Drama With Children Resource Books for Teachers

Contents The author and series editor

1

Foreword

3

Introduction

5 11

How to u se this book Ac tiv ity

Ag e Level Leve l Age

Time

Focus

Page

(minutes)

13

1

Getting started

1.1

Mime a monster

1 ,2

All

15

Introducing mime

13

1.2

Who am I?

1

A, B

15

Revisio Revision n throug h m ime

14

1.3

Statues

1

A, B

15

Revision Revision o f vocabu lary using mime

15

1.4

Find your partner

1 ,2

A, B

15 + 15

Lea rning a dialogue through non-verbal communication

16

1.5

Th e multi-purpose spoon spoon

All

All

10

Language practice; practice; using a prop

17

1.6

Listen and mime

All

All

1 5 -30

Listenin g for detail; mime

19

1.7

W hat a m I telling you?

All

All

15

R ev ev isio n th th ro ro ug u g h m im im e

22

1.8

W h o a re we?

2 ,3

B, C

1 5 -3 0 + 1 5

Revision/practice; per p erfo form rm an ce skills

1.9

S to r y stills

2 ,3

C

45

27 Listening for information; discussion discussion 5 co-operation

2

Songs, rhym es, and chants

2.1

Condu ct a chant

All

All

1 0 -1 5

G r o u p d y n a m ic s ; rhythm

29

2.2 2. 2

Five little monkeys

1

A, B

20

Co-operation; rhythm

31

2.3 2. 3

I’m I’m big, I ’m small

1

A, B

20 + 20

Co-operation; describing people

33

2.4 2. 4

T w o ta l l d a d d i e s

1 ,2

A, B

20 + 20

Co-o peration ; famili families es

36

2.5 2. 5

Th e M arching arching Band Band

1 ,2

A, B

2 0 + 20

Miming; musical vocabulary

38

24

29

Contents The author and series editor

1

Foreword

3

Introduction

5 11

How to u se this book Ac tiv ity

Ag e Level Leve l Age

Time

Focus

Page

(minutes)

13

1

Getting started

1.1

Mime a monster

1 ,2

All

15

Introducing mime

13

1.2

Who am I?

1

A, B

15

Revisio Revision n throug h m ime

14

1.3

Statues

1

A, B

15

Revision Revision o f vocabu lary using mime

15

1.4

Find your partner

1 ,2

A, B

15 + 15

Lea rning a dialogue through non-verbal communication

16

1.5

Th e multi-purpose spoon spoon

All

All

10

Language practice; practice; using a prop

17

1.6

Listen and mime

All

All

1 5 -30

Listenin g for detail; mime

19

1.7

W hat a m I telling you?

All

All

15

R ev ev isio n th th ro ro ug u g h m im im e

22

1.8

W h o a re we?

2 ,3

B, C

1 5 -3 0 + 1 5

Revision/practice; per p erfo form rm an ce skills

1.9

S to r y stills

2 ,3

C

45

27 Listening for information; discussion discussion 5 co-operation

2

Songs, rhym es, and chants

2.1

Condu ct a chant

All

All

1 0 -1 5

G r o u p d y n a m ic s ; rhythm

29

2.2 2. 2

Five little monkeys

1

A, B

20

Co-operation; rhythm

31

2.3 2. 3

I’m I’m big, I ’m small

1

A, B

20 + 20

Co-operation; describing people

33

2.4 2. 4

T w o ta l l d a d d i e s

1 ,2

A, B

20 + 20

Co-o peration ; famili families es

36

2.5 2. 5

Th e M arching arching Band Band

1 ,2

A, B

2 0 + 20

Miming; musical vocabulary

38

24

29

2.6 2. 6

Wh o stole the cookie from the cookie jar? jar?

1 ,2

A ,B

25 + 25

Group co-ordination; rhythm

40

2.7 2. 7

The dragon dragon hunt

2 ,3

B, C

25 + 25

Miming; group co-ordination

43

2.8 2. 8

A story chant

2 ,3

All

20-30

Listening for information; co-operation

47

3

M a k in in g p u p p e t s a n d p r o p s

3.1

Face on a finger

1 ,2

A ,B

5-10

Craft skil skills ls;; instruc tions

52

3.2 3. 2

Face on a fist

1, 2

A ,B

5-10


53

3.3

Finger tube pupp et

2 ,3

A, B

15

Cra ft skill skills; s; instructio ns

53

3.4 3. 4

Sponge pup pet

All

A ,B

20


55

3.5

Origami Origami pupp et

All

B, C

15 + 15

Craft skil skills ls;; instru ctions

56

3.6

Sock pup pet

All

B, C

40


57

3.7

Shadow pup pet

All

All

10+

Cra ft skill skills; s; instruction s

58

3.8

Stick Stick pupp et

All

All

20+


60

3.9 3. 9

Simple pu pp et theatres

All

All

5-15


60

base 3.10 H at base

All

B}C

15 + 15

Craft skil skills ls;; instru ction s

62

3.11 Headband

All

All

1 5+

Craft skill skills; s; instructio ns

63

3 .1 .1 2 A h al a l f m as as k

All

All

20-25


64

3.13 Mask on a stick

All

All

20-25

Craft skill skills; s; instruction s

65

51

67

4

Using puppets

4.1

Yes and no puppets

All

A ,B

20

4.2 4. 2

Guessing games

All

B, C

4.3 4. 3

Telling a story w ith stick pu pp ets: et s: ‘Big Blue Blu e Fis F ish h a nd Small Red F ish’

1 ,2

4.4 4. 4

Telling a story with shadow puppets: ‘Th e Little Little Red H en ’

4.5

Getting used to pup p up pe ts; ts ; que q ue stion sti on s

67

1 0 -1 5

Solving Solving problem s; questions

69

A ,B

20 + 20

Co-operation; listening to to a nd telling stories

70

All

All

40

Group co-operation; listening to an d telling stories

72

Animating the textbook

All

All

30

Improvisation; Improvisation; m emory; 74 dialogues

4.6 4. 6

Fro m situation situation to dialogue dialogue

2 ,3

C

45

Impro visation; activate language resource

76

4.7

At the d octo r’s r’s

2 ,3

B, C

35-50

Improv isation; fluency fluency

77

4.8 4. 8

Pu pp et conversati conversations ons

2 ,3

All

20 + 20

Exchanging personal information

79

5

81

S ho rt plays

82

Introducing the characters and telling the story

5.1

Telling the story with pup pets

All

All

10-15

Listening to and following a story; identifying charac ters

82

5.2

Using a board picture

All

All

15-20

Listening to and following a story; identifying ch aracters

83

5.3

Picture cues

All

All

15-20

Listening to and following a story; identifying cha racters

84

5.4

W hat happens next?

2 ,3

All

15

Predicting the end of a story

85 85

Introducing the dialogue

5.5

Listen to the play

All

All

15-40

Listening for specific words and phrases

85

5.6

Mixed-up lines

All

All

20-30

Text cohesion; dialogue

86

5.7

Repeat to a rhythm

All

All

10-15

Stress and rhythm for memorization

87

5.8

Predict th e lines

2 ,3

B, C

15-20

Dialogue building

88

5.9

M atch the dialogue to the character

2,3

B, C

20

Associating words a nd characters; memorization

88

5.10 Fill the gaps

2,3

B, C

30

Cloze; introducing dialogue

89

5.11 Find the rhyme

2,3

B, C

30

Rhyme reading skills; introducing dialogue

89

5.12 M atchin g lines to summaries

3

B, C

20

R eadin g an d following the developm ent of a story

91

91

Casting and character building

Non -verbal comm unication; role bu ilding

91

5.13 Gesture s and walks

1,2

All

10

5.14 Mime and guess

All

All

10-

Langu age with physical 92 movement; role building

5.15 Mak e your own role card

2 ,3

All

10-

Describing character; role building

92 93

Learning lines and rehearsing

5.16 Wh at to say and when to say it

2,3

B, C

20-

Familiarization with language

94

5.17 F ro m choral to individual

1 ,2

All

20

Accuracy

95

5.18 Catch, speak, and throw

1,2

A, B

20

Turn-taking

95

96

Reflection and feedback The fin al rehearsal

98

Props and costumes

99

The performance

99

100

The plays

5.19 M arty the M artian

1,2

A

40 + (2 x 40)

Confidence building; group co-ordination

100

5.20 Chicken Little

2 ,3

A ,B

(5 x 30) or (10x15)


101

5.21 Cinderella

2 ,3

All

10x30+


102

5.22 Fin d a bin to pu t it in

2 ,3

B, C

4x30

Confidence building; environmental issues

104

5.23 T h at ’s funny

3

C

(3 x 50) or (6 x 20-3 0)

Confidence building; music and craft

105

5.24 Starlet

3

C

3x50

Confidence building; colloquial English

107

5.25 Using a mode l to write a play

2 ,3

C

2x50

W riting following a model

108

5.26 Superhe roes: writing a play from an idea

2 ,3

B, C

(1-2x50)

Creative expression; writing

109

111

6

Role plays and improv isation

6.1

Th e market

1,2

B, C

4x50

Improvising; shopping

112

6.2

Tourists

2 ,3

B ,C

20 + 40

Improvising; towns

116

6.3

At a restauran t

2 ,3

B, C

30 + 30

Improvising; restaurants

117

6.4

F irst lines

3

C

20

Improvising; developing fluency

119

6.5

Become someone different

3

C

15 + 15

120 Improvising; developing a character

6.6

Just imagine

3

C

25

Fluency ; solving prob lems

121

6.7

T he quiz show

3

C

50 + 50

Fluency; questions

122

6.8

Shipwreck

3

C

30 + 30

Discussion; how society works

124

Photoc opiable worksheets

127

Further reading

149

Indexes

152

The author and series editor Sarah P hillips trained as an English Language teac her at the Bell School, Norwich, and took he r MA in ELT at Edinburgh University. She has held various teach ing posts in Europ e an d has taugh t on primary teache r training courses with the Norwich Institute o f Language E ducation. She has worked with the Regional Go vernm ent o f Galicia to prepare training courses and materials for teachers o f English. She was pa rt o f a team tha t produ ced a video of children’s songs and games with LING UA suppo rt. At the m om ent she is working on a textbook for children and teaching at the Instituto de Idiomas at the University of Santiago de C ompostela. She is the a utho r of Young Learners. Alan Maley worked for Th e British Council from 1962 to 1988, serving as En glish L angua ge Officer in Yugoslavia, G han a, Italy, France , and China, a nd as Regional Representative for The British Council in South India (M adras). From 1988 to 1993 he was Director-G eneral o f the Bell Educationa l Tru st, Cam bridge. Fro m 1993 to 1998 he was Senior Fellow in the De par tm ent of English Language and Literature o f the N ational University of Singapore. He is currently a freelance con sultant and Directo r of the gradu ate English program me at Assumption University, Bangkok. He wrote Quartet (with Frangoise Grellet andWim Welsing, O UP 1982), and Literature, in this series (with Alan Du ff, OU P 1990). He has also written Beyond Words, Sounds Interesting, Sounds Intriguing, Words, Variations on a Theme, and Drama Techniques in Language Learning (all with Alan D uff ), The Mind 's Eye (with Franôise Grellet and Alan Du ff), and Learning to Listen and Poem into Poem (with Sandra Mo ulding). He is also Series Edito r for the New P erspectives and Oxford S upp lem entary Skills series.

Foreword Children, perhaps m ore tha n any other category of learners, delight in make-believe. Th ey are immediately at hom e in imaginary worlds, where they can ac t ou t a role, engage in ‘pr ete nd ’ activities, dress up, an d for a short while become an other person. Lang uage tea chers at this level comm only have to face two difficulties however. On th e one ha nd , they need to ch annel the naturally ex ube rant imaginative energy of the ch ildren into activity which is not merely enjoyable bu t which also has a language pay-off. On th e oth er, they need to develop a repertoire of conc rete activities which app eal to the children: failure to do so will result in chaos o r bo redo m. In this new book, Sarah Phillips comprehensively addresses these two needs. She offers carefully struc ture d activities with clearly articulated educational an d language teaching aims. And the bo ok brings togethe r a collection of ideas, texts, an d activities w hich the busy tea ch er of young children can draw upon to suit the nee ds of he r own class. It begins with dra ma tization activities, such as mime, and goes on to the use o f songs, rhymes, and chants, the making an d use o f pup pets, an d the u se o f playscripts. It culm inates with slightly more advan ced role play and simulation activities. As the dem and for English for younger learners continues to grow, so too does the d em and for reliable and stimulating teaching materials.This collection represents a significant addition to the resources available to teachers at this level, and is a fitting extension of the w ork available in S arah Phillips’ earlier book in this series, Young Learners, which has already proved su ch a well-tried favourite. Alan Maley

Introduction

Who is this book for? Children Nearly all the activities in this b oo k have be en used in the cla ssroom with c hildren between th e ages o f five and twelve at different levels. O f course, o ther factors affect the su itability of the individual activities for different children: the am ou nt o f dram a they have done before, the kind o f teac hing en viro nm en t the y are used to , th eir gender, the atmosphere in the classroom, and cultural attitudes towards physical expression. T he teach er is the best perso n to decide ho w these facto rs affect his o r her class. Th erefore , the reco mm end ed ages and levels in each activity are given for guidance only. s

Teachers Th is book is for bo th inexperienced and experienced primary-level language teachers who are interested in introd ucing , or developing, dram a as an extra dimen sion in the ir teaching. It provides practical intro du ctor y activities for teache rs who have never used dram a in their classrooms befo re.T he re are also more am bitious activities, like plays and improvisations, for those who feel more c onfiden t abou t using drama as an integral part of their lessons, or who w ant to prepare a performance such as an end -of-term show. Th e aim is to provide a practical introdu ction to dramatizing in the classroom and to provide a starting-point from w hich teachers can develop ideas o f their own.

Dramatizing not drama T he word drama may produ ce the image of an end-of-term play, staged by nervous children, organized by overwrought teachers, and watche d by fond paren ts. I want to replace this image with a muc h less dramatic one. Dram a is no t only abou t the produ ct (the perform ance ) but p art of th e process of language learning . It allows children to own the simple an d m echanical language they use by involving their personalities. I t gives those children w ho are shy whe n speaking a foreign language ano ther ch aracter to ‘hide behin d’. ‘Dramatizing’ is perh ap s a be tter wo rd for this than d rama: dramatizing is mu ch simpler than that nerve-racking end-of-term

INTRODUCTION

play. Dramatizing means th at the c hildren becom e actively involved in a text. Th is persona lization makes language more mean ingful an d mem orable tha n drilling or mechanical repetition can.

Why use drama activities? Using d ram a an d dram a activities has clear advantages for language learning. It encourages c hildren to speak and gives the m the c hance to com mu nicate, even with limited language, using non-verbal com mu nication , such as bod y movem ents and facial expressions. Th ere are also a num ber of other factors which make dram a a very powerful tool in the lan guage classroom .T ry think ing about the ways in which reading a dialogue aloud from a textb ook is different from acting ou t tha t same dialogue.You will find tha t the list is a long on e.T his is because dram a involves children at m any levels, through their bodies, minds, em otions, language, and social interaction. Some o f the areas where I feel drama is very useful to language learners and teach ers are outline d below.

Motivation Dram atizing a text is very motivating and it’s fun. In add ition, the same activity can be don e a t different levels at the same time, which mean s tha t all the children can do it successfully. T he end p rod uct, the p erform ance , is clear and so children feel safe, and have a goal to work towards (even thoug h this may n ot coincide with their teac her ’s aims). C hildren are motivated if they know tha t one o r two group s will be asked to show w hat they have done, or if they are be ing videoed or pu tting o n a pu blic p erform an ce.

Familiar activities Dram atizing is pa rt o f child ren’s lives from an early age: children act out scenes an d stories from the age of about three or four. Th ey play at being adults in situations, like shopp ing an d visiting the d octor, which are pa rt o f their lives. Ma ny o f these d ay-to-day situations are pred ictable. Children tr y o ut diffe ren t roles in m ake-believe play. Th ey rehearse the language and the ‘script’ of the situation a nd experience th e em otions involved, knowing that they can switch ba ck to reality whenever they wan t to. Such p reten d play prepare s children for the real-life situations they will mee t later on: it is a rehearsal of the real thing. Make-believe encourag es their creativity and develops their imagination, an d at the same time gives them the o ppo rtunity to use language tha t is outside their daily needs. Language teachers can use this natural desire to act o ut situations. You can ask them to be Little Re d Riding Ho od, Aladdin’s Magic Carpe t, or a bank ro bber a nd the n use all the language th at grows out of that personality or role.

INTRODUCTION

7

Confidence By taking on a role, children can escape fro m the ir everyday identity and lose their inhib itions .Th is is useful with children who are shy ab out speaking English, or d o n’t like joining in group activities. If you give them a special role it encourages them to be tha t chara cter and aband on the ir shyness or em barrassment. This is especially true when you use pupp ets an d masks. Th e teach er can use roles to encourage children who would otherwise hold back, and control children who do minate the weaker ones.

Group dynamics Children often work in groups or pairs when dramatizing. Th is group w ork may be very structured , where children reproduce a model, or it may m ean children taking responsibility for their own work. Childre n have to make decisions as a group, listen to each other, and value each oth er’s suggestions. Th ey have to co-op erate to achieve their aims, find ways of settling their differences, and use the strengths o f each mem ber o f the group.

Different learning styles Dram atizing appeals to all kinds of learners. We receive an d process inform ation in different ways, the m ain ones are thro ugh sight, hearing, and our physical bodies. On e o f these channels tends to be dom inant in each o f us. If we receive new informa tion throu gh this channe l, it is easier for us to und ers tan d and use; if it is pres ente d thro ugh a weaker channel, we tend to find the ideas more difficult. W hen c hildren dramatize they use all the channels, and each child will draw on the on e th at suits the m best. Th is m eans they will all be actively involved in th e activity an d the language will ‘en ter’ thro ug h the channel mo st appropriate for them.

Language personalization Dramatizing allows children to a dd an em otion or personality to a text tha t they have read or listened to. Take any word, sentence , or sho rt dialogue (two to four lines) and ask the children to practise saying it ‘in ch arac ter’. It is surprising ho w the m eanin g o f som ething as simple as ‘W ha t’s your nam e?’ can be chan ged according to how an d where you say it. Th ink abo ut how a po lic em an asks a r obber an d how Fath er C hristm as asks a hop eful child this same question. By interp reting the words, the children make them their own.T his also makes language memorable.

Language in context In th e classroom, we often expose childre n to small bits of language such as individual words, rath er tha n whole phrases or ‘chu nks ’. W hen speaking, children are not often asked to com bine the

INTRODUCTION

different structure s they are learning. Dra ma is an ideal way to encourage children to guess the m eaning o f unknow n language in a contex t which o ften makes mean ing clear. Similarly, children will need to use a mixture of language structures and functions if they are to communicate successfully.

Cross-curricular content W hen using dram a your aims can be mo re tha n linguistic. You can use topics from othe r subjects: the c hildren can ac t out scenes from history, o r the life cycle of a frog. You can work on ideas and issues that ru n through the cu rriculum, such as sexism, respect for the environ men t, and road safety. Imp ort an t messages can be conveyed and e xplored thro ugh sketches and role play. Dr am a can also be used to in troduce the culture of the new language, through stories and custom s, and w ith a conte xt for working on different kinds of beh aviour.

The pace of a lesson Dram a can a dd a change of pace or moo d to the classroom. Dramatizing is learner-centred so tha t you can use it to con trast with the mo re teach er-ce ntred p arts o f your lesson. It is active and so you can use it to m ake a class more lively after quie ter or individual work.

Practical advice on using dramatization in the classroom Choose the right activity W hen you plan a drama activity you need to know your aim. Th ere are activities for accuracy and fluency work, and others th at practise language skills.Your aim may be to revise an d prac tise language from previous lessons, or it may be to change the pace of the lesson. Look at the focus column of the co ntents page at the beginning of the book. The childre n’s age affects the kind o f activity you plan. Younger children find it mo re difficult to work in grou ps and so whole-class activities, or very guided activities, are be tter for them . Older children may work better in smaller groups, though this depends on the style of teachin g they are used to. Th ey m ay take m ore initiative, contributing their own ideas abou t characters and situations, and if they have been attend ing Eng lish classes for some time, will perhaps only need the teacher to help with languag e.The more dramatization the children do, and the m ore they reflect on what they have done, the b ette r they will beco me at it.

INTRODUCTION

y

Start small N o t all children are goo d a t actin g, especially if dra ma is not part o f their first language curriculum. In troduc e dram a into your classroom in small steps. Start with easy, guided activities, such as 1.1 ‘Mim e a mo ns ter’, and move o n to less controlled activities, such as the plays, as the childre n gain confidence.You may be surprised tha t you need to tea ch the m simple things like stretching out the ir arms, taking big and small steps, and using their faces and whole bodies to show emotion. ‘Total Physical Response’ activities are an excellent way into dram atization: the ch ildren resp ond to language with their bodies, a first step to mim ing an d acting. Child ren o ften do n’t realize tha t they can say things in different ways: simply asking them to say words or sentences loudly, quietly, angrily, or sadly can be a goo d way for them to explore the p ower of their voices. Th e children need to see that you are enthusiastic a bou t dram atizing an d enjoy doing th e activities you propose.You serve as a mod el, and encourag e them to be active in the classroom.

Organize the classroom Th e children stand u p in m ost o f the activities, and usually the space at the front of the classroom is enough. If the children stand in a circle or work in groups you ne ed m ore space: pu sh the tables an d chairs to the edge o f the classroom , or take the children to the gym. If you use d ram a activities often, train your ch ildren to move the tables and chairs quietly to o ne side. Give each child one thing to move and prac tise a few times: make it a compe tition, they should be as fast and as quiet as possible! If you have real space p roblem s, pu ppets may be a solution.

Give feedback You are not trainin g professional actors a nd actresses but giving children an enjoyable way of practising and using th eir English. You need to give feedback on w hat the children have done, n ot only the end pro du ct and language, but also the process that they went through, the way they co-operated with each other, and how they came to decisions. Find something positive to com me nt on. Th ere will be areas of the child ren’s work that c an be imp roved a nd this should be p art of your feedback to them. While the ch ildren are doing the activity, watch an d listen to them , try no t to interfere, and take notes on w hat you are observing. T he process is your main aim, but th e c hildren will see the ‘per fo rm an ce ’ as th e m os t im portant part of the lesson. You ne ed to value th eir perfo rm ances. W he n th ey have finished, you can ask some gro ups to show their work and the n give them feedback. Th ere are man y ways of doing this: you could prep are a fee dback sheet for them to do (see ‘Reflection and Feedb ack’, page 96) and use this. I f constructive feedback becomes a regular pa rt o f dram atization activities, the c hildren will gradually improve their dram atizing abilities and the ir language.

How to use this book In this boo k, you will find dra m a activities which you can use in the children’s classroom to activate language and have fun .T he book is divided into six chap ters.Th e first chap ter contains gu ided activities which are im po rtant first steps to introducing dram a into lesson time an d are useful with children who have just started to learn English. C hap ter 2 contains advice on using chants, rhymes, and songs. Chapters 3 and 4 are on making and using puppets, and Ch apte r 5 is abou t putting on simple plays. In the final cha pter the bo ok moves on to role play a nd improvisation, where ch ild ren have to use all their language re sourc e creatively. C hildren , at all language levels, have the o ppo rtunity to add something of themselves to these activities using their bodies , voices, an d em otions to m ake the language the ir own.

How each activity is organized Level 1 = beginners: fro m ch ildren with little or no know ledge of English, to those who recognize the English names of colours; num bers u p to twelve, and basic voc abulary su ch as the family, animals, some food; 1 am/you are, there is/there are, can , like!don’t like ; and classroom commands such as stand up, sit down, and openyour books. Their active use of this language will be very limited. 2 = elem entary: these ch ildren are able to use level 1 language m ore actively and m ake simple sentences and questions. Th ey have a wider range of vocabulary: for example, clothes, shops, parts of the body, verbs for daily ro utin es , and telling th e time in English (if they know this in their own langu age). 3 = pre-interm ediate: these children will be more capable of recognizing sentence pattern s and generating language of their own. Th ey are ready to learn structure s such as the pas t simple, compa ratives, possibly going to, and fu nctions s uch as obligation, reque sts, or making suggestions. It is very imp ort an t no t to confu se these levels with years of English, as a child’s m aturity makes a great difference to wha t he o r she is able to do. An o lder child m ay reac h level 2 in o ne year, while you nger children nee d to go mo re slowly. Age group T he letters A, B, and C refer to child ren’s ages: A = 6 -8 years old B = 8 -10 years old

HOWTO USETHIS BOOK

C = 10-12 years old Th is is a rough g uide only. You m us t use your own ju dgem ent. Time A roug h guide to how long th e activity will take .Th is will vary considerably ac cording to such factors as the size of the class, the age of the children, whether they are used to working in groups, and so on. Aims T h e aims o f the activities are divided in to two parts: ‘language ’ aims and ‘oth er’ aims. T he language aims cover language a nd skills deve lopm ent, while the o thers refer to the intellectual an d social developmen t of the children. Description A sho rt sum mary of the activity so tha t you can get an overall idea of it. Materials A list of wha t you need in ord er to do th e activity. Preparation A brief outline of what you need to do before the lesson. In class A step-by-step guide to doing th e activity. Follow-up Ideas for furth er activities which reinforce what has been lea rnt. Variations Exam ples o f ways in which you co uld a dap t the activity to su it your children. Comments Hin ts an d advice to make the activity ru n mo re smoothly.

