Instruction Hub
RCtv Celebrating Cross-Cultural Stories
Welcome! This Instruction Hub is your one-stop shop for all the links, resources, and instructions your class will need to participate in the livestream.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] or at 1‑888‑508‑0881 ext. 221
We hope you enjoy the programme!
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to how the livestream works for classes watching the recording:
1. Read through this Instruction Hub: Everything you need is on this page. You can get an overview now, and then come back any time you need.
If you registered any time after June 2023, then you can skip to step 3. You’ve already ordered your film, and it should arrive in your inbox on the requested date.
2. Request film link: If you registered before the livestream first aired (April 19, 2023), then the standard film link you originally received will have already expired. Please fill out the quick form below to renew the link for another date of your choosing.
When ordering, please plan to screen the film as close as possible to when you will screen the livestream recording, so it’s fresh in students’ minds.
3. Prepare your class: Use the lesson plan and support resources below to get ready for your screening.
4. Show the films: Screen Breakaway for your students as close as possible to when you screen the livestream itself.
5. Watch the livestream and engage: While watching the livestream recording, make sure your students use the interactive platform, explained below, to engage in activities alongside the main event. They can answer polling and quiz questions, and contribute to an extensive, nationwide student discussion board.
5. Share your feedback: After watching, make sure each student completes our student feedback form. Their responses allow us to continue offering our programmes free of charge!
The following resources are designed to help you prepare your class for a supported and safe learning environment during the film and livestream viewings. These materials have been developed in collaboration with a diverse set of educators, including those who identify as Indigenous, Black and/or persons of colour.
For Teachers: Best Practices & Resources for Ensuring a Culturally Safe & Respectful Screening of Films with Sensitive Content
For Students: Anti-Racism Guidelines and Resources for Students
This brand new lesson plan is designed to accompany your screening of the film and this livestream. You can use any or all of the activities to enrich your students’ learning experience before, during, and after the livestream.
The plan includes:
- Resources for discussing race and racism in the classroom
- Pre- and post-viewing activities
- Guiding discussion questions
- Suggested extensions & additional activities
- Student handouts
- Comprehension and reflection questions for the films
A French version of the lesson plan is available here, and will be delivered directly to those teachers who requested it.
We’re also happy to offer a variety of other lesson plans for Breakaway that directly tie into curriculum for various courses, including English, Civics, Law, World Religions, Social Science, and ESL/ELL.
We’ll have lots of opportunities for engagement in the livestream itself through our interactive platform, but your students can also get involved with hands-on activities leading up to the big event. Here are just a few ideas:
- Print out this poster to put in your classroom or school to build excitement for the event
- Get your students to design their own event poster
- Build a creative activity around the films, like a visual art or music prompt
- Share any student work based on our lesson plan activities with the email below
- Students can help set up the big screen and sound equipment for your group to watch. You can even use the school auditorium or theatre
- Get students to hand out popcorn or other snacks for your film viewing
If your students do get involved, we’d love to hear about it – or even see photos! Write to us at [email protected]
A personal link to stream Breakaway will be sent to your email on or just before the date you requested in our form.
Please plan for your class to watch the film as close as possible to when you screen the livestream.
For those of you teaching remotely, you may share this link directly with your students, but please make sure to communicate that it is a private link.
If you ordered a DVD of the film, you will receive that in advance of the date you requested.
Should you need to provide additional information about Breakaway, including any mature content, to parents, teachers, or your administration, please feel free to share this synopsis and content advisory document with them.
*Please note: if you’ve requested to preview the film, we will send the link to your inbox on the date specified in your registration form.
We’ve built an interactive platform to use while watching the livestream, so students can engage with our guest, as well as with their peers nationwide. How they do that is up to you:
OPTION 1: Students engage using their own devices at their seats.
OPTION 2: As a class or in small groups, choose a spokesperson — student(s) or you — to use the platform for the whole group. Everyone in the group can contribute their thoughts aloud as they watch the show while the spokesperson enters questions and comments contributed by the group members. You could even get a head start by coming up with some questions in advance.
TIP: Whichever method you choose, test out the online platform beforehand to make sure it’s not blocked by your school board, and so you’re prepared to guide students through the experience as needed.
Activities available on the platform include:
- Q&A – Share your questions for Vinay Virmani, star and co-writer of Breakaway
- POLLS – Answer both opinion questions and factual quiz questions around racism, equality and the film.
