THE POLAR BEARS GO, GO, GO!
TEACHER RESOURCE PACK FOR TEACHERS WORKING WITH PUPILS IN NURSERY – YEAR 1
A Unicorn Production in association with The Polar Bears
THE POLAR BEARS GO, GO, GO! By Ivor MacAskill & Fiona Manson Directed by Lee Lyford
FROM TUE 26 MAR - FRI 26 APR 2018 FOR PUPILS IN RECEPTION - YEAR 1 ALL ABOARD... Join the two very loveable but slightly hapless Polar bears on their holiday adventures. Will they ever reach their destination? Or are they just going around in circles? Have your tickets ready, find your seatbelt and anchors away – take off and go, go, go! The Polar Bears return to the Unicorn following the hit shows The Polar Bears Go Wild (2015) and The Polar Bears Go Up (2016). The pair create smart, sharply observed comic performances for our youngest audiences.
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE PACK ABOUT THE SHOW - A SHORT SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION FROM THE CREATORS
4 5 6
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES INTRODUCTION SESSION ONE - REFLECTING ON THE SHOW SESSION TWO - EXPLORING POLAR BEARS SESSION THREE: PART ONE - PREPARING FOR AN ARCTIC EXPEDITION PART TWO - ON THE JOURNEY PART THREE - BACK HOME SESSION FOUR - ISAAC AND IRIS SESSION FIVE - STORY MAPS NOTE ON VIVIAN GUSSIN PALEY RESOURCES
7 8 10 13
20 23 25 26
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INTRODUCTION This pack is for teachers bringing pupils to see The Polar Bears Go, Go, Go! in March and April 2019. The Polar Bears Go, Go, Go! is a play with friendship at its heart, and will explore what it means to be a friend and what happens when you want different things than your friend. The classroom activities will provide teachers with the opportunity for exploring these themes, offering ideas for responding to the play after your visit, as well as work around polar bears and natural habitats in a sequence which places the children in role as arctic explorers. One session of work entails the story of Iris and Isaac by Catherine Rayner, which you might like to read with your children. These activities have been designed to support and extend your pupils’ visit to the theatre and offer ways to pick up on and explore the themes in the play, before and after a visit. They will use drama and storytelling, as ways of exploring ideas that are relevant to the play. They also aim to support the EYFS framework and employ the characteristics for effective learning; playing and exploring, active learning, creating and thinking critically. There will be clear links to the key areas of learning at the Foundation Stage; personal, social and emotional development; communication and language; physical development; expressive arts and design, and understanding the world. While the activities will not take an objective-led approach, teachers will be able to establish links to the relevant curriculum objectives for their particular year group, and can adapt them for their particular educational setting.
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ABOUT THE SHOW The Polar Bears Go, Go, Go! has not been created yet. The show will be devised over the coming months in the rehearsal room, where the company will trial different ideas and gradually build the show collaboratively. However, the company have shared their ideas so far with us following a week of exploration in August. This is a play about two polar bear friends: a big polar bear and a small polar bear. The two polar bears live in a city just like us. They have jobs to do and their daily routine is repetitive: what they’re lacking is adventure. One day, however, there is an invitation from outside to take a holiday to the beach. One of the bears wants to stay, but the other bear wants to go on this holiday and have an adventure. Eventually they agree and both decide to take the trip, which involves a lot of preparation, packing everything they could possibly need for the beach. Mayhem ensues, as there is confusion about what to take and what not to. Eventually, off they set, exploring all the different ways that they can go, go, go! They try many different modes of travel: walking, power walking, running, swimming, windsurfing, skating, scooter, bicycle, car, ship and train. They get faster and faster as they go. They might even try going by tractor, airship, hot air balloon (which they find actually slows them down), aeroplane, helicopter, or jet engine. Eventually, the Polar Bears arrive at the beach where they begin to unpack everything they packed before their journey. Finally, after all the activity, they sit down and relax. But after a short period of rest, they start to become restless. Perhaps sitting and relaxing is not as fun, after all, as “going and doing”. It seems to be the journey, not the destination, that’s the thing! The Polar Bears are gentle, friendly, and quite silly. There are no words spoken in this accessible and engaging show, and the interaction between the two bears is very visual and physical. The performers use clowning, mime and movement to show the audience what is happening. There’s also plenty of music, songs and dance to move the story along.
