World War One - Drama Keystage 3

1. Read the section 'Your country needs you!' and it's linking pages.

Discuss the patriotism the men had towards going to war. Where may this have come from? What part did recruitment posters and slogans have to play in this? Compare this to the media's affect on public opinion today.

In groups, devise and perform an advert, encouraging people to think that fighting in the army is a positive thing. How will you persuade your audience to think this? Use techniques such as, narration to audience, use of an expert, comparing a person who has joined up to one who hasn't, images (frozen or moving) and a slogan e.g., 'your country needs you!' (suitable for Year 8)

Teacher draws an imaginary line across the floor and at one end puts a sign saying 'agree' and at the other, 'disagree'. In the middle is put a sign saying 'not sure'. She/ he explains that they will read out a number of statements about war. If students fully agree then they should stand at the 'agree' end of the line, and if they disagree at the 'disagree' end. They stand in the middle if they are unsure. They can stand anywhere along the line according to the level of how much they agree or disagree. They must be prepared to give reasons for their decision. (suitable for Year 9, 10. Can link to Citizenship - study of National Goverment)

Examples of statements:

• Today is Tuesday (test statement!)
• 'It's good to be proud of your country'
• 'Every country needs an army to protect it'
• 'The age limit to join the army should be higher/lower'
• 'Women soldiers should be allowed to be in combat'
• 'War is necessary for peace'

2. In groups, ask students to come up with tableaux to explore the themes of war. Suggested titles could be, 'war' and 'peace', 'death' and 'life' and 'victory' and 'defeat'. These images can be put to suitable classical music and performed, for the rest of the group. (Suitable for Year 9, and Drama/English* KS4,Year 10)

• Extension - Repeat the tableaux, with one person in the group stating the title, e.g., 'war'. Go through each one in turn. Then repeat the sequence of tableaux but state the opposite title, e.g., 'peace' instead of war. Discuss the dramatic irony this creates. (Drama/English* KS4, Year 10)

*These exercises can also be used as preparatory work to introduce themes and images to explore war poetry studied in GCSE English, indeed, the themes and images can be chosen from them e.g., Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum'.