May Learning Calendar with DVD Resources
by Diane Flynn Keith
Author of Carschooling
There are historic and important events to commemorate nearly every day of the
year. This Learning Calendar will help you note events and people that impact our
lives with recommendations for DVDs, CDs, books, and websites to further learning
and boost your student's knowledge of the world. All of the DVD, CD, and book
recommendations are available through our affiliation with Amazon.com -- just
click on the links to make a purchase that allows us to continue to provide this
resource for free.
Homefires' May Learning Calendar
- James Whittaker became the first American to reach the summit
of Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth, in 1963. Watch the DVD,
"Into Thin Air: Death on Everest,"
based on Jon Krakauer's best seller that was a first-hand account of a tragic Everest climb
in 1996 that claimed 5 lives. Download this free, Learning Guide for this film geared for middle and high school
students.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- J. Edgar Hoover, controversial Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation dies in 1972. Get National Geographic's
"The FBI".
Explore the history of the FBI, from the early days of J. Edgar Hoover's legendary G-men to the
unique challenges of our modern, high-tech era.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Pete Seeger, American folk singer, composer, and political activist
born 1919. Songs include, If I Had A Hammer and
Where Have All The Flowers Gone.
Use this event to inspire guitar lessons! Get
"Beyond Basics: Fingerstyle Solo Guitar"
with Mark Hanson. Open up the world of playing chords and melodies while learning five complete songs
note-for-note, alternating folk, ragtime, blues and more.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- National Guardsmen open-fired into a group of demonstrators protesting
the Viet Nam War at Kent State University in Ohio killing four students. Go to your
local library and get AIM's "Nixon: His Politics & His Presidency".
Utilizing film clips and photographs of the era, this program traces Richard Nixon's political career
from his 1952 election as Eisenhower's vice president, to his own presidency and finally his resignation.
Learn about Nixon's policies
on the Vietnam War and the 1970 Kent State demonstration.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Cinco De Mayo, the fifth of May, marks the Mexican Army victory over the
French at the Battle of Puebla, and represents Mexican independence from foreign intervention.
Watch the History Channel's "Cinco De Mayo."
Learn the significance of Cinco de Mayo and more!
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- The dirigible, Hindenburg, blew up and burned killing 36 persons in 1937.
Watch the movie "The Great Dirigibles.
Daring flights of early pioneers, descriptions of great American airships, beginning with the
pioneer invention by Dr. Solomon Andrews in 1865 and ending with the Hindenburg crash in 1937.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Peter Tchaikovsky, musical composer of
The Nutcracker Suite,
born in 1840. Share the glorious music Tchaikovsky wrote with your students by watching
Walt Disney's DVD: Sleeping Beauty.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States, was born in
1884. Learn more about the life and times of Truman and his presidency by watching
PBS Home Video's American Experience: Truman.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Sir James Matthew Barrie, author of Peter Pan born 1860.
We suggest four films all based on the classic, timeless book. Choose from the film version of the
Broadway musical Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby,
or the animated Return to Neverland, or
Hook (Steven Spielberg's
adaptation), and Peter Pan.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Transcontinental Railroad completed in 1869 in Utah.
Get "America's Railroads: The Steam Train Legacy"
and relive the history of America's greatest railroads, from the building of the first transcontinental
line to the height of steam engine operations during World War II.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Salvador Dali, Spanish, surrealist artist, born 1904.
Watch a film biography, titled Salvador Dali (Artists of the 20th Century).
It presents the artist's entire repertoire - painting, sculpture, writing, fashion and film - in the
context of his extraordinary life and international career. The narration of the film has been drawn
from Dali's own writings.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- First nationwide coal miner's strike in 1902, resulting in recognition of
United Mine Workers Union. Homefires recommends two movies themed around coal mining.
The first is "Harlan County, U.S.A.,"
which film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company
in Harlan County Kentucky in June 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined
with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike which lasted more than a year and included
violent battles (rated PG-13).
The second is the PG-rated,
"October Sky."
Set in Coalwood, West Virginia, 1957, coal mining is king and no one can escape life underground. But
when high schooler Homer Hickam, Jr. sees the Soviet satellite Sputnik streak overhead, he aims for
the stars and a new destiny in this incredible true story of hope, determination and triumph.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America is
founded in 1607. View National Geograpic's
"The New World: Nightmare in Jamestown."
Geared for more mature audiences (about age 13 and up), it's a story of bubonic plague, starvation,
espionage and cannibalism -- and the founding of America's first colony based on exclusive access
to forensics and archaeology. Authentic recreations bring to life one of the most dramatic chapters
in America's history.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- The Lewis & Clark expedition begins In 1804, on a
mission to explore the Northwest from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Homefires recommends
PBS' "Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery."
Join Lewis and Clark as they lead the most courageous and important expedition in American history.
Acclaimed Director, Ken Burns, recreates one of the nation's most enduring adventures.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Lyman Frank Baum, author of Dorothy and The Wizard of OZ, born 1856.
Based on L. Frank Baum's treasured book series, the movie
The Wizard Of Oz: The Lost Original L. Frank Baum Version
was judged the best family film of all time by American Film Institute. Embark to the Emerald City on
the most famous road in movie history. Dorothy (Judy Garland), Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Woodman
(Jack Haley) and Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) await you on the Yellow Brick Road and "Over the Rainbow."
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- U.S. Senate acquits President Andrew Johnson in Impeachment trial, 1868.