1 Getting started T he activities in this chap ter allow you to introdu ce an elem ent of dram atization in your d ay-to-day lessons and work on the skills necessary for longer activities.They are short, fun, easy to set up, and can be ada pted for use with different language content. Man y of the activities focus on mim e so tha t children c an work on using their bodie s to express meaning. This change in focus can b e very powerful for lang uage learning: the children acquire th e language at a more su bconscious level because they are no t thinking abo ut what they are saying, b u t how to show the meaning . In all the activities, the children work in pairs, groups, o r toge ther as a whole class, preparin g mim es or mini-sketches. If you r children are not use d to working in pairs a nd takin g responsibility for their work, you will nee d to in trod uce the idea step by step, giving them teache r-con trolled activities like 1.1, ‘Mim e a m on ster’ before moving on to freer work like 1.9, ‘Story stills’. Feed back on how the children work together is imp ortan t to help them learn to work in groups. If you use these k inds o f activities a lot, the children will becom e comfortable with dramatizing. If you wish to be m ore am bitious and work on a sh ort play, these in trod uc tory activities are an essential bridging poin t between ‘rea ding th e text’ an d ‘acting it o u t’.

1.1 Mim e a monster LEVEL_____________

1,2

AGE GROUP

All

TIME

______

15 m inute s

AIMS_______________

Language: vocabulary of parts of the body and listening for detail. Other: working in pairs; working on physical co-ordin ation.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children work in pairs or grou ps.T he teach er describes a mo nster which the children make between the m w ith their bodies.

PREPARATION

Prepare the descriptions of the m onsters. Fo r example: M ak e a monster with two heads, three arms , one leg, and a tail.

IN CLASS __________ 1 Point at the various parts of the bo dy which you are going to use and elicit the na mes to check that the children are familiar with them.

14

GETTING STARTED

2 Ask for two volunteers to com e to the fro nt of the class. Explain that they are going to work together to make a mo nster according to you r instructions. 3 Describe the mo nster and help the volunteers make it with their arms, legs, and other p arts of their bodies. Ask for com ments from the class and give positive feedback th at will help the othe r children when they are making the mon sters. 4 Rep eat the activity with the whole class. 5 No te the pairs who have made interesting monsters. G et them to show their mon sters to th e rest of the class. FOLLOW-UP _______

Ge t the children to draw pictures of the monsters and make a gallery or a ‘mo nste r catalog ue’.

VARIATION _________

T he children work in groups of three or four to make a monster. One child in each grou p gives instruc tions w hich the others follow. Th e tea cher looks aroun d the class, describes one o f the m onsters, and the other children identify it.

1.2

Who am I?

LEVEL

1

AGE GROUP _______

A, B

TIME AIMS_______________

15 m in ute s Language: to revise phrases from the coursebook. Other: to encourage children to work together in pairs, to work on co-ordination, and encourage children to revise language in their coursebook.

DESCRIPTION ______

The children work in pairs to represent the characters on a particular page in their book. Each pair shows their mime to the rest of the class, who guess the characters and try to rememb er what they were saying at the time.

MATERIALS

Your coursebook.

PREPARATION _____

Prepare a simple mime of a mem orable scene in the coursebook.

IN CLASS __________

1 Ask the children the names of the characters in their book, includ ing animals, robots, witches, and so on! 2 Show the c hildren your mime. Ask them who you are. Ca n they reme mb er what the character was saying at the time? 3 Tell the children they are going to work in pairs to prep are a mime from the book. Pu t them into pairs or threes and give them time

GETTING STARTED

15

to look back through th eir book, choose a scene, and prepare it. It doe sn’t need to be static, they can ad d m ovemen t if they want to. 4 W hen m ost of the pairs are ready, stop the preparation an d ask some groups to show their sce ne.T he o ther children should guess who they are a nd wh at their cha racters were saying. FOLLOW-UP _______

1.3

You, or a child, can take pho tos of the scenes. T he children can add speech bubbles to the ph otos and display them on the wall.

Statues

LEVEL_____________

1

AGE GROUP _______

A, B

TIME

15 m in ut es

AIMS_______________

Language: to revise vocabulary. Other: to encourage children to work togeth er in pairs, stimulate imagination and creativity, an d work on physical co-ordination.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children work in pairs to m ime a word from a ‘word family’ they have worked on, for example: pencil, pen, and pencil owe. Th ey show it to the rest of the class who guess wha t it is.

IN CLASS__________

1 Intro du ce th e idea of word families. You could ask the child ren to tell you the topics they have been w orking on lately and g et them to give you words they associate with the top ics, for example: car, train, and bus. Alternatively, you may like to write a few words from each topic an d ask the c hildren to group th em into families, giving the reasons for their group ing.

2 Choo se a word from one o f the families on the boa rd. Tell the children you are going to becom e a statue o f one o f the words, and tell them which family it comes from. M ime th e word and let the children guess which word it is. 3 Divide the children into pairs.Tell them to select a word from one of the word families o n the board.

16

GETTING STARTED

4 Give the children a few minutes to prep are their statue. Go arou nd the class helping and encouraging. 5 Stop the preparation. G et the pairs to show their statue to the class and get them to guess wha t it is. If any o f the children are really unwilling to show th eir statue , d on ’t force them. Th e c hildren could work in threes or fours to make their statues.

VARIATION

1.4

Find your partner

LEVEL

1, 2

AGE GROUP

A ,B

TIME

15 + 15, includ ing rev ision o f dialogu e

AIMS

Language: to practise vocabu lary of feelings and to practise a shor t dialogue. Other: to practise show ing emo tion with voices, faces, and bodies.

DESCRIPTION

T he children work on sho rt dialogues (2 -4 lines) wh ich they have bee n study ing, an d are given a card w hic h tells them h ow the y feel. Th ey mingle with the others in the class, trying to find ano ther per so n who feels the same way as th ey do.

MATERIALS

Small cards, each with one of these words on them: happy, sad , angry, bored , hungry, tired , hot , and cold (seeWorksheet 1.4).The re should be enough to go aroun d the class, and at least two of each card: it does no t ma tter if there is an uneven nu mber.

PREPARATION

1 Prep are the cards above. 2 Prepare the dialogue you want the children to practise. It can be based on th e u nit of th e boo k you are d oing, o r revise something from a previous one. It co uld be conn ected with a topic. O r if you are prep aring a play to perform , you can use a key dialogue.

IN CLASS

1 Review the dialogue you are going to use. It ca n be as simple as: A B A B

Hi! Hello! Do yo u like the new teacher? Yes!

2 Fo r ideas on learning and reviewing dialogues, see pages 93 and 94 in Chap ter 5. 3 Pre sen t or elicit the feelings that are on the cards you have prepared . You can do this th ro ugh m im e an d using you r voice, asking How do I feel?, o r using the pictures in Worksheet 1.4. If these words are new to your children, you may want to write them on the board.

GETTING STARTED

17

4 Tell the ch ildren to work in pairs and c hoose one of the feelings words. Ask them to practise the d ialogue they have learnt, saying it in the m ann er of the word they have chosen. Go aroun d the class monitoring and comm enting. If there is time, they can choose anoth er word and rep eat the dialogue using the new word. 5 You may like to ask some of the ch ildren to de mo nstrate th eir dialogues an d ask the class to guess which feeling they are a cting. This can be an alternative to step 6 if you do n’t have enou gh space for a ming ling activity. 6 Give ou t the cards.Tell the c hildren tha t they are going to act as if that is how they are feeling at the mo men t. Explain tha t they should mingle with the rest o f the class, finding partn ers and saying the dialogue in the m ann er o f their word, until they find some one who feels the same as they do. W hen they have found a par tn er, the y sho uld stand at the fron t o f the class. If there is an uneven nu m ber of children, tell them that there will be one group of three. I f you have a large g roup, it is best to divide the class in two. Let one gro up do th e activity while the o thers watch, and then let the second group have a turn. 7 W hen all the children have found a pa rtne r, ask some pairs to say the dialogue while the res t o f the class guess the feeling. 8 Give the childre n feedback on the activity, bo th the language they have been using, and the way in which they carried ou t the activity. COMMENTS ________

If you wan t a more s tructu re d m ingling, get the children to stan d in two con centric circles, those o n the inside facing those on the outside. T he children move in oppo site directions until you say stop. T he children facing each o ther say the d ialogue. If their feelings coincide, they leave the circle.

VARIATION 1

Inste ad o f a set dialogue, each child can pre pare a question to ask in the m anner of the word.

VARIATION 2 _______

Children who are more fluent in English can be asked to improvise using an initial question su ch as Where are yo u going?

1.5 The multi-purpose spoon LEVEL_____________

All

AGE GROUP_______

All

TIME

10 m in ute s

AIMS

Language: to revise and practise present con tinuous, can, past simple, or other structures.

18

GETTING STARTED

Other: to encourage children to use their imaginations and to practise usin g a simple prop. DESCRIPTION _____

T he children work as a class or in large gro ups .Th ey sit or stan d in a circle an d pass the spoon around. Each child uses the spoon to represent an action .The others guess what they are doing.

MATERIALS ________

One wooden spoon for each group of 8-1 0 children or one ‘mu lti purpos e ob jec t’ (for example: a box, pa per p late, o r new spaper) for each group of 8-10 children.

PREPARATION_____

1 Choose the structure you want to work on. 2 Th ink of how to contextualize the structure. 3 Dec ide on a simple action using the sp oon to show the class.

IN CLASS __________

1 Show the children a wooden spo on (or other multi-purpose object). Give a sho rt introduction to contextualize the struc ture you wan t to practise. Fo r example: Pm going to use this spoon to tell you what I did at the weekend. Use it to mime an action and at the same time say the sentence using the structu re you want to practise. F or example, pre te nd to hit a ball, use the spoo n as a tennis racket, an d say: I played tennis at the weekend. 2 Ask the children to think of other things they could use the spoon to show. W hen a child has an idea, give them the spoon so that they can show the class. Ask the oth er children to guess the sentence. 3 W hen the children have un de rsto od the activity, divide the m into group s of abo ut ten a nd get each group to stand (or sit) in a circle. Give each group a spoon. Explain that the children should take turns to use the spoon to act out something and the o thers should guess the sentence.You may like to say tha t the sp oon sh ould go aro un d the circle at least twice. 4 W hen m ost of the grou ps have finished, stop the activity and ask them to sit down. T he groups sho uld now try to remem ber what each pers on did. W ith ch ildren who have a high er level of English this can be d one in pairs o r small groups, or there could be a grou p secretary who writes down the sentences as the whole group tries to remember.

VARIATION_________

With older children: you can tur n the activity into a comp etition by asking each group to read out its senten ces. As the sentences are read o ut to the whole class, the group secretary should cross any sentences off the list that are the same. Th e children then cou nt the sentences that rem ain on the list: the group w ith the largest numb er of original sentences is the w inner.

FOLLOW-UP

Each group makes a poster of its original sentences. Th e teacher makes a poster of the sentences the groups ha d in comm on.

19

GETTING STARTED

1.6

Listen and mime

LEVEL_____________

All

AGE GROUP_______

All

TIME_______________

15-30 minu tes, depending on the story

AIMS

Language: to listen to a sto ry an d listen for specific words an d phrases. Other: to use actions to illustrate a story.

DESCRIPTION

T he children listen to a story, an d do actions as they hear certain words.

MATERIALS

A story, for example, ‘En orm ous Ele ph ant’ on pages 2 0-21 .

PREPARATION

1 Choo se a story and write a story skeleton for it. 2 Practise telling it, to a colleague if possible. 3 Select key words from the story and thin k of gestures to illustrate them. 4 Practise telling the story, makin g the gestures at the sam e time.

IN CLASS

Before the story 1 Tell the c hildren tha t you are going to tell them a story, bu t tha t they need to learn som e actions first. 2 Ask the c hildren to sta nd u p, in a circle if possible. Join them in the circle: start by teaching th em two or three words an d actions. Th en repeat the words in a different order and get the children to do the actions (they d on ’t nee d to say the words). 3 Teach a few more words and actions. Get the children to do the actions for the new words and old words mixed together. Con tinue adding a few more words and actions one at a time until you have presented and practised them all.

EXAMPLE

Words for miming

Actions

Enormous

Starting above your head, trace a big circle with you r hands Wave an arm in front of your nose like an elephant’s trunk Put your head in you r hand with bored expression on your face Point at you r head with a sudden, pleased expression on you r face Walk a few steps on the sp ot Put both hands above you r head to make a skyscraper Turn to someone beside you and shake hands

Elephant bored idea walk New York meet

20

GETTING STARTED

Magic Monkey What’s the matter? OK Crazy Crocodile tired sleep

STORY OUTLINE

Hold up you r hands and shimmer them down like magic dust Scratch you r head with one hand and under one arm with another Open your hands and shrug you r shoulders in a questioning way The usual gesture in you r country for OK The usual gesture in your cou ntry for crazy Make snapping crocodile jaws with outstretc hed arms Sag you r body Put your head on your two hands

ENORMOUS ELEPHANT This is the story of Enormous Elephant, Magic Monkey, and Crazy Crocodile. One day Enormous Elephant was bored, very very bored. Then he had an idea. ‘I know,’ he said, ‘I’ll go to New York.’ So he started to walk, and he walked, and he walked, and he walked. On the way he met Magic Monkey. ‘Hello, Magic Monkey,’ he said. ‘Hello,’ said Magic Monkey. ‘What’s the matter?’ said Enormous Elephant. ‘I’m bored,’ said Magic Monkey, ‘very, very bored.’ ‘I’ve got an idea,’ said Enormous Elephant, ‘why don’t you come to New York with me?’ ‘OK,’ said Magic Monkey. So they started to walk, and they walked, and they walked, and they walked. On the way they met Crazy Crocodile. ‘Hello, Crazy Crocodile,’ they said. ‘Hello,’ said Crazy Crocodile. ‘What’s the matter?’ said Enormous Elephant. ‘I’m bored,’ said Crazy Crocodile, ‘very, very bored.’ ‘I’ve got an idea,’ said Enormous Elephant, ‘why don’t you come to New York with us?’ ‘OK,’ said Crazy Crocodile. So they started to walk, and they walked, and walked, and walked. And they walked, and they walked, and they walked. And they walked, and they walked, and they walked. ‘Oh, I’m tired ,’ said Enormous Elephant. ‘Oh, I’m tired,’ said Magic Monkey. ‘Oh, I’m tired,’ said Crazy Crocodile. So they all went to sleep.

GETTING STARTED

21

Telling the story 4 Ask the children to sta nd up , and mak e sure they can all see you. Again, a circle is the b est op tion if possible. Elicit the actions if you have tau gh t them in an earlier lesson. Ask the children to listen to the story and do the appropriate ac tion each time they hear one o f the words you have bee n practising. 5 Tell the story, doing the actions as you tell it. Enco urage th e children to join in the actions with you. 6 Tell the s tory again, in this or a later class. On s ubs equ ent tellings you may feel tha t you do n’t nee d to m odel the actions. Acknowledgement I learnt this story from a colleague, Guy Norm an, who learned it at an AP IGA c onference some 10 years ago. I would like to acknowledge the u nknow n a utho r o f this most successful story. FOLLOW-UP _______

You can do a variety of follow-ups after telling a story with actions: - make a comic strip or book o f the story; - give the written story with gaps for the words with actions; - ask them to p ut pictures of the story in order, and write a sentence for each one; - ask them to think of a variation on the story; - show the story to an aud ience. You could add m asks, hats, and so on (see Chap ter 3). Th ere are many ideas for using stories in the yo ung learn ers’ classroom in Storytelling with Children by Andrew Wright.

VARIATIONS_______

- If the words are familiar, show the children the actions and ask them to guess what the w ords might be. - Presen t the words throug h pictures and then ask the children to invent the actions for the w ords themselves. - Ask the children to predict the story from the words with actions. - With a story with three or four main characters, divide the children into small groups, one for each character, and get them to d o the actions as you tell it.

COMMENTS ________

You may like to do the ‘before story’ activity in one or mo re lessons before you tell th e story. M an y a uthen tic ch ildren ’s stories of the kind that build u p by repeating a basic structure lend themselves to this kind of activity. Fo r examp le: The Elephant and The Ba d Bab y and The Enormous Turnip (see Fu rthe r Reading, page 149).

22

GETTING STARTED

1.7

What am I telling you?

LEVEL

All

AGE GROUP

All

TIME

15 minu tes

AIMS

Language: to revise and recycle language from previous lessons. Other: to practise com mun icating without words and to encourage children to look for alternatives whe n the ir first guess is wrong.

DESCRIPTION

Two children mime a sentence and the other children guess what the s entence is.

MATERIALS

Pre- prep ared se ntences on slips of pa pe r (see examples below).

PREPARATION

Prepare some sentences con nected with the topic or language point you are working on o r want to revise. It is best to set the sentences in a context—in a restau rant, at the police station, on a radio pho ne-in show, or from a story o r song. Remem ber, it mus t be possible to mime th e sentences. T he re are som e examples in the box below.

EXAMPLES

In a restaurant

Waiter, can I have the menu, please? I’d like some spaghetti. Can we have some fresh orange juice? This steak is tough. From a story

The princess had long hair and blue eyes. She dropped her ball into a pond. The frog swam to the bottom of the pond and found the ball. The princess didn’t want to kiss the frog. A si tuati on: i n th e su perm arket

He’s buying some apples. The bananas are cheap. Where are the ice creams?

IN CLASS __________

1 Set the context for the situation you have chosen, perhaps throug h pictures on the boa rd or by miming. Fo r example, if you ’ve chosen ‘in the su per ma rket’, you cou ld draw pictures o f food, or you could m ime buying something. 2 Show the children the sentenc e slips and choose o ne that is very easy to mime. Ask for two volunteers to come and read it silently. Make sure the children und erstan d the sentence, helping them if necessary.

GETTING STARTED

23

3 Tell the class tha t the volun teers are going to ‘tell’ ‘tell’ the other children w hat is on the slip slip with ou t speaking, writing, or drawing. drawing. Ask the o ther children how the v olunteers could do this. this. 4 Ask the volun teers to have a go, either individually or togeth er (see (see Comm ents). 5 W hen th e class class has guessed the se ntence, o r close close to it, it it is is useful to get them to think abo ut their classmates’ classmates’ perform ance.T his reflection wil willl help th em wh en the y try mim ing themselves. themselves. Ask them to say two things things they liked liked abou t the performance and one thing that could be improved.Tell the the children to reme mb er those things wh en it is is their turn . I f you thin k it is is necessary, necessary, do th e same thing with a noth er two volunteers. volunteers. 6 W hen you thin k the class class is is ready to work in small grou ps, divide the children into groups of four o r five five.. Tell Tell them that two children from each group should c ome to you to collect a sentence to mime. W hen the group has guessed the sentence, two more children children should come to you.Th ey m ust tell tell you the sentence they have just guessed before before you give give them them ano ther one. 7 E nd th e activity activity whe n each gro up has g uessed five five or six six sentences. COMMENTS ________

Befor Be foree th e vol v olun un teer te erss try t ry to m im e the t he se nten nt en ce (step (st ep 4), 4) , you yo u may m ay like like to work as a class on a series o f helpful gestures. F or ex ample, a gesture gesture to represent the n um ber of words in the sentence could invo involv lvee holding up th e n um be r of finger fingers. s. Oth er instructions could tell the class class which word the child is mim ing or if the w ords are long or short. O n the o ther hand , you may lik likee to let the volunteers try to mime the sentence first, first, and then get the the children to think how they could have made th e sentence cleare clearer. r.

FOLLOW-UP 1 ____ ______ __

Ask each group to choose one mime they they would lik likee to show show to the class.

FOLLOW-UP 2 __ _____

Ask the children to reme mb er and write down the sentences they have mimed.

FOLLOW-UP 3 __ _____

Ask the children children to work some of the sentences sentences into a dialogue. dialogue.

______ ___ _ VARIATION 1 ____

W hen the class class is used to doin g the activi activity, ty, the children themselves can think of the sentences to be mimed . You You may like like to tur n the activity activity into a team game.

VARIATION 2

T he children can mou th the words as wel welll as miming them.

24

GETTING STARTED STARTED

1.8 1.8

Who are w e?

LEVEL

2 ,3

AGE GROUP

B ,C

TIME

Either 3 x 15-m 15-m inute slots in different different lesso lesso ns, or 15-30 15-30 m inutes preparing and 15 m inutes presentation.

AIMS

lessons. Language: to revise and recycle language from prev ious lessons. gestures, body language, language, Other: to think ab out an d use app ropriate gestures, and voice voice to represent cha racter and to think abo ut staging staging (entranc es, exits, exits, move ments) in a short sketch

DESCRIPTION

Th e children work in groups o f two or three to prepa re a sketch involving involving a conversation betwee n a group of characters, including , for example, ‘an ‘an old pe rso n’ or ‘a ‘a person in a hu rry ’.T he class class watches the sketch and guesses who the characters are.

MATERIALS

Cards w ith the the cha racters written on them like like the the ones in the box (these can be in th e ch ildren ’s first language); space in the room .

PREPARATION

1 Cho ose a simple simple dialogue tha t you want the children to work on. Dec ide o n where the co nversation takes place, for for example: in the street, street, or in a bar. If your ch ildren are more fluent, you you ca n simply choose a situation an d let the m improvise the conversation. See the examples of a conversation conversation a nd situation situation below: below:

EXAMPLES

A conv co nv ers ation ati on t hat ha t tak es pl p l ace in th e str st r eet A B A B

Excuse me! Where’s the park? It’s over there. Where? I can’t see it. Look where I’m pointing. Over there, near the river!

A situ si tuati ati on w her e the ch il dren dr en imp i mpro rovi vi se the th e conver con ver satio sat io n

It’s Saturday Saturday afternoon. One person wants to watch watc h television. Another person wants to go out and play football. The third third person wants some peace and quiet.

2 Prep are cards with characters written on the m (see ‘Suggestions for chara cters ’) .You .You nee d a card fo r each child bu t the c haracters can be du plicated, for a class class of 24, eight characters a re enough .

GETTING STARTED

EXAMPLES

25

Suggestions for characters

A deaf person A person in a hurry hurry A person with a broken arm A person with a broken leg A person with a bad cold An old person A person carrying a lot of shopping A child on a skateboard skateboa rd A child on roller skates skates A very tired person A person with a dog A person in a bad mood

IN CLASS

Prepa ring the children for their sketch sketch Th is may nee d a whole lesson. lesson. 1 If the children are no t used to acting out different different characters, you can sta rt by helping them get ‘inside ‘inside ’ a character. W rite up one of the characters on your cards on the board. 2 Help the children to think abo ut his his or her physical physical appearance. Draw, Draw, or ask the children to draw, draw, a picture o f the c haracter o n the boa b oa rd . T h e n ask th e ch ild ren re n to use us e th eir ei r im agin ag inat atio ion n a n d sho s how w you how the ch aracter stands, walks, walks, holds their head, an d so on. 3 He lp the children to identify with the ch arac ter’s ter’s perso nality like like this: this: draw a thou ght bub ble com ing from the chara cter’s cter’s head. I f the charac ter is is tired tired or bad -temp ered you can ask the ch ildren why they feel feel like like this. this. Ask the children w hat they th ink the chara cter is thinking and feeling. feeling.

4 Ask all all the the children to stand up and becom e the character. character. Co mm ent on the gestures gestures and actions they use and encourage the m to be as creative as possible.

26

GETTING STARTED

5 Ask them to say their name in the way the c haracter would. Co mm ent on how they use their voices. Pra ctising the sketch 6 W rite the characters you have chosen on th e board. Tell the children that they are each going to becom e one o f the characters. You may like to rep eat steps 1,2 , an d 3 if you feel the class need help in identifying with their character. 7 Give out the cards an d ask the children to imagine being their character. 8 Teach o r elicit the co nversation if you are using one. 9 Tell the children the situation, for example, ‘On a bu s’.You may like to arran ge som e desks and chairs to set the scene, and get the children to help. Keep it very simple. Make sure the entranc es and exits are well defined—for example, doors in a room , streets coming on to a square, the front d oor o f a house. 10 Pu t the children in pairs or small groups. Give them p lenty of time to work on the conversation. Remind th em that they should use the space, no t simply stand still in the m iddle o f it. As they work, circulate an d c om me nt o n their sketches. Perform ing the sketch 11 In this o r a different lesson, ask some o f the g roups to show their sketches. T he rest o f the class guesses who they are. 12 Give feedback on the perform ances. Ask the childre n what they liked and how the performances c ould be improved. (F or more on feedback, see ‘Reflection and feedba ck’, page 96.) 13 If you are going to do this activity regularly, and it is approp riate, make a poster of the positive points a nd the suggestions the children have mad e.Th ey can refer to it the next time you do the activity. COMMENTS

If you r children are new to this k ind o f activity, p ar t 1 ‘Pre parin g the children for their sketch ’, will probab ly take a whole lesson. If you are prepa ring a play, you c an use this activity to help t he children to work on d eveloping their roles, an d learn ing their lines.

VARIATIONS

- If you have access to a video camera, you can video the scenes instead of the groups giving performances. - Th e ch ildren can write the dialogues or a description of the scene.

GETTING STARTED

1.9

Story stills

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP _______

C

TIME AIMS_______________

DESCRIPTION _____

27

45 m in ut es Language: to listen to a story and use language of discussion and negotiation. Other: to work together co-operatively in small groups; to focus on the physical com position of a scene using body language and gesture.

