Too Big to Fail (2011): Complete Movie Guide

- Grades
- Grades 9–12, High School
- File type
- Preparation
- Print ready
- Subject
- Social Studies, Economics, History, History: USA
- Topic
- economic concepts, Great Recession
- Resource types
- Worksheets & Printables, Worksheets
- Preparation
- Print ready
About this resource
What's inside this resource
Too Big to Fail (2011): Complete Movie Guide
This detailed guide provides a comprehensive learning tool for educators, rendering itself invaluable for teaching complex economic concepts involved in the Great Recession and its aftermath. Suitable not only for public school teachers but also homeschooling parents, this resource is flexible enough to incorporate into various teaching scenarios.
Focusing Areas:
- Primary focus on the Great Recession period (2007-2009).
- Exploration of Global repercussions adding international perspective.
- The intricacies of bank failures, housing market crashes and spikes in unemployment.
- The role of Federal Government during financial crises.
Apart from these, the guide also includes references to key personalities like Warren Buffet and crucial mechanisms like The Federal Reserve.The product comes equipped with twenty thought-provoking questions designed to stimulate discussion while ensuring comprehension amongst Grade 9 to Grade 12 students specializing in economics, social studies or U.S. history classes.
Versatility:
Teachers can use it as a group exercise during class screenings or assign as homework encouraging independent exploration by students at home. It includes both student versions which can be distributed among learners directly and an answer key for easy usage that requires no prior preparation.
Ease-of-use Features:
- Ready-to-print PDF format maintaining quality over numerous reproductions,
- Carefully crafted worksheets that promotes structured note-taking during film watches within classrooms.
In summation – simplifying an otherwise daunting task of explaining complicated financial jargons without diluting serious issues underneath – this movie guide proves itself an indispensable teaching aid in shaping informed citizens who are well-versed with and empathetic towards socioeconomic crises.
In the classroom
Teaching tips & learning objectives
Learning objectives
Identify the key public and private figures involved in the 2008 financial crisis by their role, such as the Treasury Secretary or the CEO of AIG.
Complete direct quotations from the film, such as Ben Bernanke's remarks on credit, to reinforce close listening to primary dialogue.
Sequence the major events of the crisis in chronological order, from early housing-market warnings through the passage of TARP.
Describe the economic aftermath of TARP's passage, including changes in lending, unemployment, and foreclosures.
Teaching tips
Remind students the questions are numbered in chronological order, since the worksheet's own instructions note this — it can help students track their place in a long film.
Preview key names before viewing, such as Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner, and Ben Bernanke, since several questions ask students to identify who said or did something by role rather than by name alone.
Use the completed answer key to run a quick post-viewing discussion on the two direct-quotation questions (15 and 18), since those require closer listening than the identification questions.
Skills covered
Informational listening — students extract specific facts (names, roles, figures) from an extended video source.
Close-listening quotation completion — students fill in exact missing words from direct quotations spoken in the film.
Chronological sequencing — students track a complex sequence of financial and political events in the order they occurred.
Cause-and-effect reasoning — students connect the passage of TARP to its stated economic aftermath in lending, unemployment, and foreclosures.
Good to know
Questions teachers ask about this resource
Are the questions mostly asking for names, or do any require a fuller written answer?
Mostly names and short fill-in phrases, but two questions ask students to complete longer direct quotations word-for-word, which take closer listening than the identification questions.
Does the guide explain who each real-world figure is, or does the film alone provide that context?
The film alone — the worksheet only asks students to identify a person by role, such as 'the CEO of AIG,' after watching, without providing background information on any individual itself.
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Resource details
Concepts & topics
Core concepts
2008 financial crisis
TARP
bank bailouts
Lehman Brothers collapse
credit and the economy
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