|
Create Lesson Plans Based on Movies and Film
WHITE NIGHTS
SUBJECTS --- Dance; World/Cold War & Russia; U.S./Diversity;
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING --- Breaking Out; Courage;
MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS --- Trustworthiness; Respect.
Age: 13+; MPAA Rating: PG-13; Drama; 135 minutes; 1985; Color.
|
|
|
The time is the Cold War of the late 1900s. An internationally known dancer, Nikolai Rodchenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov), has defected to the West from the Soviet Union. He is flying to Japan for a concert when his plane is forced by mechanical problems to crash land at a Soviet air base. Although he tries to destroy his U.S. passport, Rodchenko's identity is discovered by the Soviet KGB. A black American tap dancer, Raymond Greenwood (Gregory Hines), has defected to the Soviet Union because of his disillusionment with U.S. policy during the Vietnam war and with racism in the United States. He and his Russian Wife (Isabella Rossellini) are ordered by the KGB to take Rodchenko in, watch him, and convince him to dance again in the Soviet Union. The movie contains beautiful modern dance and tap sequences.
The TeachWithMovies.com Learning Guide to White Nights helps teachers and parents use this film to supplement studies on the Cold War, explore the role of an artist in a totalitarian society, acquaint students with the little known phenomenon of African Americans defecting to the Soviet Union to try to find a society free from racism, and of the racism that they encountered in Russia.
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. Our Guides and Lesson Plans show teachers and parents how to stress these messages and make them meaningful 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 Learning Guides are added on a regular basis!
White Nights is an excellent introduction to the Cold War and the problems faced by artists in the Soviet Union (Russia).
|
|
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!
Click Here to Subscribe.
"Learning Guides" help educators create lesson plans by providing background, discussion questions, projects, and vocabulary lists. "Movie Lesson Plans" are more formal with lectures, student handouts, comprehension tests and answer keys.
TeachWithMovies.com provides more than 285 Learning Guides and seven 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.
|
|
To give you a sense of how our Learning Guides can be used by teachers as lesson plans and by parents to supplement school curriculum or for homeschooling, we have set out below some of the discussion questions in the Learning Guide to White Nights.
2. Why did Rodchenko's lady friend decide to stay in the Soviet Union? What would you have done had you been in her position?
3. What effect do you think Rodchenko's smoking had on his dancing?
4. If Rodchenko had been such a big star in Russia before he defected to the United States why didn't the young ballet students know about him?
5. The screen writers were trying to tell us something with the names that they chose for the male characters in this film. What was it?
The Learning Guide to White Nights also 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 teachers access to 285 Learning Guides from which they can easily create lesson plans. Click here to subscribe and introduce young students to the Cold War, the problems of artists trying to live in the Soviet Union (Russia), and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
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:
-- Major Events in History
-- Principles of Science
-- Extraordinary People
-- Literature, Drama, Dance, Art
-- Social-Emotional Learning
|
|
|
|
Spread the GOOD NEWS about TEACHWITHMOVIES.COM!
|
|
|
Copyright © 2004, 2006 & 2007 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