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FROM THE CREATORS The Polar Bears are the creation of Ivor MacAskill and Fiona Manson, and were originally created for an Imaginate Festival Family Fringe event. We asked Ivor some questions about creating the Polar Bears shows...
HOW DID THE IDEA FOR THE POLAR BEARS COME ABOUT? In 2010, Fiona and I were asked to create a new piece for the Imaginate Children’s Theatre Festival as an interactive performance that would happen in the café of the Traverse Theatre, in between the main shows. These little shows were colour-coded, and we were given white. We wanted to perform together so decided to be two polar bears - two lost polar bears who would need the help of the children to show them where to go and what to do. We developed the characters as a silent, cheeky, hungry duo and then after a few appearances at different events we were asked to turn it into a sit-down performance.
WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SHOW? We want the show to feel adventurous but also very familiar, so firstly we tried to think of different ways to travel, different kinds of landscapes, but also more domestic things that might be important to children! We work together and with other theatre makers. Lee Lyford has been brought in to direct, and he’ll help us to develop a trajectory through the piece. There’s not so much of a dramatic narrative, but we want to have the feeling of being on a long journey, getting there, and finally making it to the holiday destination. We will work closely with the designer to find ways to represent the different modes of transport and to create surprises that might come from the set. We want the piece to feel imaginative in the same way that young children can transform simple objects into wild ideas.
WHAT DO YOU THINK A YOUNG AUDIENCE WILL PARTICULARLY ENJOY OR CONNECT WITH? In our work we like the audience to feel like the experts. With no text we can hear the children vocalising and telling their friends or adults what’s going on. There is space for them to make their own meaning. They enjoy the different activities, and particularly the clown-like humour in the piece.
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES INTRODUCTION These activities are designed to capture children’s imaginations and motivation to learn and offer a range of possible ways to link with your classroom priorities. Most of what we suggest are drama activities; working through drama allows children to explore things that matter to them within a fictional context, draw on their prior knowledge and apply it to new situations, develop language as they give expression to new understandings and develop emotional intelligence and critical thinking. It will also allow the children to take responsibility, make decisions, solve problems and explore possibilities from within the drama. Session One has suggestions for post-show activities that offer ways of reflecting on the experience of watching the play and give children the chance to revisit particular moments from it. Sessions Two - Five use some of the themes and ideas in the show as a stimulus for drama, movement and storytelling-based activities. These sessions can be done before or after your visit – they aren’t specifically designed to prepare children to watch the show, but rather to sit alongside and enhance the experience. One sequence puts the children in role as Arctic explorers, travelling to the North Pole to observe polar bears in their natural habitats. Another looks at the theme of friendship and falling out, and what you miss when your friend isn’t there. Using the story Isaac and Iris by Catherine Rayner, the children act out what happens to the two when they are no longer friends, and walk out into the Arctic alone.
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SESSION ONE
REFLECTING ON THE SHOW AIMS To reflect on the play and revisit the moments which have stayed with your pupils. To explore the relationship between the big polar bear and the small polar bear. To reflect on the set, lighting, music and sound effects in the show.
STRATEGIES Pair discussions, small group freeze frames, whole class story acting.
RESOURCES Music from the show.
TIME 45 minutes.
