Queen of Katwe Teacher Guide

Essential question: How do skill, support, and opportunity combine in Phiona’s development?

• Explain how learning & feedback shapes character choices.
• Support an interpretation with two accurately described scenes.
• Compare the portrayal with an appropriate external source and identify what remains uncertain.

Introduce strategy, feedback, opportunity, and dramatization. Locate Kampala accurately. Use a teacher-selected independent account to check one biographical claim; avoid presenting Uganda as a single uniform experience.

• Poverty, food insecurity, housing instability, and family conflict.
• An accident causes injury; some intense distress and flooding.
• Sexual references involving an older sister and adult relationships.

Preview the assigned edition and arrange required permissions and an alternative source-based assignment. Students can explain harm without describing graphic acts or repeating slurs. Keep discussion focused on characters; do not require personal disclosures.

Pause after the first chess lessons, after a competition setback, after tension over opportunities, and after the final tournament.

Use brief responses during viewing and reserve interpretation for afterward. Check subtitles and captions. If scenes are omitted, bridge the narrative and adapt the affected questions.

The film dramatizes Phiona’s life and highlights both local agency and unequal access. Robert’s mentoring matters alongside family work and Phiona’s choices. Success in competition is not a measure of everyone’s worth or a guarantee of escaping hardship.

For a short comparison, select one accessible source or excerpt, establish author/date/purpose, and compare one film claim with what it supports and leaves unanswered. Teacher selection and adaptation are required.

Disney film information · Content advisory (spoilers)

• How do skill, support, and opportunity combine in Phiona’s development?
• Which scene best supports your interpretation, and what might another viewer notice?
• What does the film leave out or simplify?

Exit ticket: One claim, one supporting scene, and one question for further study.

Optional extension: Build an evidence chart with columns for film portrayal, external source, agreement or difference, and remaining uncertainty. Assess accuracy and reasoning.

Expected answers for 13 questions. Accept supported alternatives for analytical prompts.

1. How can feedback help someone improve a skill?
   It identifies a specific change to try rather than simply praising or criticizing the person.
2. What attracts Phiona to the chess program initially?
   The gathering offers food and activity before she understands its larger possibilities.
3. How does Robert introduce chess to the children?
   He provides instruction and a space where they can practice and compete.
4. What does Phiona’s early learning reveal?
   Observation and practice allow her strategic ability to develop.
5. How do the children’s first outside competitions expose unequal access?
   They encounter different resources, expectations, and assumptions about who belongs.
6. Why does a loss matter to Phiona’s development?
   It reveals limits in preparation and challenges her confidence.
7. How can Robert respond constructively to a setback?
   He can connect encouragement with practice, perspective, and specific learning needs.
8. Why can success create tension rather than only relief?
   New expectations and desires can conflict with existing family responsibilities.
9. What does continued training require from more than one person?
   Mentoring, family negotiation, and practical resources help sustain participation.
10. What do the real participants shown with actors emphasize?
    They connect the dramatization to living people without verifying every scene’s details.
11. Which scene best shows learning from feedback?
    Describe the setback or instruction and the change that follows.
12. How does a film technique shape a chess sequence?
    Explain a specific use of music, editing, framing, or reaction shots.
13. What biographical claim would need independent verification?
    Choose one event and identify a source beyond the dramatized scene.

Expected answers for 20 questions. Accept supported alternatives for analytical prompts.

1. How can feedback help someone improve a skill?
   It identifies a specific change to try rather than simply praising or criticizing the person.
2. Why does opportunity matter alongside ability?
   Access to time, instruction, resources, and competition affects what skill can become.
3. What attracts Phiona to the chess program initially?
   The gathering offers food and activity before she understands its larger possibilities.
4. How does Robert introduce chess to the children?
   He provides instruction and a space where they can practice and compete.
5. What does Phiona’s early learning reveal?
   Observation and practice allow her strategic ability to develop.
6. Why does her mother worry about the program?
   Family survival, safety, and unfamiliar opportunities create practical concerns.
7. How do the children’s first outside competitions expose unequal access?
   They encounter different resources, expectations, and assumptions about who belongs.
8. Why does a loss matter to Phiona’s development?
   It reveals limits in preparation and challenges her confidence.
9. How can Robert respond constructively to a setback?
   He can connect encouragement with practice, perspective, and specific learning needs.
10. How does travel change what Phiona imagines possible?
    It expands her experience while making contrasts with home more visible.
11. Why can success create tension rather than only relief?
    New expectations and desires can conflict with existing family responsibilities.
12. How does the home situation complicate time for chess?
    Work, money, and instability affect the conditions for preparation.
13. What does continued training require from more than one person?
    Mentoring, family negotiation, and practical resources help sustain participation.
14. How does Phiona’s response to pressure change over time?
    Use a scene showing greater reflection, preparation, or willingness to return after difficulty.
15. Why does a tournament outcome not explain her whole life?
    Competition captures one achievement rather than every relationship or structural condition.
16. What do the real participants shown with actors emphasize?
    They connect the dramatization to living people without verifying every scene’s details.
17. Which scene best shows learning from feedback?
    Describe the setback or instruction and the change that follows.
18. What community strength should a viewer recognize?
    Identify care, work, knowledge, or cooperation rather than describing only deprivation.
19. How does a film technique shape a chess sequence?
    Explain a specific use of music, editing, framing, or reaction shots.
20. What biographical claim would need independent verification?
    Choose one event and identify a source beyond the dramatized scene.

Final writing: Look for a clear claim, two accurately described scenes, reasoning, and a meaningful limitation of the portrayal or a question for further study. Accept different supported interpretations. No graphic descriptions are required.