Using drama to stimulate and scaffold writing
The following ideas are taken from workshops run by Simon Wrigley. These are adaptable approaches which support critical reading and writing in role.
(This page will change. Further ideas and explanations will be added shortly)
Some drama conventions which support textual understanding and development
Blind guide
From maps, pictures and narratives children get into pairs to create the scene/setting of the text – one blind (eyes closed) and the other as guide. They circle the room, talking about the buildings, animals, sounds in the imaginary world. Good for language development, close reading and inference.
Conscience alley
A character walks between two lines of people who, as the character passes, voice the character’s hopes and fears. This can also be done in circles or in 3s and is sometimes called angels and devils – with the character in question in the middle.
Forum theatre
Group improvisation is stopped at particular moments and pupils in the audience are challenged to suggest how the action might progress, to re-position characters, to substitute actors, or to decide which new character might now be introduced.
Freeze-frame
A still image to focus on how characters relate at a particular moment in a story. This can be prompted by limits such as – no one touching, one standing, one sitting. This can be extended by placing the author in the frame or challenging pupils to think what writing might be in then frame – a poster behind, paper on floor/pocket. If all groups have included the same characters, then corporate displays of the same character – over time - can be constructed.
Ghosts
Pupils take on roles of characters who look back on events and have come to explain events, feelings, thank or haunt the consciences of survivors or the bereaved.
Hot-seating
Questioning a character in order to develop deeper understanding. Prepare pupils for questions from different characters/moments. This can be done collaboratively using collective role-play for mutual support (ie a group rather than one in the hot seat OR a number of occupied ‘hot-seats’ around the room which pupils visit to interrogate the seated character.)
Mantle of the expert
Pupils are given specialist responsibility to be a person or group of people – such as the police. They may be given props, information, resources or language to support this role. They are later consulted or visited by others to deepen understanding.
Meet and greet
A community has problems and differences. Role-cards are devised, giving picture/information about the person and their concerns. Pupils read card and introduce themselves to their neighbour. Then they have 2 minutes to circle the room, getting to know each other. After they are asked whom they have met and what they have learnt. Discussion will extend role.
Positioning
Using space to stand close or distant to a character, showing what others feel at different moments of the story. Groups can be challenged to put 3 or 4 characters in order (of, say, importance) – and then compare their opinions and reasons with others.
Role on the Wall
Groups draw enlarged outline of character. Inside they write character’s thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams, fears, hopes. Outside they write what others think of them, say of them, what they look like, what they do. Good to build up over a number of lessons – and use as preparation for effective hot-seating.
Tableau
A collection of moments, aspects or characters may be separately devised & jointly assembled to show collective thought about, say, ‘bullying’, ‘the invasion of Britain’, ‘school’
Teacher in role
Teacher agrees with class a clear sign, hat or costume that will signal herself in role. She can then interact and answer questions in the role of, say, Jack’s mother, in order to build belief or deepen the tension. When she wants to revert to herself as teacher, she simply reverses the signal (eg takes off the hat). This can be done at a stage removed by using a puppet which presents a dilemma to the class and responds to the class, using the teacher as translator eg by whispering in her ear.
Tell me what you see
In role, individuals describe what they see from the point of view of a character. This can be done in pairs with one guide and one blind in order to help pupils establish a particular situation in which you want to work – eg a wood, a town…
Thought tracking
This can deepen a freeze-frame or tableau if characters voice their thoughts. Teacher can use a signal such as touching a pupil on the shoulder. Other pupils can be challenged to come and stand beside a character in a freeze-frame and suggest the thoughts they may be feeling.
Whoosh
Pupils stand in circle. Nominate pupils and parts needed to act out 1st ‘scene’. Read 1st ‘scene’ of the story. ‘Whoosh’ them away – and repeat with next ‘scene’ with other children in necessary parts. (Similar to forum theatre)
One way to use a ‘freeze-frame' or ‘still image’ to support reading and writing
Ask pupils to make a freeze-frame or still image of any moment in the story/poem/drama.
Ask them to hold the action still for a few seconds. Then ask them to plan what their character would say at this moment, if they were tapped on the shoulder.
Now ask them to plan what their character might be thinking at this point in the story, if they were tapped twice on the shoulder.
Choose one still image and ask the watching children to suggest what might go in the description box.
Description box: In front of their big sister, the three children stood with their eyes down, their shoulders dropped, and their hands hanging by their sides.