RUNNING THE ACTIVITY RECREATING MOMENTS Ask the children to find a space on their own, lie down and close their eyes. Ask them to think back to the show (you could talk them through your journey to the theatre, up to the point the show began) and to answer the following questions in their heads: What did you see? Can you think of three different things that the polar bears did? What different colours or shapes could you see on the stage? What did you hear? Did you hear any words or talking? Did you touch anything? What did it feel like? What did you think about? What did you feel? How did the big polar bear and small polar bear get on? Come back into a circle and hear some of their responses. In partners, ask the children to discuss a moment from the show that they can remember very clearly – they can imagine that their partner hadn’t seen the show so they will need to tell them Page 8
TEACHER RESOURCES about their moment in lots of detail (teachers may want to model this to the class first). They can discuss one person’s moment first and then the other person’s. Hear a couple of these moments back. Then ask the pairs to act out one moment and then the other. For each moment they will need to decide who will play the big polar bear and who will play the small polar bear. Ask the children to practice their two moments (they only need be 5 seconds or so long) and make sure that it is clear for an audience what the bears are doing - are they doing the same thing or different things? Ask the children to end each moment with a freeze frame, so that it is clear when it has finished. In a circle, explain that each pair will come into the middle and show their two moments, performing one and then the other. Ask them to hold the freeze frame at the end of the first moment, before moving into the second moment. You could use a percussion instrument like a triangle or a drum to signal for the pairs to move onto the second moment and then to signal for the next pair to come into the circle, so that the acting out is given some structure and a sense of performance. After all the pairs have shown their moments, ask the class to feedback which moments they saw, which moments they liked and why they liked them. It is fine if there are multiple interpretations of the same moment - you could discuss with the class why this moment might be such a popular choice. You could then ask the class what else they enjoyed about the show in terms of the set, music, lights, props and costume.
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SESSION TWO
EXPLORING POLAR BEARS AIMS To explore the behaviour and habitats of polar bears. To explore the relationship between a mother polar bear and her cubs, with a focus on growing up and becoming independent.
STRATEGIES Movement, role play, improvisation, exploring key vocabulary, thought-tracking, teacher in role.
RESOURCES Images of polar bears (use a variety of images, such as polar bears with cubs, swimming, fighting, rolling, growling, in a snow cave), underscoring music, action words on paper or interactive whiteboard.
TIME 45 minutes.
RUNNING THE ACTIVITY WARM UP – STOP/GO Remind the class that, in the play, there was a big polar bear and a small polar bear. Explain that they are going to play a game about being big and small. Ask children to walk around the room. When you say ‘stop’ they need to stop still on the spot. When you say ‘go’ they can move off again. Encourage the children to find their own path around the room, to use all the space, to not bump into people and to stop still at the same time. Introduce some new ideas into the game: Stop – can you make a big/small shape using your body? Go – can you travel around the room with big footsteps? Stop – can you find a way of connecting with somebody else and both make a big/small shape? Go – can you travel around the room with very small footsteps? Stop – can you connect with somebody else so that one of you makes a big shape while the other Page 10
TEACHER RESOURCES makes a small shape? MOVING LIKE POLAR BEARS Ask the class what they know about polar bears, for example: Where do they live? What do they look like? What is it like in the Arctic? What do they eat? What is a baby polar bear called? Look at some images of polar bears on the IWB or in pairs, and ask children to discuss what they can see in the images. After looking at the images together, introduce some of the key words to describe polar bears actions to the class: Swim using their big paws as paddles Smell the air for fish and seals Walk slowly and carefully with big feet – to avoid breaking the ice Roll in the snow to get clean Wait over a hole in the ice for a seal to appear Growl to warn cubs of danger or to express anger Dig a hole in the snow to shelter from a storm Have the key words up on the IWB, or printed on paper, so that you can stick them up and the class can read them as you introduce them. As you introduce each word, the whole group can have a go at embodying/showing the action. You could use the stop/go structure from session one so that it is clear for children when to move and when to be still. Comment on the different interpretations of each action that you see – there will be different ways of expressing each one and they are all equally valid. You could keep this as a silent activity and just focus on the physicality – how can the children show with their faces and bodies that a polar bear is growling loudly without making a sound? FOLLOW THE LEADER Explain that polar bear cubs generally stay with their mother for up to two and a half years before leaving their snow cave without her. In groups of three or four, ask the children to imagine that one of them is a mother bear and the others are cubs. The mother bear will show her cubs what to do and will be the leader. The cubs will follow and copy what their mother does. Refer back to the action words on the IWB and explain that the mother bear can choose to do any of the words, in any order that they like. You may want to model being the mother bear first and choose two children to copy what you do. Underscore with some music and let the groups play as the mother bear and her cubs. After a few minutes, ask them to swap who is the mother bear. Repeat until everyone has had a go at leading. IN THE SNOW CAVE Explain that you are now all going to imagine that you are polar bear cubs, who will be leaving their snow cave alone for the first time tomorrow, without their mother.
