August 2026 Movie Roundup
- AnnaLiese Burich
- 6 minutes ago
- 4 min read
For many classrooms, August is a month of fresh starts: new routines, new classmates, and new things to learn.
So, this month’s roundup is all about introductions and building classroom community—curated picks to get students oriented in the new year, set expectations, lay foundational groundwork, and break the ice. Plus, learn all about the newest movies on BrainPOP!
Pro tip: This year, every BrainPOP (for grades 3-8) topic* comes with two Unplugged Activities: one to do before the movie to introduce the topic, and one to do after the movie to deepen understanding—all ready-made and totally offline! Try them out with the movies below to supercharge your teaching.
Want to learn more about what’s new, and get even more back-to-school resources and movie ideas? Explore the BrainPOP Back to School hub!
Table of Contents:
Back-to-school season movies to kick off the year
August is National Back to School Month
And for good reason! To ease kids into the year ahead, watch Back to School (grades 3-8) to cover things like setting up a study space, staying open to new experiences, and dealing with jitters. For younger kids, Kindergarten and School (grades K-3) sets up what school is and the people, rules, and systems that comprise it.
Cultivate a growth mindset to create strong thinkers
Teach kids all about setting goals—and the mindset and practices they need to achieve them.
Setting Goals (K-3) introduces SMART goals, picking goals, and measuring goals; Setting Goals (for grades 3-8) dives deeper into SMART goals, creating schedules, and mini-goals.
Then, explain the science behind mistakes to older kids with Growth Mindset: all about how the brain creates new pathways when we learn new skills.
The subject basics worth revisiting
Every subject has its own version of a foundation—the handful of topics kids need before the rest of the year builds on them.
These might be worth working in early:
Science: Lab Safety (3-8), Scientific Method (3-8), Science Tools (K-3), and Making Observations (K-3)
Social studies: Continents of the World (3-8), Continents and Oceans (K-3), and Community Helpers (K-3)
ELA: Context Clues, Main Idea (3-8), Character (K-3), and Types of Sentences (K-3)
Math: Place Value (K-3 and 3-8), Multiplication (3-8), and Basic Adding (K-3)
Building community and camaraderie: dates worth marking
Teaching and celebrating holidays provides an easy “aha” moment for students to connect with the material, the world around them, and each other. In other words, it’s a low-lift win for camaraderie-building in the first weeks of school.
However, August doesn’t have major national holidays—but fear not! There are still niche holidays and “on this day in history” moments for you.
August 6: The World Wide Web goes live, 1991
The internet turns another year older this month. Use it as a natural entry point into topics like Internet, Online Safety, and Internet Search—or for younger classrooms, Jr.'s Internet Safety.
August 19: National Aviation Day
Celebrate flight with Flight, the Wright Brothers, and Amelia Earhart—a fun, early-year excuse for 3-8 kids to swap "what I'd want to fly" or “I’ve flown to…” answers.
Jr. classrooms can dig into Amelia Earhart and Transportation.
August 25: National Park Service created, 1916
The Park Service turns 110 this year. National Parks and Conservation are a natural way to get 3-8 kids sharing which parks they've visited—or want to—right as everyone's still getting to know each other. Round it out with Theodore Roosevelt.
August 28: MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, 1963
On this day in 1963, Dr. King delivered one of the most well-known speeches in American history. Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights give 3-8 students the context; BrainPOP Jr.'s Martin Luther King Jr. introduces the same story to K-3 classrooms.
August 31: Blog Day
Close out the month with Blogs, Media Literacy, and Online Sources for grades 3-8—nudges into digital literacy as kids navigate more and more into online research. Psst: Connect Media Literacy and Online Sources to the day’s biggest topic, AI literacy, with an AI Spotlight Movie found right on the topic page.
Bonus: New movies on BrainPOP (3-8)
Learn how she found her voice by writing what she actually knew, and the craft choices that make The House on Mango Street work. Use this before teaching The House Mango Street or to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!
Learn all about the author’s thirteen-year stint on a Flint, Michigan assembly line: the origin story behind Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.
Discover how three British colonies became one country in 1867—no revolution required.
Use this to explain Canada Day, or as a companion to your U.S. Constitution and American Revolution content!
*Unplugged Activities are available with school and district subscriptions to BrainPOP (for grades 3-8) only.
Note: Topic availability may vary based on content settings configured by your school or district.
AnnaLiese Burich is a Product Marketing Manager at BrainPOP. In addition to holding an MA in Magazine Journalism and an MA in English Literature, she has worked in (and written for) the edtech space from every angle: from parenting tips and children's activities to classroom strategies and district goals. AnnaLiese's favorite BrainPOP character is Tim.
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