STORY OF A MANTLE - THE ISLAND

Introduction

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The Class are a lively bunch of Y1 children, mixed ability, Autumn, Spring and Summer borns. We’ve had a lot of fun working together with this.

I attended a Mantle of the Expert Residential weekend run by Luke Abbot
Such a lot to learn and internalise! Having attended a few of these sessions in the last 3 years, I am constantly aware of how much there is to know. My learning does not seem to take a straight, progressive line. It seems that as I am listening and experiencing things now, it’s when I can connect it to previous learning, that I begin to understand.
What really stood out for me this weekend was the use of the senses in dramatic action – light/dark, sound/silence, movement and stillness. These were the things that made me ‘see’ in my ‘mind’s eye’, plus the use of careful but highly descriptive language. I could see what I needed to do with my own drama to bring it alive

Twenty-Eight

Fri, 9 May 2008 23:00:00 +0100

This is as far as we’ve got to. I’m not certain as to what will happen next. I imagine the child will show us the house where she has been living. We could pick up clues from the objects, stories from the people who left long ago. Historical artefacts? Dinosaur fossils? There might be wild creatures there. Creatures in danger? Dangerous ones?
Will the water be safe? The Volcano? We’ll see.

Twenty-Seven

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0100

THE ISLAND 24 The Arrival 6

Ch in role as Problem solvers
What’s next? Would you like to meet the child? Look I’ll invite her in. We won’t want to frighten her. If we did what sort of things would we want to ask? Talking partners. I recapped some of the suggestions that the children had made from the last session, inviting H to reads back what he had put.

I suggested he might have used a different voice when he spoke to her and perhaps moved his body in a different way. He demonstrated, stroking his friend’s arm gently and changing his voice to a lilting, gentle tone. He’d really thought hard about not frightening the girl.
I asked the ch if they wanted to meet her as they had been so thoughtful, thinking of ways that didn’t frighten her. Could they get the room ready for her. They did this, moving a chair near to the outside door so she could get away if she wanted to. The moved back because they didn’t want to crowd her. Z suggested that they didn’t look straight at her because she might take fright. I said I would wait just outside the door, when I came back I would be in role as the girl. They might like to think of what they wanted to find out from her. Would someone come and fetch me when they were ready?
James came out, took me by the hand and gently led me in. The others moved back and gestured for me to take the chair.

CT IN ROLE as Child. Gave info. Really frightened. Has been on own for a long time. Have we seen her family? She came with Mum, Dad and Brother on a boat. There was a terrible storm. The ch asked some questions, but were a little hesitant and the session lost a bit of pace here.

At the end the children wrote their ideas on whiteboards. This lasted about 5 minutes. All wrote independently with good focus and read back in role.
For example:
• I’m ice cold and very scared
• Have you seen My Mummy?
• I hope there isn’t another storm.
• I’m very hungry.
• ’Who will look after me?
The point where this session took off was when I invited them to stand behind the effigy and speak in her voice. That was when they really seemed to take ownership of it.

Twenty-Six

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0100

THE ISLAND 23 The Arrival 5

Ch in role as Problem solvers Recap ideas of what ch saw through the door. CT to draw door in the air, at the children’s suggestion as to what it looked like. Invited children to add handle and hinges. Pursued the idea of someone/something moving.

CT IN ROLE as character peering through the door saying ‘ I think she’s quite small. I wonder…. Wait a minute It’s a child. Standing quite still. Shhh! We don’t want to frighten her. If we rush in she might run away. What should we do? How shall we approach her so she doesn’t run away?

Children gave suggestions such as ‘Don’t worry’, ‘Hello, we’re here to help. What’s wrong?’ They were careful, the way they approached the girl (C in role as the girl) moving slowly and not giving direct eye contact. They suggested this might make her more afraid.

I asked the children to get into pairs and tell each other how we could approach her and what we could say. I Invited ch in role to enact their ideas. One as child, one as PS. Then swap. Observing, I listened in. What would they say? I saw approaching children, stooping, hands reaching out to stroke/ pat the child, arms going around her shoulders. In watching this I noted a high level of engagement and focused comments and movements from them.