T he children listen to a story .Th en they prepare scenes for key po ints in the story, ‘freeze-fram ed’, as if they were stills from a film. T he teacher or a child could take p hotos of their stills to be displayed in the classroom.

MATERIALS ________

Pape r and coloured pencils, scissors, a camera.

PREPARATION_____

1 Cho ose a suitable story; ideally it shou ld have four or five prin cipa l cha racters a nd a flexible n um ber o f extra ch aracters. It also need s to have fou r or five well-defined points in th e sto ry suitable for rep resen ting as stills. 2 Practise drawing stills and m aking pap er figures.

IN CLASS__________

In the first lesso n 1 Introd uce the characters an d tell the story. Th is may be the story of a play like the ones in C ha pte r 5, or ones like those in Storytelling with Children by A ndrew Wright. In another lesson 2 Elicit and review the story and m ake a list of the principal characters on the board. 3 Draw four or five (depe nd ing on possibilities for stills in the story) film-style frames on the b oard.Tell the children tha t these are for pictures that represe nt th e story.

□ □ □ □ □ a o n n r □□DDE Dno onn nnn n i 2 3 5 4-

n a c m a a a a a a a a a a o □QQnDanpQD 4 Ask the children which points o f the story the pictures could illustrate. At the b ottom of each picture frame write a title an d the names of the cha racters that ap pear in that frame.

28

GETTING STARTED

5 Ask the childre n to imagine the backg roun d to each frame. Sketch in their suggestions, or ask one of the children to draw for you. 6 Divide the class into groups; each group sh ould have at least one child for each cha racter in the story. If there are uneven nu mb ers, the o ther children can be extras.

7 Tell the group s tha t they are going to plan stills of the frames they have described. Ask them to draw th e film frames as you have done. Show them how to cut ou t paper figures and arrange them. 8 W hen the y are satisfied with the ir pictures, ask them to find a space and make a tableau o f one o f the scenes. Remind the m that you will be taking photo s o f them whe n they have finished. Give them the deadline—it may be in this or a subseq uent lesson. 9 W hen the groups are ready they show the ir stills to the class. You, or one of the children, can take photos of the work. Th ese can be m ou nted to make posters and displayed alongside the pictures mad e with c ut-ou t figures. FOLLOW-UP _______

Th ere are a nu m be r of possible follow-ups to this activity: - the children write captions for the photos; - they can write speech or thou ght bubbles for the photos; - they can use them to illustrate a written version of the story. If you d on ’t have access to a cam era, you could end th e activity by getting the groups to display their stills while the res t of the class guess which par t of the story it comes from.

2 Songs, rhymes, and chants Songs and rhymes provide a rich source of texts for acting out. The y are especially useful in classes of you nger ch ildren who may n ot be able to produ ce m uch o f their own language. Rhythm and m elody make language easier to learn and rem emb er, and movem ent and gesture help illustrate mea ning. Songs appeal to the whole child thro ug h visual, aural, and kina esthetic (physical) channels. Songs, rhymes, and chan ts can be use d as the first steps to a more indep end ent kind of acting. By providing children with the w ords, we leave them free to co nce ntrate on expressing feelings and character throug h body language and gesture. Later, as they become more confident and aware o f the possibilities of their own bodies, they are able to use their own words. You will often find tha t the ins tructio ns fall into two parts . In th e first part, the children learn the words an d actions to the song or cha nt as a whole class. In the se cond , they work in small groups o n a version of their own: they m ay personalize it by changing the actions, or by ada pting the text. It is usually best th at these two pa rts fall in different lessons. T he time betwe en lessons allows the language to ‘sink in’ and b eco me assimilated, before actions and rhyme are added. Both teachers and children vary in the a m oun t of control they want to have over an activity. As a teacher, it is some times difficult to let the ch ildren have a free han d in wh at they are doing, and some children find total freedo m o f decision difficult to cope with. You need to decide what balance you feel comfortable with, and work towards it step by step.

2.1 Condu ct a chant LEVEL_____________

All

AGE GROUP _______

All

TIME AIMS

10-15 m in ut es Language: to practise stress and rhythm. Other: to practise chanting in chorus, work on co mm unication through gesture and group dynamics.

30

SONGS, RHYMES, AND CHANTS

DESCRIPTION

Th e children learn a short chant an d say it in choru s.Th ey invent gestures to c ontrol the speed and volume of their words and work in groups to prepa re a ‘con cert’ performance.

MATERIALS

If you want the children to practise reading, make large cards, each with one word o r phrase of the chant.

PREPARATION

Prepare the word cards if you are going to use them.

IN CLASS

1 Draw a robot on the bo ard an d ask the children what it is, and how it moves a nd talks. 2 Ask the childre n to mime these actions like a robot: Rhyme word

Actions

think drink

Lift arm stiffly and point to head Mime lifting a cup to your mouth in two sudden movements Walk with straight legs and arms Talk with a mechanical voice Mime writing with stiff movements Lift fists and punch the air with stiff movements Sta nd on one leg and jump into the air with very straight arms and legs Stop very suddenly

walk talk write fight hop stop

3 Say the rhyme and e ncourage the children to do the actions. Th en say it line by line and get them to rep eat it after you. We are rob ots We are robots

We are robots

We are robots • • • • Robots thinking • • • • Robots drinking • • • • Rob ots walking . . • • • Robots talking • • • • We are robots

Robots writing • • • Rob ots fighting • • • Robots hopping • • • • Robots stopping • • • • We are robots • • • • We are rob ots


31

4 If you have ma de word ca rds of the poe m (see materials), give the m ou t to the class, one to e ach child. Ask who has the first word, then the next, and so o n.T he children can stick their words on the boa rd or come to the front of the class and hold the m u p in the right order. 5 W hen th e children know th e rhyme, get them to say it slowly, quickly, loudly, quietly, and in c omb inations; for exam ple, starting slowly and ge tting faster, or starting quietly and getting louder. 6 Ask the children if they know how a condu ctor controls an orchestra. Ask them wh at han d signals you could use to tell them you want th em to go slowly, quickly, loudly, and quietly. Prac tise them with the children and th en ask them if they think the gestures are clear, or if they wa nt to chang e them . 7 Ask a few children to take turns cond ucting the class. Com m ent on their gestures making it clear that the gestures need to be large, deliberate, and without a bru pt changes. 8 Ask each group to pre pare a ‘co nc ert’.W hen the gro ups are ready they can p erform their version for the rest of the class. COMMENTS ________

2.2

T he tec hniq ue can be use d w ith any s hort rhyme or chan t, for exam ple ‘Coffee, coffee’ in Young Learners (see Fu rthe r reading), as well as when p repa ring o ther rhymes a nd chants in this section.

Five little monkeys

LEVEL_____________

1

AGE GROUP_______

A, B

TIME

20 m in ut es

AIMS_______________

Language: to work on the stress and rhythm of spoken English and practise recognition of iso lated word s e mbe dde d in a text. Other: Total Physical Response an d g roup co-ordination.

DESCRIPTION ______

T he ch ildren say a nd ac t out a traditio na l rhyme.

MATERIALS ________

A blackb oard and space in the classroom.You could use some simple props, for example: a toy stetho scope, d oc tor’s glasses, and a toy telephon e.

PREPARATION_____

1 Learn the chant. 2 Practise drawing the picture.

32


Five little monkeys •

•

Five little monkeys jumping o n the be d •

•

•

•

•

•

One fell off and b um ped his head Mum my phoned the d octor and the doctor said •

•

•

•

•

‘No more jumping on the be d!’ Continue with:

Fo ur little monkeys Th ree little monkeys Two little monkeys One little monk ey IN CLASS

Learning the chant 1 Copy the picture onto the boa rd and tell the children that you are going to teach the m a story abo ut five little monkeys. Show them the monkeys on the bed. Mum my, the phone, and the doctor.

2 Ask the children if they have ever jum ped o n the bed (you can do this in their own language).W hat might happen? Has anyone fallen off? Check key vocabulary: monkey, jump, bed , head, Mum my, phone, doctor. 3 Teach the children the first two lines, miming as you do so. Enco urage the children to join in the actions, and the words too if they wan t to. 4 Ask the c hildren how Mu mm y feels and w hat they think she will do next. W hat will the d octo r do and say? Ask them to act o ut their suggestions. 5 Teach the children the last two lines, mime a worried Mum my and a severe doc tor shaking his finger at the monk ey who has fallen off. 6 Repe at the rhyme with four monkeys, and so on.


33

Performing the chant 7 Rem ind the children o f the rhyme. C han t the first verse together. 8 Divide the children into gro ups o f seven (five monkeys, Mum my, and the d octor). I f your class does n ot divide into groups of seven, you can add o ther characters—Daddy, a nurse, a brother, or sister. Substitute these characters for Mu mm y in some verses of the rhyme. 9 Ma ke sure each group ha s a space to work in. Draw a rectangle on the floor with chalk to repres ent the b ed for each group. Tell the children they are going to a ct ou t the poem. Give them time to practise. 10 Eac h individual gro up acts ou t their version of the c han t while the whole class chants the poem . 11 Give the children feedback on their performance, balancing good po ints an d points to be improved. You may like to ask th e child ren to evaluate their own perform ance too.

2.3

I’m big, I’m small

LEVEL AGE GROUP

A, B

TIME

20 m inutes to learn the poem ; 20 m inutes to prepare the presentation (in a different lesso n).

AIMS

Language: to present and practise adjectives {big, small, short , tall, good, bad , happy, sad ). Other: to enc ourage c hildren to associate adjectives with movem ent and work on group dynamics.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children act out a poem.

PREPARATION

1 Le arn the poem. I’m big, I’m sm all I ’m big. I ’m small, m short. m tall, m happy, m sad. m good.

34


I’m bad. We’re friends. • • T h at’s the end.

‘6*. kxsd

IVnsmall. lm short.

lm bi(

\’m 500
lm bad.

lm happy.

Tmsad.

We’re fiends. Tltab's tfce end..

2 Practise the drawings. IN CLASS

Learning the poem 1 Use bo ard drawings like those in the illustration to teach the adjectives. 2 Ask the ch ildren to suggest an action or mime for each adjective. 3 G et the children to d o the actions as you call out the adjectives. 4 Draw a speech bubble coming ou t of one character’s mou th. Write Pm big in it. Draw speech bubbles for the rest of the charac ters an d ask the children w hat they are saying. Write the words in the bubbles. 5 Ask the children to s tand up. Say the first eight lines of the po em togeth er, doing the actions as you go. I ’m big. Pm small. Pm short. Pm tall. Pm happy. Pm sad. Pm good. Pm bad.


35

6 Teach them the last two lines and ask them to think o f an action or mim e for these lines. We're friends. That's the end.

7 Say the poem an d do the actions again. Acting out the poem 1 Elicit the poe m, say it, and do the actions together. 2 Divide the children into g roups of four or eight. Tell them th at you want them to act out the poem . At this point, you can either give the children gu idance o r let the m wo rk independently. Th is will depen d on b oth the age of the children and their experience of working alone. In eithe r case they need to decide: - who says which pa rt of the po em (one line each? all together?); - how they are going to sta nd (in a row? in a circle?); - if they are going to move (taking steps forward and backwards? in a circle?); - how the poem starts and ends. 3 Give the children 1 0-15 m inutes to practise their presentation. While they are working, go aroun d the class, encouragin g and helping where necessary. Give your ho nest opinion o f what they have done. If you say you like it, help th em to reflect on th eir work by asking them why th ey thin k you like it. FOLLOW-UP

- Ask one or more groups to show their poem to the class. - T he children draw their own pictures for the poem.

VARIATION 1

You can make this activity more challenging an d creative with olde r children. Start by presenting th e first four lines of the poe m, and then b rainstorm other adjectives for describing people and their feelings (old,young, hot, cold, dirty, clean, kind, mean). Ask the children to add a nothe r four or eight lines to the poem . G et them to prepare the presentatio n as above.

VARIATION 2

Vary the person of the po em, u sing you, he, she, we, or they. The actions in the presentation m ust make the m eaning of the subject pro noun clear.

2.4

Two tall daddies

LEVEL_____________

1,2

AGE GROUP _______

A, B

TIME_______________

20 m inutes in the first lesson; 20 m inutes in the second.

AIMS

Language: to recognize sounds and rhythms o f English and vocabulary of the family.

36


Other: Total Physical Response, using different kinds o f voices, and co-ordinating in groups and pairs. DESCRIPTION

T he children learn a poem . Pairs of children take different roles in the po em an d do simple actions as the class recites it.

None, thou gh you may like to use simple finger pup pe ts with th e po em (see 3.3 ). PREPARATION

1 Le arn the poe m yourself. 2 Decide how the children are going to act it out, and what actions they will do. 3 Prepare pictures of the tall daddies, busy mum mies, and o ther characters. Two tall dad dies Words • • Two tall daddies

® • # Walking down th e lane

Suggested actions Stan d on tip toes and walk around being ‘tall3 March in one direction

Waved to each oth er

Wave

And then they waved again

Wave again

How are you?

Nod heads


• • Ho w are you?

Nod heads again

• • Lovely day again!

Point to the sky

37

Co ntinue the poem using these phrases instead of ‘Two tall daddies’: Two busy mum mies Two best friends Two noisy sisters Two little brothe rs IN CLASS

Learning the chant 1 Show the children the pictures and introduce the characters. 2 Ask the children to think o f an action tha t represents each character, or show them the ones you have prepared. 3 Say the names o f the characters an d get the children to do the appropriate action. 4 Say the rhyme and teach it to the children. C han t it two or three times together. Performing the chant 5 Elicit and review the rhyme a nd the actions. 6 Divide the c hildren into pairs. Assign a charac ter to each pair. You could p ut five pairs toge ther to make a group of ten, with all the characters in the poem. 7 T he pa irs or group s act out the rhyme like this: Th e whole class says the first pa rt o f the p oem , while those in each grou p o r pa ir who are th e ‘tall dadd ies’ do the actions: Everybody

Two tall daddies Walking dow n the lane Waved to each oth er And then they waved again How are you? Tall dadd y 1 How are you? Tall dadd y 2 Dad dies together Lovely day again! Repeat the verse but each time intro duce one o f the o ther characters (mumm ies, friends, sisters, broth ers)into the verse. 8 T he whole class practises the poe m toge ther two or three times. If you have decided to get the children to work on the p oem in groups, they can now practise acting it o ut on their own. You should go arou nd th e class mo nitoring, helping, and giving feedback. VARIATION

Th e adjectives for the characters can be changed, o r you may like to ask the children to suggest some.

38

SONGS, RHYMES, AND C HANTS

COMMENTS _______

Th ere are other well-known songs and poems tha t you can use for acting out. For example: ‘Th e Wheels on the Bus G o R oun d and R ou nd ’, ‘Miss Polly H ad a Do lly’, ‘T he re Were Ten in the Be d’, ‘Five Little D uc ks’, ‘Five Little Speckled F rog s’.You can find thes e in books o f trad ition al rhy me s, or in the videos Fun Song Factory 1 and Fun Song Factory 2.

2.5

The Marching Band

LEVEL

1,2

AGE GROUP

A,

TIME

20 m inutes in the first class, 20 m inutes in the seco nd.

AIMS

Language: to learn vo cabulary of musical instruments. Other: co-ordination through mim ing and marching.

DESCRIPTION

T he children mime a marching band a nd sing a song abo ut musical instruments.

MATERIALS

Pictures o f musical instrum ents, a piece of music with different musical instrumen ts on it.

PREPARATION

1 Ma ke pictures o f musical instru m ents (see Worksheet 2.5).

B

2 If possible, find a record ing o f a piece of music w ith various instruments. The march ing band (Tune: ‘Here We Go Ro und the M ulberry Bush ’, traditional)

G .< m

D7 V - i=

— 0 ---- m ------- 0

1. Th e march - ing band 2. Th e band can play

r

p =F $ 9 --------- ^----- m

has come to town, the big bass drum,

G

7

r0 j" •

h

0

m

Come to town, Big bass drum,

-------- Ic----L .

7

*

Come to town, The Big bass drum, The

D7

L. h 1 = ----- 0 7 — —0 --------- 0

^

march - ing band band can play

has the

. ^ lJ V- ... Js ---------- * ----- 0 --------- 0 — 0 come to big

town, So ear bass drum, And march

Photocopiable © Oxford Unive rsity Press

#

G 0

h

---- - 4 ................ ^ \

_-------- mJ----

0

ly in a - long

the the

------- j

----------- • -----------]

mo m high

-

ing. street.

39


Sub stitute some o r any of these instrum ents in othe r verses: long trom bo ne triangle IN CLASS__________

silver flute acco rdion

loud cymbals violin

piano

1 Ask if any children can play an instrum ent, or if they know anyone who can. Ask them the nam es o f musical instrumen ts they know and teach them the English names if necessary. Include the nam es of the instrum ents which app ear in the song. 2 Ge t the children to mime how the instrum ents are played. Children who play instrum ents can dem onstrate. 3 Th is step is optional: play a piece o f music in which different instrum ents can be clearly heard. Ask the children which instrum ents they can hear. Get them to m ime the instrum ents as they hear them. 4 Sing the ‘M arch ing Ba nd ’ song. Ask the ch ildren which instrum ents are in the b an d in the song. Teach them the adjectives for instrum ents, for example, long tromb one. 5 Sing the song again and ask the ch ildren to clap and march o n the spot in time to th e first an d last verses (these are the ‘marc hing b an d’ verse), and to m im e the instru m en ts in the o thers. 6 Teach the children the words of the verses with instruments: The Ba nd can play the big bass drum Big bass drum Big bass drum The Ba nd can play the big bass drum A n d march along the high street

7 Practise singing the song. 8 Ask if any children have seen a marching ba nd, a nd get them to explain how the b an d line up. If you can, divide the children into groups of 15 or 16 and stan d the m in five rows of three, or four rows of four, with a ban d lead er at the front. Practise m arching along in time to the first verse. 9 Finally, play and sing the whole song as the ban d marches and mimes the instruments. 10T he children can a dd verses with othe r instruments. FOLLOW-UP 1 ______

Mak e hats for the ba nd (see 3.10, ‘H at base ’ and 3.11, ‘H ead ba nd ’) .

FOLLOW-UP 2 _____

Make simple percussion instrum ents and then use these to accompany the b and. You can make instrum ents by putting be ans in empty drinks cans or yoghurt pots, stretching pa per over old biscuit tins, and hitting wooden o r metal spoons together.

FOLLOW-UP 3

Mak e a frieze of the ba nd to p u t on th e wall.

40


2.6

Who stole the coo kie from the coo kie jar?

LEVEL

1, 2

AGE GROUP

A ,B

TIME

25 min utes to learn the chant; 25 minu tes to prepare the presentation (in a different lesso n) .

AIMS

Language: to practise the stress and rh ythm of spoken English and take pa rt in a simple question and answer exchange.To listen for key words in a text. Other: to express emotions with body language and stimulate imagination.

DESCRIPTION

First, the children learn a traditional chan t with a question and answer verse and a chorus. T he n they ad d actions to it. Finally, they suggest new words an d actions for their own version.

MATERIALS

Some biscuits in a biscuit jar and a soft toy tha t you can use to ‘steal’ some biscuits (‘cookies’).

PREPARATION

Learn the chant • • • • All Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? •

•

•

•

•

Teacher

Maria stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

Maria

Who, me?

Teacher Yes, you. Maria

N ot me!

Teacher Th en who? All Wh o stole the cookie from th e cookie jar? Maria Pablo! All Pablo stole the cookie from the cookie jar. Pablo Who me? Maria Yes, you. Pablo N ot me! Maria Th en who? All Wh o stole the cookie from the cookie jar? (ano ther ch ild’s name) Pablo IN CLASS

Learning the chant

1 Show the ch ildren a biscuit jar with some biscuits in it, or draw a picture on the board.T ea ch th em ‘cookies’ an d ‘cookie jar’.Tell them th at you are M um or Dad and tha t they and the soft toy are your children.You are all in the kitchen a nd th e cookie jar contains your favourite cookies.

41


2 C ou nt the n um be r of cookies. Make th e soft toy ‘steal’ a cookie. Co un t them again and say the first line of the chant looking indignant, perhaps w ith your hands on your hips: • • • • • • # • • Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? 3 G et the children to repeat the line. W rite it on the board. 4 Lo ok at a child (choose one who will enjoy taking pa rt in the play acting) and say: (Nam e) stole the cookiefrom the cookie jar. G et the c hildren to repeat the line. W rite it on the board. Practise the first two lines. 5 Ask the child how he o r she feels. D id he or she really steal the cookie?Teach him or her th e ne xt line: Who me? G et the class to reply: Yes, you! and teach the reply: N ot me! Write these lines on the boa rd. Practise the c hant from the beginning. 6 Teach and practise the next two lines: T e a c h e r Then who? Who stole the cookiefrom the cookie jar? All W rite them on the board. Practise the ch ant from the beginning. 7 Ask the child to accuse someone else and teach the line: Child All

(name) ( name) stole the cookie from the cookiejar!

8 W rite the line on the board , and draw an arrow back to the first line to show that the c ha nt repea ts itself. Th is time th e dialogue is be tw een th e first an d seco nd child, with th e rest o f the class chanting the chorus.

WUo s \ ole- \ Ue, c~oc& <-\ e* ‘fv'om fUe- bookie(Kicw\eJ s lo lc - fUe 6o o k ic - "fvom fUe,

YeS; you! N o f

TV&,v\ who? WUo sfole- fUe*

f r 'o n y \ \ *.e, c . o c k -\ e ,

Ckic m e ) (y \ a w e,) slole- fUe.

\ e,

c~octe-\ e, y x r

42


9

Repea t the chan t from the beginning, and as many times with different names as the children wish to. If the children get confused, it is often better to stop the c han t and go back to it later.

Performing the chant with mim e

10 Ask the c hildren if they have ever been unjustly accused of doing some thing wrong. How did they feel? How can the y show how they felt with the ir faces a nd bodies? 11 Remind them of the chant. Rem ind them that it takes place in the kitchen. W hat do they thin k they are doing there (cooking, doing homew ork, eating, playing). Ask them to m ime these activities. 12 Say the cha nt again, bu t this time the children include mim e and facial expressions. Ad aptation and presentation

13 If necessary, rem ind the children of the c han t and practise it. 14 Ask the children wh at other things could be stolen and where from, for example, treasure from a treasure chest, apples from the fruit bowl, chocolate from the Christm as tree, washing from the washing line. Write th e suggestions on the b oard. 15 Write cookie and cookie jar on the board and get the children to clap ou t the syllables.

Explain that you want to change the words of the ch ant and that you need to find words tha t fit the rhythm. 16 Try do ing the ch ant with some o f the c hildre n’s suggestions. 17 Ask the children to imagine who would be asking and answering the question s an d for each of their suggested substitutions. 18 If you are working with older children, divide them in to group s of four or five. Get each grou p to choose which sub stitution they want to work on an d ask them to think o f mimes for the rhyme. If you are working with younger children you will probably ne ed to work with the whole class on the prese ntation of the su bstitu tion they choose. Ask them for suggestions and help them build u p the pres en tatio n to gether. 19 One or two groups ca n show their version of the rhyme. COMMENTS

You can give the ch ildren num bers , colours, animal names, and so on, instead of their own names.

43


2.7

The dragon hunt

LEVEL

2 ,3

AGE GROUP

B ,C

TIME

25 minu tes to learn the poem ; 25 minu tes to prepare the presen tation (in a different lesson).

AIMS

Language: to work on the stress and rhyth m o f spoken English and revise and reinforce prepo sitions, plus can’t for possibility and must for obligation. Other: to work on body language, group co -ordination, and u sing imagination.

DESCRIPTION

T he c hildren act out a traditional echo chant.

MATERIALS

Flashcards showing two children ‘arm ed’ with sticks and a huge n et and flashcards showing a dragon , long grass, wet m ud, and water (see Worksh eet 2.7).

PREPARATION

1 Le arn and practise the chant. 2 Th is activity is best done in a large ope n space. If you are in class, push th e tables a nd c hairs b ac k in the classroom . If th at is no t possible, create a space at the fron t of the classroom. 3 Decide where these places are in the room: hom e, the long grass, the wet mu d, the water, the cav e.They should be on a route arrang ed so tha t as large a group of children as possible can follow.

W/

'sl f

G-ra- S^> I /

CoVe /

WoCte\r

/

/

/

Hom e


The dragon hunt (based on We’re Going on a Bear H unt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, see Fur ther Reading) Verse 1

0 • • • # • Teacher We’re going on a dragon h un t # • • • 9 • Children We’re going on a dragon hu nt • • 9 We’re going to c atch a big one Teacher • • • Children We’re going to catch a big one • • We’re no t scared Teacher • • Children We’re n ot scared. Verse 2

• Oh Teacher • Children Oh Teacher Children Teacher Children Teacher Children Teacher Children Together Together

• • • no, grass, long green grass • • • no, grass, long green grass • • • We can’t go over it • • We can ’t go over it # • We can’t go un de r it • • We can’t go un de r it # • • We can’t go rou nd it • • • • We can ’t go rou nd it • • * We mus t go thro ugh it • • We mu st go throu gh it. • • Swish, swish • • • Swish, swish, swish.

Con tinue with: Verse 3 Oh no, water, cold wet water Oh no, water, cold wet water Together Splash, splash Splash, splash, splash. Verse 4 Oh no, m ud, black sticky mu d Oh n o, mu d, black sticky mu d Together Squelch, squelch Squelch, squelch, squelch.