Speech bubble: “Yes, Lucy,” they mumbled together in monotone.
Thought cloud: But Melissa was just biding her time. Wait until we’re home, she thought. Wait until I tell mum about Lucy’s cigarettes.
KS1: Little Red Riding Hood … walks through a literacy/English lesson
2014 statutory orders (year 1 Reading Comprehension): Pupils should be taught to develop pleasure in reading … by becoming very familiar with … traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics
Progress lies in pupils’ increasing engagement with and support for each other in adopting and sustaining role, controlling voice and movement, observing more closely, comparing and questioning.
Resources: Paper, pens, post-its, pictures of 5 characters and poster saying: ‘Beware of the Wolf’, version of text e.g. Jonathan Langley’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Collins 1992. ISBN 0-00-184215-3
The teacher tells the children a version of the story Little Red Riding Hood, accompanied by pictures of 5 characters: Little Red Riding Hood, her mother, her granny, the woodcutter, the wolf. The children brainstorm what might be found in a wood. The teacher scribes their ideas on to post-its which were then arranged in groups. The children are then positioned as groups of villagers and given a post-it. (role-play) They each act out their reason for visiting the wood in a group of 2, 3 or 4 (It’s dangerous to go alone!). Some ideas about why the villagers might have had to go into the wood are discussed – as well as what they might have seen. They play meet and greet for 2 minutes – seeing who else was in the wood and remembering what they did. They rehearse their actions for 10 seconds leading up to a freeze-frame showing the moment that they see or hear whatever made them leave the wood.
Then the children assemble to meet in another part of the room, underneath a poster saying ‘BEWARE OF THE WOLF’. All groups are counted down together to freeze simultaneously. Some groups then show theirs and report on why they had gone, with whom – and what they’ve seen. The teacher scribes the ideas on ‘post-its’ which are then displayed. This is an opportunity to draw attention to letter sounds and shapes. Now the villagers are told that one woman is determined to send her daughter through the wood alone. She has agreed to come to the meeting. The children discuss how they might persuade her to change her mind. More ideas are scribed and posted in the wall. The teacher then appeared in role as Little Red Riding Hood’s mother (Teacher in role). She cannot be persuaded!
Next the class talk about how much LRRH knows about the dangers. With what feelings does she eventually go through the wood? Some children take on the role of LRRH walking through the wood in the centre of the circle, the others stand as a circle of trees taking turns to speak and echo LRRH’s hopes and fears, which the LRRHs react to. (Conscience alley/circle) Groups then make still pictures of a later moment in the story to present to the whole class. The others had to read the moment (inferential skills) and the characters. (Dr When and Dr Who)
Finally groups report back to the villagers from the point of view of the mother, the woodcutter, LRRH, Granny, the Wolf (group role-play). Key words on post-its are inserted in speech bubbles next to the picture of the relevant character. Groups then use some of the words and images in their own written versions. These versions are then compared to the ending of an illustrated version of LRRH which the teacher read to, and discussed with, the children.
In the plenary children discuss what they’ve learnt, which character they’d most/least like to be and why, which words or picture made by others they remember best and why, what has been most difficult, what helped or got in the way – as well as framing a question about the story (eg Was it right to send her through the wood alone?) and ideas about how it might be continued.
KS2: Michael Morpurgo: ‘The Gentle Giant’
‘Gentle Giant’ or the Beastman of Ballyloch by Michael Morpurgo. Collins 2003 ISBN: 0-00-711064-2
Synopsis:
Alone on an island in Ballyloch lives an orphaned young man. He is very big and strong, but sad and unable to speak. He works as a thatcher in the village of Ballyloch, on the mainland. People are cruel to him and call him the Beastman of Ballyloch. Parents warn their children to keep away from him. When he rows home every evening, he is happy living in the company of nature, particularly the swans.
One day Miranda, a girl from the village, goes rowing on the lake. When she capsizes, the Beastman rescues her. She alone understands that he is gentle – not a beast at all. She promises to come back the next day, but when her father finds out that she has been seen with the Beastman, he locks her in her room.
That evening a stranger visits the village. He is selling magic stardust - which he claims will bring them fantastic fishing when sprinkled on the lake. The next day the villagers do as instructed and bring home an enormous catch. But that night there is a terrible storm – all of nature is upset, including the Beastman who is still waiting for Miranda to come back.
