My current Mantle has been a bit haphazard; I wasn't actually planning to do it in the first place and have been finding my way as we go (even more so than usual).
What this has meant is things have been progressing very. very. slowly. The initial steps in occurred and were successful in developing children's investment in the fiction; they met a character called Arthur who was a farmer until 1914 when he went to war.
Then we had some visitors across several interesting but non-Mantle afternoons. The children learnt about life in the trenches, what it was like to be a child in 1914, rationing and the role of women. Following this, I decided it was time we got back to the Mantle in hand. I didn't really have many ideas so I decided to use what the children had already been doing and the ideas the visitors introduced them to.
My lovely colleague came into the classroom in role as Doris, a lady who wanted to find out about her great-grandfather Arthur who had fought in WW1. She had a box of his belongings from her attic; some resources borrowed for the school, but several that the children had previously made or had previously encountered:
* a postcard Arthur wrote from the trenches (one of the children's)
* a list of Arthur's farmyard chores (created by the children and stained with tea)
* a photo of a hen (previously seen by the children)
* a recipe for carrot cookies (a rationing recipe the children had baked and tried out)
This use of the children's iconic and symbolic work was very powerful. Not one child questionned it: they seamlessly made the step between their work and Arthur's world. Additionally, as Doris showed them items and asked them questions, the children were incredibly expert experts. My colleague did a great job of not knowing anything.
"Well it's because there was rationing so they had to use carrots instead of lots of sugar."
"He was in the trenches he couldn't sleep it was uncomfortable."
"That poster's to tell people to go to war. Arthur went to war."
And so on.
At times during my mantling, the children have become the team fairly early on, subsequently learning things as they went along. This time, the children already knew an awful lot before they became the team of historians that Doris needed. I don't think there is a right or wrong way, but this time I was struck by just how empowered the children were as experts before they met the client and before they were given the commision.
They wanted to make her a book about Arthur because they were already invested in Arthur and concerned about him.
Writing for a purpose, cross-curricular writing, etc. to commence shortly.
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