At Dulwich Village C of E Infants' School, film is often used as an alternative text to support extended writing sessions. In this lesson, Year 2 teacher Tanya Redhead uses the short film Dangle to inspire her class to write a 3-part story plan using adventurous vocabulary to describe what happened when they pulled the rope, and how they felt about it. The lesson begins with a surprise for the pupils: a rope suspended from the classroom ceiling, to mirror the beginning of the film when the character discovers a rope hanging down from the sky. The class then draws on this experience, and how it made them feel, to write the first part of their story plan. They go on to act out different rope-pulling scenarios, and to imagine how they felt after pulling the rope. Tanya and the class also take time to develop their film vocabulary, and analyse how elements such as the use of different camera angles, and sound and special effects, help them to understand the story better.

Video Series: KS1 Literacy
Release Date 2006