The next morning, after the storm, the villagers wake to find the thatch ripped from all the roofs and the lake covered in green slime. The Beastman finds his beloved swans and other animals choking on the green slime. But then he sees Miranda’s hat floating in a ring of clear water. He immediately takes the hat to Miranda and shows her how the straw has attracted the slime. Miranda understands and tells the villagers how to rescue the lake and its wildlife by dragging the fallen thatch straw across the surface of the lake.
As the villagers work tirelessly, Miranda and the Beastman clean the animals. By the next day the lake is clear. All the villagers now recognise that the Beastman is wise and kind and apologise for the way they have treated him.
They celebrate with a feast. Miranda renames The Beastman as the Gentle Giant and through her kindness he begins to learn how to speak.
Gentle Giant ‘Meet and Greet’ cards
Fisherman: I fish in the lake – but not near the island. That Beastman might attack me. He’s dangerous.
Tailor: I make and mend clothes. I tell my children not to talk to strangers. I don’t trust that Beastman.
Thatcher: I thatch houses with straw. I do not like the Beastman because he takes work away from me.
Hat maker: I make hats out of straw. My hats bring good luck. I’m going to give one to the Beastman.
Ferry person: I take people across the lake. I often see the Beastman talking to the swans. He seems a kind person.
Baker: Some cakes were stolen from my shop – the same day when the Beastman mended my roof.
Farmer: Whenever I bring my ducks to market, the Beastman always turns up to help me. He’s very good with them.
Teacher: I teach the village children. I am sad when they call each other names like ‘Beastman’. I want them to understand people, not tease them.
Locksmith: Lots of people have been buying my locks recently. They are afraid of the Beastman – but there are others far worse than him.
Drama approaches for ‘Gentle Giant’ – on their own or in sequence.
These are punctuated with opportunities for children to write diary entries in role
a) to engage pupils Discuss aspects of pictures - problems? captions? titles? Read beginning and play Blind guide.
Explain that we are going to step into the story. We are going to become people who live in the village of Ballyloch.
Use the role cards to play ‘Meet and greet’
What have they learnt about the other villagers and the Beastman (10 mins)
Diary 1
Narrative: Miranda capsizes and is rescued by Beastman. M’s father locks her up.
Call the villagers to a meeting (5 mins) The Mayor of Ballyloch has had complaints about the Beastman - what should be done?
Diary 2
Narrative: Stranger brings magic stardust and fishing increases – but Beastman is not so sure. Then village is destroyed and lake poisoned.
starter lines (10 mins)
1. What happened to your house in the night? 2. My parents told me not to speak to the Beastman…
3.I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that stranger… 4. Have you heard? There’s a curse on our village
Diary 3
b) to deepen thought
Narrative: Beastman finds M’s hat conscience alley (5 mins) what should he do? (Hopes and fears)
Narrative: Beastman breaks in to Miranda’s house conscience alley (5 mins) what should they do? (Hopes and fears)
Narrative: lake is cleared. Villagers apologise and thank Beastman. He is renamed the Gentle Giant.
freeze-frames of different moments of the story all to include a Beastman and his thought-bubble (10 mins) –
The cruelty to the Beastman The arrival of the stranger
The celebration of the catch The discovery of disaster
The spreading of the straw The thanking/renaming of the Beastman
Extract all the different ‘Beastmen’ and hear their thoughts in sequence. Record.
Diary 4
c) to develop characterisation
positioning & hot-seating: Miranda, M’s father, stranger or Beastman (5 mins)
Role on the wall: His hopes, fears, memories, feelings; others’ views of him
KS3 - heroism
These two poems were explored for their attitudes. An accompanying drama scheme of work will be posted shortly.
Hero by Siegfried Sassoon
"Jack fell as he'd have wished," the Mother said,
And folded up the letter that she'd read.
"The Colonel writes so nicely." Something broke
In the tired voice that quavered to a choke.
She half looked up. "We mothers are so proud
Of our dead soldiers." Then her face was bowed.
Quietly the Brother Officer went out.
He'd told the poor old dear some gallant lies
That she would nourish all her days, no doubt.
For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyes
Had shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy,
Because he'd been so brave, her glorious boy.
He thought how "Jack," cold-footed, useless swine,
Had panicked down the trench that night the mine
Went up at Wicked Corner; how he'd tried
To get sent home, and how, at last, he died,
Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care
Except that lonely woman with white hair.
