An innovative new, cross curricular resource from education charity Into Film and the National Literacy Trust offers teachers an array of stimulating possibilities for using Michael Morpurgo’s moving story Private Peaceful to develop literacy and bring World War I to life in its centenary year.
Created for use across the Key Stage 3 curriculum, the resource features exclusive footage and insights from the author in addition to clips from the film and behind-the-scenes information.
Seven sections are available for study in English, Citizenship, Geography, History, RE, Science and English, each containing teachers’ notes and a series of activities to inspire imagination, stimulate thought and discussion, and support subject teaching in tandem with traditional and film literacy. Each section is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation with video content for use in teaching and learning.
As well as undertaking in-depth film analysis, young people will embark on a skills based literacy and cross-curricular enquiry incorporating analysis of character and relationships, investigation of the main narrative themes and devices, and interpretation of the author’s message and different viewpoints.
Activities range from storyboarding, story mapping and debating to comparing book and film, analysing camera shots, setting and sound, exploring class structure in the early 20th Century and looking at the impact of World War I on the landscape. Through a variety of strategies for researching and retrieving information, organising data and presenting findings the resource will help schools to demonstrate that they are using film to achieve literacy outcomes across all subjects.
Designed for use in conjunction with the film, the resource can be downloaded at www.bit.ly/PrivatePeaceful.
