Ode to the Honu

My mantle experiments have been pottering along. The children are involved and happy, on the whole and most of the time. Then every now and then something will happen that reminds me of the sheer power of drama and its ability to elevate a lesson. 

Being the exact opposite of a drama expert, this still takes me by surprise. 

Previously
The children had created a Polynesian island and given it a location on the map. They'd heard the myth of how the island was discovered by humans; some travellers were guided there by a turtle - a honu (a Hawaiin myth I have borrowed for the mantle).

For this particular lesson I had spent a while trying to think of a piece of interesting, relevant writing. Rewriting the myth, maybe, or writing a diary in role as the travellers. Then a slightly bizaare thought occured to me; the children should write an ode to the honu.  

Ode to the Honu

I started gathering seemingly random objects from around the classroom (KS1 rooms are very good at providing just what you need to make anything you like). I invited the children to gather round and just let them chatter about the beanbags, basket of fabric etc. As they settled I began to create a turtle, talking aloud in role as one of the travellers from the story, to myself and not to the children (shadowy/twilight role - the children didn't know who I was):

"It was one of the largest honus I've ever seen. It's eyes were full of kindness. It's shell was sort of.. brownish green..." 

As I talked I began forming the turtle. After a short time I looked up and said to the children around me:

"You were there, weren't you? Can you remember what the honu looked like?"

Luckily there was 100% agreement that they had been there. I asked whether they could help me make the turtle honu as I felt it needed remembering for everything it had done to me.  All but a few children joined in; the others watched.

Then my colleague used the narrative voice:

".... and so the new islanders completed their turtle statue. They stood back to admire their work and, one by one, began to pay their respects."

At this point, I really didn't know what would happen next. The children were gathered around the turtle representation, holding hands. I said something like 'honu you are full of kindness' (Good use of Y2 suffix), then I waited. I was about to invite children to talk when a small voice piped up:

'honu thank you for saving us.'

and that was all it took. The children all quietly spoke to the statue, saying things like:

'Honu you are powerful.'
'Honu thank you for caring for us.'
'Honu you are our rescuer.'

There was a very deep sense among the children of reverence for the turtle. Every single child (30-odd 5-7 year olds) was perfectly serious.  As the voices died down I said:

'The new islanders wanted everyone to know how important the honu was to them. They started to write down all of their thoughts about the honu.'

I brought the children out of the fiction at this point. We shared ideas about what we could write in our 'Ode to the Honu' and then they wrote quietly and with clear motivation for the next twenty minutes. 

As well as giving the children motivation to write, this session has (hopefully) deepened their investment in fiction of the island and the turtle. 

Notes

* Using a range of devices in a relatively short session was effective: shadowy role, children in role, narrative voice, iconic representation and other such things. 

* I've been neglecting the 33 conventions again. I shall aim to focus on these over the next few weeks and try a few more out.