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TEACHER RESOURCES In their groups of three or four, ask the children to imagine that they are cubs asleep in their snow cave – they can then find a space in the room and show this. Narrate the sleeping cubs: The mother bear has been training her cubs for almost two years teaching them how to fish, swim, walk carefully on the ice, be alert to danger, clean themselves by rolling on the snow and to build a snow nest to shelter from an Arctic storm - and everyday they have followed her. But now she has decided that her cubs are old enough and big enough to leave the cave by themselves. Tomorrow they will go out into the snow and ice without her. Ask the cubs what they might be dreaming about on the night before their first outing alone. What do they feel excited about? What do they feel nervous about? What might the dangers be? What might they do? Thought track the cubs – when you tap someone on the shoulder, they say aloud what they are dreaming about. Then ask the children to imagine it’s the next day and the cubs are about to leave the cave. But there’s one polar bear cub who is feeling a little nervous… TEACHER IN ROLE Gather the children round and explain that you are going to pretend to be the nervous polar bear cub for a few minutes, and that when you sit down, you will be in role as the cub. Use some of the following questions/ideas to help shape the conversation with the other cubs: Are we really going to go out there by ourselves? I don’t think I can… What if I get lost? What if I get into trouble? How will we know what to do? I don’t want to go by myself… How do you all feel about it? Are you worried about anything? What will my mother think if I’m not brave enough to go? I think I might stay behind. Let the children offer advice and support – drawing on their knowledge of polar bear behaviour and the environment of the Arctic - and, as the nervous cub, respond to what they offer. This is an opportunity for children to draw on their real world experience of feeling nervous or anxious about doing something new for the first time. Finish by letting the cubs know that they have reassured you and given you confidence, and that you think that you’ll be brave enough to go out with them now. LEAVING THE SNOW CAVE Back in their small groups, let the children improvise the cubs leaving the cave by themselves; acting out what they got up to. They could imagine that one of them is the nervous cub – how would the others treat them? What would they show them how to do? Let the improvisation last a few minutes. Reflect on what you saw the bears doing. THE CUBS RETURN Gather everyone back into the snow cave and ask what we think the cubs would want tell their mother about their day. What did they see and do? Did they try anything new? Did anything worry them? Did they bring anything back for her? If you have another member of staff you could ask them to take on the role of the mother bear here, so that the children can respond directly to them in role.
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SESSION THREE - PART ONE:
PREPARING FOR AN ARCTIC EXPEDITION AIMS To enter into a drama about a journey to the Arctic and to make decisions and problem-solve from the perspective of Arctic scientists. To explore the challenges and excitement of an Arctic expedition and draw upon childrens’ knowledge of polar bear behaviour from the previous session.
STRATEGIES Role play, improvisation, still image, teacher in role, thought-tracking, pairs discussion, writing and story-making.
RESOURCES images of ice shapes in the Arctic and an image of a sledge and huskies (can be easily found through a Google search), a scarf to signify your role as group leader.
TIME 45 minutes.
