Image credit: ITV.com
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This is another Christmas themed lesson based around the latest John Lewis Christmas advert about Buster the boxer. Download the lesson plan and powerpoint below:
buster-the-boxer – Powerpoint
buster-the-boxer – Lesson Plan
Procedure
Put students in pairs, depending on their level show them either the first slide with 4 photos or the second slide with the word cloud. Give them 10 minutes to invent a Christmas story using all of the words or pictures, monitor while they work and feed in any language that is needed.
Students then read out their stories to the class, discuss any language issues that come up. Students can then vote on which story they liked best.
Then show students the John Lewis advert:
Ask students the following questions:
- Whose story was the most similar to the advert?
- How different was your story?
- Did you like the video? If so, what did you like about it?
Show the word cloud again, have students write out the story of the advert again from memory using the words as prompts. Students then read out their different versions.
Follow up
For homework, students write the next part of the story, what did the girl do next? How did the foxes and the badger spend Christmas day?
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/nov/10/john-lewis-christmas-advert-buster-the-bouncing-dog-a-sledgehammer-to-2016
Finally, Bridget is given her big shot. Someone has assembled the trampoline of her dreams in her back garden. On Christmas morning, Bridget wakes up and sees the thing she’s always longed for. She races downstairs. She has a clear shot at the trampoline. But then, at the last moment, Buster barges in ahead of her and grabs the trampoline for himself. Bridget stands on, astonished that something as stupid as a dog could have beaten her to it. Meanwhile, Buster gets his stupid dog mouth and his stupid dog parasites all over the trampoline, ruining it for anyone who ever wanted to use it afterwards.
That’s right, Buster the dog is Donald Trump. Buster the dog is Donald Trump, Bridget is Hillary Clinton and the trampoline is America. Thanks for rubbing it in, John Lewis.
It’s a great analogy
The analogy is also available as a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNkniZU4VsA
The ad is also used in the Stop Funding Hate campaign ad which is asking John Lewis (and others) not to advertise in some of the UK’s right wing press – which might make for an interesting discussion with older students – freedom of speech versus hate speech – or the true meaning of Christmas versus the Christmas ads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aw966AqgCA
Thanks for the lesson ideas.