About This Lesson
LITTLE STONES is an award-winning documentary which takes viewers on a global journey inside the lives and studios of four women fighting for equality. Directed by EMMY® Award-winning filmmaker Sophia Kruz, the documentary follows the uplifting stories of four women using rap, graffiti, fashion and dance to fight for women’s rights around the world.
Driftseed, a 501c3 nonprofit organization created by the filmmakers, partnered with the University of Michigan School of Education to create a series of lesson plans and arts workshops for high school students based on the Little Stones documentary. The purpose of this classroom initiative is to not only educate future leaders on global violence against women, but also to inspire innovative, collaborative, and non-traditional means of creating social change through the arts.
In LESSON ONE: WHERE DO THE WOMEN IN LITTLE STONES LIVE, students gain basic knowledge about four nations featured in Little Stones: Kenya, Senegal, Brazil, and India. In doing so, they will analyze each nation’s strengths, challenges, and legacies of colonialism.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to locate four countries on a map; compare their strengths and challenges; discuss their legacies of colonialism; and analyze data about gender inequality in these nations.
TAKEAWAYS: Developing nations with histories of colonialism often have economic issues related to exploitation of human and natural resources by former colonizers, dependence upon former colonizers, and/or reliance on a very limited economic production model. These nations also often have social hierarchies and inequalities that were made worse, or even created, by colonial powers. Patriarchal systems in these nations often marginalize women socially, culturally, politically, and economically.
DURATION: 2 class periods, assuming a class period is 56 minutes.
Want more lessons on the Little Stones film?
Check out more free lessons and resources on Share My Lesson on the Driftseed partner page.
