The clips in this programme are drawn from the home movies that British and German film-makers shot in World War II. They are designed to inspire class-room thinking and discussion about the way children in Britain and Germany experienced evacuation, bombing, school life, and death on the home front. Each clip runs for about 2 minutes and ends with a thought-provoking question. The archive, some of it in colour and all shot by amateurs, ranges from the declaration of war listened to on a Cornish beach, to gas masks and air raid shelters, a short clip about school life in war time and the story of one woman's blitz and the death of her three siblings. The starters include an account of the bombing of a German home with film shot by the father. The on -ine resources include lesson plans and ideas for ways to use the starters in a six-week unit on the experience of children in war-time.

Video Series: Lesson Starters
Release Date 2009