard returns.

Assignment: If you would like to give your students any sort of follow-up assignment or homework, you may list it here in this section. This text field is not required, which means that you can leave it blank if you would like. You should also be aware that this field accepts all HTML codes. It also accepts hard returns.

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The final section of the Add/Edit Lesson Plan page is the Author’s Evaluation. This field is not required, which means that you can leave it blank if you would like. In this section, you can write your own evaluation of how effective this lesson plan was in your classroom. You can add any advice or comments here in this field. Now, click “Save and Continue” to go to the second page (page 2 of 3).

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The next page is called Related Films. On this page, you can tell the database to list the films or film clips you will be using in this lesson plan. If you didn’t use any films in this lesson plan, just click "continue." Otherwise continue with the following steps:

1. Scroll through the list of films. Do you see your film(s) listed here? If not, you will have to add your film(s) to the film directory and come back to edit this section later. (See "Adding Films to the Film Directory" and then "Editing a Lesson Plan.") Just click the "continue" button at the top of the screen and continue to the next page. You can skip the rest of the steps in this section.
2. If you find the title of your film here, click the “Add to Lesson” link just below it.
3. Check back up at the top of the page to make sure the title of the film is now listed here. If you accidentally listed the wrong title, click the "delete" link just below the incorrect title. A pop-up window will be displayed which asks you if you’re sure you want to delete this title. Check to make sure that you do, and then click "OK."
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have added all the correct films to your lesson plan.
5. Then click “continue” to proceed to the third and final step.

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Now you should be on the Current Documents page. On this page, you can upload any handouts or any files which are relevant to your lesson plan. Our website accepts several file formats such as Microsoft Word (.doc), Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), PowerPoint (.ppt) and many others. Just be warned that if you upload a file created by a program which is not very common (such as Corel Wordperfect), other users may not be able to access that document.

If you did not create any documents to supplement this lesson plan, just click the "Finish" button at the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, continue with the following steps.

1. You should see a box called Upload Documents on this page. In the field entitled File Title, enter the name you want to give this handout. This will be the name which is displayed to other users. Give your handout a clear and concise title that tells your reader something about what the handout contains. For example, you could call it "Lecture Notes on Cinematography" or something like that.
2. Next, click on the "Browse" button. Locate the file you want to upload on your hard drive (typically, you will find your file in a folder such as "My Documents"). Click the file and select "open" or simply double-click the file. The pathname for that file should now be listed in the File field of the Upload Documents box.
3. Click the "Save" button. The server will now begin the process of uploading the document. Please be aware that this could take a long time depending on the size of the file and the speed of your Internet connection. Do not press any other buttons while this process is taking place.
4. Your file should now be listed at the top of the page. If you would like to view the file to make sure it loaded correctly, click the "View" link underneath the title. If you would like to edit the name you gave to this document, click the "Edit" button. If you would like to delete the file, click "delete."
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until all of the correct documents have been uploaded to the server. Then click "Finish.

Please submit your own original work to this website. According to our User Agreement, you will be held responsible if you upload copyrighted or plagiarized files to our server.

You are now finished creating your first lesson! You should now see your lesson displayed as it will look to other users. Skim through the lesson plan to make sure everything is correct and give yourself a pat on the back!

Adding a Unit ¶

To create a new unit and associate lesson plans with that unit, make sure you are logged in as a user on the Media Education Database. (If you’re not logged in the top menu bar will say “login.” Click this link and enter your login information.)

Once you are logged in, click the "Unit" button underneath the "Instruction" heading on the side menu bar. The side menu bar is located on the left of the screen. The "Instruction" heading is the second block of buttons on the left.

You should now see the Instructional Units page. Click the "Add a New Unit" link at the top of the page. This will take you to the Add/Edit Unit page. There are several fields listed on this page. These fields are used just to help other users know what your unit is about. For the most part, each of the fields you see here will be self-explanatory. You can skip this section if you don’t need to have it explained to you. However, if you have questions about what any fields mean or how these fields work, they are listed below:

• Unit Title: In this field, enter the title you want to give your unit. It will help if you give it a brief name which describes something about what the unit teaches.
• Subject: This field is a drop-down menu which will indicate the subject (English, Theatre, History, Science, etc.) for which this unit was originally intended. By default, it will automatically say "English (Language Arts)." That’s just because English is the first subject to appear alphabetically on this list. To change it to a different subject, click on the arrow next to this field and select your subject from the list. If your subject is not listed here, please contact the MEDb administrator.
• Age Group: In this drop-down menu, you will indicate the age group for whom this unit was originally written (such as Elementary, Junior High, etc). By default, it will automatically list "Elementary" as the selected age group. To change this, click on the arrow next to this field and select the appropriate age group. If your unit was originally designed for a "fuzzy" age group such as sixth or ninth graders, just make your best judgment about which age group your unit would be appropriate for.
• Objective: In this field, you will enter in the objective of the unit. In other words, you will type in the goals that this unit will try to accomplish. One way to think about the objective is to ask yourself: "What specific task(s) will the students be able to perform to demonstrate they understand the concepts taught in this unit?" You’ll notice that there is some text that is automatically typed in this field. It states "Students will be able to" and then allows you to type in the rest. You can delete this automatic text if you would like, but we recommend using this phrase in all of your objectives statements. This is a required field.
• Main Concepts: Here you may type the general concepts or skills that this lesson is designed to teach. You can write as many or as few as you would like. We recommend separating the concepts with a comma "," when there are more than one or two concepts.
• Curricular Goals: In this field, you can write what larger curricular goals you are working to achieve by teaching this unit. These can be state curricular goals (such as the Core Curriculum), national curricular goals (such as the National Standards of Theatre Education) or goals that you have set for your own class. It’s up to you. If you know HTML, this text field accepts all HTML codes. It also accepts hard returns.
• Unit Overview: In this field, enter in a brief but substantive description of your unit. For example, you might discuss which concepts are taught in the unit and some of the lessons or activities used in the unit. In the future, when other teachers browse through the units on this website, they will be shown the unit title and this description. So, you should make this description clear and easy to understand.
• Author's Evaluation: This field is not required, which means that you can leave it blank if you would like. In this section, you can write your own evaluation of how effective this unit was in your classroom. You can add any advice or comments here in this field.

Once you're finished, click the "Save and Continue" button to go to the second page (page 2 of 3).

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You will now be on the Lessons in Unit page. On this page, you'll add the lessons which you want to include in this unit. You can use lesson plans you developed yourself and/or you can add lesson plans created by other MEDb users. At the bottom of the page you can see that all of the lesson plans which have currently been added to the MEDb are listed here. If you haven't yet created any of the lesson plans which you want to add to this unit, just write the lesson plans and add them when you come back to edit this unit later (see "Adding a Lesson Plan" and "Editing a Unit"). Otherwise, continue with the following steps:

1. Scroll through the list of lesson plans. When you see the title of a lesson plan you want to add, click the "Add to Unit" link next to the title.
2. Add any other lesson plans you want to show up on this unit.
3. Check back up at the top of the page to make sure you didn't accidentally add the wrong lessons. If you added the wrong lesson, just click the "delete" link under the lesson title to remove it from the list. A pop-up window will be displayed which asks you if you’re sure you want to delete this title. Check to make sure that you do, and then click "OK."
4. The lesson plans will be listed in the order that you added them. Occassionally, you may find that you want to re-arrange the order of the lesson plans. To do this, look at the lesson plan you want to move. Underneath you'll see two links: "move down" and "move up." When you click "move down," it will move the lesson plan down one day. When you click "move up," it will move up one day. Keep clicking these links until the lesson plans are in the order in which you would like to have them.

When you're finished, click the "Continue" button to go to the third page (page 3 of 3).

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You should now be on the Projects in Unit page. On this page, you'll add the course projects which you want to include in this unit. In case you didn't know already, you can create course projects for your students to work on and share the instructions and ideas for these projects with other users. You can add projects you developed yourself and/or you can add projects created by other MEDb users. At the bottom of the page you can see that all of the projects which have currently been added to the MEDb are listed here. If you haven't yet created any of the projects which you want to add to this unit, just click "finish." If you want to, you can create a project and add it to your unit later (see "Adding a Project" and "Editing a Unit"). Otherwise, continue with the following steps:

1. Scroll through the list of projects. When you see the title of a project you want to add, click the "Add to Unit" link next to the title.
2. Add any other projects you want to show up on this unit.
3. Check back up at the top of the page to make sure you didn't accidentally add the wrong projects. If you added the wrong project, just click the "delete" link under the project title to remove it from the list. A pop-up window will be displayed which asks you if you’re sure you want to delete this title. Check to make sure that you do, and then click "OK."
4. The projects will be listed in the order that you added them. If for whatever reason you decide that you want to re-arrange the order of the projects. To do this, look at the project you want to move. Underneath you'll see two links: "move down" and "move up." When you click "move down," it will move the project down in the list one space. When you click "move up," it will move up on the list one space. Keep clicking these links until the projects are in the order in which you would like to have them.

Click the "Finish" button when you're done. You are now finished creating your first unit! You should now see your unit displayed as it will look to other users. Skim through the unit to make sure everything is correct and take a well-deserved break!

Adding a Project ¶

The MEDb allows you to share instructions and ideas for course projects for your students to work on. To create a new unit and course projects with that unit, make sure you are logged in as a user on the Media Education Database. (If you’re not logged in the top menu bar will say “login.” Click this link and enter your login information.)

Once you are logged in, click the "Projects" button underneath the "Instruction" heading on the side menu bar. The side menu bar is located on the left of the screen. The "Instruction" heading is the second block of buttons on the left.