45

Verse 5 Oh look, a cave, a big da rk cave Oh look, a cave, a big da rk cave Chorus Shh, shh, Shh, shh, shh Verse 6 Oh no, a drag on, a fierce fiery dragon Oh n o, a drago n, a fierce fiery dragon Teacher Quick run Children Quick run Teacher Ou t o f the cave Together Shh, shh Together Shh, shh, shh Teacher Through the mud Together Squelch, squelch Together Squelch, squelch, squelch Teacher Thro ugh the water Together Splash, splash Together Splash, splash, splash Teacher Thro ugh the grass Together Swish, swish Together Swish, swish, swish Teacher And back home Together Phew! Show the children th e flashcards a nd see if they can give you the words grass, water , mud, cave, and dragon. W rite the adjectives on the board and ask the children to match them to the nouns. Choral practise: long green grass, cold wet water, black sticky mud, big dark cave, and fierce fier y dragon. P ut the flashcards in place aro un d the room saying ‘H er e’s the g rass’, and so on. Ask the children to tell you the noise that grass, water, and m ud make as you go throu gh them . Use th eir suggestions when you teach an d act o ut the c horus (see step 5). Ask them: How do yo u walk: - when you are scared? — if a dragon is chasing you?

Show the c hildren the flashcards of the children going on the hun t. Ask them questions: What are they going to do? Why have they got sticks and a net? How do theyfeel? Is it easy to admit to being scared?

Tell them tha t these children say We’re not scared. Ask the childre n to walk aroun d as if they were scared and then p retending n ot to be scared.

46


5 Teach the first verse. Mak e sure that the children und ersta nd th at they should listen an d the n rep eat what you say using the same rhythm. # t # • Teacher We’re going on a drago n h un t #• 9 • • Children We’re going on a drago n h un t and so on. 6 Practise the first verse as the children stride out rou nd the roo m, or on the spot if you do n’t have m uch space. If at all possible you should be joining in the action with the children . 7 Lead the children to the grass. Teach them the n ext pa rt of the poem : • • Teacher Oh no! • • Children Oh no! • • Teacher Grass, long green grass • • Children Grass, long green grass 8 Teach the children the chorus, using appropriate actions as you do so: • • Teacher We can’t go over it • • • • Children We can’t go over it Teacher We can’t go un de r it Children We can’t go un de r it Teacher We can’t go rou nd it Children We can’t go rou nd it Teacher We mu st go through it Children We mu st go throug h it. Teacher Swish, swish Swish, swish, swish Children Swish, swish Swish, swish, swish 9 Teach the childre n verses 3 ,4 , and 5 in the same way. 10 Lead the children quickly from place to place as you teach them verse 6. W hen they get back ho me, ask them how they wou ld feel if they ha d really escaped from a dragon. Ask them to show you with their bodies and faces. 11 Repeat the poem from the beginning, with a different group of actors i f you are working with a large class. T he children who are no t acting can join in with the chorus. FOLLOW-UP _______

One of the children can take your place as the leader, while the other children repeat.

COMMENTS

If you have a large class, you will need to divide them into actors and the chorus. Fifteen children as actors are probably the maxim um possible.


2.8

47

A story chant

LEVEL ______________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP _______

A, B (alternative versio n for age group C in variation)

TIME_______________

20-30 m inutes

AIMS

Language: to p ractise listening for specific words or phrases. Other: to work togethe r to act ou t a story.

DESCRIPTION

T he children stand in a circle and do actions as the teacher chan ts or sings the story rhy m e.T her e are two examples here: a tradition al English story rhyme, an d an in vented rhym e o f my own. It is no t difficult to invent simple story rhymes t ha t fit in with the to pic you are working o n in class.

MATERIALS ________

Flashca rds or bo ard picture s of a princess, a high tower, a wicked fairy, a wand, a forest, a princ e, an d an axe (seeWorksheet 2.8).

PREPARATION _____

1 Learn the rhyme and practise it. 2 Mak e the flashcards.

IN CLASS

Tell the ch ildren you are going to tell them a story. Show them the flashcards or bo ard p ictures and teach them the words. Ask them what they th ink it will be ab out. Tell the story and ask the children to pu t the cards in the order that they hear ab out them, or to nu mb er the board pictures. Ge t the children to sta nd in a circle, and choose a princess, a wicked fairy, and a prince. Explain th at they are going to act o ut the story (see story and a ctions box).T each the actions o ne verse at a time, and then chan t the story and do the actions right through.

FOLLOW-UP

With certain classes you may like to ask the children if they thin k the story could be told ‘the other way rou nd ’, with the princess rescuing the p rince.T his can lead to an interesting first-language discussion of the roles in stories an d in real life. You can tr y acting it ou t the other way roun d too.

COMMENTS ________

Althou gh the c hildren are n ot asked to learn the words, you may find tha t after acting ou t the sto ry several times they begin to join in with you.

VARIATION _________

A mo re mo de rn story, which may appeal to older children, is given below. Older c hildren with m ore En glish can tr y to inv ent a story o f their own. Th ey will need help in getting the rhy thm of the verses right.

48


EXAMPLES

The Princess song (traditional) A7

Th ere D

£ was

D

A7

-LL i a

prin cess A7

long

a - go, D

i

Long a - go, A7

D

j J f f J J j Ij J J U t-J . long a - go. There was a princess long a- g o ,

Long, long a - go.

Actions

T he re was a princess long ago Lo ng ago, long ago T he re was a princess long ago Lon g, long ago. An d she lived in a high, high tower Highj high tower, high, high tower An d she lived in a high, high tower Lo ng, long ago.

The children stand in a circle holding hands, the princess stands in the middle. The children move round slowly. The fa iry and the prince stand outside the circle. The children raise their hands to make a high tower as they move round.

A wicked fairy waved her wa nd Waved her w and, waved her wand A wicked fairy waved her w and Lo ng, long ago.

The fairy waves her wand, the children stop moving an d the princess lies down and sleeps.

Th e princess slept for a hun dred years A hundred years, a hundred years Th e princess slept for a hun dred years Lon g, long ago.

Everyone lies or crouches down with their heads on their hands, sleeping.

A great big forest grew arou nd Grew aroun d, grew around A great big forest grew arou nd Lo ng, long ago.

The children get up slowly> , stretching their arms up high, and waving them like trees in the wind.

A handsome prince came riding by Riding by, riding by A handsome prince came riding by Lon g, long ago.

The prince rides round the outside of the circle.

49


He cut the trees down one by one One by one, one by one He cut the trees down one by o ne Lo ng, long ago.

The prince makes chopping movements with his hands an d cuts the trees down.

He took the princess by the hand By the hand, by the han d He too k the princess by the hand Lo ng, long ago.

The prince enters the circle and takes the princess by the hand. The children get up and the prince and princess join the circle.

So everybo dy’s hap py now Happy now, happy now So everybo dy’s hap py now Happy, h appy now.

The children skip round faster andfaster.

There was a g irl who had a cat (mo dern version) Dec ide who is going to be: - the girl - the cat - the aliens - the spacecraft

Actions

Th ere was a girl who had a cat H ad a cat, had a cat Th ere was a girl who had a cat Lo ng, long ago. T he aliens stole her cat away Cat away, cat away T he aliens stole he r cat away Lon g, long ago.

The children form a circle with the girl and cat and the friend in the middle. The children circle round slowly. The aliens break out o f the circle, form a circle round the cat and carry it away. The other children stand still.

She built a spacecraft with he r friend With h er friend, with her friend She built a spacec raft with her friend Lon g, long ago.

The girl and the friend build a spacecraft with the other children and get into it.

Th ey chased the aliens to the moon To the moon, to the moon Th ey chased the aliens to the moon Lo ng, long ago.

The spacecraft chases the aliens. When the aliens get to the moon they scatterta king the cat with them. The girl and frien d get out of their spacecraft.


There they found some magic dust Magic dust, magic dust Th ere they found some magic dust Lo ng, long ago.

The girl and frien d walk around and fi n d the magic dust. The aliens move their arms menacingly.

They turne d the aliens into stone Into stone, into stone They turne d the aliens into stone Lon g, long ago.

They sprinkle the dust over the aliens who freeze’.

The y took the cat and went back ho me Went back home, went back ho me They took the cat and went back ho me Lon g, long ago.

They rescue the cat, get back into the spacecraft, and fly home.

3 Making puppets and props Pu pp ets are a very versatile resourc e in the youn g learn ers’ classroom. C hildren use language while making them , often respon d to pupp ets more readily tha n to the teacher, and are usually enthusiastic ab out ma nipulating them . T he process o f making a p up pe t is a rewarding craft activity in itself and the end pro duct, the puppet, plays a key role in a subse quen t activity. T he way children resp ond to p upp ets is fascinating: they are willing to su spend belief, and rea ct to th e p up pet as if it were real. Th is can be a useful way o f stim ulating le arne rs to pro duce language: m an y teache rs have a pu pp et tha t ‘only speaks English’, and use it effectively to en courage th eir children to speak in English thro ug ho ut the lesson. In addition, pupp ets pro mo te real comm unication tasks as children atte m pt to d iscover the n ames , ages, likes, and dislikes of pu ppe ts mad e by o ther learners. W hen children use a puppet as th eir mouthpiece, they often lose their reticence an d hide behind it, partic ipating in a way th at they w ould n ot if they were asked to act out the p art themselves.The language becomes one step removed. In this cha pter you will find instructions for making a variety of pup pe ts. All of the m are very simple an d range from tem porary ones, like ‘faces on fists’, to longe r-lasting ones, like ‘sock pu pp ets’. You can use ready-made pu ppets, bu t if the children make them themselves they will have a sense of ownership w hen they use the puppets in d ram a a ctivities.T he song , dialogu e, im prov isa tion, or play will be m ore perso na l a nd m em orab le. M ost of th e p uppets can be mad e in 10-15 minutes, so that yo u can th en co nc en trate on using them to prod uce language. Th ere are also instructions for making very simple pu pp et theatres. Th e theatres are basic, and add an extra dramatic touch w hen the children show pu pp et activities to their classmates, becau se the main aim o f these activities is not to pro duce something for the pu blic, but ra th er to explo it th e ch ild ren’s enjoym en t of using puppets for language pro ductio n. In the last part o f the c hapter there are some instructions for making simple props, like hats and m asks, which can be used w hen you do songs, role plays, and plays. T he y are all easy to make an d d o n’t requ ire elabora te materials o r a lot of time. However, they are valuable tools for helping child ren to ‘get into’ their role an d be co me p art of th e ‘play ’ world. Like th e puppets, the y pro vide pro tectio n for children who are shy about speaking. There are m ore ideas for making puppe ts in Young Learners.

52

MAKING PUPPETS AND PROPS

3-1

Face on a finger

LEVEL

1, 2

AGE GROUP

A,B

TIME

5-10 m inutes

DESCRIPTION

Th e children draw faces on the ir fingers. Th ey can make hats or ‘skirts’ for th em too.

AIMS

Language: following instruction s. Other: preparing pup pets for acting ou t; working on h and co ordination.

MATERIALS

Washable felt-tip pens, strips of white and /or co loured pa per if you wan t to m ake skirts, scissors, and fingers.

PREPARATION

Practise making a pu pp et o n your finger.

IN CLASS

1 Tell the children they are going to make a pu ppe t and th at you are going to show the m how. If you are using th e pu pp ets for a play, tell learners which cha racters they need. 2 Use the washable pens to draw a face halfway up yo ur index finger. 3 Take a strip of pa per a nd stick it into a circle tha t just fits the top of your finger. C ut a nd/or colour it to make hair or a hat. P ut the pap er on you r finger.

t / W

V

W

v

i

4 Ask the ch ildren what they are going to need. Make sure everyone has the materials before they start. 5 Give the children 5-10 m inutes to make their puppets. VARIATION

Th e children draw puppets on their pa rtn er’s finger.


3.2

53

Face on a fist

LEVEL_____________

1,2

AGE GROUP _______

A, B

TIME_______________

5-10 m inutes

AIMS

Language: following instructions . Other: to make puppets.

DESCRIPTION

T he children draw faces on th eir fists (see picture).T hey can raise and lower their thumb to make the pup pet speak.

MATERIALS

Washable felt-tip pens and h ands.

PREPARATION

Practise drawing the p up pe t on yo ur fist and making it talk (see illustration).

/

IN CLASS__________

1 If you are going to use the p upp ets for a play, tell the children who the characters are. 2 Tell the m to close their fists and draw on th e eyes, lips, and hair. 3 Practise raising and lowering your thum b to show them how to make the pup pe t speak. 4 Pu t the children into pairs and get them to draw the pupp ets onto each othe r’s fists.

3.3

Finger tube puppet

LEVEL

2 ,3

AGE GROUP

A, B

TIME_______

15 m inute s

AIMS

Language: giving and receiving instructions ; body vocabulary. Other: to encourage creativity and make p upp ets for use in class on such activities as 2.4, ‘Two tall daddies’.

DESCRIPTION

T he children make a tube of paper to fit over their finger. T hey draw a face and costum e on the paper. Th ese pu ppe ts have the advantage

54


of being slightly longer-lasting a nd can be more elaborate than simply pain ting a face o nto a finger. You can use these p up pets with the rhy me, 2.4, ‘Two tall dadd ies’. MATERIALS

Pieces o f white and/o r coloured pap er, and coloured pens or felt tips.

PREPARATION

Prepare a pup pet yo urself to show the children.

IN CLASS

1 Show the ch ildren your pup pet an d tell them they are going to make a similar one. 2 Cu t out a rectangle of paper. It needs to be about the height of the child ren’s fingers and long enou gh to wrap twice roun d. Th is double w rap gives the pu pp et a little more strength. 3 Draw the features of the pu pp et (see diagram). Add hair, ears, bu ttons, an d so on, usin g scrap s o f co loured p aper or co loured pens. As you do so, give simple in stru ctions like draw the ears, stick on the hair.

4 Ask the children what materials they need, and tell them to make, sure they have everything before they start. 5 Go throug h the instructions again. 6 Tell them to take it in turns to ins truct each other on how to make the pu ppet. As they work, go arou nd the class, com men ting and helping if necessary. 7 T he children will need a bou t 15 minutes to make a simple puppet. T hey cou ld, o f course, tak e m uch long er if they w an t to make a mo re elaborate one.


3.4

55

Sponge puppet

LEVEL

All

AGE GROUP

A,

TIME

20 m inutes

AIMS

Language: following instruction s. Other: working on co-op eration an d helping each other.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children make a pup pe t using a bath sponge as a base.You can use these pup pets in 4.5, ‘Anim ating the textboo k’.

MATERIALS

A cheap oval bath sponge per child, glue, and scraps o f pape r, card, or felt.

PREPARATION

Make a pup pet yourself to show the children.

IN CLASS

1 Have all the materials you need , nearby. Show the sponge an d tell them to watch you as you make the p upp et. Talk throug h the process as you show th em ho w to make it.

B

2 Cu t holes in the back of the sponge for your fingers and thum b. 3 C ut ou t eyes, ears, hair, teeth, an d so on. Stick them on the sponge.

slits for P rny rs oyvd IW wb

4 Pu t your fingers in the holes and use them to make the sponge talk. 5 G et the children to collect the material they need before they start. 6 Tell them to make their pu ppe ts in pairs, helping each other and giving advice. 7 Go aro und the class encouraging and com men ting as they make their puppets.

56


3.5

Origami puppet

LEVEL_____________

A ll

AGE GROUP _______

B ,C

TIME_______________

15 m inutes to make the basic form and 15 m inutes to decorate it.

AIMS_______________

Language: following spoken instructions . Other: develop manu al dexterity, create a charac ter through physical features.

MATERIALS________

A piece of A4-size pap er, blan k on at least one side; crayons or felt tips, coloured pape r, scissors, glue.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children follow spoken instructions and make an origami puppet from a piec e of A4 paper. There is a suggestion for using these puppe ts in 4.8, ‘Pu ppe t conversations’.

PREPARATION

1 Make the p upp et base yourself. Make sure that you can make it ‘in the a ir’ while dem ons trating the folds to your children. 2 Practise explaining how to make the pup pet to a colleague if you can. Th is will help you discover possible problem s. 3 Make an d decorate a pup pet to show to the children.

IN CLASS

1 Show the children your pup pet an d tell them they are going to make o ne too. 2 Give ou t the paper. 3 Give instru ction s on making the pup pe t like this:


57

4 G et the children to try following the above instructions to m ake the pu pp et in pairs first, and the n they can make the ir own. 5 W hen they have finished making the pu ppe t, show the children how to make the pu pp et’s face.The children can cut o ut paper features an d stick them on.

3.6

Sock pupp et

LEVEL

A ll

AGE GROUP

B ,C

TIME

40 m inutes

AIMS

Language: to follow instructions . Other: to prepare the p up pe t for use in a story.

DESCRIPTION

T he children make a pup pe t using a sock as a base. W hen you pu t your four fingers in the toe o f the sock and the p alm o f your ha nd or your thum b in the heel, you make a m ou th tha t opens an d closes. Although they take longer to make, they are stronger an d longer lasting tha n the ones d escrib ed previously. Th ey are also suitable to use as your own pu pp et who ‘only speaks Eng lish’.Th ere is a suggestion for using these pu ppe ts in 4.1, ‘Yes and no p up pe ts’.

MATERIALS

An old sock per child, coloured wool, table tennis balls or balls o f co tton wool for eyes (optiona l), scraps of colou red ca rd or felt, coloured pen s or crayons.

PREPARATION

1 Tell the ch ildren at least a week before the lesson tha t they ne ed to brin g a n old sock to sc hool.The c hild ren’s own socks will prob ab ly be too small; an older c hild’s or a n a du lt sock is better. 2 Make several pup pets, each a t a different stage of completion. These are useful when dem onstrating how to m ake the pupp et.

IN CLASS

1 Show the children your finished pu pp et and explain that they are going to make o ne themselves. 2 Show the children all the m aterials they will need, nam ing them and w riting a list on the bo ard. Ask them to find the m aterial they are going to use. 3 Show them the d ifferent stages one at a time. Describe what they have to do, d emo nstrating a t the same time. Wait until all the children have finished one stage before you dem onstrate the next. Make th e p up pet like this:

58


a Pu t your hand in the sock and mark where the hair will go. Glue or sew sh ort pieces of wool in place.

b C ut out an oval piece of card which fits the inside o f the m outh. Co lour it red an d the n glue it in place.You can stick on teet h an d a tongu e too: these are very useful for making a snake or ‘D rac ula ’.

c Ma ke eyes out o f the ta ble ten nis balls, cott on wool balls or circles of card by drawing black dots in the middle. Glue them in place. You can mak e a simple pu pp et with arms, usin g a sock and a glove. Ma ke holes in th e sock for the ‘arm s’ and w ear the glove‘inside ’ the sock.

VARIATION

3.7

Shadow puppet

LEVEL

All

AGE GROUP

All

TIME

10 m inutes upw ards (depending on the co m plexity o f the puppet)

AIMS

Language: following instructions . Other: to stimulate creativity and use pu ppets to reinforce an d act out a play activity like the ones in Ch ap ter 5.

DESCRIPTION

Th e c hildren cut ou t a face or figure with a clear silhouette.They m oun t it on their fingers or a stick, and use the puppe ts with a shadow pup pe t theatre (see 3.9, variation 5, ‘A shadow pu pp et thea tre’).Th ere is an activity for using shadow puppe ts in 4.4, ‘Telling a story with shadow p up pe ts’.

59


MATERIALS

Pencils, pho tocop iable c ard or card and pa per, scissors, sticky tape, and thin sticks; photocopies or drawings of the characters for your story, for example, ‘T he Little R ed H en ’ (see 4.4 for the story an d Worksheet 3.7 for the figures).

PREPARATION

1 Decide o n the story or situation you are going to use the pup pets in. 2 Ph otoco py the figures on the worksheet, or design you r own. If possible, copy th e figures o n to thin card (this saves s tickin g the pap er figures o n to card later). 3 Make the puppets yourself. 4 Make a simple shadow pup pe t theatre (see 3.9, ‘A shadow pupp et theatre’).

IN CLASS

1 Set up the theatre and show the children the pupp ets and how they work. Move them arou nd be hind the screen, perhaps using them to tell the children a sho rt story. 2 Give ou t the photo copie s an d tell the children they are going to make a puppet. 3 C ut ou t the figures an d fix them to the stick. If the copies are on pa pe r, stick them on to ca rd first.

VARIATION 1

Stick a loop of card to the figures and p ut you r finger or thum b throug h it instead o f using a stick.

VARIATION 2

If you wa nt coloured figures, cu t ou t parts of the figure and stick coloured cellophane over the spac e.Th e light will shine throug h the cellophane to mak e a colou red shadow.

VARIATION 3

You can make jointed figures using pape r fasteners an d sticking one stick to each moving part, for example, the body and an arm (see 3.8, ‘Stick pup pets ’) . Vtoles -Po»r

Ghost

eqelov'owS

border o£

re d ce{lopUo*i«,

moufc.

stuck-ow

spots stick, PixeJ

lolfce back uitfci stick*) fo p e

c mt < £

LadUjbird

Giant


60

3.8

Stick puppet

LEVEL

A ll

AGE GROUP

A ll

TIME

20 minu tes

AIMS

Language: following instructions . Other: to make a pu ppe t for use in su ch activities as 4.3, ‘Big Blue Fish and Small Red Fish’.

DESCRIPTION

T he children cut out figures like the ones in Worksheet 4.3 for ‘Big Blue Fish and Small Red Fish’.They colour them.

MATERIALS

Photoco pies or drawings o f the figures you wa nt to use. Two sticks for each pu ppe t, colou red pencils, scissors, card, glue, a split pin for each pup pe t, sticky tape.

PREPARATION

1 Choose the sto ry you wan t to use the pupp ets in. 2 Make a puppet. 3 Ma ke a theatre (see nex t section). 1 Draw or photocopy the o utline of the ch aracter you want to use on to thin card.

IN CLASS

2 Co lour it and draw eyes, a mo uth , and so on on to the figure. 3 If you want the pu ppe t to have a moving par t, for example, an arm, o r a fin for the fish pupp ets in 4 .3, attac h the fin to the figure with a split pin. 4 Attach one thin stick on to the back of the pup pet an d one on to the fin. Move the fin using the stick.

3.9 Simple puppet theatres LEVEL_____________

A ll

AGE GROUP_______

A ll

TIME AIMS_______________

IN C LASS

5-15 m in u tes Language: to follow instructions Other: to make a theatre for use with puppets in this chap ter and for plays in Ch apte r 5. Unless you are going to use puppe ts a great deal in class, or are going to pu t on a pup pet show for parents a nd friends, it is not necessary to have an elaborate thea tre. Here are some simple ideas tha t you can use in most classrooms:


61

VARIATION 1

Pu t two or three tables or chairs together in a line and get the children to crou ch beh ind them . You can pin a sheet or a length of pap er across th e fro nt o f the desks to hide the pup pe teers.

VARIATION 2

Pin an old sheet across the classroom door, high enoug h for the children to hide beh ind. T he pupp eteers go into the passage while the audience stays in the classroom.

VARIATION 3

You (and the children) can make a more perm anen t puppe t booth with a box for dom estic appliance s like a washing mac hine o r dishwasher. Cu t a hole in the back for the pupp eteers to go in and out of, and a hole in the fron t for the puppe ts. Paint the bo x with poster pain ts.

VARIATION 4

Make a mini theatre for small stick puppe ts o ut o f a grocery box. Cu t holes in the front an d sides and paint the box.You can make ba ck drop s p ain te d w ith suitable bac kg round s to fit th e back o f the box.

nnn

62


VARIATION 5

A shadow pup pet theatre Make a shadow theatre using a large cardboard box. Cu t out one o f the biggest sides, cut a hole in it and m ake a scree n by sticking white (or coloured) crepe pap er over the hole. Attach the screen to the ba ck of a chair with wide sticky tape. S et up a lamp behin d th e screen.

*vt«. oP strong cajftJboardl crepe, f c xp e r or o\
3.10

Hat base

LEVEL

A ll

AGE GROUP

B, C

TIME

15 minu tes folding and 15 m inutes decorating.

AIMS

Language: following instructio ns, pa rts of the body. Other: develop precision in p ape r folding skills.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children fold stiff pape r to make a hat which they can then decorate.You can use these hats in the story chan t (see 2.8).

MATERIALS

A square of paper 50 -60 cm square. T he length of the side should be the s ame as the circ umfer ence o f the child’s head. You can use newspaper, thoug h if you want a stronger hat, it is best to use parcel wrapping paper, which can now often be bo ught in various colours.

PREPARATION

1 Ma ke a ha t yourself. 2 Un fold your ha t and make it again: practise giving instru ction s as you fold. 3 Practise giving instru ction s to a colleague if you can. 4 If possible, teach three or four ch ildren from your class how to make the hat before you teach the whole class. W hen the children have mas tered it, they will be able to act as your helpers in class. You may like to ask the m to keep th e activity a secret.

IN CLASS

1 Show the children a square of pape r and ask them to guess what you are going to make. 2 Make the hat in front o f the children, talking through each step.

63


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Tut" i*
corner X..

Open ifc out ajaii/i.

"Jlvis mavks "ttU, ctt/vf/e o£ ttve.

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Fold êPlof>s

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oftiejr s\ele~.

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Toldl tfce, corners "It?

ttoe nMcUUe

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Told fee 'friable up.

0

3

Open out

ocb. 1foe U

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ttet- tooii/ite op-1tke arovdiA"To tfce wwcUle+>make * -P(at hah

Tell the children to clear thei r desks an d give out the pieces o f paper. If you have got some he lpers (see Prepa ratio n) ask th em to be ready to he lp if necessary. Dem onstrate how to make the hat again, step by step. D o n’t move on to the n ext step un til all the childre n are ready. W hen the base is finished, the children can deco rate them as necessary. For an idea for making an a ll-purpose hat see VeryYoung Learners, Fu rther Reading.

