Catch Up!

It has been a long time between posts. Have changed units for this term and finally got around to putting some new resources on my class wikispace. These include some useful glogsters for my War Poetry topic with Year 9. Collage snapshots help establish contextual understanding and highlight some of the focus concerns of the poets of the Great War. Year 10 is also drawing to a close with study focussed on the post nuclear attack play, 'Adam's Ark'. I have posted some clips relating to Chernobyl, the worst nuclear accident to date.

'Goodnight Mr. Tom' continues to be one of the most popular search tags for those who end up on my sites, testimony to the fact that the most enduring stories are those that deal with human endurance of one kind or another.
Try this site - http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/living_blitz/ - with eyewitness accounts on.
Design WW2 campaign posters and slogans. You could also use Glogster for this. Have a look at this site for lots of lesson ideas about using the campaign posters - http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/wwii-posters/

'V for Vendetta'

Students seem to be really enjoying this dystopic unit. 'V for Vendetta' is well pitched both conceptually and in terms of film and representational techniques. Revamped the introductory ppt to clarify genre conventions and to strengthen the cautionary underpinnings of this type of text. Have attached the simple viewing response sheet given out to students as well. With discussion and teacher commentary where warranted, it took about 70 minutes to cover properly.

By the end, students were comfortable with highlighting visual techniques used to reinforce things such as the avenger's flamboyance and the 'revenge tragedy' genre's tendency for melodrama and theatrics. Comparing film posters from around the world also proved effective for it made students aware of how visual representation could shape viewer response and interpretation. Some emphasised 'V' while others foregrounded Evie. Colour imagery and symbolism also varied from poster to poster but in all, there tended to be the massed mask populace as a motif.

Examination of key scenes from the film script will be the focus of the second viewing which will be a deconstruction of the film rather than the straight through/no commentary initial viewing for first impressions.

http://stanners.wikispaces.com/