In the WRITING ACTIVITY where they wrote speech bubbles – what they would say to the child, I noted that they were quick to tell each other what they would say and I was heartened by the diversity of their responses. In asking ‘What made you think of that?’ I drew some blank stares. ‘I just did!’ They were getting on with the business of ‘approaching the child.’ My questions were getting in the way. THEY had ownership of their writing!
Of the 29 children there, all could think of what to say. Of the 3 ‘Stuck’ children that I had been monitoring, Child G got stuck into the writing immediately.

Twenty-Five

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0100

THE ISLAND The Arrival 4- Ch in role as Problem solvers Idea from the children’s responses Tension - What could get in the way now? A’s idea. Something was blocking the way, like a huge wall. How could we get through? A door? What would it look like? COLLECTIVE picture. Focus on LOOK, FEEL, SOUND.
Imagine this door was just open a crack. Look you can just make out…What is it, Shining in the light/deep in the shadows Invite the children to come into the circle, peer though the crack and describe what they saw.
WRITING ACTIVITY
Write and draw what they saw through the door.

Twenty-Four

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0100

THE ISLAND 20 - The Arrival 2

THE ISLAND The Arrival 3 Ch in role as Problem solvers
What could get in the way now? Can you imagine yourself at the point where you have arrived on the beach? SENSES What you heard, saw, felt? ENACT the moment you step from the shore onto the beach ….SUDDENLY….Stop the drama. Talking partners - discuss. What’s stopped you?
WRITING ACTIVITY – write what stopped us going any further.

Twenty-Three

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0100

Construction- Lego workshop - linked to the Mantle.
Re-capped why we were going to the island, who had asked us and what our mission was.
I should think if we have to make sure the houses are safe, we must have had training as builders. FLASHBACK to the time we were trained.

Twenty-Two

Sat, 5 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0100

THE ISLAND 19 - The Arrival 1

Ch in role as Problem solvers a continuation from FRI
I’d just like to check with you – Where are we up to in our island story? Discussion.- collect ideas FLASHBACKED to the time when we got off the ship.
STILL IMAGES 1. Packing the boat 2. In the boat 3. Stepping off the boats and on to the beach. SIGNS
What do you notice? Can you make a sign of what you have seen and place it where you saw it? PAIRS Can you guide a partner to what you saw?
WRITING ACTIVITY on whiteboards wrote lists of what they saw.

Twenty-one

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 18 After THE STORM- THE RESCUE 2

THE DIVERS STORY 1 Ch in role as Problem solvers
Recap last session. Do you want a chance to talk to the diver, now that she’s safe. What sort of things would you want to ask her? Talking partners. HOT SEAT TA in role as diver. TA focus- What I saw,heard,felt,Return to TA effigy role at the point where she was waiting for rescue. Invite ch to stand behind her to say what she is thinking in her voice.
WRITING ACTIVITY ch write thought bubbles to show what the diver was thinking before the rescue. Encourage reading back as they go.

I WAS SURPRISED BY a shift in the groups’ involvement. It happened as they were listening to T’s thought ‘I hope they’re coming soon. I’ve only got a few minutes of air left’ At this point the group body language and intensity of listening changed. I can only describe it as a sort of a ‘hum’ as the children leaned forward and fixed their attention to the speaker- the pace seemed to slow down as we were caught in this situation together. The following thoughts came more slowly as the children positioned themselves at her head. They looked as if they were choosing their words more carefully and this seemed to me that it was not the language they were weighing up, but their emotional engagement.
I think I ought to find out more about emotional involvement. What do I mean by that? Is there a way of measuring it? If emotional engagement is the key to motivating children to engage then that has implications as to how and what I teach.
NEXT We didn’t get to the planned activity, which was writing thought bubbles, the diver’s thoughts at the moment when he was waiting for rescue. I did catch the children after the break and ask them to tell me. There were some thoughts moving into dark territory, such as ‘I think my partner’s dead’.
One group, a group of girls who have previously struggled a little to respond to the less predictable outcomes in our drama story moved the timescale forward to the time when the diver had been rescued, saying things like ‘Thank goodness I’m safe now’ and ‘I’m so glad I’ve been rescued!’