Johnson succeeded Abraham Lincoln. Get PBS'
"The Presidents Collection".
It examines the complicated and controversial presidencies of vice-presidents who took office when a president died in office.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- U.S. Supreme Court issued Brown v. Board of Education decision, ruling segregation
of schools unconstitutional, 1954. View
"With All Deliberate Speed,"
the four-word phrase used by Justices in this landmark ruling that many believe has delayed the process of
change for over 50 years. The documentary explores the shocking history and legacy of the legal decision that
tore our nation apart and still divides us today.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Mount St. Helens in Washington state, erupts killing more than 60 people, 1980.
Watch "Fire Mountain: The Eruption and Rebirth of Mount St. Helens"
Captured in rare and spectacular aerial photography and survivor's own words and pictures, witness the fury
of the worst volcanic disaster in American history. Then, behold the miraculous natural recover of the land
and the new and awesome beauty of the volcano today, nearly two decades since it's devastating eruption. Now
you can decide which is the most awe-inspiring story the mountain has to tell; it's cataclysmic eruption or
it's incredible rebirth.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Malcolm X (Malcolm Little), a black nationalist and civil rights activist, born 1925.
Malcolm X, is
from filmmaker Spike Lee. Actor Denzel Washington and other top talents vividly portray the life and
times of Malcolm X,
and his impact on American history. "Here's a man who rose up from the dregs of society, spent
time in jail, reeducated himself and, through spiritual enlightenment, rose to the top," Lee says.
This film is rated PG-13 and is recommended for middle school students and up.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Charles Lindbergh flew first nonstop transatlantic solo flight
1927. Learn more about flight with the DVD,
"The Magic of Flight (IMAX)".
Relive the historical first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903, then soar with the world-famous Blue Angels
as they defy the laws of gravity with their most breathtaking maneuvers.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Amelia Earhart completed first solo flight by a woman across the Atlantic,
1932. Biography - Amelia Earhart
is a biographical portrait that explores the life of this legendary aviator - her motivations, aspirations,
frailties, accomplishments. She was daring, determined and outspoken. Yet
Amelia Earhart's
colorful and complex life was overshadowed by her mysterious disappearance on July 2, 1937.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the Sherlock Holmes
detective series, born 1859. British television captured the adventures
of Conan Doyle's Victorian detective in painstaking detail in the series,
"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,"
now available on DVD.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi SS officer who organized Adolf Hitler's "final
solution of the Jewish question," was captured on May 23, 1960, in Argentina and
smuggled to Israel to stand trial for war crimes. Found guilty, he was hanged in 1962. Watch either
"The Diary of Anne Frank"
or "Anne Frank - The Whole Story."
Both DVDs tell the incredibly moving story of Anne Frank, a Jewish teenage girl, who (along with her
family and friends of her family) hid in a secret annex behind her father's office in Amsterdam
during the Nazi occupation of Holland. She dutifully kept a diary, which became a worldwide bestseller
when her father published it in the 1950s.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- In 1543, Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus dies.
Known as the father of modern astronomy, he was the first European scientist to propose that Earth
and other planets revolve around the sun. Watch
"Standard Deviants Astronomy".
Take a trip back in time to the beginnings of astronomy, where you'll meet the scientists who first
began to study the stars, like Plato, Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Kepler.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- In 1975, the grizzly bear was given federal protection as a threatened
species under the Endangered Species Act.
"The Bear"
is a film that captures the raw essence of the wild with jaw-dropping animal performances, spectacular
mountain vistas and timeless lessons of nature. The highly acclaimed film centers on a precocious bear
cub and an old Grizzly as they struggle to endure the harsh wilderness and survive their deadliest foe - man.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Sally Ride, first American woman astronaut in space, born 1950.
View "IMAX: The Dream Is Alive"
and journey into space alongside the astronauts. Witness firsthand the historic first spacewalk by an American woman.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- The San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge opened 1937. Get NOVA's
"Building Big: Bridges".
Discover the world's greatest spans and the people who created them. What enables a simple arch bridge to
support such great weight? What holds up a suspension bridge? From the Golden Gate Bridge to some of the
world's groundbreaking spans, you'll explore dozens of monumental engineering feats through historic film
footage, fascinating photographs, illustrations and dramatic recreations.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- John Steinbeck's novel, "Tortilla Flat" was published in 1935.
Steinbeck is best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning
"Grapes of Wrath"
that was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Henry Fonda), and Best Director
(John Ford).
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand, and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first
to reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1953. Get National Geographic's
Everest: 50 Years on the Mountain.
It follows three sons of these two famous explorers climbing Everest in an amazing documentary adventure
that is suitable for middle school age students and up. Join their journey as they brave the elements and
face death to climb 29,000 feet of wind-blasted rock and ice.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- The unmanned U.S. space probe, Mariner 9, is launched on a successful mission
to gather scientific information on Mars, 1971. Watch
"Nova: Mars - Dead or Alive"
and join scientists as they explore the red planet. Includes film, interviews, and simulations.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
- Walt Whitman, author of "Leaves of Grass," born 1819.
While some of Whitman's Civil War poems are among his most famous, few realize Whitman served as a battlefield
nurse and tended the wounded and dying. The documentary,
"Walt Whitman and the Civil War,"
reviews his extraordinary life and presents excerpts of some of his greatest works.
Further the Learning with These Resources:
Do you have young children?
Check out the Preschool Learning Calendar!
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