Media & moving image

English

Primary

Using a short animation film to develop film literacy

In this programme, we see how a short animation film can be used to develop film literacy. Peta Higgs, a teacher at Cranmer School in South London, shows a film entitled The Monk and the Fish to her Year 6 pupils. Set in an abbey, the story follows the increasingly frantic efforts of a monk trying to catch a fish. The film has a sound track of classical music but no dialogue and only a few sound effects. Peta begins her lesson by getting the pupils to listen to the soundtrack on its own and to practice their skills of inference and deduction. They then develop their ideas about the monk's character by using the drama technique called Sculptor and Sculpted. Peta believes that visually rehearsing their ideas in this way helps the children structure their writing. In the second half of the lesson Peta introduces film language. The pupils practise doing different camera shots and begin to critique parts of the film. By the end of the lesson the class predicts how the story might end, and reacts to what actually happens.

KS1/2 English - Reading Film: The Lesson

A chance to see the short animation film The Monk and the Fish

This programme provides an opportunity to view the short animation film, The Monk and the Fish. Director Michael Dudok de Wit reveals how both the story and animation evolved, and explains how he considered many possibilities for the monk's shape before deciding on a nice, simple, triangular blob. He used ink and paint to give his drawings a strong individual style before developing the storyboard and painting a simple watercolour for the background. Michael explains how some animation tricks convey emotion and movement, how he worked closely with the composer, and how he animated the monk's movement to the timing of the music. For Michael this work is magical and great fun despite the fact he might end up making fifty final drawings for each second of animated film.

KS1/2 English - Reading Film: The Monk and the Fish

Phil Traill explains the making of Dangle, his short film

An opportunity to view the short, live-action film Dangle, and to find out from writer/director Phil Traill about the making of the film. Phil reveals where the idea for the film came from, and how the script evolved. He also describes the process of creating a storyboard and the decisions behind the use of different camera shots, such as close-ups, mid-shots and wide shots. Sound plays a very important role in Dangle, though there is no dialogue and no music. The film also features some clever special effects; notably, making it look as though the sun can be turned on and off via a rope hanging down from the sky.

KS1/2 Literacy - Reading Film at KS1: Dangle

Using film to inspire Year 2 pupils in a writing lesson

Tanya Redhead, a teacher at Dulwich Village C of E Infants School, inspires a Year 2 writing session with the short film, Dangle. The lesson begins with a surprise for the pupils: a rope suspended from the classroom ceiling; mirroring the beginning of the film when the character discovers a rope hanging down from the sky. The class draws on this experience to write the first part of a three-part story plan. They then act out different rope-pulling scenarios, and imagine how they would feel after pulling the rope. Tanya and the class also take time to develop their film vocabulary and analyse how elements such as camera angles, sound and special effects helps them to understand the story better.

KS1/2 Literacy - Reading Film at KS1: The Lesson

Experts make the case for media literacy in education

What are the benefits, opportunities and pitfalls of the digital explosion for education, and how does media literacy fit in? Ofcom define media literacy as "the ability to access, understand and create communication in a variety of contexts", but what does this really mean? In this programme, a group of educationalists and agenda-setters analyse some of the current thinking about media literacy in a round table discussion. Robin Blake, head of media literacy at Ofcom; Cary Bazalgette, media literacy consultant; Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at LSE; Adrian Hall, director of mobile learning, Steljes; and David Hassell, director of learning, teaching and inclusion at Becta, make the case for media literacy as a vital knowledge-age skill. Discover how teachers can harness this digital aptitude for learning, what a media strategy should look like, and the benefits it brings.

Media Literacy - The Experts

A KS2 media lesson starter looking at black and white films

A Key Stage 2 English and media lesson starter using archive black and white footage, to help pupils understand structure and narrative. The footage is of a silent film called Rescued by Rover, made in 1905. In the film, a baby is snatched from its pram by an old beggar woman while the nurse is looking the other way. The family dog, Rover, sets out to find and rescue the baby. It is an ideal lesson starter to support literacy lessons exploring structure and narrative, character and setting, and stories with a dilemma. It can also be used to develop pupils' knowledge and appreciation of film-making and film terminology.