Two things had come through in their comments;
1. The variety and intensity of their comments showed they had connected with the diver and his predicament.
2. They had not lost their connection to the diver through the lunch break. Perhaps this gap in time had enabled them to reflect on this situation.

Twenty

Fri, 7 Mar 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 17 - After THE STORM- THE RESCUE 1

I was being observed by my HT with this one, so I planned with rather more detail.
AFTER THE STORM 1 Underwater Rescue - Ch in role as Problem solvers
Recap last session- what do we know about deep sea divers? They can sometimes get into trouble you know. People rescue them.
MAIN Gather children into a circle and give out pictures.
I’ve got a picture here for you to look at. It’s not that clear. Just have a glance and tell me anything you might notice.
Gather comments- Build up scene/setting.
SYMBOLIC ICON- Picture
Something happened. I’ll just draw it here to show you. I’m not very good at this, so I’ll have to draw a stick man. He seems to be stuck by these things. Invited comments.
EFFIGY (TA- LS in role lying on the ground) Explained that their TA is in role as someone else.
Can you just come over here and have a look at this. What do you make of it? Gathered comments to build up scenario.
I’m not sure how she is. I’ll try and contact her by radio. Hello. Are you all right? Do you know what happened? What do you need?
To ch. Is there anything you would like to ask her? Handed over radio and enc them to do same.
Recapped on situation.
Do you think we ought to help?
PICTURES/CAPTIONS
Look, we’ve got felt tips and paper here, You’d better gather (draw/write captions) all the things that we might need to rescue her. Groups/ pairs
DZ visited groups of ch and affirmed their ideas as they drew. DIFFERENTIATION – drew out reasoning M,J, J, Max. Checked T has understood reason for task.
MEETING Gathered children. Thank you for gathering the things that we’ll need. I know that we have had training to be deep sea divers. We are going to go back to that time so we can remind ourselves. I need two children to come into the circle. I to be the diver and one to check him. Gathered ideas for what they have to wear. And why.
Now we’ve remembered our training we are ready to rescue her. Are we agreed that’s what we are going to do?
Gave ch a choice. Not everybody will want to risk their lives by going underwater. We do need somebody to get the medical room ready to receive her. If you can get the room ready by drawing the things that we’ll need. Thank you.

IMPROVISATION You’ve just been reminded how to get ready. If you get into pairs so you can help each other.
Has anyone thought about what we might need to bring with us to move the rocks? Picked one or 2 ideas for the ch to enact out and show.
Returned to effigy (CT-back in role) Surround diver. Mime levering rocks- on the count of 1,2,3. move diver.
If time… Bring back to Medical room/ doctors check over.

My HT noted in her comments that the boys appeared to engage more in drama-m they enjoyed the physical space and chance to move between drawing and communicating with the diver. She said that the questioning led to problem solving and creative thinking.

Nineteen

Mon, 3 Mar 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 16 - THE STORM 5

What would have happened if the boats had tipped over? I’ve heard that some people manage to swim underwater. How do they do that? I suppose they must need some sort of special equipment…
ACTIVITY- Draw and make captions for a poster showing what a deep sea diver needs

Eighteen

Sat, 1 Mar 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 15 - THE STORM 4

Recap group writing/ soundscape, Do they remember the exact moment when they were in the lifeboat in the storm? Interview in Ta and ch IN ROLE as EYE WITNESSES WRITING ACTIVITY – Write account of the Storm
This worked really well in that the writing was following the imagined experience of them being in the storm. Because of the shared, scribed work the descriptive language was in their heads. The upshot of this was that from every child I had the most extended writing that they had done to date.