The Soldier by Rupert Brooke
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
(This page will change. Further ideas and explanations will be added shortly)
Some drama conventions which support textual understanding and development
Blind guide
From maps, pictures and narratives children get into pairs to create the scene/setting of the text – one blind (eyes closed) and the other as guide. They circle the room, talking about the buildings, animals, sounds in the imaginary world. Good for language development, close reading and inference.
Conscience alley
A character walks between two lines of people who, as the character passes, voice the character’s hopes and fears. This can also be done in circles or in 3s and is sometimes called angels and devils – with the character in question in the middle.
Forum theatre
Group improvisation is stopped at particular moments and pupils in the audience are challenged to suggest how the action might progress, to re-position characters, to substitute actors, or to decide which new character might now be introduced.
Freeze-frame
A still image to focus on how characters relate at a particular moment in a story. This can be prompted by limits such as – no one touching, one standing, one sitting. This can be extended by placing the author in the frame or challenging pupils to think what writing might be in then frame – a poster behind, paper on floor/pocket. If all groups have included the same characters, then corporate displays of the same character – over time - can be constructed.
Ghosts
Pupils take on roles of characters who look back on events and have come to explain events, feelings, thank or haunt the consciences of survivors or the bereaved.
Hot-seating
Questioning a character in order to develop deeper understanding. Prepare pupils for questions from different characters/moments. This can be done collaboratively using collective role-play for mutual support (ie a group rather than one in the hot seat OR a number of occupied ‘hot-seats’ around the room which pupils visit to interrogate the seated character.)
Mantle of the expert
Pupils are given specialist responsibility to be a person or group of people – such as the police. They may be given props, information, resources or language to support this role. They are later consulted or visited by others to deepen understanding.
Meet and greet
A community has problems and differences. Role-cards are devised, giving picture/information about the person and their concerns. Pupils read card and introduce themselves to their neighbour. Then they have 2 minutes to circle the room, getting to know each other. After they are asked whom they have met and what they have learnt. Discussion will extend role.
Positioning
Using space to stand close or distant to a character, showing what others feel at different moments of the story. Groups can be challenged to put 3 or 4 characters in order (of, say, importance) – and then compare their opinions and reasons with others.
Role on the Wall
Groups draw enlarged outline of character. Inside they write character’s thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams, fears, hopes. Outside they write what others think of them, say of them, what they look like, what they do. Good to build up over a number of lessons – and use as preparation for effective hot-seating.
Tableau
A collection of moments, aspects or characters may be separately devised & jointly assembled to show collective thought about, say, ‘bullying’, ‘the invasion of Britain’, ‘school’
Teacher in role
Teacher agrees with class a clear sign, hat or costume that will signal herself in role. She can then interact and answer questions in the role of, say, Jack’s mother, in order to build belief or deepen the tension. When she wants to revert to herself as teacher, she simply reverses the signal (eg takes off the hat). This can be done at a stage removed by using a puppet which presents a dilemma to the class and responds to the class, using the teacher as translator eg by whispering in her ear.
Tell me what you see
In role, individuals describe what they see from the point of view of a character. This can be done in pairs with one guide and one blind in order to help pupils establish a particular situation in which you want to work – eg a wood, a town…
Thought tracking
This can deepen a freeze-frame or tableau if characters voice their thoughts. Teacher can use a signal such as touching a pupil on the shoulder. Other pupils can be challenged to come and stand beside a character in a freeze-frame and suggest the thoughts they may be feeling.
Whoosh
Pupils stand in circle. Nominate pupils and parts needed to act out 1st ‘scene’. Read 1st ‘scene’ of the story. ‘Whoosh’ them away – and repeat with next ‘scene’ with other children in necessary parts. (Similar to forum theatre)
One way to use a ‘freeze-frame' or ‘still image’ to support reading and writing
Ask pupils to make a freeze-frame or still image of any moment in the story/poem/drama.
Ask them to hold the action still for a few seconds. Then ask them to plan what their character would say at this moment, if they were tapped on the shoulder.
Now ask them to plan what their character might be thinking at this point in the story, if they were tapped twice on the shoulder.
Choose one still image and ask the watching children to suggest what might go in the description box.
Description box: In front of their big sister, the three children stood with their eyes down, their shoulders dropped, and their hands hanging by their sides.
Speech bubble: “Yes, Lucy,” they mumbled together in monotone.