RUNNING THE ACTIVITY WARM UP – ICE MELTING Look at some pictures of the Arctic and frozen ice shapes – how would we describe the landscape? What might it be like there? The ice melting game uses the stop/go game structure from Session One. Explain that when you say ‘stop’, you would like everyone to freeze like ice and make an interesting shape, like the ones we have looked at in the images. Then as you count down from ten to zero they can melt in slow motion to the floor, until they are a puddle of icy water. The countdown will help to keep the melting controlled and safe – ask children to listen carefully and melt slowly, so that they only reach the floor when you reach zero. When you say ‘go’, they get back to their feet and continue walking around the room. BECOMING POLAR SCIENTISTS Explain to the class that you are going to imagine that you’re scientists and that you’re going on Page 13
TEACHER RESOURCES our annual expedition to the Arctic to study polar bears. Your job is to count the bears, to see how many new cubs there are, to study their behaviour and take photos of what you see. Let the children know that you’re going to imagine that you’re all part of a team which goes out to the Arctic every year, and you know a lot about polar bears as you’ve studied them for many years. PACKING In a circle, explain that you will be in role as the group leader for the expedition and that they will know when you are in-role as you will wear a scarf (or another item). Show the children images of the sledge and dogs and make sure that you let them know the following information: As usual we’ll be travelling by sledge, pulled by our faithful dogs. We know it could take weeks before we see any bears, but we’re used to being patient. We’ll be leaving civilisation behind and there won’t be TVs or phones. We will have to prepare for storms and extreme cold. You’ve all been on these sort of expeditions before so know what to expect out there. Ask the scientists: What we will need to wear on our trip? Together, mime putting on the items that the children suggest, commenting on attention to detail like zips and buttons, materials and textures of clothing. Ask the scientists: What equipment or objects should we take with us? Take suggestions and ask for people to place their objects on the sledge that you’re imagining is in the middle of the room. (Things we might need to take could include: camera, tripod, food that lasts, ruler/measuring equipment, thermals, dog food, binoculars, fishing rod, map, compass, telescope, tent, first aid kit, camping stove etc. You could suggest some of these if the children don’t, to help them build the world for the next part of the session). Ask children to think of one more object or item that they’d like to take and tell the person next to them what it is. Everyone can then go and place their extra item on the sledge, ensuring that all children have contributed to the shared, imagined world. Narrate: The sledge was full and the scientists had packed everything they would need. Now mime covering up the sledge and strapping the cover down so that everything is packed in safe. Recall some of the items that are packed inside as you do: ‘The scientists were pleased that they’d remembered to pack the…’ THE GOLDEN RULES Still in-role as the group leader, gather children together for a pep-talk – it’s the day before you are leaving for the Arctic. Explain that you need to briefly go over the four golden rules of polar bear watching: I know that you’re all very experienced polar scientists and have been on lots of these expeditions before, but as usual, we need to recap our expedition golden rules so that we can stay safe, as the Arctic is a very different place to London [or your location] …
1. NEVER LEAVE THE CAMP ALONE 2. FOOD MUST BE PACKED AWAY IN AIR TIGHT TUBS AT ALL TIMES 3. NEVER APPROACH A CUB ON ITS OWN 4. PATIENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
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TEACHER RESOURCES It would be useful to have these written up on a large piece of paper, so that children can see them. From within the group leader role, encourage the children add their own thoughts/knowledge to the rules, asking them why each is important. Use these prompts if necessary: There are many dangers in the Arctic. If food is left out it will attract bears – they have an excellent sense of smell. Mother polar bears are very protective and will do anything to defend their young. We may not see polar bears for a few weeks - we have to be able to sit and wait for polar bears to arrive when we are a safe distance. Finally, ask if anyone has any questions or concerns about the trip. Let the children know that the next time that you meet, you’ll be on your Arctic expedition.
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SESSION THREE - PART TWO:
ON THE JOURNEY RESOURCES A copy of Sam’s note (p.17).
TIME 45 minutes.