Seventeen

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 14 - THE STORM 3

pm session – Soundscape of the storm
Referred back to children’s descriptive writing of the storm, and read back extracts. Could they remember what the Storm had sounded like? Asked for other examples. Talking Partners - decided on one and shared with group. Groups – Could they make a soundscape of the storm? What instruments would work?
I struggled with this. We lost the impetus from the first session and even as I tried to recapture the sounds of the storm with descriptive language, they only had eyes for the trolley of musical instruments. Instead on them working to recreate the storm story, they had a good old bang around.

In hindsight, I should have kept with the descriptive language and suggested that I supposed we could make a noise that sounded like a storm, first by using voices and bodies, then by bringing out the instruments. I should probably have stressed the story structure of this, beginning, middle and end.

Sixteen

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 13- THE STORM 2

Ch in role as Problem solvers
Played back sound track of storm .FLASHBACKED to the moment when they were in the lifeboat. CT as NARRATOR talked of the light and dark, noise and silence, movement and stillness at the moment when class, in role, were in the lifeboats. Talking pairs- discussed. Half Groups TA and CT Collated ideas for things heard, seen and felt and modelled writing a selection.

TABLE ACTIVITY ch in groups wrote ideas on big paper and reported back to class,
TA and Teacher Scribed ideas as descriptive writing of the storm. Class read back. Refer back, is this what you saw, heard, felt?
I’m glad we were working in half groups as the children were very keen to respond as most of them had something they wanted to say. I noticed that J and G changed what they were going to say as they heard the other children speak. J said that when he heard T’s ideas of the crashing waves, he decided to talk about the smashing of the boats into each other.

Fifteen

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 12 - THE STORM 1

Ch in role as Problem solvers
Recapped last session- on board ship and on our way. Were we sure of what happens if there was an emergency. What sort of emergency? It’s a good job we’ve had our safety training. Used T’s poster to recap safety procedure.
OCCUPATIONAL MIME What sort of everyday activities take place on board the ship? Ch in role as team and Navy officers mime, then held in Still Image CT as story teller narrated the scene Ch bring the scenes to life at signal.
TA IN ROLE as Captain. No wish to alarm team, but warned them that rough weather is on the way. Discussed what that could mean to the ship.

Played sound track of the storm.
What could we hear? Collected & modelled words on board ie. Crashing waves. Roaring wind etc WRITING ACTIVITY ch wrote descriptive words on strips of paper and read them back as they sounded.

Thirteen

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 11

Ch in role as Problem solvers Recapped last lesson. Invited some children to read back their messages to the group. Now we are on board and on our way. TA in Role as Captain –needed to know if we have been trained in safety procedures.

FLASHBACKED to the time when we received our training. Ch in circle. Talked through pair to demonstrate-.Alarm/walk to deck/check cabins/ lifebelts-where to find them/how to put them on/into the lifeboats/lowering them/Then ch worked in pairs to
ENACTED safety routine. Did we know what to do if we heard the alarm? I suppose we need to have instructions in case we forget what to do.

WRITING TASK – in pairs wrote instructions (model first)
The children responded in a more positive way to the writing than usual. It could be that the drama experience was immediately before the task, or that the reasons for having instructions were formulated together (that ownership issue again). It could be that as we formulated the instructions together I modelled the writing on the board and then left a starter word on each line, which the children referred to when they started their instructions. The children read their instructions back to the group, who checked that they had remembered everything.

Fourteen

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 10

Recapped on last session. TA in Role as Government Official, delivering identity cards..
Gave out cards. VISUALIZATION Just see if you can imagine this in your mind’s eye… Described setting, using sound/silence/ light/darkness/scrunch of feet on the gravel etc. ENACTED picking up of the rucksack, stepping onto the ramp, walking onto the deck. TA & CT THOUGHT TRACKED Ch as they embarked. Ask ch to turn back to the dock. What/who did they see? Added details such as ‘Oh yes I can just make out your Mum in the crowd. Look, she’s seen us, she’s waving!’ ½ groups in COLLECTIVE ROLE as team and families. Asked what would your farewell message be?