- QUIZZES – Answer educational questions centred around the themes of the film.
- DISCUSS – Share their reflections on our discussion prompts.
- CHAT – Engage in conversation with their peers nationwide.
Don’t worry, we’ll be moderating everything to ensure nothing inappropriate slips through.
There are three different links to participate, depending on how you’d like to set things up on the day.
A. Watch the Livestream:
reelcanada.ca/RCtv2023
B. Use the Interactive Platform:
reelcanada.ca/RCtvForum2023
C. Livestream & Interactive Platform side-by-side on one screen:
reelcanada.ca/RCtvCombo2023
Here are some examples of how to set up:
- Display the livestream (Link A) at the front of the class while students use the platform (Link B) at their seats, either as individuals or as groups.
- If you have one spokesperson in charge of the platform (see section above), display Link C at the front of the class, so all students can see both the platform activities and the livestream at the same time.
- Students at home can take their pick, depending on whether they have access to one device or two.
We need student feedback! In order to keep offering this programming completely free-of-charge, our funders want to know how it went, especially for our young audiences. The feedback information is captured anonymously and shared with our funders.
- Print them out
- Have each student complete a form
- Send them back by scanning and emailing them to [email protected] or sending via regular mail to:
REEL CANADA
720 Bathurst Street, suite 504
Toronto, ON
M5S 2R4
TEACHER FEEDBACK FORM
- Check your inbox for your personalized feedback form
- This one is online, so just complete the form and you’re done
VINAY VIRMANI
Star and co-writer of Breakaway
Born in Brampton, ON, Virmani is an actor, writer, and producer whose work focuses on BIPOC stories, representation, and sport. He has produced over a dozen films, including Anything is Possible: The Serge Ibaka Story, Black Ice, Superfan: The Nav Bhatia Story, and Dr. Cabbie, which he also starred in. Virmani has served as a panellist on CBC’s Canada Reads and is the partner and chief content officer at UNINTERRUPTED Canada.
Noureen DeWulf
Plays Reena in Breakaway
DeWulf is a prolific actress and comedian with a 20-year career working in film and television. She is best known for her starring roles in the Academy-award winning short film West Bank Story, as well as Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey, The Back-up Plan with Jennifer Lopez, and the hit TV series Anger Management. DeWulf recently recurred on Good Girls, and you can currently see her in the comedy Wheels of Fortune on Netflix.
Garvia Bailey
Moderator
Garvia Bailey is a co-founder of the podcast production company Media Girlfriends Inc. Her career in media spans close to two decades as a producer, host and columnist for the CBC and JazzFM. She is host of the Canadian Black History podcast Strong and Free, produced by Historica Canada and Media Girlfriends Inc. Garvia’s work is centered on inclusion, care and excellence in journalism.
Want to extend the discussion after the livestream? This list of curated bonus films provides additional opportunities for conversation around the themes of racism, equity, and justice in sport. These works cover a range of subjects, from diverse perspectives.
Note: For a personalized form prefilled with your information, please click on the “Order Films” button in any of our monthly newsletters, or write to [email protected]
The Basketball Game
(5 Min)When nine-year-old Hart attends Jewish summer camp, his group must play an epic basketball game against the students of a notorious Holocaust denier. What awaits him on the court?
Breakaway (Short Film)
(9 Min)In 1970's Vancouver, 11-year-old Sammy, an ice hockey-obsessed Chinese Canadian girl, dreams of hockey stardom but her responsibilities at home and bullying older brother get in the way.
The Game
(11 Min)After a professional basketball player is cut from his team, he reflects on the talent and passion that brought him to this point by playing a game against three younger versions of himself.
Good Girls Don’t
(15 Min)A Filipino girl is constantly told by her parents that only boys play sports, and only a divine intervention will change their mind.
Content Note: Graphic Content & Religious Themes
Hardwood
(27 Min)Mel Davis, a member of the legendary Harlem Globetrotters, had two families — one in Chicago and one in Vancouver. His Canadian son, Hubert, takes a personal look at his father’s life. Nominated for an Oscar.
Ice Breakers
(15 Min)A rising hockey star is introduced to the history of the Black hockey league in Atlantic Canada to inspire him to pursue his dreams in a sport where Black athletes like him remain underrepresented.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write to [email protected]
Or give us a call toll-free at 1-888-508-0881 ext. 229