3.11

Headband

LEVEL

All

AGE GROUP

All

TIME

15 minu tes

AIMS

Language: following instruction s. Other: develop ing craft skills.

64


DESCRIPTION

Th e children make a headb and o ut of card and de corate it as appropriate. Fo r example, add: -

ears to make animals; antenna e to make insects or space monsters; feathers to make Indians; leaves, flowers, and fruit to make trees and bushes; num bers, letters, shapes to use the bands in team games.

You can use these he adb and s in songs and plays where you only need a simple indication of character. MATERIALS

Ca rd, sticky tape, scissors, coloure d pens, glue.

PREPARATION

1 Ma ke a he ad ban d yourself. 2 Cu t strips of card about 7 cm wide and long enough to fit the child ren’s head s an d ad d a little mo re.T his will make an overlap for sticking.

1 Show the children how to make the hea dba nd, talking the steps thro ugh as you go.

IN CLASS

2 Tell the c hildren to find the materials they need before you start. 3 Cu t a strip of card long enough to go roun d your head a nd overlap slightly. 4 Decora te it and then stick the ends tog ether to the right size. 5 Add appropriate decoration. 6 Give out the bands for the children to decorate. 7 Stick the band s togeth er yourse lf as the children finish. 8 Th e children can stick the de coration on with sticky tape.

3.12 A half mask LEVEL_____________

A ll

AGE GROUP_______

A ll

TIME_______________

20-25 min utes

AIMS_______________

Language: following instruction s. Other: developing cr aft skills.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children use the m ask base (see Worksheet 3.12) to make a mask.


65

MATERIALS

Eno ugh copies o f the m ask base, on card if possible; ha t elastic (abo ut 30 cm for each ch ild); colours, scissors, glue, card (if you c an no t make copies on card).

PREPARATION

1 Mak e a mask for a cha racter yourself. Add features, fur, or eyebrows to the up pe r outline, bu t the lower outline sho uld be left as it is, so that it fits over yo ur nose. 2 Make enough copies of the m ask base, on c ard if possible. 3 C ut the elastic into 30 cm lengths.

1 Show the children the m ask you have made . Tell the m to ma ke one. Explain that they can ad apt the base to make any animal or chara cter they w ant to: it is only a guide.

IN CLASS

2 Ask the ch ildren to clear thei r desks and find the material they need. 3 Give out the mask bases. Go a roun d the class, comm enting and encouraging the children as they work. 4 As the c hildren finish, pu t the elastic in their masks. Ma ke a hole where marked. T he n p ut the elastic through the hole and tie it round . Older children may be able to do it themselves.

3.13

Mask on a stick

LEVEL_____________

A ll

AGE GROUP_______

A ll

TIME_______________

20-25 minu tes

AIMS__________

Language: following instruction s. Other: develop ing cra ft skills.

DESCRIPTION

T he children decorate a pap er plate or cardbo ard circle and attach it to a stick to make a han d-held mask.

MATERIALS

Pap er plates or circles of card for each child; a stick for each child; strong tap e, co lours, glue, scissors.

66


PREPARATION _____

Mak e a mask yourself.

IN CLASS__________

1 Show the ch ildren your mask.

2 Ask the ch ildren what they need and make a list on the board . 3 Tell the c hildren to make sure they have everything to make the mask before they start. 4 If you are going to use the masks in a play, make sure each child knows which mask to make. Making the mask

5 Draw circles on the plate for the eyes and cu t them ou t. 6 Add a nose and mouth. 7 De corate the mask, according to the character. 8 Stick a thin stick on the back using strong tape. 9 As the children are working, walk aro un d the class comm enting and helping where necessary.

4 Using puppets Pup pets have many othe r uses in addition to the ones ou tlined in the previous chapter. Pupp ets can be u sed with songs, ch an ts, dialogues, improvisations, an d plays like the ones in C ha pte r 5. Th ey encourage children to use their imaginations freely in acting ou t and using language, even in a confined space. Pu ppe ts allow you to make elaborate characters, even ghosts, monsters, dinosau rs, and so on, which are difficult to achieve on stage. Th ey can be u sed with stories you tell the childre n an d ones they invent themselves. Using p up pets calls for some o f the sam e skills as acting—using your voice, co-operation between pu ppetee rs, and m emorization, but it also uses diffe rent ones. P uppe teer s n eed to learn how to man ipulate the puppets, open th eir mouths in time, hold the puppets still, tu rn an d move th em appropriately, as well as enter and exit with care. While these skills are vital in a professional p upp etee r, the children only need to control the pup pets sufficiently to make the play or sketch interesting and un derstan dable to an audience of their peers. If you are going to ask the children to use pu ppets regularly, it is worthwhile focusing o n these skills in the feedbac k sessions, and h elping the c hildren towards an awareness of them. Pup pets add variety, and som etimes a touch of magic, to the activities the children do in the ir language class. You may find t ha t children who are no t always co-operative, or who do no t show a great d eal o f intere st in class, will respon d very positively to pu ppe ts. Th ey com bine the visual, aural, an d kinaesthe tic (physical) in a way tha t is hard to resist.

4.1

Yes and no puppets

LEVEL_____________

A ll

AGE GROUP_______

A, B

TIME AIMS_______________

DESCRIPTION _____

20 m in ut es Language: to present and practise questions, affirmatives, and negatives of a given structure (in this example like). Other: to practise working with pup pets in pairs.

T he teacher uses a red and a green sock pu pp et (see 3.6, ‘Sock puppet’) to p rese nt the q ue stions, affirm ative, and neg ative o f a struc ture , for example: Have yo ugot ...? Yes,I have. No, I haven ’t. The children can make their own pu ppe ts to practise with.

68

MATERIALS

PREPARATION

USING PUPPETS

Two sock (or other) pu ppe ts in red an d green (or other contrasting colours); items to p ractise with, for example, fruit for Il ik e, toys for I ’ve got , different kinds o f balls/rackets for I ’m going to, and so on. 1 Mak e the pup pets (see 3.6, ‘Sock pu pp et’). 2 Practise the presenta tion, especially if you are not use d to using pu pp ets.

IN CLASS

In this example the struc ture is Have you go t . .. ?Yes, I have. No, I haven’t. You can adap t the proced ure for other structures as necessary. 1 Show the children the p uppe ts. If it is the first time you have used them, tell the children their nam es, for exam ple: Yolanda Yes (the green puppet) an d Nicky No (the red puppe t). Explain that Yolanda Yes always says yes, an d Nicky No always says no. 2 Ge t the pu ppe t to ask the children their names and a yes/no question (for example, Are you nine?). I f possible get the children to ask the p up pets q uestions, m aking Yolanda answer .yes and Nicky answer no. 3 Show the ch ildren the toys you have brou ght in. Alternatively, you can use objects from a pencil case. C heck they know the name s of the toys or objects. 4 Set the situation by telling the children tha t Yolanda and Nicky have a toy shop. Yolanda wants to sell lots o f things, b ut Nicky wants to keep them for himself. Teacher Yolanda Nicky Yolanda Teacher Yolanda Nicky Teacher Yolanda Nicky

Goo d morning,Yolanda. G ood morning , Nicky. Good morning. Good morning. Ca n I help you? Well, I want a car. Have you g ot a car? Yes, we have {starts to give teacher the car). No, we haven ’t (takes it away and hides it). Oh well, have you g ot a robot? Yes, we have (starts to give teacher the robot). No, we haven ’t ( takes it away and hides it).

Con tinue until you think the children are ready to try using the pupp ets themselves. 5 Teach the children the question, and th en let them take you r role and ask the puppets. 6 Chec k the children can say the answers, and ask for three volunteers to try the conversation. FOLLOW-UP

Th e ch ildren make their own puppets and practise the conversation in threes.

USING PUPPETS

4.2

69

Guessing games

LEVEL

A ll

AGE GROUP

B ,C

TIME

10-15 minutes

AIMS

Language: to revise an d recycle vocabulary, to ask yes/no questions. Other: to encourage children to solve problems by making an d testing hypotheses.

DESCRIPTION

Th e teacher uses a pu ppe t (see Chap ter 3) to set a problem for the children to solve. Fo r example, the pup pe t tells the ch ildren what food it likes and doe sn’t like.This m ay be according to the type o f food (for example, it may like white food but no t coloured food) or spelling (for example, it may like food spelt with a dou ble le tter an d not food without a double le tter).The children ask the pup pet question s to solve the proble m.

MATERIALS

A pup pet; fruit a nd vegetables or flashcards o f them.

IN CLASS

1 Show the children the fruit an d vegetables and check they can name them. 2 Ask the m which fruits and vegetables they like and dislike. Ch eck they can ask the question: Do you like ...? 3 Explain tha t the pup pe t is going to tell them wh at she likes and dislikes and tha t they have to guess why. 4 Ge t the pu ppe t to say I like carrots, I do n’t like apples, I like potatoes, I don't like oranges. Enco urage the children to think o f what the puppet’s likes an d dislikes have in co mmon (in this case, it likes vegetables bu t no t fruit). 5 Ge t them to discuss their ideas in pairs and the n think of some questions to ask the pu pp et to see if they are right. 6 Le t the children ask their questions. If the children are getting frustrated, help the m by making a list of the p up pe ts’ likes and dislikes on the board . Ask key questio ns to guide the m to the answer.

VARIATION

Th is could be do ne with othe r topics, for example, sports. G et the puppet to say I can't play football, I can swim, I can't play tennis, lean ski (the pup pe t can ’t do sports th at use a ball).

COMMENTS

And rew W right’s 10 00 + Pictures for Teachers to C opy has easy pictures of peop le playing d ifferent sports.

70

USING PUPPETS

4.3

Telling a story with stic k puppets: ‘Big Blue Fish and Small Red Fish’

LEVEL

1, 2

AGE GROUP

A, B

TIME

20 m inutes + 20 minutes

AIMS

Language: prep ositions of place, Where are you?, and Help!\ re-writin g a story following a mo del (older children). Other: co-op eratin g in re-telling a story.

MATERIALS

Stick pupp ets o f Big Blue Fish and Small Red Fish (see C hapte r 3); flashcards with a flap on them (seaweed, shells, rocks, old boo t, pic nic basket; see Worksheet 4.3); blu-tac k; the story (later in this section).

DESCRIPTION

Th e tea cher uses stick puppe ts (see 3.8, ‘Stick pupp ets’) to tell the children a story. Th e children can th en make the pu ppets themselves and use them to act o ut the same story or use it as a model to write and act ou t their own version of it.

PREPARATION

1 Make the puppets. 2 Ma ke the flashcards. 3 Practise telling the story with the puppets.

IN CLASS

1 Show the children the fish pupp ets and tell them their names. 2 Draw a wavy blue line high on the board to re present the sea, and draw some sand a t the botto m of the board. Stick the flashcards on to the board. See illustration.

3 Use the p uppets to tell the story; there are suggested actions with the story on the next page to help you.

71

USING PUPPETS

Teach th e children the key phras es in the story, and tell it again. Th is time you can divide the class into two halves; one ha lf can say the lines of Big Blue Fish and the othe r the lines of Small Red Fish. 5 Ask two children to come to the board and move the pupp ets as the class says the dialogue. FOLLOW-UP

Th e children make their own puppets and props and use them to practise the story.

STORY OUTLINE

BIG BLUE FISH AND SMALL RED FISH Story

Ac ti on s

This is Big Blue Fish. She was very, very big.

Show the children the Big Blue Fish (BBF) puppet.

And this is Small Red Fish. She was very, very small.

Show the Small Red Fish (SRF) puppet.

They lived in the deep blue sea.

Make the fish sw im in the sea.

Small Red Fish was frightened of Big Blue Fish.

Make SRF tremble.

One day Big Blue Fish said in a loud voice, ‘ I’m hungry. I’m very, very hungry! Where are you, Small Red Fish?’

Hold BBF up as you talk.

‘Oh, help! Help! Help!’ said Small Red Fish. ‘Where can I hide?’

Move SRF backwards and forwards looking f or somewhere to hide.

And Small Red Fish hid under a shell.

Hide SRF under the shell.

But Big Blue Fish could see her tail. There you are!’ she said in a loud voice.

Move BBF towards the shell.

But Small Red Fish just escaped in time. ‘I’m hungry’ said Big Blue Fish. ‘Where are you, Small Red Fish?’

Make SRF escape and hide behind the seaweed.

‘Oh, help! help! help!’ said Small Red Fish.‘Where can I hide?’

Move SRF backwards and forwards looking fo r somewhere to hide.

And she hid behind a rock.

Hide SRF behind a rock.

But Big Blue Fish could see her tail. ‘There you are!’ she said in a loud voice.

Move BBF towards the rock.

72

USING PUPPETS

But Small Red Fish just escaped in time.

SRF escapes and hides behind the seaweed.

‘I’m hungry’ said Big Blue Fish. ‘Where are you, Small Red Fish?’ ‘Oh, help!, help! help!’ said Small Red Fish. ‘Where can I hide?’

Move SRF backwards and forwards looking fo r somewhere to hide.

And she hid in a boot.

Hide SRF in the boot.

But Big Red Fish could see her tail. Move BRF towards the boot. ‘There you are’ she said. And this time Small Red Fish couldn’t escape. ‘Please don’t eat me’ said Small Red Fish.

Make SRF tremble.

Hold BBF up and laugh. ‘Eat you!’ said Big Blue Fish laughing, ‘Eat you! I’m hungry. You’re very, very small.’

‘Oh’ said Small Red Fish and she came out of the boot.

Make SRF come o ut o f the boot.

‘I’ve got a picnic’ said Big Blue Fish. Move BBF to the picn ic basket. ‘Come and have a picnic with me!’ So Big Blue Fish and Small Red Fish had a picnic together, and from that day they were good friends.

VARIATION

Move SRF to the picn ic basket. Stick them both to the board with blu-tack.

Th is story also works well with shadow pup pe ts.T he fish can be ma de by sticking red a nd blue c ellophane on to the fish outlines. Th e shell, rock, and boot are mad e by mounting c ut outs on to sticks.

4.4

Telling a story with shadow puppets: Th e Little Red Hen’

LEVEL

A ll

AGE GROUP

A ll

TIME

40 m inutes

AIMS

Language: to listen attentively to the information in a story so that you are able to re-tell it.

73

USING PUPPETS

Other: to co-ordinate words and m ovem ent and collaborate with others to produ ce a piece o f work. DESCRIPTION ______

T he tea ch er tells a story using shadow pu ppets (see 3.7, ‘Shadow puppets ’).T h e ch ild ren th en m ake p uppets of th eir ow n and re-tell the story. Older ch ildren can write a parallel story and make p upp ets for it.

MATERIALS

Card , cellophane, and sticks to make the shadow; a shadow pu pp et thea tre (see 3.9, ‘A shadow pu pp et the atre ’, variation 5).

PREPARATION

1 Dec ide on the story you are going to tell.T her e is a story skeleton o f‘T he Little Red H en ’ below. 2 Make the shadow pu pp ets.T her e are templates for the characters in ‘T he Little Red H en ’ on Worksheet 4.4. 3 Practise telling the story as you man ipulate the puppets.

IN CLASS

1 Show the children the puppets. Tell them their names. 2 Mix up the words from step 4 and teach them to the children. Ask them to pu t them in a logical order. 3 Use the pu pp ets to tell the story. 4 Write the appropriate verb next to each noun: grains of wheat wheat wheat sheaf flour bre ad

fou nd plan t cut take the wheat sheaf to the mill take theflour to the baker eat

5 Ask the children if they can reme mb er the question the Little Red He n asked. (Will/Ca n/Couldyo u help me ...?) Practise the questions for each pa rt o f the story. 6 Ask the ch ildren if they can rem emb er what the animals replied. {Fm too busy, tired, hot.) Practise the answers for each pa rt o f the story. 7 Ask the ch ildren what the anim als said when they offered to help eat the bread. {Shall I help you eat the bread?) Practise the question. 8 Ask for four volunteers to man ipulate the pu ppe ts while you and the class tell the story again. You may like to divide th e class into four groups, giving each grou p a part. FOLLOW-UP 1

Ask the children if they think the animals acted as good friends to the Litde Red Hen. Was she right not to share the bread?What else could she have done? What are the characteristics of a good friend?

FOLLOW-UP 2

In an other class, get the children to make the pup pets a nd use them to ac t ou t the story themselves.

74

USING PUPPETS

FOLLOW-UP 3

Older children can take the basic story and change and personalize it. Th ey can change the characters and the setting, which will natura lly lead to changing the dialogue.

STORY OUTLINE

THE LITTLE RED HEN

The Little Red Hen lived on a farm with the Cat, the Pig, and the Mouse. One day she found some grains of wheat. ‘Will you help me plant the wheat?’ she asked the Cat. ‘Oh, no,’ said the Cat, ‘I’m too tired.’ ‘Can you help me plant the wheat?’ she asked the Pig. ‘Oh, no,’ said the Pig, ‘I’m too hot.’ ‘Could you help me plant the wheat?’ she asked the Rat. ‘Oh, no ,’ said the Rat, ‘I’m too busy.’ ‘Well,’ said the Little Red Hen, ‘then I think I’ll plant it myself.’ The seeds grew into wheat, and soon it was time to cut it. ‘Will you help me cut the wheat?’ she asked the Cat. [and so on] Then the Little Red Hen had to take the wheat sheaf to the miller. It was quite heavy. ‘Will you help me take the wheat sheaf to the m ill?’ she asked the Cat. [and so on]

Then she had to take the flour to the baker. ‘Will you help me take the flour to the baker?’ she asked the Cat. [and so on]

Then she took the beautiful loaf of bread to the farm. ‘Shall I help you eat the bread?’ asked the Cat. ‘Shall I help you eat the bread?’ asked the Pig. ‘Shall I help you eat the bread?’ asked the Rat. ‘No, thank you,’ said the Little Red Hen, ‘I’m very hungry, and I think I’ll eat it all myself!’

COMMENTS________

Acco rding to th e level of the children , you may like to limit the H en ’s request for help to only one simple question form, for example, Please help me .. ., or make it mo re difficult by including Will you ... , and others.

4.5 Animating the textbook LEVEL_____________

A ll

AGE GROUP_______

A ll

TIME_______________

30 minu tes

AIMS

Language: speaking, revision, an d recycling of language from previous units. Other: to bring the te xt alive, to stim ulate mem ory, and to encourage children to improvise.

USING PUPPETS PUPPETS

75

DESCRIPTION

T he children children use puppets to animate a text text from their coursebook coursebook (see (see 3.8, ‘Stick ‘Stick pu pp ets ’, for the in structio ns for mak ing stick pu p u pp ets) et s)..

MATERIALS

A pupp et for each child child (these can be m ade in a previous lesson).

PREPARATION

1 Choose a text you have have worked on and want to animate. It can be a dialogue dialogue or a story which contains dialog ue.Th ere sho uld be at least two speaking parts an d n ot m ore th an five ive. 2 Ge t the the children to make the the pu ppe ts in a previous lesson. lesson. Eac h child child needs to make one o f the characters. If you are using a story with characters characters that ap pear at interval intervalss throu gho ut the book, and are plann ing to activate activate the stories on a regular basis, basis, it is is a good idea to make o ne o f the m ore long-lasting long-lasting puppe ts, for example, example, the sponge pup pets, stick pup pets, o r sock puppets.

IN CLASS

1 Show the the children the text and ask them if they can remem ber what happened. 2 Ask them if they can reme mb er what any of the characters said. Write what they they rememb er on the board. 3 Write up th e rest of the dialogue on the bo ard, ou t of order. Ask the children which charac ter say sayss what, and the n ask them to order the dialogue .They can do this as a clas class, s, in in pairs, or in groups. 4 Divide the children into groups, making sure tha t each group has one pu pp et for each character. Ask them to practise the dialogue. Th ey sh ould practise it three times: the first time looking at the bo b o a rd or th t h eir ei r book bo ok , the th e seco se co nd tim e ‘h ‘h a lf look ing’, in g’, and an d th t h e th t h ird ir d time they should try and rem em ber (or improvi improvise) se) the text. 5 Ask them to get out their puppets. T he children practise practise saying saying the dialogue dialogue using their their puppets. Remind them that the pu ppets should look at each other when they speak, speak, and sh ould no t move too much. 6 Ask some some o f the grou ps to show the rest of the the clas classs their work. work. 7 If you are going to use pup pe ts regularly, regularly, it is wo rth giving giving some feedback. feedback. Fo r example, you can ask the c hildren what advice they they would give give to ano ther gro up doing the sam e activi activity. ty. Ma ke a po p o ste st e r o f th e ir su gges gg estio tions ns an d use us e it to t o rem r em in d the t he ch ild ren re n th e next time they work with puppets.

FOLLOW-UP

T he children can use the text as a basis and ada pt and ch ange it as as they like.They like.They can change the w ords, the the setting, and the characters.

VARIATION

Use a scene from a video video (for examp le, Wizadora) to act out.

76

USING PUPPETS

4.6 4.6 LEVEL

From situation sit uation to dialogue dialog ue 2 ,3

AGE GROUP TIME

45 minu tes

AIMS

n’s language resource. Language: to activate the c hildre n’s children’s imagination imagination a nd to encourage Other: to stimulate the children’s them to build a story a nd its dialogue dialogue together.

DESCRIPTION

Th e teac her sets a context through a board picture or description. description. Th e children invent a dialogue dialogue for the situation with help help from the teacher or in small small group s.Th en they use the puppets to act it out. out.

MATERIALS

Materials necessary to make the puppe ts (see (see Cha pter 3); flashcar flashcards ds or poster to set up the situation.

PREPARATION

1 Decide on the situation, how you are going going to presen t it (through flashcards, flashcards, a poster, realia, realia, a board p icture), and how many characters there are.T here are some suggestions suggestions for situations situations in the box on page 77. 2 Decide what kind of pup pet you want the children to make and make one yourself for each character.

IN CLASS

1 Set up the situation using boa rd pictures, flashcards, and so on to help you. Ask the children w hat each of the charac ters w ould say say. Accept their suggestio suggestions ns and use them to build up the b eginning of the dialogue dialogue on the board. 2 Encourage them to continue the story if appropriate, asking asking ‘W hat happe ned next?’ 3 W hen you and the class are satisfied satisfied with the dialogue ask the children to make puppets for the characters and to use them to act o ut the dialogue, following following the steps in activity 4.5, ‘Animating the textbook’.

VARIATION 1

Use a c arto on strip w ith pictures th at clearly tell the story. Th e children invent invent the the words and then use puppets to act them out.

VARIATION 2

If the the children are used to building dialogues dialogues you you can pu t them in small groups a nd ask each group to w ork on its own text.

COMMENTS

As you will will see from the situa tions below, you can use this ac tivity to stimulate the children to solve solve problems, or encourage the m to reflect reflect on moral dilemmas.

USING PUPPETS PUPPETS

77

Real Real or poss ible situations

Two children arriving late to class. A child about to cross the road when a car is coming. Three children and two lollipops. Two children locked into a park. Two children with enough money to buy one ice cream/sandwich/snack/cinema ticket, and so on. on. Imaginary Imaginary sit uations

Two children looking into a black hole in which they can see two yellow yell ow eyes. Two children and an alien or a monster. monster. Two children needing to cross a river without witho ut a bridge. Two children find a large amount of money in the street.

4.7

At the do ct or ’s

LEVEL

2 ,3

AGE GROUP

B, C

TIME

10-15 10-15 minu tes to make the puppet; 15-20 15-20 minu tes to prepare the improvisation; 10-15 10-15 min utes to do the im im provisation and feedback. Th ese three stag es can be d one in one or separate lessons.

AIMS

Language: to en courage fluenc y in a given situation and to prac tise the language of illnes illnesses ses an d do cto r’s r’s visi visits. ts. Other: to stimulate the children’s creativity.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children use puppe ts to act ou t a com mo n situation, in this this example a visit to th e d oc tor ’s.

MATERIALS

Th ose ne eded to make the pu ppe ts (see (see Chap ter 3); copies copies of role role cards like like those in 5.15, ‘M ‘M ake yo ur own role card ’.

PREPARATION

Ma ke several role cards like like the p erson al file file card in 5.15 , ‘Mak ‘Mak e your own role card ’. Make h alf of them for doctors (include (include nam e, where they work, work, and w hat kind of doctor they are) are) and half of them for patients patients (include (include things like like the p atien t’s t’s problem and how they feel).

IN CLASS

Preparing the cha racter 1 T he children make either a ‘patie ‘patie nt’ pu pp et or a ‘do ‘do ctor’ pupp et. T he patient pu pp et may have have something obviously obviously wrong— a cut, cut, spots—o r they may have an ill expression. As the ch ildren are makin g the pup pets , go ro un d the class asking asking ‘W ‘W ha t’s t’s the matter?’ and com men ting on the children’s children’s work. work.

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USING PUPPETS

2 W hen they are finished, get the children to show the patien t puppets to th e rest of the class a nd say wha t is wrong with th em . 3 Give each child a character sheet to complete for their pupp et. This will help th em invent a personality for their pu pp et, as well as make them think ab out con crete details such as name, age, and problem . Preparing the dialogue

4 W hen they have finished the chara cter sheet, brain storm som e useful expressions with the class and w rite them o n the boa rd. F or example: Good morning!afternoon .... What’s the matter? Le t me see! How long have you h a d .. . ? When did you ... ? Take this ( twice a day ). Go home a nd rest. I don’t feel well. I ’ve got a terrible .... M y stomach hurts. Ouch! Thank you very much.

