There’s a reason Rod Serling’s series, The Twilight Zone, has stood the test of time. The stories are compelling, the episodes are well-crafted, and the themes are timeless. With this lesson download, you can also use The Twilight Zone to help students develop analysis skills and connect classic storytelling to modern issues.
In this episode, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” a neighborhood is destroyed by fear and baseless accusations. Issues raised by the program include scapegoating, modern witch-hunts, and fear’s ability to cloud logical thought.
The video is about 24 minutes long and the worksheet completion will take about 15-to-30 minutes, depending on how much time you allow for discussion. Works great as a standalone lesson, sub plan, or supplement to a study of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible.
On my last product update, this episode was available to Paramount+ subscribers. It can be purchased via Amazon Prime and YouTube. This download also includes a link to an open-access website where the episode is being streamed with ads.
Download includes: 3-page PDF + Google Drive version of student worksheet (uneditable)
Want to expand this lesson and have students learn more about Rod Serling, the creator of The Twilight Zone? Click here for a student-led author biography research activity designed to help them learn about the fascinating life of Rod Serling, a guy who joined the Army to fight in WW2 the day after he graduated from high school, used entertainment writing as a tool of activism, and worked as a teacher even while he was a big-shot Hollywood producer. Kids should know him.
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