"CLIL - L - ING" WAR A CLIL ACTIVITY BASED ON WW1

clil-l-ing war

Game designerLivia Antoci

ScenographyGuglielmo Manenti

CrewAlbert FranchiFrancesco SeniaPia CappellaniRossana MinardiRaffaella TuminoRaffaella CarnemollaTeresa IozziaGianluca Tidona

PhotographySalvatore Giannì

Graphic designSalvo Nicolosi

credits

Introduction

The game is the final event of an in-depth scheme of work based on the First World War.

This period of study was taught through CLIL methodology and involved three final year classes of the Liceo Linguistico “G. B. Vico” di Ragusa (VAL, VBL, VCL).

Introduction

Introduction

The title of the game is CLIL-L-ING war, a play on words.

The exact spelling would be Killing war, indeed the participants of the game are competing using symbols of the First World War such as the trenches; letters from the Front; war poems and modern weapons.

The game takes place in the open air in the courtyard of the school and involves four different trials. Each game takes about 15 minutes to be played, so the entire game lasts about one hour.

before the game

In the first part of the game each team receivesa colour and a badge (a zeppelin, an airplane and a U-boat) that it will use in the subsequent games.

letters from the frontgame 1

The game refers to the fact that, while the First World War enhanced literacy, all the letters from the Front were read and censored before they were distributed, in order to quash the contradictions of the war and the dire straits that soldiers found themselves in during the fighting.

The aim of the game is to find the missing word in each letter.

letters from the frontgame 1

01. Envelopes in team colours are stuck onto pillars in the courtyard

02. Contestants remove envelopes in their team colour from the pillars

03. Inside the envelopes there are some letters from soldiers, sovereigns, and famous characters as well as ordinary folk

04. In each letter there is a missing word and contestants have to find it and write it down

05. Contestants submit their answers to an allocated teacher who then ranks them

06. The team in third place is banished to no man’s land, between two trenches, a deadly, desolate place, symbolising death and devastation

07. These contestants are obliged to wear skull masks which somehow transforms the horror of this place into a kind of carnival

terrible trenchesgame 2

We used coloured sellotape to draw the trenches and limit the space to visually show the opposing armies.

In this game players are reproducing the intensity and the speed of the gunfire.

But here the dynamic of military action is inverted: contestants don’t ward off bullets as real soldiers would do, but head for them in order to intercept them.

terrible trenchesgame 2

At this point teams have to demonstrate team spirit

to elaborate the most effective strategy and to

successfully play the game

01. While one team is forced to remain in no man’s land, the other two teams have to divide themselves in opposite trenches into throwers and catchers

02. The throwers will launch 30 balls in their team colour. The catchers can only catch balls in their team colour

03. On the contrary, the team in no man’s land is allowed to catch balls of any colour

The aim is to throw the balls over the heads of the team in no man’s land and prevent them from catching their balls

04. Once all balls have been thrown and caught, the allocated teachers hand out as many questions as the balls caught

03. Once again scores are reported on the scoreboard and at this point everyone is really excited because the outcome is still uncertain

rhymed wargame 3

For the third game we used the stairs of our school.

This activity matched two different aims: reading and comprehension on the one side and listening on the other.

The aim of the game is to order the verses of a famous war poem Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori by Wilfred Owen. The verses have been written on slips of paper and mixed up.

rhymed wargame 3

01. Each team leader stays upstairs and:- pulls up the team badge on a string- sticks a slip of paper at a time on it- lets it down

02. Teams stay downstairs, pick up the slips and try to order the verses

03. In order to help contestants to order the poem 5 native speakers read aloud the text of the poem continuously for 10 minutes

04. At the end of the activity scores are reported on the scoreboard

woeful tankgame 4

The first tank was produced during the First World War, therefore we made it the symbol of our game, but with some tinkering because it contains three hooters that are used to reserve the right to give the first answer during the last game.

This is a good match of kinaesthetic intelligence, history and linguistic skills, but, far more, enhances team spirit. The game is based on two simultaneous activities: a physical one and an intellectual one.

woeful tankgame 4

01. Team leaders have to cross the trenches under the ”gunfire” of enemy teams and reach their teams

02. Teams have a double aim: disturbing the other teams’ leaders by throwing their “weapons”, in order to delay their arrival, and answering an allocated question

03. When the leaders reach their teams they receive the answer, run to the tank, sound the hooter and answer the question aloud

At the end of the fourth trial each team receives its final score

Now the game is over and there’s the presentation of the cup and one of the teachers announces the team who is victorious

benefits and results

Competitiveness is dramatically effective so a dull revision activity turns into a lively race where everyone wants to take part, show their abilities and contribute to the victory.

But the real paradox is that when the game is over everyone is happy and there’s no real loser.On the contrary everyone feels like a winner.

BENEFITS AND RESULTS

This was our unusual way to celebrate WWI, outside of either any rhetoric or trivialization of its tragic nature.

We wanted to remind all those who, still young, have been swept away by an event that overstepped their expectations and sealed their lives.

Let this game be a warning to those who think war is a game. This, for sure, was the only war with no bloodshed, just “brainshed”!

CONCLUSIONS