Year 7 are about to write their own atmospheric story openings, and the teacher wants a strong model of setting before they start. The class watches Rodrigo Blaas's five-minute animated short Alma on the board, shown full screen from YouTube with comments hidden: a girl in a snowy, empty street is drawn into a toy shop by a doll that looks exactly like her. They watch once for the story, then a second time with the teacher pausing at three moments while students list details in their books under three headings: the street, the shop window and the inside of the shop. The teacher takes feedback on how the film builds unease through colour, silence and camera angles, and students turn their three best details into descriptive sentences in their books.
This page is one of a growing set of PICRAT examples by cell, subject and grade. Page maintained by Andy Perryer.