Title: Sing

https://youtu.be/va9mGwngAfM?t=3m25s

Producer: Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy

Year: 2016

Length: 108 minutes

Rating: PG

Summary: Sing is a film that is all about friendship. One of the main characters, Buster Moon, who is the owner of a theater, has run into some financial difficulties and decides that the best way to help his theater is to have a singing competition with a prize of 1,000 dollars. However, there is a misprint with the fliers and the prize is said to be 100,00 dollars. This catches the eye of several characters including Rosita (a housewife and mother), Mike (a local street musician), Johnny (the son of a local mobster), Ash (a rock and roll artist), Meena (a singer with stage fright), and Gunter (an exuberant guy with a great dancing routine). Throughout the movie, the characters work together and become friends as they work through what their act will be for the show. On opening night, however, disaster strikes the theater as water floods and ruins the theater. Not only that, but the theater is repossessed since Buster Moon had not been able to pay his rent. However, the contestants come together and work together to create a makeshift stage and put on the performance anyways. The show becomes a success and the theater is rebuilt and reopened. Throughout this entire film, the main theme that can be seen is friendship, and how friends can work through a fight healthily. Due to this main theme, I believe that this movie is the best choice.

Review: Overall, this film is about friendship and healthy relationships. What is so great about this movie is that it shows a variety of relationships. It shows a healthy relationship between friends, re-connecting with parental figures to create a healthier relationship, and it even shows a girl realizing that she is in an unhealthy romantic relationship. The movie also depicts healthy relationships between large families. As a result, it is a great film to show students to discuss the importance of healthy relationships and the different ways to express friendship. In order to further stress healthy relationships, I would have students identify the types of relationships that they saw in the movie and define whether or not they were healthy and why they believe they are correct.

Core Integration: I would integrate this into a literature assignment. Students would be paired in groups, each one focusing on a different relationship that was seen in the movie. Students would then have to explain whether or not it was a healthy relationship and provide evidence from the film to support their answer. Students would either create a PowerPoint or a poster to help show their ideas. Then, each group would present their ideas to the class, and the entire class would have a collaborative discussion, creating a classroom definition of what a healthy relationship is. This assignment would occur after watching the movie and could span over the course of two days. One day for gathering resources and preparing the presentation, and one day for presenting.

National Health Education Standards (NHES):

• 1.8.1: Describe characteristics of healthy relationships.
  • HBO 1: Establish and maintain healthy relationships
• 1.8.2: Explain the qualities of a healthy dating relationship
  • HBO 1
• 1.8.3: Describe healthy ways to express affection, love, and friendship
  • HBO 1

Common Core Standard – Speaking and Listening: 

• 6.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.