S1/2 Lesson on Creative Writing on a Spooky theme

The class used the play of Frankenstein(version by Philip Pullman)  as part of a unit on the Gothic, collaborating with Art ( designing posters, wall decorations( gothic arches, info sheets and monster figures)  and Drama( a pupil performance of the play).

I felt it was a case of “go the whole hog” and that we may as well involve Scots literacy in this also, especially as they have just had their Halloween Parties, Guy Fawkes events and so on- it was thematically relevant.

What we did: A class lesson was devoted to THE ELDRITCH using Scots vocabulary

LI/SC

I will learn  how to write a short creative piece of Gothic Horror writing-I will use as many scots words as possible

I have written a short piece of Gothic Horror writing, using Scots vocabulary where possible.

The class was given starter materials showing different Scots terms for the supernatural (most drawn from Education Scotland’s glossary of Eldritch terms) cloze text of a paragraph about Burke& Hare and graverobbing in Scotland.

The pupils were then asked to write out some sentences inspired by this scenario as if they were invited to the infamous writer’s retreat at Villa Diodati in Italy with messrs Byron, Polidori, Shelley and Godwin. (et al)

 What do you think worked particularly well in your classroom application? 

The class were super engaged and thoroughly enjoyed learning and practising the new vocabulary and encountering words that they had in fact seen or heard before- it capitalised on their natural ghoulishness and enjoyment of horror. The fact that they were working with material initially in English but in a Scottish context tickled them and they loved the film clips and images supporting the lesson(mortsafes, Edinburgh operating rooms, the issues of rights/ownership of dead bodies etc)

Is there anything you would do differently if you were to repeat this lesson?  

Simply expand it as it was a bit rushed timewise.

 What are the next steps for your learners? 

They have been allowed to incorporate their learning into the overall project- using scots terms in dialogue for example( walter scott style) and in labelling pictures. They have been  

How will you provide further opportunities to practise and reinforce the use and awareness of the Scots language? 

We have distributed Scots language materials and prominently display it beside the English Department classroom (there’s a Scots Word of the Day, UNCRC in Scots and promotional material for Scots publications/events) . There is also a Scots FILM SEASON which I’m running in the school for all pupils featuring classics and modern titles)- these are accompanied by extracts of dialogue and glossaries for tricky/key scenes and character bios.

The Gothic Unit is continuing with plans to develop the scots vocabulary input further with another class session towards the performance date for the play ( hopefully for Christmas)