5 Use a patient and a doc tor pup pe t to improvise a dialogue showing the children wh at you would like them to do. 6 P ut the children into pairs and get them to work out a dialogue together using the character sheets and the phrases on the board to help them. The y can write it down if they need to, though it is be st to encourage them to w rite only key words which help th em remem ber what they want to say. 7 G et the children to practise their dialogue with their puppets. Acting out

8 If possible, arrange the desks in the classroom to repre sent a do cto r’s surgery, with two chairs facing each o ther at each desk. Ask the children to sit the d octor pup pets beh ind the desks and line up the p atien t pupp ets at the front o f the class. Act as a receptionist, asking the puppe ts their names, and showing them into the different doc tors’ surgeries. Onc e in the surgery, the pup pets should play o ut the scene. Some of the language will be as they have prepa red it, b ut they will need to improvise as well. 9 While the children are working on the improvisation, listen in and watch their work in order to give feedback on th e performanc es. FOLLOW-UP _______

W hen they have finished, ask them how they felt they did and com me nt on their work. You may like to ask them to thin k a bou t how they could have improved their performance s an d use their com men ts next time you do an improvisation.

USING PUPPETS

VARIATION _________

4.8

79

Th is activity can be done in any situation where the language is fairly predic table, for exam ple: in a sho p, buying travel tickets, at customs, at a restaurant, at a hotel, talking to F ather Christmas, or interviews with real or imag inary beings.

Puppet conversations

LEVEL

2,3

AGE GROUP

All

TIME

20 m inutes + 20 m inutes

AIMS

Language: to practise asking an d giving personal information. Other: to create a character and to practise speaking to a pup pet and making a pup pet speak.

DESCRIPTION

Th e c hildren make an animal using one o f the pu pp et bases given in Ch apter 3, and then invent a person al file for it. T he n they talk to other pupp ets and discover as mu ch inform ation as they can abou t them.

MATERIALS

Any of the p up pet bases.

PREPARATION

1 Prepare a n animal pup pet yourself and invent its personal file. 2 Ph otoco py or prep are a pers ona l file card for each child (see ph otoc op iable file card below ). Personal file card Name Country Favourite food Colour What they can do _

Photocopiable © Oxford University P ress

IN CLASS

1 Show the class your pup pe t and get them to ask it some questions. 2 P ut the children in pairs and tell them th at each pair is going to make one pup pet. It can be a pet, a farm an imal, an animal from the jungle, or even an insect. 3 If necessary, show them how to make the p uppe t. T he n give them abou t 15 minutes to make their pup pet. 4 Draw u p a personal file on the bo ard (see the file card) an d get the children to recall the information for your pup pet.

80

USING PUPPETS

5 Tell each pair to invent a similar person al file for their pupp et. 6 Ask them w hat questions they need to ask to get the information in the p ersonal file, and if necessary practise them . 7 Tell the children that they are going to find out ab out the o ther pupp ets in th e class and r eport back. 8 One child in each pair takes the pupp et, the other finds another puppet to talk to. You could involve writing in this activity by getting the m to fill in personal files for the pu ppe ts they interview, or you could tell them to remem ber as much inform ation as possible an d report back at the end. Give the child ren time to talk to two or three pup pets.T he n the children with puppets change with those witho ut pupp ets an d the activity is repeated. FOLLOW-UP

VARIATIONS _______

Th e ch ildren rep ort back to their partn er and class what they have foun d o ut and decide which animal they like most. T he pup pets can be pop, film, or sports stars. In this case the children can stick a photo of their hero on the pu pp et for the face. Th ey co uld also be aliens or monsters.

5 Short plays Th ere are six short plays in this chap ter (activities 5.1 9-5 .24 ). S ome of them are suitable for young c hildren in th eir first year of English, and o thers are aimed at older ch ildren who have been studying English for longer. All the plays are easy to stage a nd fun to act, an d children will find working togeth er on a play motivating an d memorable. T he chap ter starts with notes on each step o f preparing a play followed by a variety of activities for each step. T he n there is a sho rt introdu ction to each play and a brief guide to prepa ring it. T he texts of the plays are in the photocop iable playscripts at the end of the book. Prep aring a play T he basic steps for preparing a play are: -

introducing the characters and telling the story; introducing the dialogue; casting and character building; learning the lines and rehearsing; reflecting and giving feedback; the final rehearsal; the props and costumes; the performance.

The se steps are flexible, and of course you can ad apt them to suit your circumstances. In th e ne xt section you will find ideas an d activities for each step. Plays tell stories bu t you can also use them to introdu ce cross curricular material—ideas from oth er subjects such as Geograph y or History—or you can m ake them pa rt o f work on issues which run throug h the curriculum , like pollution an d health education. W hen prepar in g a play you work on m an y aspects of Eng lish as well as other m ore general aspects o f education, working togethe r co operatively, or allowing reflection a nd self-evaluation by the children. In mo st cases, the pre par ation of a play, or the ‘proc ess’, is more im porta nt than the final performa nce, the ‘pro du ct’, thoug h this should not be devalued. Children get great enjoyment and satisfaction from pe rform ing a play. You can also prod uce plays for a wider public: oth er classes in the school, pare nts, o r for school op en days. T he childre n will find it easier if they have do ne some o f the activities in the previous ch apters, which introduc e th em to acting on a sm aller scale.

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You can ask the c hildren to write th eir own plays. Th is is motivating for them, a nd will encourage the m to draw on all the language they know. Th ey can ma ke up thei r own versions o f a play they have worked on or dramatize stories tha t they have read or invented.

Introducing the characters and telling the story 5.1

Telling the story with puppets

LEVEL

____

All

AGE GROUP

____

A ll

TIME

10-15 m inu tes, depending on the length o f the story.

AIMS

Language: to liste n to a story. Other: to introdu ce c haracters a nd story in prepa ration for a play.

DESCRIPTION

Th e te acher tells the story o f the play using puppets as the characters.

MATERIALS

Puppe ts like those in Cha pter 3.

PREPARATION

1 Decide w hich kind of pup pet you are going to use (see Ch ap ter 4). ‘Stick pup pe ts’ are good, especially if you are going to put on a perform an ce . 2 Make a pupp et yourself for each character. 3 Fin d or make any props you will need. Fo r example, in ‘M arty the M artia n’ you will need a bar of chocolate, an ice cream, some bis cuits, and a cauliflower. 4 Practise the story.

IN CLASS

1 Introdu ce the c haracters an d use them to help you tell the story. It may be difficult to use the pup pets as puppe ts here, as you might not have enough hands. However, you can use them as flashcards, sticking them to the board for each scene. 2 Check that the children have und ersto od the story by getting them to tell you what happene d as you point at the pup pets.

83

SHORT PLAYS

5.2

Using a board picture

LEVEL

____

All

AGE GROUP

____

All

TIME

15-20 min utes, de pending on the leng th o f the story.

AIMS

Language: listening to a story. Other: introduc e children to th e characters and storyline of a play they are going to perform.

DESCRIPTION

T he teache r tells the story of the play, using a board picture to help her.

MATERIALS

A board, an d som ething with which to stick the pictures on, for example: blu-tack, m agne ts, or velcro.

PREPARATION

1 Make c ut-ou t figures of the characters you need. 2 Sketch the picture you are going to use on the bo ard, this is pa rticularly useful w he n the story involves a jo urney like ‘Chicke n Little ’ (see 5.20, ‘Chicken Lit tle’). 3 Prac tise the story.

G ’mwclirvia.S U o u S -e -

. House

IN CLASS

c€Cn J

?

P

‘

iPs house

1 Introd uce the characters. Stick them on the picture in the po sitions they ap pea r in th e story. 2 Tell the story, moving the ch aracte rs as necessary.

VARIATION

You can draw a plan o f the stage on th e bo ard and use this to tell the story.T his is useful in a play like ‘T h a t’s Fu nn y’ (see 5.23) whe re the stage is divided into thre e areas an d they are used for different scenes (see page 84).

84

SHORT PLAYS

5.3

Picture cues

LEVEL

All

AGE GROUP

All

TIME

15-20 m inutes, dep ending on the length o f the story.

AIMS

Language: language of suggestion; listening to a story. Other: prepa rin g th e c hildren for a play th ey are g oing to p erform .

DESCRIPTION

Th e tea che r uses key pictures, for example, a pum pkin and a glass slipper, to help h er tell the story o f a play the ch ildren are going to pe rfo rm .

MATERIALS

Pictures fro m the story.

PREPARATION

1 Dec ide on the pictures you need to elicit the story from the children. I f you are using a well-known story like ‘Cindere lla’ (see 5.21), then one key picture is enough—for example, a pumpkin.

IN CLASS

1 Draw o r stick the first picture on the bo ard.T ell the children it is from a well-known fairy-tale an d get them to guess which one. Pu t them into pairs and get them to discuss their ideas. 2 Elicit their answers an d tell the m the right one. 3 Elicit the rest o f the ch aracters for the story. 4 Eith er tell the story in English or ask the c hildren to tell you the story first in their language.

SHORT PLAYS

5.4

What happens next?

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP _______

All

TIME

85

20 m in ut es

AIMS

Language: language o f speculation ; listening to a story in ord er to guess what will ha pp en n ext. Other: to prep are the children for performing a play.

PREPARATION

1 Dec ide on suitable points in the story to stop—for example, at a poin t o f suspense, and ask What is going to happen? A good story for this kind of activity is ‘T h a t’s Fun ny ’ (see 5.2 3). 2 Practise telling the story. 1 Introd uce th e characters an d sta rt to tell the story. W hen you reach the first stopping po int, ask the c hildren to tell you what is going to ha ppen , particularly when something exciting is ab out to happ en. Accept all their suggestions a nd th en continue.

IN CLASS

2 Stop again and ask them which o f their suggestions were correct. Th en continue until the nex t stopping point.

Introducing the dialogue It is im porta nt to introd uce the dialogue to the whole class before giving individual children their pa rts.T his helps to set the story in the ch ildren’s minds and redu ces the a m ou nt that they have to learn later on. You can introduce the dialogue scene-by-scene, or you can prese nt the c hildren with the whole play a t once. M an y o f the suggestions in this section are for children w ho can read. I f you are working with children who can not re ad in English yet, then you will need to introduce and p ractise the dialogue with the whole class together. Th ere are suggestions for helping individual children rem emb er their lines in the section ‘Lea rning the lines and rehearsing’.

5.5

Listen to the play

LEVEL_____________

All

AGE GROUP _______

All

TIME_______________

About 15, but depends on the length o f the play.

MATERIALS

A tape recording of the play you are using.

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SHORT PLAYS

AIMS

Language: listening generally to a story, an d for specific information. Other: to intro duc e the dialogue o f a play which children are going to perform.

DESCRIPTION

T he teach er plays a recording of the play and gives the c hildren a task to do so that they becom e familiar with the dialogue.

PREPARATION

1 If you can, find people who will record th e play on cassette for you. 2 Prep are a task for the ch ildren to do while they are listening: for example, some pictures to orde r, a table to comp lete, phrases to listen out for, matc hing ch aracter to words, or any other suitable listening comp rehen sion task. 1 Go thro ugh the story, eliciting wha t hap pen s from the children.

IN CLASS

2 Explain the comp rehen sion task to the children. 3 Play the cassette, or read o ut the play, and give the ch ildren time to do the task. Play the cassette again. 4 Che ck the ch ildren’s answers with them .

5.6

Mixed-up lines

LEVEL

A ll

AGE GROUP

A ll

TIME

20-30 minutes

AIMS

Language: practise read ing skills: word recognition. Other: to intro duc e the dialogue of a play before rehearsing it.

MATERIALS

Flashcards w ith the lines of the dialogue written on them ; flashcards with pictures of the characters, or puppets.

DESCRIPTION

Th is tec hniqu e is suitable for plays tha t have a simple basic dialogue tha t is repea ted with variations as the play unfolds, for example, ‘M arty the M art ian ’ (see 5.19).

PREPARATION

1 W rite each line of the dialogue in big letters on a flashcard. 2 Draw pictures o f the characters o n the board, or make flashcards or puppets.

IN CLASS

1 Use the pictures or puppets to demo nstrate the dialogue. 2 Stick up the lines of the dialogue on the bo ard an d ask the children to put the m in the right order. 3 Ask the children to practise them in pairs.

SHORT PLAYS PLAYS

87

4 Tu rn one of the lines lines over over and ask the the c hildren to to practise the dialogue again. 5 Co ntinue turnin g the lines lines over until the children can ‘rea ‘rea d’ the blan bl an k lines. VARIATION _____ _______ ____ __

5.7 5.7

If your children can ’t read English, prepare picture cues for each line.

Repeat to a rhythm rhy thm

LEVEL

A ll

AGE GROUP

A ll

TIME

20 m inutes

AIMS

stress and rhythm. Language: to practise stress play Other: to encourage m emo rization, to introduc e a par t of a play befo be fore re reh r ehea ea rsin rs ing g it.

MATERIALS

Percussion instrumen ts and a poster of the cha nt (optional).

DESCRIPTION

Th is activity activity is is useful to tea ch c hants or dialogues with a strong rhythm , for example the c han ts in ‘Chick ‘Chick en Little ’ (see (see 5.20).

PREPARATION

1 Establish the rhythm o f the chan t and practise it by clicki clicking ng your fingers fingers or clapping your han ds in time. 2 (Optional) Find percussion instrum ents for the children to use while they are cha nting. 3 If your children can read , you may like like to to m ake a poster o f the chant.

IN CLASS

1 Teach the children the rhythm o f the ch ant and get them to clap clap it, or bang their percussion instrum ents in time. 2 Ch an t the chan t and get get the children to accompany you. 3 Teach the c han t line line by line, line, and finall finally y get the children to c han t it all the way throug h.

VARIATION

Divide the children into g roups a fter step step 1. Ask each each group to prac pr actis tisee the t he rh yth yt h m u sing si ng ‘bo d y per p ercu cu ss ion’, io n’, for ex am ple, pl e, by clicking clicking their fingers, fingers, stamp ing the ir feet, feet, and slapping their thighs.

SHORT PLAYS

88

5.8 5.8

Predic t the th e lines

LEVEL ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _

2 ,3

AGE GROUP_______

B, C

TIME

15 m inu tes for a short piece o f dialogue, but it depend s how m uch o f the dialogue you are going to do this way. way.

AIMS

Language: getting the children to use their entire language resource to choose app ropriate language for a situation. situation. ild ing g th e dial d ialog ogue ue for fo r use in a play. Other: bu ildin

DESCRIPTION

Th is activity activity is is useful with ch ildren with a higher leve levell o f Eng lish. Although they may no t predic t exactly exactly the same words as the script, you sho uld acc ept their version unless your aims call call for the exact language o f the text.

IN C LASS LA SS

1 Set the c ontex t of the scene, for example, Cinderella is sitting in the kitchen; kitche n; she she is crying.

2 Explain what hap pens , for example, The rats come up to her. Ask the ch ildren what the rats say say and how C inderella replies. replies. Build up the dialogue dialogue on the board.

5.9 5.9

Match Match the dialogue dialogu e to the ch aracter

LEVEL

2,3

AGE GROUP

B, C

TIME

20 min utes, but it depends on the am ount o f dialogue dialogue you select.

AIMS

associating words with ch aracter a nd style style.. Language: associating Other: learning a dialogue.

DESCRIPTION

Th is activity activity is useful when th e characters are clearly clearly defined, for examp le in fairy-tales. fairy-tales.

IN CLASS

1 Ask the ch ildren to recall the cha racters in the play. play. 2 Write the dialogue from a scene on the board. Ask the ch ildren to m atch th e ch aracters to the lines they sa say.

89

SHORT PLAYS

5.10

Fill the th e gaps

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP_______

B ,C

TIME_______________

30 minu tes, but it it depends on the am ount o f dialogue dialogue you have selected.

AIMS

Language: getting children to u se their entire linguistic linguistic knowledge to select appro priate languag e for a situation. Other: to intr od uce dialogue for a pla play. y.

PREPARATION

1 Prepare the script you will will pu t on the board. W rite the nam e of the character, character, and then dashes dashes to represent the n um ber o f words in the line. For scene 6 in ‘Cin ‘Cin dere lla’ (seeWorksheet 5 .21), you would have: PiriViC& 5-fe-pSi

I

Sle-pSi s\e,Y 2?Y\v\c,e, 5 I ourA 2-

1 Exp lain the contex t of the scene. In this scene the the P rince is looking looking for the owner o f the shoe. shoe.

IN CLASS

2 Ask the children what they think each ch aracter says says.. If they they guess a word correctly, write it in all the spaces it app ears in (you may need to give give them some clues). clues). have com pleted as mu ch o f the dialogue as as 3 Co ntinue un til they have poss po ssibl iblee an a n d th t h e n give th t h e m the th e rem r em aini ai ning ng w ords. ord s.

5.11

Find the rhy me

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP_______ GROUP_______

B ,C

TIME_______________

30 m inutes

AIMS

MATERIALS

raise awareness awareness of the pho nology of words, words, Language: to raise pa rtic rt icul ular arly ly ‘rhy m e’. Other: to introd uce children to the dialogue dialogue o f a play play that rhymes. Co rrection fluid for blanking ou t the rhym ing words. words.

90

SHORT PLAYS

T he teacher prepares the text from a rhyming play, such as ‘Fin d a bin to p u t it in’ (5.22), by blan king out the rhy ming word s.The children b ecom e familiar with the dialogue a nd rh ythm by filling in the gaps.

DESCRIPTION

PREPARATION

1 Make a copy of the text and w hite out the rhyming words to make a gapped text. 2 Ma ke a list of the rhym ing words, in two groups , with one word from each rhym ing pair in each group. 1 Rem ind the children of the story and the characters.

IN CLASS

2 W rite the rhyming words on the board in two columns, ou t of order. In ‘Find a bin to p ut it in’ (5.22), these would be: VA/Uife -fiunk

ecvf

ple aseIiki

jo

ey ids

skin r a j Pe^fc.

slink kn o w

c\*e,e,Se,

3 Ask the children to match the rhyming words from each column. 4 Give ou t the gap ped texts. Explain which lines rhyme an d ask them to complete the text with the words from the board. 5 Read the text aloud so that the children can check their work.

5.12

Matching lines to summaries

LEVEL_____________

3

AGE GROUP _______

B ,C

TIME_______________

20 m inutes or mo re, dep ending on the length o f the play.

AIMS

Language: reading: following the logical struc ture of a story; comp aring spoken and w ritten text. Other: to familiarize children w ith the sto ry an d dialogue of a play.

PREPARATION

1 Prepare a mixed-up series of summ aries or pictures of each scene. Ma ke copies for the ch ildren. 2 Prep are a copy of the script. Make copies for the children.

IN CLASS

1 Ask the ch ildren to recall the sto ry and th en give out the summaries. Get them to pu t them in order. 2 Give out the copies o f the scripts. Ask the c hildren to work in pairs and m atch the scripts to the sum maries.

SHORT PLAYS

91

Casting and character building It is im porta nt to m ake sure tha t all the children participate in the play, wh atever their abilities or circum sta nces. In a class you m ay well have children with different lang uage levels and abilities, and you could have c hildren w ith special needs too. You can improvise non-speaking roles or ask children with particular artistic or organizational abilities to be in charge o f scenery, prop s, posters, an d prog ram me design. Th ere are three basic possibilities for assigning roles: 1 You, the teach er, decide which ch ild plays which part , taking into accou nt the character an d language abilities of each child. 2 T he children decide on the roles themselves, volunteering for specific par ts, o r suggesting their classmates for d ifferent characters. 3 Th e casting is done at random : write the parts on slips of pape r and each child draws one. Each me thod has its advantages and drawbacks. Some o f the factors you need to take into acco unt wh en deciding how to cast are: - the children’s maturity; - the relationship they have with you and each other; - whether the quality of the perform ance is imp ortan t or if it is really the process o f prep aring it th at interests you; - whe ther you want to give certain children a chance to ‘shine’. Once the casting has been done, you may like to help the children make the c harac ter their own. Some ways of doing this are outlined in this section.

5.13

Gestures and walks

LEVEL_____________

1,2

AGE GROUP _______

A ll

TIME_______________

10 m inute s

AIMS

Language: associating language with physical mov eme nt (Total Physical Response). Other: introd ucin g children to the ch aracters in a play.

DESCRIPTION

Th is is suitable for a play like ‘Chicken Little’ (5.20) whe re each cha racter has a well-defined personality.

92

SHORT PLAYS

IN CLASS

1 Elicit the story and the cha racters from the children. 2 Ask the c hildren to suggest a gesture for each character. For example, for a hen you can bend your arms, hold th em close to your sides, and flap them. Th en ask the ch ildren how each chara cter would walk. For exam ple, a hen moves its head backwards an d forwards. 3 Call out the names o f the characters and the children respond with the appro priate gesture an d walk.

5.14

Mime and guess

LEVEL_____________

A ll

AGE GROUP_______

A ll

TIME_______________

10-15 minu tes

AIMS

Language: association of words with physical actions (Total Physical Response). Other: helping children to create a picture in their minds of the cha racter they are to play.

DESCRIPTION

T he children create typical actions for the ch aracters in the play and act them out.

IN CLASS

1 Ask the children to rem em ber and tell you the story and who the characters are. 2 Ask the c hildren to mime a gesture or action typical of each character. Fo r example in ‘Cind erella’ (see 5.21), the stepm othe r looks bad-tem pered and claps her han ds together giving orders. 3 T he c hildren work in groups. One child mimes a chara cter and the others guess.

5.15

Make your own role card

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP_______

A ll

TIME_______________

10-15 min utes

AIMS

Language: adjectives, language for talking abo ut som eone ’s characte r, for example: likes and dislikes. Other: helping children to create a picture in their mind s o f the role they are to play.

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SHORT PLAYS

DESCRIPTION _____

T he children make role cards for the characters they are playing, includ ing likes and dislikes, jobs, an d so on.

PREPARATION _____

Make a basic role card like the one here for each of the children. ROLE CARD Name Age

____________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appearance ____________________________________________ Clothes

____________________________________________

Character

____________________________________________

Photocopiable © Oxford University Pre ss

IN CLASS__________

1 Elicit the story and the characters an d distribute the roles. 2 Give out the blank role cards and ask the children to complete the m for their charac ter. You may like all the childre n who are playin g the sam e c ha racter to w ork together.

Learning the lines and rehearsing N one of the plays in this b ook h as large par ts which re qu ire the children to m emorize a lot of lines. T he context often suggests the dialogue, and so the c hildren do n ot really have to learn th e lines, b ut ra th er supply language suita ble to th e situ ation. Th is close connection between context and language, helps them remem ber wh at they n eed to say. However, at lower levels impro visation is difficult as the ch ildren do n ot have the nece ssary language resources, so the lines give them sup por t and confidence.You must make it clear to the children that you are not asking them to be word perfe ct, but th at they sh ou ld do th e b es t they can. I f you take tim e to rehears e the scenes a nd su ggest strategies for learning the ir lines, the children do n ot usually have problems with reme mb ering what they have to say. If you are opp osed o n principle to getting children to learn the ir lines, they can note th em down on a small piece of pap er an d read them from it. Th e drawback is that a lot o f spontaneity o f action is lost when the children read.

Useful strategies for learning lines - practise reading the dialogue with a friend; - cover parts o f the dialogue and practise it with a friend, for example: cover the first word or two o f each line with a piece o f

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SHORT PLAYS

-

-

paper an d practise the dialogue, th en g radually increase the nu mb er of words covered up; read the dialogue three times with a friend, the first time looking at the script, the s econ d ‘ha lf looking’, and th ird n ot looking a t all. ‘H alf looking’ means tha t they try n ot to look at the text, bu t have it in front of them to look at if necessary; practise saying the dialogue in your head; practise saying the dialogue unde r your brea th (m uttering); write down your pa rt several times; sing or say the dialogue with a marked rhythm; visualize the dialogue: imagine a series of pictures, on e for each line and associate the words w ith the pictures.

W hen th e ch ildren are familiar with their lines, they can a ct ou t the scen es.T he ac ting should be kep t as simple as possible: the c hildren need to know where an d when to enter and exit, and how to move on stage. Th ey can decide this themselves, or you can direct them . Th is will depend on how m uch experience they have of acting, and how m uch freedom you wish to let them have.

5.16

What to say and when to say it

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP_______

B ,C

TIME_______________

20-30 min utes, but it depends on the length o f the play.

AIMS

Language: practising lan guage before you p ro duce it. Other: to help ch ildren become familiar with their lines and when they have to say them .

DESCRIPTION

T he children identify their own lines in the script, as well as those of the c haracter before them. They rea d the script.

MATERIALS

Copies of the script.

PREPARATION

Make a copy of the script for each child.

IN CLASS

1 Explain to the children tha t they need to know their own lines and when to say them. Th is mean s they need to listen for the line before theirs. 2 Pu t all the children playing the same pa rt together. Give out the scripts an d ask the ch ildren to und erline their own lines with a continuo us line, and the line before theirs with a dotted line or with a different coloured pen. 3 Rearrange the c hildren in groups with one o f each character. Ask them to read the play.

SHORT PLAYS

5.17

95

From choral to individual

LEVEL_____________

1, 2

AGE GROUP _______

All

TIME_______________

20 min utes, but it depends how m uch practice you think is necessary

AIMS

Language: choral drilling of language to provide a model and to provide an opportunity for practising accuracy before speaking alone. Other: to help the children learn th eir lines.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children practise saying the dialogue chorally before reading the play and saying their own lines.

