Spielberg's Lincoln Goes to School

East Hampton director Steven Spielberg‘s biopic Lincoln will be given to all public and private middle and high schools in America once the film is released on DVD.

Each school will receive a special edition DVD with an Educator’s Guide to help teachers create lesson plans and lively classroom discussion about the 16th president and the historical importance of the time period. Lincoln, which chronicles Abraham Lincoln‘s final months in office, is up for 12 Academy Awards tonight, including Best Picture and Best Director for Spielberg; Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays the President; and Best Actress for Sally Field‘s performance as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. It seems likely the movie will win at least a couple Oscars tonight.

The effort to distribute the film to schools across the country is a collaboration between Disney Educational Productions, Disney In-Home, Participant Media, Spielberg‘s Dreamworks Pictures and Fox/Newscorp. Participant Media’s “Stand Tall: Live Like Lincoln” social action campaign screened the film at eight U.S. towns called Lincoln on February 12, the 16th president’s birthday, and it will screen at 15 Lincoln high schools in mid-March.

DVDs of Lincoln should be released within the next few weeks. They are available now for pre-order on Amazon.com.