Thought cloud: But Melissa was just biding her time. Wait until we’re home, she thought. Wait until I tell mum about Lucy’s cigarettes.
KS1: Little Red Riding Hood … walks through a literacy/English lesson
2014 statutory orders (year 1 Reading Comprehension): Pupils should be taught to develop pleasure in reading … by becoming very familiar with … traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics
Progress lies in pupils’ increasing engagement with and support for each other in adopting and sustaining role, controlling voice and movement, observing more closely, comparing and questioning.
Resources: Paper, pens, post-its, pictures of 5 characters and poster saying: ‘Beware of the Wolf’, version of text e.g. Jonathan Langley’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Collins 1992. ISBN 0-00-184215-3
The teacher tells the children a version of the story Little Red Riding Hood, accompanied by pictures of 5 characters: Little Red Riding Hood, her mother, her granny, the woodcutter, the wolf. The children brainstorm what might be found in a wood. The teacher scribes their ideas on to post-its which were then arranged in groups. The children are then positioned as groups of villagers and given a post-it. (role-play) They each act out their reason for visiting the wood in a group of 2, 3 or 4 (It’s dangerous to go alone!). Some ideas about why the villagers might have had to go into the wood are discussed – as well as what they might have seen. They play meet and greet for 2 minutes – seeing who else was in the wood and remembering what they did. They rehearse their actions for 10 seconds leading up to a freeze-frame showing the moment that they see or hear whatever made them leave the wood.
Then the children assemble to meet in another part of the room, underneath a poster saying ‘BEWARE OF THE WOLF’. All groups are counted down together to freeze simultaneously. Some groups then show theirs and report on why they had gone, with whom – and what they’ve seen. The teacher scribes the ideas on ‘post-its’ which are then displayed. This is an opportunity to draw attention to letter sounds and shapes. Now the villagers are told that one woman is determined to send her daughter through the wood alone. She has agreed to come to the meeting. The children discuss how they might persuade her to change her mind. More ideas are scribed and posted in the wall. The teacher then appeared in role as Little Red Riding Hood’s mother (Teacher in role). She cannot be persuaded!
Next the class talk about how much LRRH knows about the dangers. With what feelings does she eventually go through the wood? Some children take on the role of LRRH walking through the wood in the centre of the circle, the others stand as a circle of trees taking turns to speak and echo LRRH’s hopes and fears, which the LRRHs react to. (Conscience alley/circle) Groups then make still pictures of a later moment in the story to present to the whole class. The others had to read the moment (inferential skills) and the characters. (Dr When and Dr Who)
Finally groups report back to the villagers from the point of view of the mother, the woodcutter, LRRH, Granny, the Wolf (group role-play). Key words on post-its are inserted in speech bubbles next to the picture of the relevant character. Groups then use some of the words and images in their own written versions. These versions are then compared to the ending of an illustrated version of LRRH which the teacher read to, and discussed with, the children.
In the plenary children discuss what they’ve learnt, which character they’d most/least like to be and why, which words or picture made by others they remember best and why, what has been most difficult, what helped or got in the way – as well as framing a question about the story (eg Was it right to send her through the wood alone?) and ideas about how it might be continued.
KS2: Michael Morpurgo: ‘The Gentle Giant’
‘Gentle Giant’ or the Beastman of Ballyloch by Michael Morpurgo. Collins 2003 ISBN: 0-00-711064-2
Synopsis:
Alone on an island in Ballyloch lives an orphaned young man. He is very big and strong, but sad and unable to speak. He works as a thatcher in the village of Ballyloch, on the mainland. People are cruel to him and call him the Beastman of Ballyloch. Parents warn their children to keep away from him. When he rows home every evening, he is happy living in the company of nature, particularly the swans.
One day Miranda, a girl from the village, goes rowing on the lake. When she capsizes, the Beastman rescues her. She alone understands that he is gentle – not a beast at all. She promises to come back the next day, but when her father finds out that she has been seen with the Beastman, he locks her in her room.
That evening a stranger visits the village. He is selling magic stardust - which he claims will bring them fantastic fishing when sprinkled on the lake. The next day the villagers do as instructed and bring home an enormous catch. But that night there is a terrible storm – all of nature is upset, including the Beastman who is still waiting for Miranda to come back.
