# data[].attributes.headline
The Sainsburys Christmas Advert | miss vidler ict

# data[].attributes.subject
The Sainsburys Christmas Advert | miss vidler ict

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Christmas approaching, cue inspiring projects to hook the pupils. A Thursday morning, after a school trip the day before and our English lesson was based on recount writing (I know, how predictable). However, after seeing the Sainsburys advert whilst having breakfast that morning, I decided to go off -piste.

# data[].attributes.body
Tried and tested:

I used this advert as inspiration for our English lessons.

Broke the clip into 30 second chunks and the pupils wrote and edited from the soldiers perspective.

Amazing results - here's the class effort.

Let the kids know what you think

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Linchfield Primary School 5V narrate the Sainsburys Christmas advert 2014

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
5V wrote their own narrative form the perspective of the British soldier. Upon marking it, they were all so amazing I had to showcase them. I took the best part of each pupils work and together they made this.. Please share their brilliant work

# data[].attributes.body
Lesson outline and resource links to lesson exploring the advert as an historical interpretation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sainsbury's decision to use the story of the Christmas Truce to drive their 2014 seasonal advertising campaign provoked debate about the ethical and moral issues regarding advertising and war, but also served to bring the story of the Truce to the front of many peoples' minds. Shortly after the advert was first shown in the UK, a cancelled Geography fieldtrip led to Year 9 students returning to their 'normal' lessons without their usual classroom equipment or books. I therefore chose to seize upon their interest in the Sainsbury's advert and the story it tells to teach an impromptu lesson in which the students were asked to evaluate the advert as an historical source. This post attempts to give an overview of the lesson I taught, and the responses from my students.

The context

A hundred years on, the Christmas Truce has become mythologised to such an extent that the stories peddled by some are dangerously misleading. Although I'm a big fan of Horrible Histories, for example, their sketch based on the Christmas Truce focuses almost exclusively on the legend of the football match. They do make some good references to the wider context of the war but, for a TV show that (usually) presents well-researched and accurate history, the clip below is a concern due to its emphasis on football at the expense of everything else.

Such popular histories can mean that when people think of 'the Christmas Truce' they imagine the entire Western Front downing arms and having a huge kick about in the middle of No Man's Land. This isn't true of everyone, but UEFA's recent series of Remembrance events has further reinforced the stereotype. My students' subconscious 'knowledge' of this was awakened by the new Sainsbury's advert, and I was keen to think of a way to address the reality of this interpretation with my classes.

Setting It Up

I began by simply showing the advert in its entirety, and asked the students to share their initial thoughts.

Some students immediately commented on the ethical/moral debate surrounding the advert. Whether this is because they were repeating lines that have been featured heavily in the media in recent days is unclear. I duly noted down their responses on a huge sheet of paper, but then physically 'put them to one side'. I explained that we were not going to debate the pros and cons of the advert itself. Instead we were going to analyse the advert as an historical source in order to arrive at a response to the question, 'How much can we learn from the Sainsbury's advert about the First World War?'

First impressions

Students were divided into groups and asked to discuss and note down their answers to four key questions to help them answer the lesson enquiry question. I'm fortunate in having a classroom equipped with desks that are designed to be written on, and so by giving each group a couple of board markers they were able to record their responses to these questions:

Who made the advert?

Why was it made?

What does it tell us about the First World War?

What does it not tell us about the First World War?

The first two questions were designed to get students thinking about the provenance of the source, which I hoped would feed in to their answers to the next two questions about the content. The most obvious thing they picked up on was the football match shown in the advert. However, they also commented that the advert can be used to tell us what the soldiers wore and how they passed their time in the trenches, One student also pointed out that the portrayal of the trenches matched with what they'd already learned about trench construction in a previous lesson. In terms of the counter argument a student highlighted that, although the advert focuses on a truce, it doesn't really tell us how common it was for troops to lay down their arms. This point was developed by another who commented that the explosion that sends the two sides back to their trenches shows that the fighting continued elsewhere, even though the section of the line in the advert held a truce. They were beginning to grasp that idea that one specific event does not prove the presence of a wider trend.