IN CLASS

1 Pu t all the children playing the same charac ter together. Read through the play. All the children playing the same cha racter read out the lines together in chorus. 2 Ask the children to tur n the texts over and try going throug h the play in chorus again. Repeat this step as often as you feel necessary. 3 Finally, put the children in groups with one of each character and ask them to say the play through.

5.18

Catch, speak, and throw

LEVEL_____________

1, 2

AGE GROUP _______

A ,B

TIME_______________

20 m inutes

AIMS_______________

Language: to follow a predic table p attern in a dialogue. Other: to help children learn the ir lines.

DESCRIPTION

This activity is useful when the characters speak in a predicta ble order, for example, Scene 2 o f ‘Cinderella’ (see playscript 5.21).

MATERIALS

A soft ball or ball of paper.

IN CLASS

1 If there are three characters in the scene, draw a triangle on the board and write the na me of each character on th e corners. The n write the dialogue roun d the triangle, or use pictures as prompts. See the triangle for Scene 2 in ‘Cindere lla’ (playscript 5.21), for example.

SHORT PLAYS

2 Divide the class into three grou ps, one for each chara cter, and ask each group to choose a ‘catcher’.Tell them tha t when the catcher catches the ball, the others in the grou p sho uld say their ch ara cte r’s line. 3 Start throw ing the ball like this: Stepsister 1 Step sister 2 Stepmother Step sister 1

Look. What? What? A letter!

(Throw s the ball to Stepsister 2) (Throws the ball to Stepmo ther) (Throws the ball to Stepsister 1) (Throw s the ball to Stepsister 2)

4 Regroup the children in groups o f three, with one of each characte r, to practise the scene again.

Reflection and feedback Reflection and feedback on the ch ildren ’s perfor ma nce in rehearsals are very imp ortan t, especially if the children are n ot use d to acting. After rehearsing, you sh ould give the c hildren time to think about their work. Th is reflection may be d one in group s or as a whole class. It may be oral or wr itten.Th e children should think a bou t key po ints, evaluate themselves, an d c on sider how they co uld improve. You can also give your opinion : it is good practice to c onc entrate on positive points as th is will reinforce y ou r criteria of a good pe rforman ce an d help th e whole class unders tand w ha t the y are aimin g to achieve. You watched each other and gave some useful suggestions. Next time, try to change over groupsfaster. You spoke clearly. You need to listen to each other.

Make a note o f both your and the ch ildren’s commen ts, and use it to remind the children o f their conclusions at the beginning o f the nex t session. If you feel the ch ildre n’s reflections have been especially useful, you can make a poster of the main po ints and pu t it on the classroom wall for future reference. Feed back is probab ly best don e in the c hildre n’s own language as they will be able to express themselves mo re precisely. Rem em ber that the aim of this activity is no t language but to help th e children think abo ut their performance a nd how to improve it.

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Some ways o f conducting feedback and reflection Oral - Ask the children to talk in small groups an d agree on two or three things they like abou t their work and one thing th at could be improved. - Ask the children to think abou t their performance and say which are the three most im portan t factors to remem ber for a good pe rforman ce . - Ask the ch ildren to say a sentence using this framework: We d id ... well/better, because ...

Written - Prepare a short questionnaire which focuses on imp ortant points (speaking clearly, entrances/ex its, knowing lines, being q uiet backstage, lo oking at th e p er so n you are speak ing to, and so on). Ask the grou p to complete it, and decide where they do well and where they need to improve. - Ask the group to write a list of three pieces of advice they would give to an oth er group doin g the same activity. - Ask the group to write sentences abo ut themselves or anoth er group, starting: I

like the way . . . , because ...

EXAMPLES

PUPPETS Watch the scenes and answer t he questic ns. Scene 1

1 Did they hold the puppets up high enough? 2 Did the puppets look at each other? 3 Did the puppets move too much?

4 Did they know where to enter and exit from? 5 Did they speak loudly and clearly? 6 How can they improve? Photocopiable © Oxford University Press

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

SHORT PLAYS

ACTORS

1 Do you know your lines? 2 Do you know when to speak? 3 Do you know where to enter and exit?

4 Do you know how to move on stage? 5 Do you speak loudly enough? 6 Do you listen to the others on stage? Photocopiable © Oxford University Pre ss

BACKSTAGE BEHAVIOUR

1 Do you keep quiet when other children are on stage? 2 Do you keep still when other children are on stage? 3 Do you watch the others and think about their performance?

4 Do you know which side of the stage you should wait on? 5 Do you know where your props are? Photocopiable © Oxford University P ress

The final rehearsal This often requires patience and a certain am oun t of organizational skill on the p art of the teach er. A degree o f noise an d disorganization is to b e ex pected, especially if several group s are rehearsin g at the same time. However, you can reduce this by having a detailed plan of action a nd organizing as mu ch as possible in ad vance. You may also need to use diploma tic skills with your colleagues, warning the m in advance to expect more noise than usual. It is worth considering alternatives to having two or more g roups reh earsing at a time: you may be able to use ano ther classroom, or you could consider rehearsing one gro up at a time while the othe rs do written work. If the play is for the general pub lic, you should tr y to rehea rse the whole play at least twice, with time for reflection an d feedb ack be tween th e two rehearsals. If you are going to use props an d costum es, the second rehearsal sho uld be a dress rehearsal, with the children wearing their costumes a nd using the pro ps (see below). It is useful to video the final rehearsal, an d give feedback before the final performanc e.

SHORT PLAYS

99

Props and costumes Props (objects that are used in the play—umbrellas, books, cups an d so on) and costumes should be kept very simple. You can decide on the costumes, or you can ask the children for their suggestions. Som e ideas are: - sandwich boards o f paper: these are cheap and easy to make (see picture);

- headb ands or half-masks can give a character its identity (see Chap ter 3); - add a single item like gloves or jewellery to a basic costu me of jeans an d T-shirt. Make sure that each child knows what they are wearing and has a specific place to keep his or h er co stume. Similarly, each child shou ld be responsible for their own props. It ma y be useful to have a large box near the pe rforming area to keep the pro ps in.

Th e performance Having spent time on prep aring the play, it is imp ortan t that the children give at least one performance. Bu t this does n ot ne ed to be in a formal setting or with an o utside public. T he children can show their play to the other children in their class or to o ther children in the sc hool.This is motivating for the actors and the audience: the actors get a lot o f satisfaction an d self-esteem ou t o f a performan ce and the audience sees what can be done with English. You can make the p erform ance as muc h o f an event as you wish: you may like to pr ep are posters, issue invitations, and prepare program mes. O n the other ha nd, it can be low-key with none of these things. T he children usually appreciate it if you take p hotos and display them later. If you have access to a video ca mera, you can film the play an d use it for feedback in later lessons.

100

SHORT PLAYS

The plays Six plays are pres ente d in activities 5.19 to 5.24 of this section. Th ere are notes which describe the play and th en a sequence of activities tha t build u p to a perform anc e o f it. T he activities themselves are not d escribed in detail, bu t you can select the ones tha t are best for your class from the previous section. Th e ph otoc op iable playscripts a pp ea r at the ba ck of the book. T he order o f the plays is roughly from the simplest to the most difficult, in terms of language. Th ree are co nstructed arou nd a basic dialogue which changes slightly in each scene. In ‘Cind erella’ (5.21) the dialogue is redu ced to th e m inim um , ‘Fin d a Bin’ (5.22) is in verse, and the last play (5.24 , ‘Starle t’) is rem iniscent o f TV advertisemen ts. If you d on ’t find the play you are looking for here, you may like to take one of these as a mode l an d use it to write your own. You can also use th e plays as the s tarting p oin t for children to write their own texts. Th ere are two ideas for doing this at the end of the chapter.

5.19

Marty the Martian

LEVEL_____________

1,2

AGE GROUP _______

A

TIME_______________

40 m inutes to tell the sto ry and m ake the puppets; 2 x 40 m inutes for the play.

AIMS_______________

Language: likes an d dislikes, suggestions. Other: working toge ther o n a play.

DESCRIPTION

Th is is a very simple play with a repetitive stru cture .

MATERIALS________

Materials for puppets and theatre, if you are using them, see Ch apte r 3; photocopies of the script (Worksheet 5.19).

PREPARATION

1 Ma ke your pupp ets to tell the story. 2 Ma ke a thea tre (see 3.9, ‘Simple pup pe t thea tres ’).

IN CLASS

1 Tell the story using the pup pets. 2 Divide the ch ildren into group s of six to make their puppets. 3 Teach the dialogue an d get the ch ildren to practise it in pairs. 4 Tell the sto ry again; encoura ge the c hildren to join in. 5 (Optional) If the children can read, and you feel they need the supp ort o f the w ritten script, give them the playscript and ask them to underline their parts.

101

SHORT PLAYS

6 Rehe arse the play. While the oth ers watch they comple te a feedback form. 7 Give feedback and rehearse again. 8 T he groups show each othe r their plays. COMMENTS ________

5.20

You can o mit some o f the c ha racters an d vary th e language to suit your class.

Chicken Little

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP_______

A, B

TIME_______________

6 x 30 m inutes plus rehearsal and perform ance, or 15 m inute slots over twelve lessons.

AIMS_______________

Language: prep os ition s, must , past simple. Other: group dynamics and co-ordination.

DESCRIPTION

This is a play based on an American folk tale adap ted from Carolyn Graham’s J a zz Chant Fairytales.

MATERIALS________

Photocopies of the script (Worksheet 5.20); materials for props (see Chap ter 3).

PREPARATION

1 Read the script 2 Practise the sketch map of the rou te the animals take.

V/oo(J.S^^

A

a a

JXi

Corner

3 Make cut-o ut pictures of the characters. IN CLASS__________

1 Draw a sketch map of the route the animals take and use cut-out pictures to tell the story. 2 Teach the first chan t and practise it.

102

SHORT PLAYS

3 Teach the second chan t and practise it. T he children can accompany the c hant with percussion instrum ents (see 5.7, ‘Repe at to a rh yth m ’). 4 Work on a gesture to represent each character, and a walk for each one. Practise them together with the second c han t (see 5.13, ‘Ge stures and walks’). 5 Work on gestures for ‘up th e hill’ and so on. T he children practise these ge stures in role. 6 (Optional) T he children make masks for their characters (see 3.12,‘Masks’). 7 Teach the dialogue and practise it. 8 Divide the children into groups with the same num ber of children as there are cha racters in the play. Each child chooses a role. Eac h grou p reh earses its own version o f the play. Watch and give feedbac k to individual groups. 9 T he groups show each other their work. 10 Allow reflection and feedbac k on the w hole process. If you want to vary the nu m ber of roles for the children, you can increase the nu m ber of children in the chorus. You can play the narr ator yourself, or you can give different parts of the role to different children. I le arn t ab ou t this play from Amaya Arribi, Susi Diaz, an d Elen a de la Inglesia.

COMMENTS

5.21

Cinderella

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP_______

All

TIME______________

10 x 30 m inutes plus

AIMS

Language: various stru cture s, including: possessives, questions, and instructio ns; following a script. Other: group co-ordination, motivation, fun.

DESCRIPTION

Th is is an example of a play where mos t o f the lines have between one a nd three words. Th is makes the m easier for the ch ildren to learn, bu t acting has to carry a lot o f the meaning.

MATERIALS

Pho tocop ies of the sc ript (Worksheet 5.21); materials for prop s (see Ch apter 3).

PREPARATION

Read throu gh the script.

IN CLASS

1 Draw a pumpk in on the board an d ask the children which fairy story it comes from. Elicit the c haracters a nd the story (see 5.3, ‘Picture cues’).

103

SHORT PLAYS

2 Work on gestures for each character. O ne child mime s a charac ter, while the oth ers guess who it is (see 5.14, ‘Mim e and guess’). 3 Introdu ce the scenes one by one, and practise them. For example: Scene 1: Make flashcards of the dialogue, the children orde r the m (see 5.6, ‘Mix ed-u p lines’). Scene 2: Draw a triangle on the board, build up the dialogue rou nd it. Th e children practise the dialogue as they throw a ball (see 5.18, ‘Catch , speak, an d thro w’). Scenes 3 and 4: Teach the children some basic expressions. Give them the context and ask them to predict the dialogue (see 5.8, ‘Pre dict the lines’), then practise it. Scene 5: Write the lines on the board. Ask the children to match the lines to the cha racters (see 5.9, ‘M atch th e dialogue to the cha racte r’). Practise the dialogue. Scene 6: Set the context, an d then do a gap-fill activity (see 5.10, ‘Fill the gaps’). Practise the dialogue. 4 Divide the children who are performing the play into groups o f nine, with each group conta ining all the charac ters from the play. It is easier to re hearse if you have two c hildren playing Cinderella. 5 Divide each group o f nine into two: Group 1

Group 2

Stepmother Stepsister 1 Stepsister 2 Cinderella A

Cinderella B Rat 1 Rat 2 Fairy Godmother Prince

6 Give the children a feedback form (such as the first form o n page 98) to complete fo r thei r ow n scenes. 7 Reh earse the play. Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6

Stepmother Stepsister 1 Stepsister 2 Cinderella A

Stepmother Stepsister 1 Stepsister 2

Stepmother Stepsister 1 Stepsister 2 Cinderella A Fairy Godmother

Cinderella A Cinderella B Rat 1 Rat 2

Cinderella B Rat 1 Rat 2 Fairy Godmother Prince Stepsister 1 Stepsister 2

Stepmother Cinderella A Rat 1 Rat 2 Fairy Godmother Prince Stepsister 1 Stepsister 2

104

SHORT PLAYS

- Group 1 can rehearse scenes 1 and 3 while Gro up 2 rehearses scene 5, ap art from the Stepsisters’ dialogue. - Gro up 1, witho ut Cinderella A, rehearses scene 2 while Grou p 2, with C inderella A and B, rehearses scene 4. - Everybod y can rehearse scene 6 together. 8 Decide on the costumes and props (for ideas see Ch apter 3). 9 C on du ct a full dress rehearsal of the play. Give the ch ildren who are not acting so mething to d o while they are waiting their tur n to rehearse. 10 Th e g roups of nine perform the ir version of the play for each other.

11 Ask the children to reflect on the experience a nd draw some conclusions. If you need to vary the num ber o f characters, Rat 1 and Rat 2 can be played by one child, an d you can also a dd characters at th e Ball. I suggest that you work on on e scene pe r lesson with all the c hildren and do no t cast the characters until the end o f the preparation perio d.

COMMENTS

5.22

Find a bin to put it in

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP _______

B, C

TIME_______________

4 x 30 m inu tes

AIMS

Language: language a bou t the en vironment, rhyming words, adjectives. Other: group co-ordination an d fun.

DESCRIPTION

Th is is a short play in verse which carries a message ab ou t caring for the environm ent. Th ere is a basic cast of six characters an d a narrator. This play can be performed by children or with stick pu pp ets. Th e activities sug gested below are for pup pe ts; there are ph otocop iable outlines for th e pup pets in Worksheet 5.22. T he re are four steps to pre paring th e play, as, unlike the o ther plays, the children d o n ot need to w ork intensively on the dialogue or learn it by heart.

MATERIALS

Photocopies of playscript 5.22; puppets and thea tre (see Ch apter 3); a bag, a fizzy drinks can, a tin, a ban an a skin, a dirty ra g, silver foil; long sticks of wire; sticky tape.

PREPARATION

1 Rea d the story. 2 Make pup pets if you are using them.

SHORT PLAYS

105

3 Prep are a gap-fill text (see 5.11, ‘Fin d the rhy me ’). IN CLASS __________

1 Use p upp ets a nd ‘rub bis h’ to tell the story. 2 Write the rhyming words on the boa rd. W hen the children have mad e rhyming pairs o f words use th em to complete the gap-fill text (see 5.11, ‘Fin d the rhy me ’).T h e c om pleted texts will be used in step 4. 3 Divide the ch ildren into grou ps of six (or as many as you have in the play).Tell them to make the pup pets (Cha pter 3).T hey will also need to p ut the rub bish on a long stick or wire, so that they can ‘fly’ it throu gh the air (see the picture).

4 Practise the play using the texts from step 2.T he children can stick these a t eye level inside their p up pe t theatre. 5 Give the ch ildren a feedba ck form to fill in. 6 Rehearse the play again. 7 Ea ch group shows its play to the class. COMMENTS ________

5.23

You can vary the n um ber o f mermaids an d m erm en if you ne ed to.

That’s funny

LEVEL _____________

3

AGE GROUP_______

C

TIME _______________

3 x 50 m inute lessons, or 6 x 20-30 m inutes over different lessons.

AIMS_______________

Language: the p resent perfect, m odals of speculation. Other: working on cross-curricular themes: music (a rap) and craft (making instrum ents).

106

SHORT PLAYS

DESCRIPTION _____

Th is play is a detective story with two familiar charac ters, the detective who thinks he knows everything an d his assistant who finally resolves the c ase. Th ere are ten charac ters in the cast; three of these are children. Th e n um ber of children can be increased or decrease d as necessary.

MATERIALS ________

Photocopies of playscript 5.23; materials for making percussion ‘instr um en ts’: balloons, bean s, yoghu rt pots, elastic band s, empty shoe boxes, an d blocks o f wood.

PREPARATION_____

1 Le arn the rap. 2 Make a percussion instrum ent to demonstrate.

IN CLASS

1 Teach the first verse of the rap and the vocabulary needed to make the instruments. 2 Tell the children to make percussio n instrum ents (see 5.7, ‘Rep eat to a rh yth m ’). 3 Teach the rest of the rap and practise it with the percussion instruments. 4 Draw the d ivision of the stage on the boa rd (see the illustration in 5.2, ‘Using a bo ard p ictu re’).Tell the story, stopping a t intervals and asking the children to p redict what is going to happ en (see 5.8, ‘Predict the lines’). Do no t tell them the end, bu t ask them to pre dict who was taking the things a nd why. 5 Divide the children into grou ps of ten a nd cast the roles. Give out the scripts.T he children read them to check their predictions and underline th eir parts. 6 Teach the children the basic dialogue. 7 Divide each grou p like this: Group A

Group B

Nicky Jerry Det. Smart Slow Child 1

Al Pat Child 2 Child 3 Child 4

Gro up A can practise Scenes 1 ,3, and 5 with Child 1 as prompter. Gro up B can practise Scenes 2 and 4. C hild 2 can take the role of Detective S m art an d C hild 3 the role of Slow; Child 4 acts as pr om pter. 8 Practise scene 6 all together. 9 Decide on the costumes an d make them or collect them (see Ch apter 3 for ideas). 10 Each g roup rehearses their play and com pletes a feedback sheet (see page 98). 11 T he gro ups show each other their plays.

SHORT PLAYS

5.24

107

Starlet

LEVEL_____________ AGE GROUP _______ TIME_______________

3 x 50 m inute les son s

AIMS_______________

Language: using conversational language an d colloquial phrases. Other: working as a group , the perform ance.

DESCRIPTION

T his play tells the sto ry o f an o rdin ary girl or boy, Starlet, who be comes a film star th ro ugh a series o f strange coincidences. There are eleven sho rt scenes, each show ing a step in S tarlet’s pa th to stardom. Starlet and the Film D irector move from one scene to the next while the o ther characters rem ain still when they are not acting (see Worksheet 5.24).

MATERIALS

Copies o f Worksheet 5.24 (a) and (b), copies of Playscript 5.24, and role cards like those in 5.15.

PREPARATION

1 Re ad the play. 2 Pho tocop y Playscript 5.2 4,W orksheets 5.24 (a) and 5.24 (b). 3 Ph otoco py role cards like those on 5.15.

IN CLASS

1 Tell the children to matc h the sum ma ry sentences to the flow chart on the worksheet. 2 Ask them to m atch the dialogues to the flow cha rt and sum mary sentences o n the worksheets. 3 Ca st the play and give out role cards for the children to com plete for each cha racter (see pho tocop iable role card in 5.15). 4 Pu t the children into pairs to learn their parts. 5 Pu t them into groups with one of each character. Each group draws the boxes of the flow ch art o n the floor and practises each scene in the appro priate box. 6 Eac h group watches the oth ers rehearse and gives feedback. 7 Th e children rehearse again, taking into acco unt the feedback. 8 T he children show each othe r their final versions.

COMMENTS

- T he n um ber o f characters is variable. One child can play two characters, or the n um ber o f characters can be increased by writing mor e scenes. - W hen you have done this play with the children, they can use it as a mod el to w rite similar ones themselves. - Th is is a good play for videoing. Th e s hort film can be used for feedback.

SHORT PLAYS

108

GLOSSARY OF PLAYWORDS act (n): a section of a play, longer than a scene. It usually finishes

when something dramatic happens. act (v): to perform a part in a play or film. cast (n): the group of actors acting in a play. cast (v): to choose which actor will play which part. dress r ehearsal: practising the play with all the costumes and props. lines: the dialogue in a play. narrator: someone who tells the audience what is happening, or the background to the plot. prompter: someone who reminds the actors when they forget their lines. props: items that the actors use on stage—an umbrella, a basket, and so on. rehearse: to practise a play, rehearsal: the act of practising a play. scene: a time of continuous action which usually all takes place in the same place; for example, the scene in the kitchen in ‘Cinderella’ (see 5.21). scenery: the pieces of furniture and decoration on stage. script: the text of a play. stage: place where the actors stand. Photocopiable © Oxford University P ress

5.25

Using a model to w rite a play

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP _______

B ,C

TIME_______________

2 x 50 m inu te lesso ns to w rite the play; another 2 x 50 m inute s to rehearse and perform it.

AIMS_______________

Language: to pra ctise writing following a model. Other: to develop the child ren’s creativity in English.

DESCRIPTION

T he children write a play of their own, using one they have already worked o n as a model.

MATERIALS________

Copies of the script of the original play for each grou p of three of four.

PREPARATION

Choo se a play which is suitable for your class to use as a mod el. You could use o ne from this book or one you have written yourself. Th e childre n sho uld be familiar with it.

IN CLASS

1 Re min d the ch ildren o f the play that you are going to use as a model. Ask them to suggest how they could change it (the characters, the setting o f the story, the ending). Write their suggestions on the board.

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109

2 Divide the children into grou ps o f three or four. Tell each group th at it is going to w rite a play. 3 Give the children the text and explain that they are going to use it as the skeleton of their play, bu t tha t they need to change the words to fit in with th eir new story. 4 Give the children time to work on their play. Go a roun d the groups helping with language and making suggestions where necessary. 5 W hen the ch ildren have finished writing, they prepare their new version o f the play for the other s to see. FOLLOW-UP_______

T he children give feedback on each o the r’s plays.

COMMENTS________

You can do this as a whole-class activity. T he children make suggestions for the new dialogue and you write them on the b oard to build up th e new script.

5.26

Superheroes: writing a play from an idea

LEVEL_____________

2 ,3

AGE GROUP _______

B ,C

TIME_______________

1-2 x 50 m inu te to wr ite the play; 2 x 50 m inutes to rehea rse and perform it.

AIMS_______________

Language: to practise w riting dialogues. Other: to d evelop the child ren’s creativity in English.

DESCRIPTION

T he children write an episode for a superhero story of their own. Th ey invent the characters and th en create a storyboard to which they add dialogue.

MATERIALS________

Old magazines that can be cu t up.

IN CLASS

1 Ask the c hildren who are the typical chara cters in a series like ‘Sup erm an’, or any of the othe r well-known superhero series (the good characters, the bad ch aracters, the person with a problem, the funny characters, and so on).Tell them tha t they are going to invent their own superheroes. 2 Divide the children into groups of three or four and ask them to find pictures in the magazines to represen t the ch aracters.T hey should make a poster and give the characters names. 3 Ask them to invent a short description o f their character. 4 Ask the children what usually happens in these stories; for example, someone has a problem because o f the bad characters and th e good c haracters solve the prob lem after a series of difficulties.

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SHORT PLAYS

5 Ask the childre n in each group to invent a story using the charac ters an d to rep resen t it in a flow ch art like the one in 5 .24, ‘Sta rlet’,Workshe et 5.24 (b)3. 6 Ask the c hildren to work in pairs and write the dialogue for each bo x in the flow ch art. 7 W hen the pairs have finished, tell them to mak e the play script by puttin g th e d ialo gues in order. You will proba bly nee d to help at the stage to en sure tha t the play is coherent. Th e children cast the play an d rehearse it as described in Chapte r 6. COMMENTS _______

You can do this activity as a whole class up to step 5, at which point the ch ildren work on the dialogue in groups.

VARIATION 1 _______

Use another genre with which the children may be familiar; for example fairy stories, Rudy ard K ipling’s Ju st So Stories, legends, and so on.

VARIATION 2

Use the same technique to dramatize a story tha t the children have read.

