Luxor JnrAfter two weeks of indulging in one of my favourite units of the framework, The Piano with year 6 I was facing somewhat of a dilemma last weekend. How do you follow from a unit which totally engaged your class, who loved the fine detail and emotion portrayed in the film?
Not only was that a challenging enough job but we were also tackling quite a difficult topic. Yr 6 Poetry units include the study of personification. This can be quite a difficult concept and despite finding several poems which exemplifiied personification I wondered how I would be able to inspire my children to write thier own poems. What object could I bring to life, with enough vibrance and feeling that it would inspire them to describe it in thier poetry?
Connecting their previous enjoyment of 'The Piano' to this unit had me thinking of a film or animation which might grab thier attention. 'Luxor Jr' by Pixar seemed to fit the bill beautifully. Despite being created over 15 years ago this wonderful piece of animation was one of the first to bring inanimate objects to life.
Chasing down a copy of the video file took me a while but i finally found it on
I shared it with my class today and they loved it. They laughed at the antics of the Luxo jr, were able to establish a relationship between the two lamps as affectionate and possibly paternal. They also produced some wonderful first drafts. Some poems described the antics of the two lamps, some poems were written from the view of Luxor Snr, some from Jr. Some even focussed on a conversation that we imagined the two lamps might have at this point in the film.
A wonderful resource, which entralled my class. Hope you and yours will enjoy it just as much as we did!