Filling in the background

I then showed the students the 'making of' video, and the 'story behind the advert' video, both of which provided them with more contextual information. Many noted that the 'story behind the advert' video clearly states that the events are fictional, but that the makers say they tried to be as accurate as possible.

After viewing these videos, students were given a few minutes to return to their group discussions, in which they began adding details about the origin and purpose of the film related to the 'who' and 'why' questions they had originally been set. In particular, they found it important to note the involvement of the British Legion, and the presence of an historical consultant to ensure accuracy.

Analysing the interpretation

It was at this point in the lesson that students began to realise that the advert was therefore an interpretation of the Truce, based on the different aims of those involved in its production. To help them further explore this idea, I distributed two more sources of information. Half the groups received a series of extracts from the Twitter feed of Taff Gillingham ( https://twitter.com/Taff_Gillingham), the historical consultant on the advert. The other groups were given the joint press release by the British Legion and Sainsbury's.

With Mr Gillingham's permission I have copied his tweets and formatted them into prose paragraphs to make them easier to read - you can download the PDF file from https://www.mrallsophistory.com/revision/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Taff-Gillingham-Twitter-combined.pdf

You can download the press release from the British Legion's website at http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/about-us/news/remembrance/sainsburys-and-the-legion-partner-to-bring-ww1-christmas-truce-story-to-life

The students were asked to read and annotate these additional sources. Those with the Twitter feed were able to learn about Gillingham's own background, and noted that he is a respected commentator on the Christmas Truce. One group highlighted the section where he tells of how he and the director didn't want football to dominate the advert, but that "the client" (i.e. Sainsbury's) wanted to 'push the football hard'. They also found it helpful to read the section where he outlines his own process of historical research to find corroborating evidence of a football match taking place. Meanwhile the groups with the press release highlighted that the advert is referred to as 'a creative interpretation' although they 'sought to make the portrayal of the truce as accurate as possible'. Many also highlighted the charitable element of the advert.

Depending on time you may also wish to include additional sources. The Football Remembers source pack includes some good materials. I've had most success with Source 9 (which is actually one of the sources used by Taff Gillingham used when advising Sainsbury's), Source 32, and Source 48.

Since first teaching this lesson, a previously unpublished letter has come to light which could be a great additional source. Most sources are from lower ranking soldiers, but this is from General Walter Congreve who was awarded the Victoria Cross. It's particularly interesting because the majority of accounts of the Truce say that senior officers were opposed to the Truce, whereas Gen Congreve's letter seems quite supportive of it - if only for tactical reasons. The Daily Telegraph published a full transcript of the letter on their website, though the headline 'The real story behind the 1914 Christmas Truce' is to be taken wit ha pinch of salt!

It can also be interesting to contrast the portrayal of the war in the Sainsbury's advert with that in Private Peaceful, which is taught in many Y7 English classrooms. Although Private Peaceful does not address the Truce, it offers an almost-entirely opposing interpretation of the war in general and can provide a good stimulus for a discussion of audience.

Reaching a conclusion

Students with different sources then paired off to share their new-found insights with each other. This led to some interesting debate, with one pair commenting that the purpose of the historical account - i.e. Sainsbury's desire to advertise their product - meant that some of the nuanced history from Gillingham's research was lost. This final piece of paired work also enabled students to discuss the overall lesson question to reach a conclusion about how much the advert can teach us about the First World War. Using a technique shared by Patrick O'Shaughnessy on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/historychappy), students then recorded their opinions on Post-It notes which they stuck to the board to form a continuum. These views were discussed as a plenary activity.

