What A Great Lesson...

I just had a fantastic lesson teaching Year 10 kids on the character of gollum:

First we had a discussion about Gollum's history: the fact that he used to be a Hobbit, where he got his precious from, how he lost it to Bilbo, and how he came to be living in the middle of a lake underneath the mountains.

Then I read the bit in The Hobbit where it describes Gollum, and got them to do a vague sketch of what they think he should look like (trying to give their own interpretation rather than rely on what they've seen from the movie). Then I showed them parts of "The Taming of Smeagol", which is an extra in The Two Towers Special Edition which outlines how they conceptualised Gollum visually and audibly (Andy Serkis is a legend).

Then we watched excerpts from Lord of the Rings that featured Gollum, including his introduction, his capture by Frodo and Sam, compassion from Frodo and suspicion from Sam, Gollum/Smeagol's conversation with himself where Smeagol tells Gollum to "Go away and never come back!", and the bit where Smeagol thinks that Frodo has betrayed him, and so he welcomes back Gollum into himself. The kids were typing furiously, taking notes on every little thing. They lapped it up :)

Then we listen to the song "Gollum's Song", sung by Emiliana Torrini (on the special edition version). If you don't know it or cant remember, it is this amazing dirge sung in this waily, creepy voice, which talks about everything that has happened to Gollum from his perspective. It set the perfect mood: so, so, so sad.

Then I got the kids to write a newspaper report on "The Tragedy of Gollum", while I left the song playing in the background. It was a really incredible atmosphere.

Hooray!