To be honest, it's all going a little bit wrong at the moment. I've spent a couple of weeks not really feeling right about our mantle, not knowing what to do about it and not wanting to write about it either.
However, here I am with a Plan.
So far:
We wanted to begin a mantle around The Great Fire of London. The first few steps were okay. In brief:
1. The children were invited on a journey through London, around 350 years ago. For that, we used this great animation.
2. They co-created a street from London, 1666
3. I had their co-created street in front of me and began telling the story of the Great Fire, using red, yellow and orange flames to 'set their houses on fire' as I went. I paused and invited them into the story: if you were there, what would you do?
4. The children made plans for how to fight the fire and we did some teaching around materials and equipment to fight fires in 1666
5. The children used their ideas to fight the fire, in role as Londoners in 1666.
6. We did a little bit of work on the key events of the fire and chronology.
My original plan for the Mantle:
I was working towards the children becoming Fire Investigators for the King, finding out about the fire; how it started, why it spread, and so on.
However:
This is a topic that children have done before in our school (though not through Mantle). Some of the year two children guessed they would be learning about it, some of them already knew facts about the fire which they dropped in now and then, and there was a general lack of... something. I wasn't sure what, but something wasn't right.
Cue lots of thinking and discussing with my MoE colleague.
Then I went on a training day to Woodrow First School* and chatted to Luke Abbott,** and a few things clicked into place:
The importance of tension:My colleague and I had done lots of storytelling of the fire and role work around it. There was tension in the story, but there was no tension that the children had to deal with. If they went on to become investigators, they'd be finding out things that we (and some of them) already knew. It was all a little... predictable.
Yes, I've been reminded of the importance of tension many many times, and still I forget.
The children need to create the story:
The Great Fire of London is fascinating. It has interesting events and interesting characters. But it is what it is. As a history topic, we will need to teach the facts of the fire - but the children have no say in the story. Were they to be investigators of the fire, they would have some power over their actions but ultimately we would be deciding on the facts that they would be 'finding'.
Having finally come to these conclusions (I exaggerate not - it took days to puzzle out), and having spoken to Luke, I have a new plan.
The context: The Great Fire of London is only the latest in string of disastrous fires across London. The King is at his wit's end: how many more Londoners are to perish in fires? Nobody really knows how to stop them - and with the summer having been so dry, the next fire is imminent (tension, hooray!)
The client: King Charles
The expert team: Ordinary Londoners, spread across London in 1666, who volunteer to be called upon whenever needed to put out fires.
The commission: To become an elite fire team, developing efficient ways to prevent future fires and to put them out quickly when they do occur.
I am hoping that through this altered commission, the children will still learn about the fire and its after effects - just with a bit more creativity and unpredictability.
Notes:
* Woodrow First School is a Mantle of the Expert training school. If you can, go there.
** Luke Abbott - Mantle guru.
However, here I am with a Plan.
We wanted to begin a mantle around The Great Fire of London. The first few steps were okay. In brief:
1. The children were invited on a journey through London, around 350 years ago. For that, we used this great animation.
2. They co-created a street from London, 1666
3. I had their co-created street in front of me and began telling the story of the Great Fire, using red, yellow and orange flames to 'set their houses on fire' as I went. I paused and invited them into the story: if you were there, what would you do?
4. The children made plans for how to fight the fire and we did some teaching around materials and equipment to fight fires in 1666
5. The children used their ideas to fight the fire, in role as Londoners in 1666.
6. We did a little bit of work on the key events of the fire and chronology.
My original plan for the Mantle:
I was working towards the children becoming Fire Investigators for the King, finding out about the fire; how it started, why it spread, and so on.
However:
This is a topic that children have done before in our school (though not through Mantle). Some of the year two children guessed they would be learning about it, some of them already knew facts about the fire which they dropped in now and then, and there was a general lack of... something. I wasn't sure what, but something wasn't right.
Cue lots of thinking and discussing with my MoE colleague.
Then I went on a training day to Woodrow First School* and chatted to Luke Abbott,** and a few things clicked into place:
The importance of tension:My colleague and I had done lots of storytelling of the fire and role work around it. There was tension in the story, but there was no tension that the children had to deal with. If they went on to become investigators, they'd be finding out things that we (and some of them) already knew. It was all a little... predictable.
Yes, I've been reminded of the importance of tension many many times, and still I forget.
The children need to create the story:
The Great Fire of London is fascinating. It has interesting events and interesting characters. But it is what it is. As a history topic, we will need to teach the facts of the fire - but the children have no say in the story. Were they to be investigators of the fire, they would have some power over their actions but ultimately we would be deciding on the facts that they would be 'finding'.
Having finally come to these conclusions (I exaggerate not - it took days to puzzle out), and having spoken to Luke, I have a new plan.
The context: The Great Fire of London is only the latest in string of disastrous fires across London. The King is at his wit's end: how many more Londoners are to perish in fires? Nobody really knows how to stop them - and with the summer having been so dry, the next fire is imminent (tension, hooray!)
The client: King Charles
The expert team: Ordinary Londoners, spread across London in 1666, who volunteer to be called upon whenever needed to put out fires.
The commission: To become an elite fire team, developing efficient ways to prevent future fires and to put them out quickly when they do occur.
I am hoping that through this altered commission, the children will still learn about the fire and its after effects - just with a bit more creativity and unpredictability.
Notes:
* Woodrow First School is a Mantle of the Expert training school. If you can, go there.
** Luke Abbott - Mantle guru.
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