Since first teaching this lesson five days ago, it is clear that many of the students have watched the advert again. They have found yet more historical references in the advert, some of which I'm sure they will have been looking for after reading Gillingham's tweets. Although I recognise that there is an important debate to be had about Sainsbury's decision to produce this advert, I believe that we have the opportunity to use it as a springboard to address the real history of the Christmas Truce and correct the myths and legends that overshadow the reality of life on the Western Front at the end of 1914.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Supermarket and the Christmas Truce - lesson plan and resources | | History revision for GCSE, IGCSE, IB and AS/A2 History | Mr Allsop History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sainsbury's decision to use the story of the Christmas Truce to drive their 2014 seasonal advertising campaign provoked debate about the ethical and moral issues regarding advertising and war, but also served to bring the story of the Truce to the front of many peoples' minds.

# data[].attributes.body
Rob has been working on this great Shed!

http://www.literacyshed.com/the-christmas-truce.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The recent commemoration events of 'The Great War' coupled with Sainsburys use of this topic as an advert has brought this wonderful story to the forefront of many peoples minds. It is a story that...

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=6451514&

As faithful a transcript of the TV ad as I can get onto a sheet of A4, with some stage directions, plus stills for illustration. The ad itself is on youtube. I showed my pupils the ad, and then asked them to translate the German. There's also the opportunity for a bi-lingual role play.

# data[].attributes.body
Research at the work of the Royal British Legion and recent newspaper articles criticising the supermarket for emotionally exploiting people. Discuss and debate.

# data[].attributes.body
Pause the clip at various points and stick thought bubbles over characters.. Conscience alley, tableaux, thought tapping and maybe some forum theatre where the events change. What if? What if ...

# data[].attributes.body
You could make a recreation of the advert for a class Christmas Performance

# data[].attributes.body
If the soldiers survived the conflict - what would they write in a letter to each other after the war?

What are their memories of the days and the gift that was shared?

# data[].attributes.body
Worth a look - Writing Stimulus £1!

https://twitter.com/PoppyLegion/status/533337328840765441

# data[].attributes.wish_content.attachment_props.text
WW1 chocolate bar featured in @sainsburys in stores is only £1 - all profits donated to us. Get yours today! http://t.co/JDkSpqjp0J

# data[].attributes.wish_content.attachment_props.original_text
WW1 chocolate bar featured in @sainsburys in stores is only £1 - all profits donated to us. Get yours today! http://t.co/JDkSpqjp0J

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Something went wrong, but don’t fret — let’s give it another shot.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.embed_code
WW1 chocolate bar featured in @sainsburys in stores is only £1 - all profits donated to us. Get yours today! pic.twitter.com/JDkSpqjp0J
— Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) November 14, 2014

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props_source.data.text
WW1 chocolate bar featured in @sainsburys in stores is only £1 - all profits donated to us. Get yours today! http://t.co/JDkSpqjp0J

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
WW1 chocolate bar featured in @sainsburys in stores is only £1 - all profits donated to us. Get yours today! http://t.co/JDkSpqjp0J

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
WW1 chocolate bar featured in @sainsburys in stores is only £1 - all profits donated to us. Get yours today! http://t.co/JDkSpqjp0J

# data[].attributes.body
Just seen someone post this link

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Christmas Truce, Voices of the First World War - BBC Radio 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The extraordinary events of Christmas 1914, when troops briefly called a ceasefire.

# data[].attributes.body
Use with The Christmas Truce - a poem from Poet Laureat Carol Ann Duffy to write own poems.

# data[].attributes.body
Write the back story of one of the soldiers - how did he come to be there on that day?

Write a monologue of one of the soldier's thoughts.

Write a poem describing the conditions.

Discussion text - were they right to stop fighting to play football?

# data[].attributes.headline
Write a letter home telling of the event.

# data[].attributes.subject
Write a letter home telling of the event.

# data[].attributes.body
Rewrite the words to Silent Night beyond the first verse, telling the story of that Christmas @emmsibo

# data[].attributes.body
If you haven't seen it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWF2JBb1bvM

# data[].attributes.body
Football match report - create an audio commentary

# data[].attributes.body
Continue the story, how would it effect the soldiers and what they may have previously thought about each other.

What if you came face to face with an enemy soldier that you had befriended how would you react?

How would you feel?