WRITING TASK –Speech Bubbles
All children wrote independently, including those children who had previously been quite resistant to writing. They worked with purpose and pace, wanting to reach the point where they could read it back in role. This seemed to be a seamless run from need to thought, to speaking to writing and then to reading back in role. All children were clear about what they had written, including 4 who have been working on IEPs to support their writing.

Twelve

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 9

Thanked team for presenting their risk assessments. FLASHED FORWARD to the time when we board the ship. ENACTED as group, picking up the rucksacks, checking documents, passports. TA IN ROLE as Navy officer TENSION- She wouldn’t let us on board without identity cards.. Ch in COLLECTIVE ROLE as Navy Officers who job it is to stop anyone without an identity card from embarking and the Problem Solvers who want to get on board to start their mission.

What seemed to hook the children in this session was when I asked the children to ‘set the scene’ by moving the furniture in the room to show the quayside, ramp and deck. This, together with the tension and the power of the collective role, really worked . I could see this in the way the children held themselves and in the power of authority in the way they spoke in role as the Navy officers and Problem Solving Team.

MEETING to discuss needs. CT & TA with ½ groups scribe list of needs for card. Showed variety of identity cards, Modelled card Performa.
WRITING ACTIVITY Ch. made own identity cards They were truly motivated by this time. I was getting comments back from parents in contact books saying how their children subsequently spent hours making identity cards at home.

Eleven

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 8

Children IN ROLE as problem solving team. Recapped on the Drama story so far. What was our role? What do we know? What do we want to know? Were we prepared to go –packed)? What sort of people are we taking with us?

What did we pack so that we could do our jobs when we got there? FLASHBACKED to the moment when we were packing the cargo. STILL IMAGE- showed as forum theatre- came to life when…T and TA IN ROLE as cargo checkers ‘ I notice that you are…’
TENSION Phone call from Gov. Office. Are we aware of possible dangers? We won’t be allowed too go unless we have looked at all the risks and have worked out what to do about them. Talking partners. Pairs present ideas to the meeting. Model risk assessment Performa WRITING ACTIVITY – risk assessments. Dangers and what to do. The children enjoyed the discussion linked to this. I suppose they are always keen to put themselves in a position where they can solve problems.

We followed up this session with construction exercise.
I supposed the cargo should be packed tight in the container so the equipment doesn’t roll around when the ship is at sea. Could we FLASHBACK to the time when we had our training? We set up the classroom with containers and construction and the children formed teams. They elected one person from the team to make sure the cargo was packed so tight that it wouldn’t move.
All children worked with purpose and energy even when the demands of teamwork proved to be challenging.

Nine

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Attended a D4LC AST/LDT and a D4LC planning meeting

Initially, this was a feedback session for the supporting teachers for the Phase 2 D4LC teachers. I did manage to feed back what has happened in our school / local PLN re Drama following on from Phase 1 D4LC. I do think that once opened up to the possibilities in Drama, people don’t want to stop. We need to develop the training further because as a result the teaching and learning becomes more meaningful to our children. (On a good day!)
I was able to help at the planning session, working with a group if KS1 teachers, sharing ideas and strategies and planning a starter session into a drama theme.
I went home at the end of the day pondering over some thoughts that I picked up.
Is using MoE narrowing the Drama? I’m feeling pretty confused about my own Drama. What exactly is the difference between my Drama and a long Drama story? Perhaps it is in the commission or values. Would I have included that anyway to give a tension or a purpose? In my setting I have been lucky enough to have had training from 2 powerful and dynamic drama practitioners, Patrice Baldwin and Luke Abbot. Both have enhanced my thinking and practice. In my mind one doesn’t cancel the other out. Can’t I use elements of both?
Re-reading this, on reflection –
What is happening is that the sessions are changing – linked with literacy as they are, although the Drama is the main thrust, it does not follow the pattern of a discrete Drama lesson. Drama, discussion and reflection are interwoven and outcomes evolve, alongside predicted outcomes. Is the change in the structure ‘diluting’ the drama experience? Or does this longer term approach draw children in deeper? Does their previous knowledge in developing the story draw them in more deeply? What will shape their learning more? It has been argued (Lemke, 2002) that ‘It is only over the long haul that serious change happens’

Ten

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 7

Class IN ROLE as problem solvers. MEETING - DECIDED ON Transport. What first? Transport? Pros/cons Referred to wall map – Well it’s surrounded by water, so how would we get there? Gathered responses/showed outlines.
WRITING TASK- On post its. Ch wrote what they wanted as transport and why it was a good idea./stuck post its on transport of choice. Read out reasons.

