Explore, analyse and imagine

British Prisoners of War (POW)

Synopsis

This lesson uses memoirs from UK Prisoners of War (POW) as an attention grabbing source of information to help students practice their speaking and listening skills, covering in particular the Explore, Analyse and Imagine triplet. Students draw on detailed source material from surviving POWs to develop a character and a comprehensive interview script to use with their character. They then play the role of the character they have created in an interview with each playing the role of both the interviewer and interviewee. Finally the class consider which methods have proven successful in the creation of a character and discuss how their performances could be improved.

MOD Topic

British Prisoners of War (POW)

Curriculum Checklist

2.1a, c, d, k.
3.2b.
4.1a.

Curriculum Links

• Citizenship
• History
• Drama

Prior Knowledge

Writing to Inform and Explain
Some understanding of the wars in which the POW's were fighting when captured.

Learning Outcomes

Lower ability students will:

• Know that there are different requirements for creating a believable character.
• Know how to use a characterisation grid.
• Be able to answer simple questions on their character.
• Ask questions which relate to the experiences of their partner's character.
• Know about some of the hardships experienced by British Service Personnel captured during various conflicts.

Average ability students will:

• Understand how to create a believable character drawing from one or two sources.
• Understand the process of characterisation.
• Provide a good performance embellished with some attention to character detail.
• Ask some incisive questions demonstrating a reasonable grasp of the source material.
• Understand the hardships experienced by British Service Personnel captured during various conflicts.

Higher ability students will:

• Understand how to use and synthesise source material in order to create a believable character.
• Fully understand the process behind characterisation and appreciate the importance of detail to successful characterisation.
• Provide a credible and well thought out performance which demonstrates detailed engagement with the source material and an understanding of different characters.
• Ask pertinent and incisive questions demonstrating a solid grasp of the source material and the issues surrounding it.
• Fully understand the hardships experienced by British Service Personnel captured during various conflicts. Know that this may happen during current operations in Afghanistan.

Lesson code

EN15