Hanging On The Old Barbed Wire - WW1 poetry lesson (Y7 or Y8)

I devised this lesson for a Year 8 group that contained a large proportion of students with special needs. It could be adapted for mixed ability or a Year 7 group quite easily. I decided to work with the WW1 song ‘Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire’ as it is a simpler way in to the topic than full-on Wilfred Owen, but it still resonates powerfully for audiences today. The students responded well to the repetition in the text, and also to the singing, which they joined in with.

The aim of the lesson is to introduce students to the idea of war as a metaphor for societal inequality.

It uses a lot of questions, answers and discussion to get the students to ponder pre-conceived notions about war and army ranks. It ends in a differentiated writing task. I found it very effective.