Rescued by Rover

A special needs class learn to shine through filmmaking

This programme explores teaching media studies and filmmaking to children with varying levels of learning ability. The pupils at Frank Wise Special Needs School worked together to make a film called Sporting Heroes, based on the achievements of famous sportsmen. Teachers and filmmakers united to help the children to get involved in all aspects of the production process. For example, the children acted out famous events, such as Frankie Dettori's winning race. In the post-production phase, experts help the pupils get to grips with editing software and encourage them to make their own cutting decisions. Teachers and experts explain why it is important for children in special needs to be challenged and included in activities that they may never have had the chance to participate in. The film was screened at the Odeon in Banbury, where the children could dress like film stars for the night and watch the premiere with friends and parents. This programme shows: <ul> <li>How to get special needs pupils involved in media studies</li> <li>That challenging special needs students in new ways is very important</li> </ul>

Sporting Heroes (Special Schools)

A KS2 English and media lesson starter looking at narrative

Help Key Stage 2 pupils understand structure and narrative with this lesson starter for English and media lessons which uses archive black and white footage. That Fatal Sneeze is a silent film made in 1907 in which a a practical joke has an explosive ending, after a young boy takes revenge on his elderly uncle. The film begins with the uncle putting pepper on his nephew's food, causing him to sneeze uncontrollably. That same night, the boy takes the pepper and pours it over various items including his uncle's handkerchief. The next day, as the uncle gets up and goes out, he can't stop sneezing, causing havoc along the way, until with one fatal sneeze, he disappears in a puff of smoke. This is an ideal lesson starter to support literacy lessons exploring structure and narrative, character and setting, and stories with a dilemma. It can also be used to develop pupils? knowledge and appreciation of film-making and film terminology.

That Fatal Sneeze

A KS2 English and media lesson looking at narrative and setting

A teacher uses archive film in her English and media lessons to explore the structure of narrative, character and setting, and to develop Key Stage 2 pupils' understanding of film language, in this primary lesson idea. For Peta Blow, deputy headteacher at Morden Primary School, using archive film is a great way to develop children's inference and deduction skills, and an opportunity to deepen their understanding about film terminology. Peta uses the 1905 black and white silent film, Rescued by Rover in the lesson. The film is about a baby who is stolen from its pram by an old beggar woman, and rescued by the family dog, Rover. Peta starts the lesson by playing the first couple of minutes of the soundtrack without showing the images, to encourage the class to think about the role of sound in film, and what might be happening. In the next activity she asks the class to look at two of the characters and deduce who they are and the role they might play, based on their costumes. The last activity before the pupils watch the film is to look at setting, and the composition of shots, to learn about the term "mise en scene". After watching the film, Peta models a writing activity which the class continue independently.She finishes the lesson with a hotseat activity, bringing back the two key characters that the pupils looked at earlier in the lesson to question their actions and motivation.

Using Archive Film

Teachers discuss how to improve KS2 literacy through film

Three primary teachers share their strategies for using film to support Key Stage 2 literacy, by looking at character, colour, sound, setting and symbolism, in this CPD resource. At Morden Primary School in London teachers Peta Blow, Andrew Pronger and Anna Diamant regularly use film as a way of supporting literacy. The benefit of using film, particularly those without dialogue, is that every pupil can access the story and it can be explored from the most simplistic level to the most complex. The teachers discuss how they enthuse pupils' learning with methods such as playing the soundtrack of the film without pictures, which encourages pupils to infer and deduce what is going on through the music. They also talk about how colour affects the mood and atmosphere of a scene and the key features of settings, which is particularly useful when studying the science fiction genre.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Subjects

> Primary English

> Media & moving image