Instruction Hub
RCtv Celebrating Cross-Cultural Stories
Welcome to REEL CANADA’s Instruction Hub for the Celebrating Cross-Cultural Stories livestream, happening on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 (National Canadian Film Day).
Now that you’re registered, this is your one-stop shop for all the links, resources, and instructions your class will need to participate in the livestream.
Everything you find here will ALSO be delivered straight to your inbox within a series of instructional newsletters. This Hub lets you access it all in one convenient location – so you can focus on building an engaging learning experience for your students.
Notre Plateforme de ressources est également disponible en français ici.
Here’s when you can expect to hear from us with further details about each aspect of the livestream:
(If you registered after any of these dates, you can find everything you need in this Instruction Hub)
Week of March 27:
Lesson Plans, Sensitivity Resources, and Bonus Films listings
Week of April 3:
Link to watch the film, and link for our interactive platform
Week of April 10:
Link to watch the livestream
Wednesday, April 19:
RCtv: Celebrating Cross-Cultural Stories livestream
We will also send you our teacher and student evaluation forms, for you to fill out after the livestream takes place.
BEFORE THE LIVESTREAM
Watch the film with your students in advance of the livestream – make sure to plan the date now. The streaming link to watch the film will arrive by April 5. If you requested a DVD, keep an eye on your school mailbox.
TIP: Watching the film closer to the livestream date will ensure the content is still fresh in students’ minds
LIVESTREAM
On April 19, National Canadian Film Day, watch the livestream play out on YouTube and get students to engage via our interactive platform, either on their own or as a group. Don’t forget to double-check the time in your region:
AFTERWARDS
Complete our student and teacher feedback forms and send them back. This is what allows us to offer our programming free of charge!
If you’ve registered to watch a recording of the livestream, there are still lots of ways for your class to get engaged!
**If your plans change, and your class is able to watch live, please get in touch so we can send you all the updates for our live audience instead.**
If your students CAN watch the films prior to April 19:
Get your questions and comments included in the livestream!
1. Watch: Screen the film for your students during the “engagement window” of April 5 – April 19. The total runtime is 101 minutes.
2. Engage: After watching the film, hop onto our interactive platform for students to share their comments on our discussion board, submit questions for our guest, and answer polling questions.
Anything shared prior to April 19 may be incorporated into the livestream event.
3. Watch the livestream: When you watch the livestream recording, your students should access our engagement platform again to participate in educational questions and additional polls that will remain open and active after the live event.
4. Feedback: Make sure each student completes our student feedback form. Their responses allow us to continue offering our programmes free of charge!
If your students CANNOT watch the films prior to April 19:
1. Watch your inbox: In the coming weeks, we will be sending all the resources and instructions needed to participate. You can get a head start on planning, or refer back to them closer to when you intend to show the livestream recording.
2. Request film links: The standard film link will expire on April 19. Because you’re watching after that, please fill out our quick form to renew the links for another date of your choosing.
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. Show the film: Screen the film (Breakaway) for your students. The total runtime is 101 minutes.
4. Watch the livestream and engage: While watching the livestream recording, make sure your students use the interactive platform 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. Feedback: After watching, make sure each student completes our student feedback form. Their responses allow us to continue offering our programmes free of charge!
Notre Plateforme de ressources est également disponible en français ici.
This page will be updated with French versions of each resource as they become available.
If you requested French subtitles when you registered, you can expect an email with the finished, subtitled livestream in June.
As a reminder, the livestream discussion will be recorded in English and then subtitled into French afterwards. Breakaway will be made available with French subtitles.
Here’s how to participate:
1. RENEW YOUR FILM
We want the film to be fresh in students’ minds when they watch the livestream, so we recommend waiting until you have everything before you screen the film for your class. Once you hear from us that the subtitled livestream is ready, please complete this Link Renewal Form to let us know when you’d like to screen the film. (Link will be valid for one calendar week, beginning on a Monday).
2. BEFORE THE LIVESTREAM
Use the French lesson plan (coming soon) and support resources to get ready for your screening. Watch the film with your students in advance of the livestream. Please plan to screen it as close as possible to when you will screen the livestream recording.
3. LIVESTREAM
While watching the recording, make sure your students use the interactive platform to engage in activities alongside the main event. They can answer polling and quiz questions, and contribute to an extensive, nationwide student discussion board.
4. AFTERWARDS
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 will be available here soon, 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 by April 5 with the subject “Instructions #03: How to Watch the Film.”
Please plan for your class to watch the film as close as possible to when you screen the livestream, so it’s still fresh in students’ minds.
This link will expire on Saturday, April 22. If you are watching the livestream recording and cannot watch the films before then, please fill out a quick Link Renewal Form.
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 film, you will receive that in advance of the livestream.
Should you need to provide additional information about the film, 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 it 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 films
- 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
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.
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.
🔲 Check your inbox and this Instruction Hub for weekly updates
🔲 Look through the lesson plan for activities you’d like to use
🔲 Review and share our guidelines for discussing sensitive content
🔲 Plan date & time to watch the film (April 5-19)
🔲 If planning to watch the film after April 19, order your link for later
🔲 Double-check the time of the livestream in your region
🔲 Watch the film with your class in advance
🔲 Watch the livestream and engage online
🔲 Complete the feedback forms and send them back to us
🔲 Check out our Bonus Films if you’d like to extend the dialogue further
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