Inanimate Alice - A Scottish Perspective

Led by Kenny Pieper, English Teacher Target Audience: S2 class (ages 13-14) Lesson Plan Basis: engagement with 'Inanimate Alice' Analysis of episodes 1-4 Creation of Episode 5 in both written and digital form Blogging our experiences Background

Class 2B3 Duncanrig Secondary School, East Kilbride The Students

- Objectives for Students I will be able to identify and discuss similarities and differences between different types of text I will be able to model, identify and apply reading strategies (inferring, questioning, wondering) to make sense of both printed and digital texts. I will be able to consider the impact that layout and presentation will have on my reader, selecting and using a variety of features appropriate to purpose and audience.

Core Questions What skills do you need to use when reading a digital text? How do they differ from that of a printed text? How might those differences help you to create your own digital text?

Approach Introduce 'Alice' in print form initially As a class, watch and discuss Episode One on Digital Projector Students then given notebooks to work on episodes 2-4 Working in groups, pairs, whole class, individual, we blogged our progress, wrote imaginative episodes and created wonderful, original episodes of 'Alice'.

Student Work ‘Alice watched as the beautiful Scottish countryside whizzed past the train window into the heart of Glasgow. Although she wasn’t concentrating on any of the massive green fields containing lovely little lambs and their mothers or the horses that resembled Black Beauty, her favourite childhood book. Alice was thinking about the most important thing that was happening in her life so far and it was happening today…’ Morgan aged 13

Reflections on Personal Experience with 'Inanimate Alice' What surprised you about working on 'Inanimate Alice'? Which skills from other subject areas did you have to use? In what ways did this unit allow you to become a better reader?

From the Teacher's Desk I teach in a standard Secondary School in Scotland and access to ICT is not always easy. What I learned though was that if it is important then you need to be persistent and keep knocking on doors. My class loved this work and it changed their views of Reading forever. Their episodes, which you can find on my Blog, Just Trying to be Better Than Yesterday, were remarkable. Teaching 'Alice' was a humbling experience and it lit up my classroom. It will do the same for you.

Student Responses “When I first saw 'Inanimate Alice' I read the words and then noticed the background images and film. I also heard strange music which made me uncomfortable. I really loved the idea of it and watched it at my home, it is a very different experience to reading which I love. I also love film and music so it was a very enjoyable experience.” Harry “The part of Inanimate Alice that worked for me was the puzzles because they made the story more fun. In Episode Two I was more used to the screen layout and I did not get distracted from reading the words. My reading skills changed after reading Episode Two because I became more able to read with things distracting me from reading. A tip I would share with other digital story readers is to try and not get distracted." Scott

Student Responses I’ve enjoyed everything from Inanimate Alice so far. The group work has been good because we all put our ideas together and came up with what we think the next episode will be like. We’ve noticed things that each other hasn’t, giving us more questions to think about! Beth When I was reading this I couldn’t get my eyes away from the screen. It literally brought you in and wouldn’t let go of you. When I was reading I scanned my eyes up and down and all around. Rebecca