Previously in Class 1:
The S.S.S.C had been exploring potential locations for the Gruffalos to be moved to. They had spent a day in a nearby park, assessing its suitability by identifying plants, food sources and geographical features. They had compared this to our school field. Unfortunately, neither location seemed to be suitable for the Gruffalos.
The plan:
- To act in role as the Mayor, reading a letter from the Park Keeper asking whether she could have another, less problematic, strange creature for Howe Park Woods.
- For the children to suggest strange creatures which might be suitable
- For the children to take an imaginary trip to Fairytale Forest to do some research
- ...resulting in some art work of imaginary creatures
The attempt:
I am often without a TA, especially for topic afternoons, so I have creative with how to be 'in role' when the children come in from lunch. This is challenging but I have made some discoveries. Today, for example, I was going to attempt to be in role as the Mayor, reading a letter from the Park Keeper * As the children came in, some tried to talk to me. I just looked at the letter in my hands and let them begin to work out what was going on. . Other children didn't come anywhere near the carpet: they were too busy chatting/drinking/taking off shoes/trying and failing to hang up coats and jumpers. I was getting a bit concerned that they would never come over if I didn't step out of role. However, I decided just to start.
I began talking to myself about the letter and I opened it. Suddenly, without my really noticing, the whole class was on the carpet. I carried on. I opened the letter and read it aloud, then spoke my thoughts aloud. I ignored the class. I ended by saying 'I'd better go and find the S.S.S.C', walked out of the room and came back in, still in role, saying 'Oh, S.S.S.C, I'm glad I've found out - I need your advice.'**
We discussed the Park Keeper's request and whether the children had any ideas of a creature which might be better suited to the woods than the Gruffalos. Here, the lesson began to go quite wrong. The children were suggesting such things as rabbits, foxes, leopards... not the dragons, unicorns and fairies I had imagined. I tried to employ some of the questionning techinques I'd learnt but to no avail: the children weren't getting far. Still in role as the Mayor, I didn't want to impose too many ideas/ too much of my own knowledge onto them as they are the experts. Eventually, I said, "I've heard of something called a unicorn... do you know anything about them? Would they be a suitable animal for the woods?". This seemed to help, initially, until a voice piped up:
"But unicorns aren't real!"
Quite what this particular child thinks Gruffalos are, I don't know.
During this Mantle, only a few times have the words 'not real' popped up: generally the children have easily and willingly stepped into the fiction. This time around, I wasn't sure what to say - the children had become fixed on 'real' woodland creatures. Luckily, I took this opportunity to check my plan which mentioned something about going to fairytale forest to do research. So we did. the children packed lunches, binoculars, clipboards and pencils, cameras and other such equipment and, after becoming myself again, outdoors we went into fairytale forest to research suitable creatures for the woods. As the chilren began exploring the woods I joined in with them, using their role play to draw out ideas which worked much more effectively than the previous discussion. Naturally I wandered towards those children who immediately disappeared around corners... only to find them completely immersed in the fiction.
When we returned to school, the children all shared their ideas on a large piece of paper before creating art work showing their fairytale creatures (more like magical creatures by this point, but that's fine). The aim is to use these to write non-fiction reports for the Mayor and the Park Keeper... we'll see.
Things to consider further:
- How to strike a better balance between what I think I want from the session, and where children take it: could I be more flexible?
- How to re-direct children's discussions when they just aren't going anywhere - look up more of the Useful Things to Say***
- Create/find some resources to support children's ideas: stepping out of the fiction to teach them explicitly
Notes:
* Convention no. 2, perhaps: the role framed as a film
** Convention no. 1: the role present
*** Taxonomy of Question Starters, reproduced on Page 169 of 'A Beginner's Guide to Mantle of the Expert' by Tim Taylor
Comments
Post a Comment