I went to visit Tamzin Barford and her Year 4 class at Prior Weston, half-way through their two-week unit on Fantasy Stories. The lesson focus was planning a fantasy story that ‘grows out of’ Le Pain et la Rue: from the point where the old man turns off the main street, and goes to his house, the children were creating an alternative story space, where the boy follows the man, and goes through his door – which has become a ‘portal’ a la Narnia..
In the five lessons in the week before, the children had listened to the opening soundtrack and written a story opening; watched the film to the same point, and talked through puzzles, surprises and predictions; watched the film to the end and discussed their likes, dislikes, and any patterns they could see. The children really engaged with the film, telling me the things they liked about it. Tamzin said they had a lot to say during the viewing lessons. Even though the lesson sequence is about fantasy stories, the children are clear that Le Pain et la Rue is a ‘realistic’ story, not a fantasy, and they seem engaged by the chance to imagine a fantastic story embedded within it.
The task is closely connected to other literary texts: Narnia, Harry Potter, and Philip Pullman are regularly name checked. Tamzin has given a specific link to Leon and the Space Between, which as a picture book is both more accessible, and closer in form to film.
The class is very diverse, as one would expect. Many of the children recognise Arabic script, and were surprised to see it on a film. They learned who made the film, and where it was set. They were happy to say the name of the film in French, as well as its English translation.
The first part of the lesson I saw focused on the character of the old man: is he a good or a bad character? Albie said ‘he’s bad, because when he walks down the street, the dog stops barking’. Cary said ‘he’s bad, because his EarPods mean he’s taking to his leader.’ Because they were being asked to re-imagine him as a character in a different genre, they could still tell me that in the real film he was probably good, or as Tisha said ‘he’s not good or bad, just ordinary.’
The children had previously written story openings based upon he opening soundtrack, modified after they watched the images that went with it. Tamzin modelled the opening for them too.
Screening Learning 