The next morning, after the storm, the villagers wake to find the thatch ripped from all the roofs and the lake covered in green slime. The Beastman finds his beloved swans and other animals choking on the green slime. But then he sees Miranda’s hat floating in a ring of clear water. He immediately takes the hat to Miranda and shows her how the straw has attracted the slime. Miranda understands and tells the villagers how to rescue the lake and its wildlife by dragging the fallen thatch straw across the surface of the lake.
As the villagers work tirelessly, Miranda and the Beastman clean the animals. By the next day the lake is clear. All the villagers now recognise that the Beastman is wise and kind and apologise for the way they have treated him.
They celebrate with a feast. Miranda renames The Beastman as the Gentle Giant and through her kindness he begins to learn how to speak.
Gentle Giant ‘Meet and Greet’ cards
Fisherman: I fish in the lake – but not near the island. That Beastman might attack me. He’s dangerous.
Tailor: I make and mend clothes. I tell my children not to talk to strangers. I don’t trust that Beastman.
Thatcher: I thatch houses with straw. I do not like the Beastman because he takes work away from me.
Hat maker: I make hats out of straw. My hats bring good luck. I’m going to give one to the Beastman.
Ferry person: I take people across the lake. I often see the Beastman talking to the swans. He seems a kind person.
Baker: Some cakes were stolen from my shop – the same day when the Beastman mended my roof.
Farmer: Whenever I bring my ducks to market, the Beastman always turns up to help me. He’s very good with them.
Teacher: I teach the village children. I am sad when they call each other names like ‘Beastman’. I want them to understand people, not tease them.
Locksmith: Lots of people have been buying my locks recently. They are afraid of the Beastman – but there are others far worse than him.
Drama approaches for ‘Gentle Giant’ – on their own or in sequence.
These are punctuated with opportunities for children to write diary entries in role
a) to engage pupils Discuss aspects of pictures - problems? captions? titles? Read beginning and play Blind guide.
Explain that we are going to step into the story. We are going to become people who live in the village of Ballyloch.
Use the role cards to play ‘Meet and greet’
What have they learnt about the other villagers and the Beastman (10 mins)
Diary 1
Narrative: Miranda capsizes and is rescued by Beastman. M’s father locks her up.
Call the villagers to a meeting (5 mins) The Mayor of Ballyloch has had complaints about the Beastman - what should be done?
Diary 2
Narrative: Stranger brings magic stardust and fishing increases – but Beastman is not so sure. Then village is destroyed and lake poisoned.
starter lines (10 mins)
1. What happened to your house in the night? 2. My parents told me not to speak to the Beastman…
3.I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that stranger… 4. Have you heard? There’s a curse on our village
Diary 3
b) to deepen thought
Narrative: Beastman finds M’s hat conscience alley (5 mins) what should he do? (Hopes and fears)
Narrative: Beastman breaks in to Miranda’s house conscience alley (5 mins) what should they do? (Hopes and fears)
Narrative: lake is cleared. Villagers apologise and thank Beastman. He is renamed the Gentle Giant.
freeze-frames of different moments of the story all to include a Beastman and his thought-bubble (10 mins) –
The cruelty to the Beastman The arrival of the stranger
The celebration of the catch The discovery of disaster
The spreading of the straw The thanking/renaming of the Beastman
Extract all the different ‘Beastmen’ and hear their thoughts in sequence. Record.
Diary 4
c) to develop characterisation
positioning & hot-seating: Miranda, M’s father, stranger or Beastman (5 mins)
Role on the wall: His hopes, fears, memories, feelings; others’ views of him
KS3 - heroism
These two poems were explored for their attitudes. An accompanying drama scheme of work will be posted shortly.
Hero by Siegfried Sassoon
"Jack fell as he'd have wished," the Mother said,
And folded up the letter that she'd read.
"The Colonel writes so nicely." Something broke
In the tired voice that quavered to a choke.
She half looked up. "We mothers are so proud
Of our dead soldiers." Then her face was bowed.
Quietly the Brother Officer went out.
He'd told the poor old dear some gallant lies
That she would nourish all her days, no doubt.
For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyes
Had shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy,
Because he'd been so brave, her glorious boy.
He thought how "Jack," cold-footed, useless swine,
Had panicked down the trench that night the mine
Went up at Wicked Corner; how he'd tried
To get sent home, and how, at last, he died,
Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care
Except that lonely woman with white hair.
The Soldier by Rupert Brooke
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.