I made a mistake of modelling the writing task and choosing the ship. I should have known! We had 16 post its on the ship, citing the same reason for their choice as mine! Other reasons given included ‘a hovercraft because it’s big enough and it should get us over all those rocks’ My TA showed images of different modes of transport as we discussed our choices again. The children thought an aircraft carrier would work because we could take helicopters with us to get around the island.

Eight

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

IT session (connected to the Island Drama)

Laptops - Used Textease to draw places for the island. Chose icons in paint programme Pairs. Used wall map to recall still image stories. What do we still need to put on the landscape? Used comments made by ch when choosing status of places. Using their own comments seemed to have drawn the children quickly into thinking about the island and they were keen to use their IT skills to have a go. This was modelled first by our TA, in such a way that the children were confident in using their skills to use the mouse to draw their places.
Part of the process was placing them on the island at the children’s direction and this provoked some interesting talk, such as ‘We’ve got to put rock bridge here, because that’s where the lava flowed through, when the bridge saved Max’. This referred to one of the stories freeze framed in a previous session.

Seven

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Island 6

Recapped on Weds session Class IN ROLE as problem solvers
Gathered ideas of what we needed to pack in our personal rucksack. MIMED packing the rucksack.

CT & TA THOUGHT TRACKED by adding commentary such as ‘ I see that you are handling that very carefully..’ in order to draw out reasons from ch. The writing task was to draw and label packed objects into rucksacks. My reluctant writers were motivated by this too. Maybe it was because there was a purpose? I did include a time tension again. Drawing got their ideas on paper quickly and labelling was a short task too.

Six

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 5B

In this session we were looking at the situation from a different point of view
Class IN ROLE as problem solvers
Recapped on previous session. What had we been asked to do? By who? Why? TA &CT IN ROLE, as past expedition leader/a Government official- 1 against exploring island, 1 for. I included a time tension by saying that they would really need to know quickly because of the people who needed homes.

We made a DECISION LINE Ch moved to one side or another as they listened to the arguments. I Invited the ch to add their own arguments. We followed this by finishing sentence starter. I think we should go because/ I think we shouldn’t go because…The children settled to the writing task purposefully and were eager to read out their reasons. We had spent about 30 minutes thinking and discussing and about 10 minutes writing. Even my reluctant writers took part (with the support of reassurance and had something to say/write. Except G. who was quite adamant that he couldn’t write. He had a lot to say, a strong opinion as to why we should go-but he couldn’t write. Helping him, taking his thought through , letter by letter, he managed but I felt there was such a mismatch between his thoughts and spoken language and his writing skills that it badly affected his confidence.

Five

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 5A
Before this session we had completed the model of the island, painted it and displayed it with the place names. As the 3Dform began to emerge, as they had heard it described, as they had dawn it and as they had placed the features, it felt like they had become more committed to the drama, They showed this with lots if incidental comments during the day and in the way they dragged their parents over to explain what was going on.

In this session I introduced the commission by opening a letter from Her Majesty’s Government. It asked if we were the people who had solved previous Drama mysteries and could we help now by exploring Spooky Island as a matter of urgency to see if it would be habitable for people in desperate need because they had been flooded out of their homes..

Class IN ROLE as problem solvers MEETING Are we the sort of people who would be able to help? We re-capped history of drama tasks previously completed. There was not a lot of Drama in this session, save being in role a problem solver. The children connected with this, however. It could be that some had heard about the flooding and they could emphasize with the problem the letter threw up.

