|
Create Lesson Plans Based on Movies and Film
Learning Guide to Deepa Mehta's
WATER
SUBJECTS --- World/India; Religions/Hinduism; Literature/
Literary devices: character development, symbols,
subplot, foils and irony;
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING --- Human Rights; Suicide;
Breaking Out;
MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS --- Respect; Caring; Fairness.
Age: 13+; MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual situations, and for brief drug use; Drama; 2005; 117 minutes; In Hindi with English subtitles
|
|
|
Writer/Director Deepa Mehta's "Water" is a touching love story set in India in 1938. It begins with Chuyia, an 8 year old child bride being told that her husband has died. She is now a widow. Widows in traditional Indian society were not allowed to work or to remarry. (Very few Indian widows remarry to this day.) With no son to take care of her, Chuyia is sent to a widows' ashram to live out a monastic life of constant prayer for her sins which, under Hindu tradition, contributed to the death of her husband. At the ahsram she meets a beautiful young widow, Kalyani. But all is not what it seems. Kalyani (like many young widows) has been forced into prostitution to help pay the bills of the ashram ... and then Kalyani meets Narayan, a handsome young follower of Gandhi who taught that widows should be allowed to remarry.
Subjects that can be introduced with "Water" are: India in the 20th century; the plight of widows in underdeveloped countries, particularly in India and Africa; Mahatma Gandhi and his role in Indian and world history; how patriarchal traditions hijack and pervert religions; and what happens when one group of people in a culture are powerless. The movie is rich in symbolism and other literary devices.
"Water", when properly introduced, opens new worlds to modern day students and they love it. Several students in classes to whom we've shown this film told us that it is the best movie they've ever seen.
TeachWithMovies.com's Movie Lesson Plans and Learning Guides are used by thousands of teachers to motivate students. They provide background and discussion questions that lead to fascinating classes. Parents can use them to supplement what their children learn in school.
Each film recommended by TeachWithMovies.com contains lessons on life and positive moral messages. TeachWithMovies.com shows teachers and parents how to stress these messages and make them real for young audiences.
Learning Guides feature the following sections.
|
|
- Benefits
- Possible Problems
- Helpful Background
- Building Vocabulary
|
- Discussion Questions
- Links to Internet
- Bridges to Reading
- Class Projects
| |
New Lesson Plans are added on a regular basis!
|
|
Just $11.99 per year provides access to Learning Guides and Lesson Plans based on 285 movies covering all aspects of the K -12 curriculum!
Subscribe Now!
"Learning Guides" help teachers create lesson plans by providing background, discussion questions, projects, vocabulary lists and more. "Movie Lesson Plans" are more formal with lectures, student handouts, comprehension tests and answer keys. TeachWithMovies.com provides more than 285 Learning Guides and six Movie Lesson Plans.
Free Sample Learning Guides:
October Sky "Gettysburg"
"Hamlet" "The Wizard of Oz,"
Check out the helpful indexes.
TEACHERS: A film or movie can be an alternative educational experience that highlights points covered by the curriculum. Each Movie Lesson Plan and Learning Guide will help you maximize the benefits that your class derives from watching and discussing the movie.
PARENTS: Watch the movie with your children and briefly talk about its message. Often, just one or two comments will make the film a meaningful experience. Your family will grow closer as all of you learn about history, culture and people. You will gain some positive control over screen time.
Unlock this international treasure for use by educators and parents. Subscribe for only $11.99 per year ($1 each month). Click Here
What do teachers and parents say about TeachWithMovies.com? Click Here
TeachWithMovies.com does not provide the movies or films.
|
|
Excerpt: To give you a sense of how this film and its Learning Guide can help teachers and parents supplement curriculum focusing India and the treatment of widows, we have set out below some of the discussion questions that you will find in the Guide to Writer/Director Deepa Mehta's "Water".
Shakuntala asks, "What happens when our conscience conflicts with our faith?" What does her faith say? What does her conscience say? How does she answer that question? Then compare how Gandhi would react to this question.
This film talks about a serious problem in traditional Indian society. Do we have any similar problems in our society in today? If so, do you know of someone who is trying to correct these problems?
Can you think of any American leader who has done as much for his country and for the world as did Gandhi?
Why didn't Kalyani just leave the ashram or fight harder for her love and her life?
In this film, Shakuntala and Kalyani faced similar crises. What are they and how do they resolve them?
The Learning Guide to the film "Water" contains sections on Benefits of the Movie, Possible Problems, Helpful Background, Discussion Questions, Links to the Internet, and Bridges to Reading. The Discussion Questions are divided into three categories: Subject Matter, Social-Emotional Learning, and Moral-Ethical Emphasis.
A subscription to TeachWithMovies.com will give you access to Learning Guides for 285 films and seven Movie Lesson Plans. Click here to subscribe and create a great lesson plan from Water for teaching children about India and the plight of widows in many developing countries.
Already a member? Click here.
|
|
See our list of authors and contributors. Click Here
Check out our:
TeachWithMovies.com is a "Six Pillars Partner" of Character Counts, a nationally recognized program that teaches ethics.
Introduce children to:
|
|
|
|
Spread the GOOD NEWS about TEACHWITHMOVIES.COM!
|
|
|
Copyright © 2006 by TeachWithMovies.com, Inc. All rights reserved. DVD or VHS covers are shown by permission of Amazon.com and may be subject to copyrights shown thereon. The television set logo and the pencil and filmstrip logo are trademarks of TeachWithMovies.com, Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