You should now see the Course Projects page. Click the "Add a New Project" link at the top of the page. This will take you to the Add/Edit Project page. Below this screen, you’ll see a box which is called Project Preparation. There are several fields listed underneath this title. These fields will help other MEDb users to know what the lesson is about and what materials he or she will need to prepare to incorporate your project in his or her curriculum. For the most part, each of the fields you see here will be self-explanatory. You can skip this section if you don’t need to have it explained to you. However, if you have questions about what any fields mean or how these fields work, they are listed below:

• Project Title: In this field, enter the title you want to give your project. It will help if you give it a brief name which describes something about what the project is about.
• Summary: In this field, enter in a brief but substantive description of your project. For example, you might describe the purpose of the project and what the project involves. In the future, when other teachers browse through the projects on this website, they will be shown the project title and this description. So, you should make this description clear and easy to understand.
• Subject: This field is a drop-down menu which will indicate the subject (English, Theatre, History, Science, etc.) for which this unit was originally intended. By default, it will automatically say "English (Language Arts)." That’s just because English is the first subject to appear alphabetically on this list. To change it to a different subject, click on the arrow next to this field and select your subject from the list. If your subject is not listed here, please contact the MEDb administrator.
• Age Group: In this drop-down menu, you will indicate the age group for whom this unit was originally written (such as Elementary, Junior High, etc). By default, it will automatically list "Elementary" as the selected age group. To change this, click on the arrow next to this field and select the appropriate age group. If your project was originally designed for a "fuzzy" age group such as sixth or ninth graders, just make your best judgment about which age group your project would be appropriate for.
• Concepts: Here you may type the general concepts or skills that this project is designed to teach. You can write as many or as few as you would like. We recommend separating the concepts with a comma "," when there are more than one or two concepts.
• Curricular Goals: In this field, you can write what larger curricular goals you are working to achieve by assigning this project to students. These can be state curricular goals (such as the Core Curriculum), national curricular goals (such as the National Standards of Theatre Education) or goals that you have set for your own class. It’s up to you. If you know HTML, this text field accepts all HTML codes. It also accepts hard returns.

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The next section on the Add/Edit Project page is the Project Directions (day by day) section. In this section, you indicate the directions for the project and how it might be carried out through the days that the students are working on it. Please be as clear as possible here.

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The next section on the Add/Edit Project page is the Grading section. Here you can indicate the grading criteria for the project if you wish.

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The next section is the Author's Evaluation. This field is not required, which means that you can leave it blank if you would like. In this section, you can write your own evaluation of how effective this project was in your classroom. You can add any advice or comments here in this field. Now, click “Save and Continue” to go to the second page (page 2 of 2).

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Now you should be on the Current Documents page. On this page, you can upload any handouts or any files which are relevant to your project. Our website accepts several file formats such as Microsoft Word (.doc), Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), PowerPoint (.ppt) and many others. Just be warned that if you upload a file created by a program which is not very common (such as Corel Wordperfect), other users may not be able to access that document.

If you did not create any documents to supplement this project, just click the "Finish" button at the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, continue with the following steps.

1. You should see a box called Upload Documents on this page. In the field entitled File Title, enter the name you want to give this handout. This will be the name which is displayed to other users. Give your handout a clear and concise title that tells your reader something about what the handout contains. For example, you could call it "Project Instructions" or something like that.
2. Next, click on the "Browse" button. Locate the file you want to upload on your hard drive (typically, you will find your file in a folder such as "My Documents"). Click the file and select "open" or simply double-click the file. The pathname for that file should now be listed in the File field of the Upload Documents box.
3. Click the "Save" button. The server will now begin the process of uploading the document. Please be aware that this could take a long time depending on the size of the file and the speed of your Internet connection. Do not press any other buttons while this process is taking place.
4. Your file should now be listed at the top of the page. If you would like to view the file to make sure it loaded correctly, click the "View" link underneath the title. If you would like to edit the name you gave to this document, click the "Edit" button. If you would like to delete the file, click "delete."
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until all of the correct documents have been uploaded to the server. Then click "Finished Adding Files."

You are now finished creating your first project! You should now see your project displayed as it will look to other users. Skim through the project to make sure everything is correct and enjoy the rest of your day!

Editing a Unit ¶

To edit an instructional unit that you’ve already created, simply click on the "Edit My Profile" button on the top-menu bar. The top menu bar can be found at towards the top right-hand corner of the screen. You should now see the Edit Profile screen. On this screen, you can edit anything you’ve created for the website. Scroll down past the two gray boxes until you see a section called Units. If you’ve submitted any instructional units to the website, they will be listed here. Just scroll through the titles until you see the name of the unit you want to edit. Then click the "Edit" link underneath that title. You should be brought to the Add/Edit Unit page. Just simply follow the steps outlined in the "Adding a Unit" section to make adjustments to your unit.

Editing a Project ¶

To edit a course project that you’ve already created, simply click on the "Edit My Profile" button on the top-menu bar. The top menu bar can be found at towards the top right-hand corner of the screen. You should now see the Edit Profile screen. On this screen, you can edit anything you’ve created for the website. Scroll down past the two gray boxes until you see a section called Projects. If you’ve submitted any course projects to the website, they will be listed here. Just scroll through the titles until you see the name of the project you want to edit. Then click the "Edit" link underneath that title. You should be brought to the Add/Edit Project page. Just simply follow the steps outlined in the "Adding a Project" section to make adjustments to your project.