Four

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 4

Delivered 1 Demonstration drama session with Y1 class observed by Y7/8 teacher From City of Norwich School
In this session we were creating a history, deciding the status of our places and giving reasons. We made a SENSORY TOUR in pairs, using light, shade/ sound, silence/ movement and stillness in the description of the places, then we
chose 3 place names and ordered them in order of importance.

We used FORUM THEATRE to present the order to the group giving reasons for our choices. In the section that asked the children to decide on 3 parts of their island community that were more important than the others and give reasons for their choice, the observing teacher was impressed by how the children were able to decide and give reasoned arguments, such as; ’of course the well is important because if people lived there they would need fresh water’. She said that her Year 7s could do with reasoning and speaking experiences like that. Another comment by the children that provoked thought was. ‘The graveyard is important because a child without food is buried there.’ I knew that I wanted to have these thoughts handy so we could explore them further, but I wasn’t quite sure how to handle that one.
This was a better session. It could be that the senses element made the drama more ‘real’ for them. It could be that in deciding status they were buying into the island as a place.

Three

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

The Island 2&3

In this session we recreated the shape of the island, re-capped what we knew already and talked about the geographical places we had named. I suggested that place names often had stories, echoes of the past attached to them that a volcano could be called Dragon’s Breath Volcano, for instance. The children added descriptive names to their strips and again, as a RITUAL, we placed them on the island. I asked them to think about the stories that may have been behind the names and asked them to make a still picture of some of their names.
They showed this as forum theatre and as a group we had to work out the story they were showing and ask questions to guide us. This session was OK but it lacked something. It didn’t have the pull of the last session and the children were not immersed by it in the same way as previous dramas.

Was it, that by creating the physical community before the characters, it was more abstract for the children? Not tangible enough? No human emotions to emphasize with as yet? We followed this up the next day by planning some of the stories and their enthusiasm just about fizzled out. So I cut it short and we didn’t follow up the planning with writing the story. Not enough purpose? No tension!
The next session really worked better. I copied the island shape onto card and the children re-created the island putting in the physical features, using scarves and construction. Lots of good talk in this, such as ‘it’s good that we’ve got the wall round the volcano, it will stop the lava flowing to the town. There’s no need to do it on the other side because it can go into the sea.’

Two

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Attended a PLN Group B Mantle of the Expert Planning session with Jenny Burrell, Mike Bunting and Tim Taylor

Discussed the difference between conventions as described by Jonothan Neelands and Drama strategies so we were clear in our heads. Have come away with the idea that a strategy is what is used to allow a convention for instance; objects can speak (convention) Use the strategy- objects in a room – to allow this to happen. Now this is clearer in my head it makes me understand why I have found Dorothy Heathcote’s conventions more difficult to understand. I was still thinking of them in terms of drama activities rather than understandings.

One

Tue, 1 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

MoE/Drama/Literacy

Previously- used Google Earth to look at Norwich, UK, and then islands

The Island 1

I was so impressed with the ideas that I had brought back from the MoE Residential. I was determined to have a go with my class. I started by suggesting that my friend had shown me this strange thing, that you sometimes saw drawn at the bottom of maps. Then I started a collective picture, talking it through to myself with the children joining in, giving me instructions as they realised we were drawing a compass

What a great way to start a drama- it seemed to be a casual, open way of doing it. The children quickly assumed ownership of what came next. It may have been because they had a role in working out the compass. We made a freeze frame of a compass and this drew them in. Even a few weeks later they were able to recall the compass points in the room.

Next they visualised and drew an island on whiteboards as I gave a detailed verbal description. They really enjoyed the bit when they turned round their boards to show each other and they spotted the similarities. We formed a circle and drew round our feet to get the shape of an island. Some of the children suggested that they should put out their legs to make the shape of the bay that was in the description. We followed this up by naming the geographical places and using a RITUAL to place them on the island. One lesson in and I felt that they were intrigued/ hooked. I felt that 3 things mainly drew them in, the ownership of the drawing, the rich language of the description and the physicality of the drawing of the map on the floor.