RUNNING THE ACTIVITY Begin by showing the children the images of the arctic and the sledge that you looked at in the previous session. In a circle, recap the items of clothing you put on last time and mime putting them on again together. You could also recap some of the items that we packed in the sledge. STILL IMAGES OF THE JOURNEY Explain to the class that you are now going to imagine that you’re on your journey into the Arctic. Remind the children that you are out in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity. Working individually or in small groups if they are able to, ask the children to make still images of: 1. Travelling fast on the sledge 2. Studying the map when lost 3. Looking after the dogs after a long day (remind children that you have to look after the dogs as they’re working very hard pulling your sledge every day. Children can choose whether to be a scientist or a dog.) 4. Spotting polar bear foot prints in the snow You could thought-track children in some of these images – asking them to say aloud what they are thinking in this moment. A NOTE IS DISCOVERED Gather the children back together and ask them to imagine that it is the morning and that the scientists are sitting together outside their tents having porridge for breakfast. Children can mime eating their hot porridge as they listen to you narrate the following: The explorers had been on their expedition for almost two weeks and had travelled great distances over the snow, over mountains and huge stretches of ice. Each day they watched and waited for polar bears, looking out for footprints in the snow. And each evening they would set up their tent for the night. They were very tired, but they all knew polar bear spotting needs patience and that it would be worth it when they did finally see one. Next, explain to the children that, as the scientists were finishing their breakfasts, the group leader rushed in with some news. Let them know that when you put the scarf on, you will be the group Page 16
TEACHER RESOURCES leader again, and that you will arrive with the news. As group leader, tell the children that you’re very worried - you noticed that ‘Sam’ (a member of the team, who you can name) didn’t come out of her tent for breakfast this morning, so a few minutes ago you went to see if she was ok. But she wasn’t in her tent, and all you could find was this note from her. Read the note alound and have a physical copy to show the group. Early this morning I went for a walk and I saw footprints in the snow that looked exactly like polar bear prints! I knew that I couldn’t wait - I had to follow them. I’ve come back to camp to write you this note and now I’m going out by myself to follow the footprints... Finally I might get to see a polar bear! I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I’ve taken some food and my camera. Sam As group leader, have a conversation with the scientists about what we should do. Ask the group what they think might happen to Sam out there alone (she might get eaten, get lost, get hurt etc) and then take suggestions about what we should do about it (should you follow her? Leave her? Call for help? etc). Take their suggestions and start to move the conversation towards the fact that you’re going to have to go after her. It may be suggested by a child, but if not, explain that you do have a tranquiliser dart that you can use to sedate a bear if necessary. Discuss with the group how we will know which direction to set off in. Out of role, explain that the group set off after Sam, following the footprints that she had seen earlier that morning. Ask the group to make a still image of the group following the prints and thought-track a few scientists in this image. Tell the group that the scientists walk for another two hours, following the polar bear and human prints in the snow... and finally, in the distance, they see Sam. Ask children to make a still image of the group looking through their binoculars at Sam up ahead. As they are in this still image, explain that scientists can see that Sam is in trouble - she is between a mother polar bear and her two cubs, and the mother bear is growling. Ask the group ‘what might the scientists decide to do in this situation?’ In pairs, ask the children to have a short discussion about what should be done. Hear back a few responses. Explain that the group leader has no choice: they take out the tranquiliser dart and shoot the mother bear with it. After a few short moments, she falls drowsily to the floor and sleeps. The cubs scamper off into a snow hole, and Sam runs back to the group. Back in-role as the group leader, using a very quiet voice, tell the group that this is our chance to examine the bear. They have about 15 minutes to take some fur, blood, saliva samples, measurements and photos before she wakes up. Tell the group that they must be very quiet, slow and careful and that when you give the signal of lifting your hand up, they must all retreat to a safe distance. Lead the group creeping over to the bear and improvise examining it together. You can interact with the children, whispering for people to take different samples and measurements. After a few minutes, give the signal, check that everyone has collected what they need and all move back away from the bear. This should hopefully be a dramatic and exciting moment for the class, but quiet voices and slow movements should help to keep the improvisation controlled. Out of role, explain that the scientists retreat to a safe distance and watched through their binoculars - they saw the cubs cautiously approach their mother and nudge her. Then a few Page 17
TEACHER RESOURCES minutes later the mother bear gradually wakes up, gets to her feet and sets off across the snow with her cubs following. BACK AT CAMP Ask the children to come back into a circle and to imagine that it is now evening and that they are sitting around the campfire, reflecting on the day. Sam is in her tent and hasn’t come out for dinner yet. Ask them to have a chat with the person next to them about how they feel about what happened today. Hear a few of these conversations. Then ask them what they would want to say to Sam about her actions today. Ideally, ask a TA or another member of staff to take on the role of Sam. Tell the group that when Sam comes to join the group they can speak to her about the events of the day. Sam should listen to their comments and respond, becoming aware of the possible consequences of her actions.
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SESSION THREE - PART THREE:
BACK HOME TIME 20 minutes.
