Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Part A: Tuning in and feeling safe

160 minutes

Part B: Watching the movie and note-taking

20 minutes

Part C: Making connections between characters and themes

5 minutes

Reflection

Part A: Tuning in and feeling safe

Step 1

Divide students into small groups and allocate the groups to one of the following topics: resilience, hope, rebuilding or community.

Step 2

Ask students to write connotations for their allocated word in the middle of a large piece of paper. They should then discuss what they associate with this word. They may wish to jot down or draw:

examples
words they associate with this term
a definition or definitions.

Step 3

Ask students to place their papers up around the room or on their table. Invite students to circulate and look at their sheets. Alternatively, you may wish just to have tables swap their papers and read each other’s group responses.

Step 4

Ask table groups to share the favourite thing they wrote, read or heard about each of the themes.

Step 5

Tell students that today you will be watching a film that explores all these themes. However, the film also explores some of the tragic repercussions of the recent bushfires. Ask students to discuss on their tables: What are some emotional reactions we might have, that show us we are finding it upsetting or challenging? (suggested answers include: crying, feeling overwhelmed, feeling angry, feeling stressed)

Step 6

Ask students to share on their tables what strategies they might use if they found the film upsetting or challenging. Circulate and discuss various answers to share with the class.

Suggested answers could include: taking deep breaths, taking space outside, talking to someone about it after the film etc.

Explain to students that because everyone has different experiences, we all might react differently to upsetting situations or content.

Part B: Watching the film

Note: Depending on your class’ level of engagement and predicted comprehension, you may wish to stop halfway through and check for understanding.

Step 1

Give students the below table (Student Worksheet) to take notes on characters that they see in the film.

Character's Name	Key events the character faced/ actions the character took	Thoughts or feelings the character shared
Nathan Barnden (Jellat RFS)
Shane Fitzsimmons RFS Commissioner
Petrea King
Barbara Stewart
Brendan O’Connor

Step 2

When the film is finished, ask students to take a moment to reflect individually on:

How they are feeling
What they are thinking about
What questions they have.

Step 3

Ask students to divide a piece of paper or Google Docs into two sides. Invite your class to write positive feelings, thoughts, images or ideas they had (while watching the film). Then, encourage your students to complete the same process and write down any negative emotions, thoughts, images or ideas.

Step 4

Ask students to reflect on the film and their pieces of paper - they can discuss their paper or ideas with a peer.

What stood out to you from the film?
What do you notice about each side of your paper?

Step 5

Have students return to their notes from the film. Ask students to work in pairs or at a table (groups) to add to their notes.

Part C: Making connections between characters and themes

Step 1

Ask students to choose a character who resonated with them. Or you may wish to allocate different characters to different tables/groups.

Step 2

Remind students of the four themes you discussed at the beginning of the lesson:

Hope
Resilience
Rebuilding
Community.

Ask students to brainstorm a list of ways their character demonstrates or relates to each of these themes.

You may like to list characteristics and attributes that pertain to the various characters and themes to help students understand the task better.

Step 3

Ask your students to pick just ONE of the themes - the one they feel has the strongest connection to their character and brainstorm some of the ways this character represents one of the following themes.

Step 4

Find someone else in the room that chose the same theme and talk to them about some of the ways their character represents their chosen theme.

Step 5

Let students know that they will be working on some independent writing and can use their tables’ notes and consider their conversations when they respond to the following question:

How does the character show examples of or relate to, the theme you chose?

You may like to scaffold this task and discuss some of the characters and various themes first. For example:

How did Barbara, Brendan or Nathan show resilience?
Points to consider:

Accept help when they need it
Adapt to change
Learn how to cope with setbacks and disappointments
Focus on finding ways to get around problems, rather than on the problems themselves
Make mistakes and then learn from them
Learn to accept constructive criticism
Make the most of their strengths
Recognise their weaknesses
Recover from failure and rejection
See the bigger picture in challenging situations.

Ensure students create a plan and discuss the following:

Refer to various scenes, conversations or quotes and weave the scenarios into your writing to show the reader how this character exemplifies the theme and discuss why this theme or character trait is important.

Types of text may include but are not limited to poem, song, essay, letter, diary entry, podcast, simple review, film review etc.

Step 6

Show or refer to the PEEL method and write some examples of topic sentences or main points of discussion to help students formulate their responses with confidence.

P = Point: start your paragraph with a clear topic sentence that establishes what your paragraph is going to be about. Your point should support your essay argument or thesis statement.
E = Evidence/Example: here you should use a piece of evidence or an example that helps to reaffirm your initial point and develop the argument.
E = Explain: next you need to explain exactly how your evidence/example supports your point, giving further information to ensure that your reader understands its relevance.
L = Link: to finish the paragraph off, you need to link the point you’ve just made back to your essay question, topic, or thesis.

Reflection

Ask students to reflect and discuss on their tables the 3 Whys:

Why did the film matter to me?
Why might the film matter to our country?
Why might this film matter to the world?

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Students could be asked to write a more extended response about the character and the theme or compare and contrast the different ways characters exemplified the chosen theme.

Provisions for Learning Support - To help and support students that may require additional guidance, you may consider allowing students to work in pairs or small groups to complete Part C. Additionally, students could also be supported to make a mind map about their character instead of writing an analytical paragraph.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

A Fire Inside - Viewing the Film and Character Analysis

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Summary

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