Memphis Belle Movie Lesson Plan

Memphis Belle Movie Lesson Plan helps teachers share the heroic story of the B-17 bomber crew to show their students what true leadership looks like.

After completing Memphis Belle Movie Lesson Plan, students will gain clarity and understanding in growing character skills, leading by serving, and living by principles.

Can you perform your duties when you are under stress and pressure?

Will you take the right action to lead in times of challenge?

The crew of the Memphis Belle only had one more mission to complete during World War II and they would be headed back to the United States as heroes. But their final mission would test their strength, relationships, and leadership.

The movie Memphis Belle tells the heroic story of the B-17 bomber crew who completed 30 missions without losing a member. It teaches us that true leadership is about the action we take to do the right thing in the moments we experience. A wonderful story not only about the history of World War II but about camaraderie and the human experiences which bring us together.

Memphis Belle Movie Lesson Plan will help students reflect on and discuss the true meaning of leadership while gaining an appreciation for the sacrifices of the members of our Armed Forces.

In order to complete these activities, students will need to watch the movie Memphis Belle, which has a rating of PG-13 (thematic elements, some language and brief smoking images) and a run time of 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Each of our Leadership at the Movies lesson plans includes the following activities:

✅ Reflection: allows students to journal about one of the movie’s themes prior to watching.

✅ Analysis: questions and prompts to analyze the characters, plot, and climax of the movie.

✅ Practice & Discussion: a partner/group activity that takes the principles of the movie and asks students to take action and grow in their own lives.

✅ Extension: a RAFT (Role-Audience-Format-Topic) writing prompt to help students apply their new knowledge.

✅ Lead for Impact: challenges students to pinpoint how the hero of the story exhibited The 12 Fundamentals of Impact and then synthesize how they can apply the lessons to writing their own story.

WARNING: This is a DEEP LEARNING lesson plan to help students employ a LEADERSHIP approach to SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING.

These activities are designed to help students meet the following Social & Emotional Learning Competencies as outlined by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL):

⭐ Develop SELF-AWARENESS and SELF-MANAGEMENT skills to achieve school and life success.

⭐ Use SOCIAL-AWARENESS and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS.

⭐ Demonstrate DECISION-MAKING skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school, and community contexts.

The activities in Memphis Belle Movie Lesson Plan will challenge students to move closer to mastery in the following skills: leadership, cooperation with others, creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, problem solving, and judgment and decision making.