RUNNING THE ACTIVITY SHARING PHOTOS FROM THE EXPEDITION Tell the class that when the scientists get home, they share photos and stories from the expedition. In pairs, give out different photos of polar bears (you can find good action shots on Google of polar bears close to the camera, swimming underwater, showing their teeth, with cubs etc). Ask each pair to imagine that they took the photo whilst they were in the Arctic. Can they tell us what happened around the photo – where were they when they took it? What was the bear doing? How did they get so close to a bear? What happened just before/after the photo was taken? How did they feel when they took the photo? Gather the scientists back together and ask each pair to share their photo and story with the rest of the group. Children could then write a few sentences to go with their image, and you could make a class photo album about the expedition.
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SESSION FOUR
ISAAC AND IRIS AIMS To explore the book Isaac and Iris by Catherine Rayner. To explore ideas around friendship and sharing. To build on their knowledge of the Arctic and polar bears.
STRATEGIES Story whoosh, pair improvisation, though tracking, re-telling and enacting stories.
RESOURCES Isaac and Iris, a book by Catherine Rayner (ISBN: 978-1-84895-092-4).
TIME 45 minutes.
RUNNING THE ACTIVITY WARM UP Start by playing stop/go, bringing in some of the polar bear vocabularly from Session Two: carefully walking on thin ice, stomping on crunchy snow, digging a snow nest, swimming with big paws, smelling, rolling etc. LOOKING AT THE STORY Introduce the first page of the book (Isaac and Iris sitting back to back) and read the line ‘Iris and Isaac were not friends anymore’ – ask the children what they notice in the picture and what they think is happening. How can they tell from the picture that the bears are not friends? Is there anything different about them? Can anyone guess why they might not be friends? Ask everyone to have a go at physically taking up Iris’s position, then Isaac’s. Read the rest of the story to the class and show the pictures as you go. ISAAC AND IRIS STORY WHOOSH A story whoosh is a way of acting out a story with the whole class, that allows you see the main narrative, action and characters in a story in broad brushstroke. It is important to go around the circle with each child taking part in turn, making it an accessible and inclusive activity in which all children contribute to telling the story. As the teacher, you will need to take an active narrator/ Page 20
TEACHER RESOURCES director role and support the children in the creation of the images. With the children in a circle, read out each line of the story whoosh, taking it in turns around the circle ask the children to come up and act out the different moments in the story. Explain that they can play objects as well as animals. Children can repeat the lines of text that the bears say, or you can just read them aloud as children show the moment. When you come to a whoosh in the story, the children who are in the circle making the images go back to their seats, and then start with the next children in the circle to make the next section of the story.
STORY WHOOSH SCRIPT • Iris and Isaac are not friends anymore. Whoosh • Iris had made a snow nest and had got in. • Isaac had tried to get in too – wriggling and nudging and shoving… • Until – they both realised all their nudging and wiggling had flattened the snow nest. • Iris stomps off one way, Isaac stomps off the other way. Whoosh • Iris sees some eider ducks, soaring and swooping high in the sky. (Choose 5 or so children to play the ducks) • ‘Look, it’s the ducks!’ she said. But Isaac was not there to see them. Whoosh • Isaac, stomping along, sees some arctic foxes playing on the snow. • ‘That looks like fun’ he says and sighs. Whoosh • Iris, trudging, sees a huge, echoey ice cave (ask the next four or so children to make the cave - the rest of the class can echo back when Iris calls out ‘hello’ or ‘echo’ into the cave). • ‘Oh wow, Isaac would love this.’ If only he was here. Whoosh • Isaac, plodding sadly, sees the northern lights. (Ask the next five or so children to play the lights flickering and dancing across the sky). • ‘Iris adores the lights, I wish she was here to see them too.’ Whoosh • Isaac wanders further, until he sees the most wonderful thing... • It’s Iris. • The bears come back together. Whoosh Page 21
TEACHER RESOURCES • Iris and Isaac are happy again. They shuffle, nudge, pat and shape a perfect snow nest to curl up inside together. Whoosh - the end! PAIRS ACTIVITY Tell the class that this time, they’re going to tell the story in pairs, and that you will give them the different moments to act out together. In pairs, ask them to decide who is going to be Iris and who is going to be Isaac. Read out the first moment from the list below and explain that when you say ‘freeze’ they should stop and listen for the next moment to act out. 1. Isaac trying to get in Iris’ snow nest – wriggling and nudging his way in. 2. Iris and Isaac see that they have flattened the nest. Iris stomps off. Isaac stomps off. 3. Iris sees the ducks flying high in the sky. Isaac sees the Arctic foxes playing in the snow. 4. Iris sees the echoey ice cave. Isaac sees the flickering northern lights. 5. Isaac sees Iris (ask the bears to see each other from wherever they are in the room). Then the bears come back together. 6. Together the bears make a new snow nest – patting and shaping the snow – and curl up inside together. With the bears still in their snow nest, ask them to have a chat about their day. First, ask: what might Iris and Isaac say to each other about what they had each seen/done that day? Secondly, ask: what might they want to say to each other now they are back together? Ask all the pairs to improvise the conversation that Iris and Isaac have. Freeze the improvisation and ask a few pairs to continue so that the rest of the group can hear (one pair at a time).
