By Mr Hull's Movie Guides
Watch the Trailer
Why Watch This Movie With Your Students
Here's what your students naturally take away from the movie, whether through themes, values, ideas, or perspectives.
🕯️ A story built around not having a gift. Mirabel is the only Madrigal without a magical power, and the movie follows her attempt to understand why, and what that means about her place in the family. It gives students a clear, relatable entry point into questions of self-worth.
🏠 A richly realized setting. The Encanto and its living house are full of visual detail, from Isabela's flowers to Luisa's strength to the shifting walls that respond to the family's emotions. The setting itself becomes part of the story.
🎶 Catchy, story-driven songs. The music, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, carries much of the emotional weight of the story, from Luisa's pressure to Bruno's isolation. Each song reveals something new about a character rather than pausing the plot.
👵 A grandmother shaped by loss. Abuela's strictness comes from trauma she experienced decades earlier, and the movie gradually reveals why she holds her family to such high standards. It gives students a more complete picture of a character who initially seems unreasonable.
🇨🇴 Colombian culture throughout. The movie draws on Colombian music, food, clothing, and landscape, giving students exposure to a specific cultural setting rather than a generic backdrop.
💬 A family that struggles to talk to each other. Much of the Madrigals' conflict comes from unspoken expectations and things left unsaid, particularly around Bruno. The movie ties its resolution directly to the family finally communicating honestly.
Age Suitability and Content
This movie is rated PG.
📋 A free editable parent permission slip is available for this movie. It explains the educational benefits of watching movies in class and includes a space for parental consent. → Download Free Permission Slip on TpT (Free resource)
⚠️ Things to be aware of:
- A grandfather's death is referenced as backstory and shown briefly off screen, without graphic detail.
- Mild family arguments and tension appear throughout the story.
- No sexual content or strong language.
How My Movie Guide Helps You Teach It
📚 English Language Arts Teachers. Encanto works well for ELA classes exploring character motivation, family dynamics, and how a story reveals backstory gradually. The guide includes two sets of differentiated comprehension questions, with the multiple choice set well suited to a younger or more focused group, alongside a favorite character writing task and a creative sentence writing activity.
🗣️ ESL and ELL Teachers. The multiple choice comprehension set works well with ESL and ELL students, offering a more accessible way to follow the story without the demands of full sentence writing.
🌐 Social Studies Teachers. Encanto is a strong fit for Social Studies classes exploring Colombian and Latin American culture, as the movie draws directly on Colombian music, food, dress, and landscape throughout. The guide does not include dedicated Social Studies activities, but the comprehension questions keep students engaged with these cultural details as the story unfolds.
🎬 Substitute Teachers and Cover Lessons. With two sets of differentiated comprehension questions, writing tasks, and a word search all included, this guide works well as a ready to go sub plan when a substitute teacher needs a self-contained lesson.
🏠 Homeschool Parents. The mix of comprehension questions, character writing, and word search activities makes this guide easy to adapt for a homeschool setting.
💙 SEL Teachers. Encanto offers a natural way into conversations about family pressure, self-worth, and feeling overlooked, all explored directly through Mirabel's experience. The guide does not include dedicated SEL activities, but the comprehension questions and favorite character writing task keep students engaged with these themes throughout.
🎵 Music Teachers. Encanto's songs, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, are central to how the story is told, with each number revealing a different character's inner conflict. The guide does not include dedicated music activities, but the comprehension questions keep students engaged with the story as the songs move it forward.
🌟 Supporting All Learners Movie guides can be a wonderfully calm fit for students with autism, learning difficulties, and mild to severe disabilities. The structured format gives every student a clear purpose during viewing, easing uncertainty and allowing them to engage at their own pace. If you teach in a special education or learning support setting, you may find this guide a gentle and practical resource. Find out more about why movies work for diverse learners.
What's Inside the Guide
This is a 11-page classroom-ready resource.
Part 1: Comprehension Questions
Two differentiated sets of questions in chronological order: 25 questions requiring full sentence answers, and 25 multiple choice questions with three possible answers each. The multiple choice set also works well with ESL/ELL students or a more focused younger group. Answer keys are included.
Part 2: Favorite Character and Sentence Writing
Students write about their favorite character in the movie, describing their personality and what the student liked and disliked about them, along with drawing them. A second task has students write sentences using each letter from the word ENCANTO, then reflect on moments in the movie where they felt sad, happy, or excited.
Part 3: Word Search
A 15 word search puzzle, with 5 of the words requiring students to answer a clue before they can find them. Answer key included.
“We have a large population of ESOL students and celebrate National Hispanic Month. This was a great resource to accompany movie and keep students engaged.”
— Melissa F.
“Great resource! My students earned a movie party for good behavior and this was a great way to make sure students were also learning during the movie. They loved all the assignments and I was able to use one as homework! Thank you for this!”
— Jessica T.
How These Guides Work: From Movie to Lesson
A movie is not a break from learning. It reaches students through sight, sound, and story at once, engaging the brain in ways text alone does not, and the structured work around it is what turns the viewing into a genuine lesson. You can read the research behind this on the Why Movies Work page.
- A Teacher Notes and General Directions page opens the guide with a brief overview of everything inside: what the movie is about, then each part of the guide in order with a short description of what it entails. You know what to expect from the whole resource before you hand out a single page, so you can pick up the guide cold and teach it the same day.
- Answer keys are included for the comprehension question sets, so grading is quick and you are not rewatching the movie to check answers. Some guides also include example answers for the creative and written activities.
- Print and go: classroom ready, with no additional preparation needed. Print one the morning you need it and the lesson is ready.
- Substitute and first-timer friendly. A guide can be handed to a substitute or picked up by a teacher covering the topic for the first time. Nobody running the session needs to have seen the movie.
- Differentiated comprehension sets. Most guides include two or three question sets at different difficulty levels, and most include a multiple-choice option that works well for ESL and ELL students. One class set covers your strongest readers, your strugglers, and your language learners without separate prep.
- Activities that go beyond recall. Each guide includes structured activities that ask students to engage with the movie, not just watch it, ranging from creative and written tasks to discussion and critical thinking questions depending on the guide. That variety matters in a mixed classroom: a student who freezes on a written question set may show real understanding through a drawing or a creative task, and a confident writer gets room to go beyond recall. For the teacher, it turns a movie session into work that can actually be assessed: comprehension questions show whether students followed the plot, and the activities beyond them show whether they understood it.
