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A Million Miles Away: Complete Movie Guide

Thirty-three chronological, time-coded questions guide students through A Million Miles Away, the true story of NASA astronaut José Hernández, with a complete teacher answer key.
Grades
Grades 8–12, High School, Middle School
File type
Multiple File Types

Updated Sep 25, 2023

Subject
Holiday & Seasonal, Holidays, Hispanic Heritage Month
Topic
Hispanic Heritage Month, Movie Guides
Resource types
Worksheets & Printables, Worksheets

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Thirty-three chronological questions guide students through the film A Million Miles Away, the true story of a migrant farmworker's son who rises from picking crops in California to flying aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Questions are grouped into four viewing blocks matched to specific runtime windows, from 0:00-30:00 through 1:30:01-2:00:00, covering plot events, true/false checks, and five recurring "ingredient" quotes from his father's advice. A complete teacher answer key provides the correct response to every question, including direct quotes such as the launch delay's cause and the mission's 13-day duration. A digital-copy link page is included alongside the printable PDF worksheet.

Product description

From the author

José Moreno Hernández grew up in the California. His parents were migrant workers from Mexico. While in California, Jose had to move around from school-to-school as his parents found work. One teacher, Ms. Young, spoke to his parents about Jose's potential and about the need to stop moving around for the sake of their children. After a while, his family stopped moving around and settled in Stockton, CA. During this time, Jose began to excel at school and was admitted to a university, where he studied engineering. After his studies he worked at Lawerence Livermore Lab in northern California. He slowly began impressing his colleagues and was given larger roles inside the company. Despite all his successes, Jose was fixated on becoming an astronaut. He applied countless times to NASA, and was finally given the chance to pursue his dream.

This 33-question video guide is student friendly and will help your students get this most out of this powerfully inspirational film. The students will be able to follow along with the film and pull away the most significant insights of the film. The movie can be found on Amazon Prime. This products includes both PDF and digital versions! Excellent for Hispanic Heritage Month!

Product and Thumbnail Clipart Credit: by Prince Padania

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Students will track key plot events and quotes chronologically while watching A Million Miles Away, answering questions matched to specific runtime windows.

  • Students will identify the five recurring pieces of advice ("ingredients") José's father gives him throughout the film.

  • Students will recall specific facts from the film, including dates, names, and outcomes, in true/false and short-answer questions.

Teaching tips

  • Pause the film at each runtime block boundary (30, 60, and 90 minutes) to let students catch up on questions before continuing, since the questions are grouped by time window.

  • Use the answer key's direct quotes, such as "Tenacity is a Superpower" and "Find a goal; find your goal," as discussion starters about the film's recurring success-advice theme.

  • Offer the digital-copy link page (page 7) as a paperless alternative to the printable worksheet for 1:1 classrooms.

Skills covered

  • Active viewing and note-taking — students answer 33 chronologically ordered questions while watching, matched to specific runtime windows.

  • Reading for detail and recall — true/false and short-answer questions require recalling specific plot facts (dates, names, outcomes) from the film.

  • Theme tracking — students identify five "ingredient" quotes José's father gives him across the film's runtime.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Are the questions organized by scene, or tied to specific viewing times?

Tied to specific runtime windows. Questions are grouped into four blocks, 0:00-30:00, 30:01-1:00:00, 1:00:01-1:30:00, and 1:30:01-2:00:00, matching when each event occurs in the film.

What is the "ingredient" theme referenced throughout the questions?

José's father shares five numbered pieces of advice ("ingredients") across the film, and five separate questions ask students to identify each one, for example ingredient 2: "Know how far you are."

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • biographical film comprehension

  • chronological viewing guide

  • space exploration history

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