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TEACHER RESOURCES
SESSION FIVE
STORY MAPS AIMS To give children free reign to their imaginations and create their own stories. To use a map story structure as a frame work for creating and telling their stories.
STRATEGIES Sorting and choosing images, designing a story map, sticking and drawing, storytelling and story acting.
RESOURCES A4 paper for each child, the images of different locations, weather signs and arctic animals ready cut out (see following pages), glue sticks, pencils.
TIME 2 x 30 minute sessions.
RUNNING THE ACTIVITY Show the children a picture of the map with a craggy range, steep slope, river and mountain. Give each child a frame for their story map (an A4 sheet sectioned into four panels). Explain that they are going to make up their own stories set in the Arctic. The story can be about them, or it could be about polar bears, or indeed whoever they would like the story to be about. This is the first decision they need to make. They can create a drawing of who their story is about, or use one of the animal pictures. Now ask them to choose: • Four places where things happen in their arctic story (they can draw their own if they want). • Different kinds of weather if they want to include weather in their story. • Different animals they might meet. It is important that they can also draw anything else they like to tell the story they want to tell. This is a chance for the children to use their imaginations to create whatever they want. Their story might include helicopters, monsters, magic, terrible accidents: anything they want to include. When completed, ask the children to tell their stories to each other in pairs or small groups using their maps.
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TEACHER RESOURCES STORY ACTING Find time during the day for each child to tell their story to a member of staff. As the children tell their story, make sure everything is written verbatim and is not prompted by the scribe; the story should be just as the child imagined, and doesn’t need to make sense to the scribe. Create a storytelling circle and explain that you are going to act out some of the children’s Arctic stories. You will need to make sure you have a time when everyone’s story can be acted out, but it may work best to do a few each day to give each child and story time to be fully appreciated. Ask the author who they would like to play in their story. Narrate the story as a Story Whoosh, bringing children in turn into the circle to act out the story. When you come to a natural break in the story, ‘whoosh’ the children back to their seats and bring the next children up to act out the next part of the story. Spend time at the end of each Arctic story to discuss what everyone liked in the story.
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TEACHER RESOURCES NOTE ON VIVIAN GUSSIN PALEY Vivian Gussin Paley developed a storytelling and acting curriculum for the nursery children she worked with in America during the 1980s and 1990s. She has written a number of books which outline her approach. As the previous activity draws on her theory and practice of early years’ education using dramatic play, teachers who would like to find out more might read the following: The Boy Who Would Be A Helicopter: Uses of Storytelling in the Classroom (1991) You Can’t Say You Can’t Play (1993) A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play (2004) The Boy on the Beach: Building Community through Play (2010)
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THE POLAR BEARS GO, GO, GO! A Unicorn Production in association with The Polar Bears Created and performed by Ivor
MacAskill and Fiona Manson Directed by Lee Lyford Resource pack written by Catherine Greenwood