The Book of Life: Day of the Dead

I love the Mexican culture and the way they celebrate the Day of the Dead. This movie is really cute and worth a try. Enjoy it.

The days of the dead are a truly celebration of life. When children dance with caricatures of death, eat skull sugar molds and learn to respect that life is brief, they learn there is a circle to life and to not fear death and then are free to enjoy and appreciate every moment. It is celebrated in Mexico between October 31st and November 2nd.

http://www.unm.edu/~htafoya/dayofthedead.html

Talk to a partner:

1. How do you celebrate the Day of the Dead in your country? Is it a happy or sad day?

2. Do you think it is important to celebrate the Day of the Dead? Why (not)?

3. Do the people in your country have the following Day of the Dead Traditions? 

• The most common way to celebrate it is to put an altar in the home to welcome the spirits who are believed to return on this date.
• Visit the cemetery. Before the Holiday, they clean and do any necessary maintenance.
• Think of your dearly departed and their favorite food, what they liked in life and keep them present on the day of the holiday.
• make sugar skulls
• Decorate the party with colorful skulls.

4. Watch the movie segment and discuss the questions

1. Where did the children go on the Day of the Dead?

2. What did they learn about the Day of the Dead?

3. How is "La Muerte" described?

3. What's your opinion about Mexican Day of the Dead? Do you prefer the way it is celebrated there or the way it is in your own country:? Why?

4. Do you think there should actually be a holiday to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE BOOK OF LIFE

American Sniper: Gratitude

I liked the movie a lot despite the way the main character is portrayed in the story. Clint Eastwood is a great director and made a highly effective movie. I just did not like the points of view regarding the sniper's personality and heroism. Well, that's me. The film is really good and this scene is a perfect introduction to the topic GRATITUDE.

Inspired by: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/gratitude/definition and http://happierhuman.com/what-is-gratitude/

Gratitude: The feeling of showing or expressing thanks, especially towards another person. It is also a central component of most religions, They encourage gratitude towards others, but specially towards God. It is also one  of the most effective methods for increasing long-term life satisfaction.

Talk to a partner;

1. Do you like showing gratitude towards a person? How do you do it?

2. Do you think people show gratitude the way they should? Why (not)?

3. Decide if you think these statements are true or false. Justify your answer.

• Gratitude brings us happiness because it boosts the feeling of optimism, joy and pleasure.
• Gratitude reduces anxiety and depression.
• Gratitude is good for our bodies because it lowers blood pressure, and makes us less bothered by aches and pain.
• Grateful people have more hours of sleep.
• Gratitude helps people recover from traumatic events, such as post-war trauma.
• Gratitude makes relationships stronger, bringing people closer together.
• Gratitude is good for kids because they feel more connected to the community.

4. Watch the movie segment and describe the scene.

5. Why is the war veteran so grateful?

6. How does he show gratitude?

7. How does the main actor react to the veteran's gratitude demonstration?

8. What would you do if you were the handicapped war veteran?

9. What would you do if you were the "hero"?


MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - AMERICAN SNIPER

Interstellar & Pixies: Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law is a popular adage that states that "things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance," or more commonly, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." 

Work in groups. Come up with a theory of why the expression is called Murphy's Law? Be creative. 

Then share your idea with the class.

Now read how the expression was born and decide who came up with the closest idea.

Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will") was born at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949 at North Base.It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, (a project) designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash. One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it." The contractor's project manager kept a list of "laws" and added this one, which he called Murphy's Law. Actually, what he did was take an old law that had been around for years in a more basic form and give it a name

http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-true.html

I. Work with a partner:

1. Watch the movie segment and explain the girl's feeling. Why does she feel the way she does? Is she right to feel that way?

II. Think about a day in your life in which everything that could happen or go wrong did happen or did go wrong. Explain why Murphy's Law applied to that situation. Think about a trip that went wrong, a bad date, an unfortunate lie or anything you have experienced. Then share your stories with the class.

III. Watch the movie segment from the movie PIXIES. According to the segment, who is responsible for Murphy's Law unfortunate events? What happens to the main character during the past days?

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - INTERSTELLAR

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - PIXIES