6 Role plays and improvisation In role plays and impro visations the ch ildren are asked to assume a role an d act o ut a situation, using whatever language they have.Th e roles may be characters th at the children recognize from their everyday lives (d octor and patient, pa rent and child, bus driver and pa ssen ger), or fantasy c harac ters (princess a nd dragon , space visitors to E arth , anim als in a zoo). Role play is usually more successful if it involves p rob lem solving, for exam ple, 6 .6, ‘Just imag ine’, or if there is a task to be carried ou t as in 6.1, ‘T he ma rket’, rather tha n simply acting ou t a situation until it runs ou t of mo me ntum . At higher levels, role play can be used to explore situations wh ich the children will com e across in real life: the resolu tion o f dilemm as, assigning tasks, sharing resources, making and keeping rules, and so on. Th is kind o f‘educational’ role play allows children to explore issues in a no n-th reate nin g way and can lead to interestin g discussions. I have only includ ed a few examples as the children n eed quite a high language level. If you are inte rested in exploring the idea furthe r, see Drama in the Scholastic Bright Ideas series, which have inspired man y o f the activities in this chapter. A role play can be qu ite simple, requirin g little prep aratio n an d few pro ps , or mo re elaborate, req uirin g you to spen d time pre par in g the language and setting up the situa tion (as in 6.1, ‘T he m ark et’). Role plays may involve two or thre e ch ildren, or the whole class. Th ere are usually three stages to doing a role play or improv isation in class. In the first stage, the teac her prepares the children for the role play by setting up the situation an d making sure the c hildren have the necessary language. In the second, the children do the role play and the tea ch er observes th em , no tin g dow n commen ts in prepar ation for stage three. At this point, it is im portant not to interfere unless absolutely necessary. Once the role play is finished, the teach er organizes reflection a nd feedback on the process (how the children did the activity) and the pro du ct (how it turne d ou t). In practice, the basic steps in p reparing a role play could be: - introduce o r elicit and practise the language the children need; - introduce the c haracters: here you might give the children a role card with the inform ation they ne ed to play their role; - introduc e the situation and prese nt the children with the task; - practise some typical dialogues in a more controlled environment;

112

ROLE PLAYS AND IMPROVISATION

- do the role play; - feedback from the teacher and children: how did the children do the task a nd how well did they comp lete it? Th ese steps are given as a guide. You can o f course c hange and ada pt them as you wish. M ost o f the role plays in this ch apter are designed for use with the whole class working together. T he classroom is the setting for a scenario and each child takes a role: they tend to becom e deeply involved in the action an d the re is generally a good atmosp here. Mixed-ability classes respo nd well too, as each child can use the language they are comfo rtable with: those with a greater language resource are able to ho ld mo re elaborate conversations, while those who feel less confiden t can stay with the basic dialog ue. Some are suitable for children with a limited knowledge of English, and there are others which will encourage children at a higher level to be creative and to use the language they know in an unpre dictable situation. Th ere are other activities which use improvisation in the book, for example, 4.5, ‘Anim ating the textbo ok’, and 1.4, ‘Fin d your part ner’; 4.6, ‘From situatio n to dialog ue’.

6.1

The mark et

LEVEL_____________

1,2

AGE GROUP_______

B, C

TIME

4 x 5 0 m inutes

AIMS_______________

Language: to practise sho pping language, fruit and vegetable vocabulary, numbe rs. Other: improvisation, taking on a role.

DESCRIPTION _____

After some language work, the classroom is set up as a ma rket place. Th e children are either shoppers, with the task of buying a num ber of things as cheaply as possible, or stallholders whose task is to make as muc h mo ney as possible.

MATERIALS ________

Fr uit and vegetables, either real or pictures, ‘mo ney ’ (coun ters or cut- ou t copies of real mon ey), blank price tags for the fruit an d vegetables, tables, aprons and shopp ing bags, blu-tack; feedback questionn aires like the o nes in 5.1, ‘Telling the story with p up pe ts’.

PREPARATION_____

1 Decide w hich fruit and vegetables there will be in the m arket. If you are going to use fresh fruit, decide on fo ur or five cheap fruits and vegetables: for example c arrots, potato es, apples, oranges, and lemons. If you are using pictures then the range can be mu ch wider.


113

2 If you do n’t have the real thing, find pictures of fruit and vegetables. 3 Ma ke price tags. 4 Make feedb ack ques tionnaires like the ones in 5.1, ‘Telling the story with pup pets ’. IN CLASS

Presen ting or revising fruit and vegetable vocabulary (lesson one) Use the p ictures to teach the n ames of the fruit and vegetables. Here is one sug gestion if you have room : 1 T he children and teac her stand in a circle. Show the children the flashcards, say the word, and then pu t the card in the middle o f the circle. 2 Say the words and get the children to poin t to the app ropriate flashcard in the middle. 3 Repeat the words and encourage the children to say the words with you. 4 Pick up the flashcards. Cross the circle and ha nd a card to a child, saying the word clearly. T h at child shou ld the n cross the circle, ha nd th e card to a noth er child, and say the word clearly, an d so on. H an d the rest of the cards to different children until you have no ne left and th e children are criss-crossing the circle, ha ndin g over the flashcards a nd saying the word. 5 Tell everyone to sit down. W rite the words on th e bo ard for the children to copy. 6 Teach Can I have a cabbage/a kilo of bananas, please? Here yo u are. Th e children practise by asking you, and each other, for the flashcards. 7 Ask the children to draw p ictures of the fru it an d vegetables. You can use these in the nex t lesson on the m arke t stall. 8 Tell the c hildren to make copies of coins: place one un de r a piece of pap er and rub over it with a pencil until the image appears. C ut it out. (You could simply ph otoco py the coins for the childre n to cut out.) Pra ctising asking about prices and building a dialogue (lesson two)

IN CLASS

1 Show the children coins in you r currency and tell them how to name and p ronou nce them in English (for example, euro, pesetas, dollars,yen, francs, lire, baht, or drachma). 2 Ho ld up combinations of coins and ask How much? Elicit the answer from learners. Ge t the c hildren to do the same to each oth er in pairs. 3 Draw a ma rket stall on the bo ard, fill it with the fruit and vegetable flashcards and any pictures the c hildren have drawn.

114


Ask the children How much is a kilo of bananas? and write their answer on a price tag. Use the stall to practise the ques tion an d answer. ( How much is a kilo o f bananas? 200 drachmas .) Teach the children Tha t’s very expensive and an answer like: O K then, 150 drachmas. Set the situation with the children: a ma n wants to buy a kilo of apples, he goes to the market. Draw the m an and stallholder on the bo ard, leaving room to write the dialogue between the m. Ask the ch ildren to suggest wha t the dialogue might be and write it up on the board. A basic dialogue may be some thing like this, thoug h children with mo re language will probab ly suggest other alternatives. EXAMPLE

A

Soodi mor'Kl

B

SooA morViiHP. HoW rv\ucU is a

A

B

k i l o o f Q pp lc- 5?

A

2-00 cir'acMwciS. T h a i 5 V& r'y expensive.

B

OK fUe.k'i.

A

OK. Can I Uave- a kilo ple-ase?

B

Hc.r'c- you

A

Heê. you ar'e*. Thank you. (Soodbyc-.

B

(Soodoyc-.

dfacUrv\aS. a<&.

dracUrv\c
pleaSe..

8 Practise the dialogue in chorus and then in pairs.Th en su bstitute key words with pictures and practise it again. 9 Ask the children for other useful phrases, add them to the dialogue, an d practise it again. Th is is especially im po rtan t if you are using the role play with children who have more English. Mak e it clear to the m tha t they can use any language in the role play. FOLLOW-UP _______

T he children write the dialogue (or variations on it) in their notebooks. Prepa ring the role play (lesson three)

IN CLASS__________

1 Explain tha t in the next lesson the classroom is going to beco me the m arket place an d tha t some of the children will be stallholders and others shoppers.

2 Explain th at the stallholders will set up th eir stalls. T he n the shopp ers m ust bu y a kilo each o f five different prod ucts. (One piece o f fruit represents one kilo.) Shoppers an d stallhold ers can ba rgain over the p rice .T he shop pe rs shou ld try to sp en d as little mon ey as possible, and the stallholders sho uld try to make as m uch mone y as possible.Tell the ch ildren tha t you are going to be a language po liceman and will fine anyone who d oes no t speak in English!


115

3 Ask the children which role they want to take. A good ratio of shoppers to stallholders is two shoppers to one stallholder. T he n tell each gro up what they n eed to b ring or w hat you will supply. Shoppers: some fruit and vegetables, or pictures o f fruit and vegetables (if this is no t possible you can use coloure d bricks or pieces o f card to re prese nt th e fruit); m oney, eith er cut- out coin rubbings or photocopies. A bag to pu t the shopp ing in. Stallholders: some fruit and vegetables; money, either cu t-out coin rubbings or photocopies; a piece of pap er with the prices of the fru it and vegetables written on it; stallholders can also wear an apron and prep are a name b oard for their stall. 4 Fo r children with more language, make feedback questionnaires like the ones in 5.1, ‘Telling the story with pu pp ets ’. D oing the role play (lesson four) 1 If you can, set up th e classroo m before the c hildren co me in. You nee d to clear away all the tables an d chairs, leaving a table for each stallholder. 2 Le t the stallholders in first to set up thei r stalls. While they are doing this, go over the shop pers’ instructions w ith them. W hen the stall are set up, go over the instru ction s with the stallholders. 3 W hen everything is ready, and w ith a final reminder a bou t speaking English and the ‘languag e police ma n’, declare the market open and let the shoppers in. 4 W hen the shoppers finish buying, send them to one side to cou nt their money and work out how m uch they have spent. 5 W hen everyone has finished, tell the stallholders to work how mu ch money they have made. 6 Fin d out who has spent the least and mad e the mo st money. 7 Pu t the furniture back in place and do some reflection on the improvisation. You may like to give ou t a qu estion naire, or it may be more ap pr op riate to ask th e whole class some que stions about the experience. You need to find o ut if they enjoyed it, how m uch English they spoke, what they think they did well and where they could improve. If you are able to take photos of the improvisation, you can make a collage to display in the school. Instead of a fruit and vegetable marke t you can ho ld a jumble sale. T his is a typically English event where people d ona te things they no longer want—toys, clothes, kitchen items, and so on—to the jumble sale.T he money from the sale is given to a good ca use.Th is idea was suggested to m e by Covadonga Rodriguez Arguelles.

116

ROLE PLAYS AN D IMPROVISATION

6.2 LEVEL

____

Tourists 2 ,3

AGE GROUP

B, C

TIME

20 m inu tes to prepare the dialogue; 40 m inute s to do the role play.

AIMS

Language: to use the language o f descrip tion ( There is!are) an d to activate town vocab ulary ( cinema, supermarket, library, chemist, park, tourist office, museum, church, restaurant ) . Other: taking on a role, improvising with the langu age they have.

DESCRIPTION

Th e children take the roles of tourists and pedestrians. Th e tourists ask the pedestrians abou t places in the town, an d the pedestrians tell them where to find them.

MATERIALS

M ini role cards for the tou rists an d pede strians (see Worksheet 6.2).

PREPARATION

1 Pho tocop y the role cards. 2 Draw a picture of a tourist on one side of the board, with a thought b ubble coming ou t o f her head. Write or draw one of the places from a tow n in the bub ble. On th e other side of the b oard draw a pede strian.

IN CLASS

1 Explain the situation to the children. T he to urist wants to find the place in the bu bb le. 2 Build up a simple dialogue on the board with the children.

EXAMPLE A

E x c u se , Kv\e^

b

r^s7

A

Is

a pi'z-z-e*'ia

B YeS; oVe^

I rv\ S

<

S

n

-f.

A Tfocw k yo u. (Soodbye*.

B (Soodby&.

3 Help the children learn the dialogue by rubb ing out words and either leaving them blank, or replacing them with a picture. E ach time you rub ou t some words the children repeat the dialogue in pairs, until th ey know it.


117

If you are using this role play with c hildren with m ore langu age facility, you can ask them for alternatives to each line. Ma ke it clear to them tha t they can use any of the alternatives when they are doin g the role play. 4 Give ou t the role play cards. T he cards of the tou rists have three cards, each with a thoug ht bubb le with a place they want to go to in it. Th e p edestrians have a map with three places in the town marked on it. 5 Ask the children to mingle an d talk together. W hen a tourist finds a pedestrian who can tell them where the place they are looking for is, they should give the a ppropriate card to the teacher. W hen they have ‘fou nd ’ all three p laces they s hou ld sit down. 6 W hen m ost of the tou rists are sitting down, stop the activity. Ask the children to reflect on the process. You can ask them how m uch English they used, and if they would like to know some other words an d phrases befo re repeatin g the activity. Give them your opinion o f their work, emphasizing what they did well and suggesting ways o f improving. 7 Repe at the activity, the ch ildren chan ging roles. VARIATION

You can make a model town with the ch ildren and use it to prepare the role cards.

6.3

At a restaurant

LEVEL

2 ,3

AGE GROUP

B ,C

TIME

30 minu tes to prepare for the role play; 30 minu tes to do it.

AIMS

Language: to activate the vocabulary o f food, and practise asking and ordering. Other: taking on a role, improvising.

DESCRIPTION

In this role play, the children take the pa rts o f custo mers , waiters and w aitresses, and c ook s.Th ey each have a role card which gives them specific information ab out their character and they ad d some extra information to personalize it. Th e aim o f the customers is to get the meal they wan t, the waitresses and cooks aim to get tips by giving good service. All the ch ildren prepare the m enu and the food and then the role play starts.

MATERIALS

Colours an d pap er to make th e food; paper plates or circles o f card; plastic or ph otoco pied mo ney; aprons for the waiters/waitresses an d hats for the cooks;Worksheets 6.3 (a) and (b).

118


IN CLASS

Prepa ring for the role play 1 Tell the ch ildren that you are going to tur n the classroom into a restaurant. Ask them what c haracters you wil willl need (customers, waiters/waitresses waiters/waitresses,, a nd cooks). cooks). 2 W rite ‘Sta ‘Sta rter s’, s’, ‘M ain c ours es’, es’, ‘De ‘De sser ts’, ts’, and ‘Dr ‘Dr ink s’ on a section of the board . Ask for suggestions for each category. category. Give * each dish a price. 3 Divide the children into small groups. Ask each group to d raw quick pictures of the food on the menu. It is im porta nt that there are at least two pictures of each dish. Th ey will will use these pictures in the role play.They play.They can do the pictures at home. D oing the role play play Divide the boa rd into three columns, head ed ‘Cu ‘Cu stom ers’, ers’, 4 Divide ‘Waiters an d w aitresses’, aitresses’, an d ‘Co oks’. Ask the children who wou ld say We’d like l ike a tablefor fo r three, Are Ar e you yo u ready to order? order?,, and Ask them for more suggestions for There aren’t any hamburgers left. Ask each column . Alternativel Alternatively, y, you may like to copy Worksheet 6.3 (b) and ask them to m ark who says says what. 5 Explain how the role play works: works: the the c ustom ers have to ord er a meal from the m enu .Th e waiters/wai waiters/waitre tresses sses have to to take the o rder and ask the cooks for the food. T he cooks have have to give give the waiters/waitresses waiters/waitresses the food if they have it on th eir cards. If not, the waiters have have to ask ano ther cook. T he custom ers give give the waiters a tip at the end of the m eal if they are satisfied satisfied with the service and the food. 6 Divide the class class into ‘Cus tom ers’, ‘Waiters and waitresses’, waitresses’, and ‘Cook s’. Give each child a role ca rd, see Wo rksheet 6.3 (a). Give them time to read their cards. cards. Check that they und erstan d what they have to do by getting the m to tell you. 7 Arrange the class class as a res taur ant if you can. You You need a dining area and a kitchen.Tell kitchen.Tell the the cooks cooks to go to the kitchen, the cu stomers to wait at the doo r, and the waiters waiters and waitresse waitressess to stand near the tables. tables. Give Give each cook some pap er plates plates a nd the pictures of the the dishes tha t the c hildren have prepared : no t all the cooks will will have all all the dishes. Give Give the waiters waiters the me nus a nd the c ustom ers the money. 8 Sta rt the role play by acting as as the head waiter and show ing the customers to their tables. tables. W hen mos t of the the customers have paid their the ir bills, stop the role play. play. 9 Fin d o ut which waiter waiter recei received ved the mo st tips. tips. Ask the ch ildren to reflect reflect on the ir work and to tell you what they d id well well an d where they cou ld improve.

FOLLOW-UP

Rep eat the role play anothe r day with the the children in different roles. roles.


6.4

119

First Firs t lines

LEVEL_____________ LEVEL_____________

3

AGE GROUP __ _______

C

TIME IME

20 m in ut es

AIMS

Language: to encourage oral fluency and encourage the use o f the child ren’s ren’s whole language reso urce. Other: to stimulate creativity.

DESCRIPTION

T he children invent a conversation conversation starting w ith the first first line line the teacher give givess them . Th e conversation should tell tell a stor story. y. T hey show their co nversation to th e rest o f the class. class.

PREPARATION

T hin k o f a first first line line that fits fits in with the topic o r theme yo u are working on. See box for examples.

EXAMPLES WUy or'e or'e y ou So diVly? I f U i n k W e Ye, Io s f cure, yo u . iy cure, CM

IN CLASS__________ CLASS __________

o i I Ve

for' for'ô-M'e ^ o-M'en n H ie picjnicJ

1 Explain the activity activity to the class.Yo class.You u are going to give them a first line and the y mus t develop a conve rsation from it. it. Give Give them an example first first line line.. Ask them who they think said it an d who that per p erso so n was wa s talki ta lking ng to. to . Acce Ac cept pt all the th e ch ild ren re n ’s sugge sug gesti stion onss an a nd the n select two characte rs an d develop the conv ersation as a class class.. 2 Divide the children into pairs, or groups of three. Check that they know what they have have to do and then w rite rite a new first line line on the boa b oa rd. rd . R em in d th e m th a t they th ey m u s t dec d ecid idee who w ho th e ch arac ar ac ters te rs are in their their dialogue. dialogue. Give them a time limit, limit, and let them start working. the children are working, go aro und the class class helping where 3 As the necessary. W hen mo st o f the childre n have finished, stop the activi activity. ty. Ask for some volunteers to show their conversation. conversation. 4 Children an d teacher giv givee feedback on the process and the pro p ro d u ct. ct .

VARIATION

You can give give the children last lines lines in stead of first first lines. lines.

120


6.5 6.5

Becom e someon so meone e different dif ferent

LEVEL AGE GROUP TIME

15 m inutes to create the ch aracters, 15 m inutes to do the role play.

AIMS

Language: to develop oral fluency fluency an d listen for detail. detail. role using a pro p a nd to en courag e creativity creativity Other: to assum e a role and quick thinking. thinking.

DESCRIPTION

T he children wo rk in group s o f five five or six. six. Each child takes a prop an d develops a charac ter from it. it. T he teach er gives gives the ch ildren a situation a nd they develop a conversation in in character.

MATERIALS

A selection of prop s, such as different hats, bags, umb rellas, new spapers, scarves, and he ad scarves. A role card for each child (see (see perso nal file file card in 4.8 ‘Pu pp et con versations’). versations’).

PREPARATION

Find the necessary props and decide on the setting for the improvisation. Possible settings settings are: in a dark stree t, hun ting fo r a criminal, in a zoo full full of escaped animals, at a football ma tch, a t a party. par ty.

IN CLASS

1 Draw a role card, like like the pe rsona l fil filee card in 4.8, page 000, o n the b oa rd (inclu de thing s like ‘ho bb ies’ ies ’, ‘age’ an d ‘family’ ‘family’). ). Show the children one of the props. Ask Ask them to imagine the perso n it belo be long ngss to an d help h elp you yo u com c om plet pl etee the t he role rol e car c ard d o n th e bo b o ard. ar d. 2 Give each child, or pair of children, a prop. Ask Ask them to imagine the person the prop belongs to, and com plete a role role card in their book bo okss for fo r tha th a t pers pe rson on . 3 Divide the class class into grou ps o f five five or six six.. If the children have pre p rep p ared ar ed th e role ro le card ca rdss in p airs ai rs,, the th e gro g roup up s s ho uld ul d be o f 10 or o r 12. T he children in in the pair take it in turns to play their pa rt in the role play. 4 Explain the situation: they are in a zoo full full of escaped anim als and they should develop develop a conversation conversation while while they are hiding beh ind the elephan t enclosure. Ask the children for some conversation starters. -ooke-e.pe^r' sUouldn \ Wxt e, c~cv\\ se,e, cMe,r Is fU cif cw cwi elepUcwf" I c~cv

The,

2

H>\ e, Ao or s\

Look- o u i 'For' rUeTh en get the the groups started.You may need to help them to get going, but resist the tem ptat ion to interfere if possible. possible.


121

5 Stop the improv isation wh en it seems to be slowing down. Co mm ent on the c hildren’s work and ask for their com ments too. T he n get the o ther child in each pair to do the role play. You can use the same situation or change it. FOLLOW-UP _______

6.6

W hen bo th groups have finished, you may like to do some language work, writing up incorrec t sentences you have heard and asking the children to co rrect them. Rem em ber that the aim of this activity is to en courag e fluency. If the c hildren feel they are being evaluated o n their language, they will be m ore inhibited next time you do it.

Just imagine

LEVEL_____________ AGE GROUP _______ TIME_______________

25 minu tes

AIMS_______________

Language: to use functional language and encourage oral fluency. Other: to explore ways o f solving problems.

DESCRIPTION

T he children work in groups of four or five. Th e teacher describes a situation in which there is conflict, or a prob lem to so lve.Th e children act out the ir reactions to the situation.

PREPARATION

Prepare the situation; there are some examples in the box.

IN CLASS

1 Cho ose the situation a nd set the scene. If you feel the children need some sup port, ask the class what they could do in th at situation. W rite the suggestions on the b oard. 2 Divide the ch ildren into group s o f three or four. Explain tha t they are in the situation an d have to decide what to do. Go from group to grou p, starting the activity by summarizing the situation as if you were one of the children , for example, in situation 1: The ball is over there, on the road, and breaktime is going tofinish in fiv e minutes. What can we do?

EXAMPLES

Situation 1

The children are playing football and the ball goes over the wall and on to the main road. The school rules say that children must not go outside the gate. The teacher on playground du ty is not in the playground as she is looking after a little boy who has cut his knee badly. Situation 2

The children come out of a shop. One of the children finds some sweets from the shop in her pocket. She can’t remember taking them. What should they do?

122

ROLE PLAYS AN D IMPROVISATION

Situation 2

The children come out o f a shop. One of the children finds some sweets from the shop in her pocket. She can’t remember taking them. What should they do? Situation 3

Two children start to argue about a pen. They each say it is theirs. What do the other children do? What does the teacher do? Situation 4

It is lunchtime. The children don ’t like the food. What do they do? What do their parents say?

3 While the children are working, go arou nd the class listening, and perha ps noting dow n words an d phrases th at the children need, but ha ven’t got. You may also like to note down im portan t language errors on which you need to do some mo re work in later classes. 4 Stop the activity after 5-1 0 m inutes an d ask each group if they have reach ed a solution. Discuss the various solutions with the class.

5 Ask the c hildren if there were things they wanted to say, bu t co uldn ’t. Supply the correc t language and also any othe r words and phrases you noted down in step 3. FOLLOW-UP _______

6.7

Repe at the activity in different group s in this or ano ther lesson.

The quiz show

LEVEL _____________

3

AGE GROUP _______

C

TIME_______________

50 m inutes to prepare the show, 50 m inutes to do the improvisation.

AIMS_______________

Language: to encourage oral fluency and to practise question forms. Other: to encourage spontaneity and practise taking on a role.

DESCRIPTION ______

The children prepare and act out a quiz show. In the first lesson they prepa re the questio ns an d distribute the roles. In the second lesson they do th e improvisation. You can video the improvisation if you have the facilities.

MATERIALS ________

Video camera (optio nal).


123

Preparing the show

IN CLASS

1 Ask the c hildren if they watc h quiz shows. W hich are their favourites? Wh y do they like them? W ho takes pa rt in a quiz show? (The quiz master, the c ontestants, the assistants, the au dience.) 2 Tell the ch ildren tha t they are going to act ou t a general knowledge quiz show. Ask them wh at categories of questions there cou ld be, and write the categories on the board . (‘Sp ort’, ‘His tory ’, ‘Ge ogra phy ’, ‘M us ic’, ‘Cin em a’, ‘L itera ture ’, an d so on). Divide the class into as man y groups as there are categories, and ask each group to invent ten questions for their category. 3 Ask what kind o f things the quiz master, assistants, contestants, and audience say and do. Make a list of useful expressions on the boa rd . M ak e a basic r unnin g o rd er w hich the c hildren will follow in the nex t lesson. He re is one suggestion: -

the assistants show the aud ience to their seats; the assistants look after the contestants; the quiz ma ster welcomes the audience; the assistants introduce the contestants; the quiz master asks the con testants which category they want to start with.

4 Make a poster of this and p ut it on the wall. Th e ch ildren can refer to it in the ne xt lesson. Do ing the improvisation 5 Assign the children roles (see intro du ctio n to Cha pte r 5). Give them time to think ab out the ir role and what they have to do and say. 6 Use the poster to remind them of the running order. 7 Set up the classroom with tables at the front for the con testants. Ge t the assistants to show the audience to th eir seats and to look after the contestants. 8 Sta rt the show and note down any comm ents as they do it. 9 W hen the show comes to a natural conclusion, stop the improvisation. 10

FOLLOW-UP

Ask the ch ildren if they have enjoyed doing the activity. Would they like to rep eat it ano the r day? Do they w ant to chang e roles? W hat d id they learn fro m this first experience? Be very positive in your feed back as this is a difficult activity.

Rep eat the activity, with the ch ildren taking different roles.

124


6.8

Shipwreck

LEVEL AGE GROUP TIME

Part 1,30 minu tes and part 2,30 minutes.

AIMS

Language: to encourage oral fluency and practise the language of discussion an d suggestions. Other: to encou rage children to think abo ut how society works.

DESCRIPTION

In pa rt 1, the children are shipwrecked on a desert island.T hey have to decide wha t they need to d o to survive, and how to distribute the tasks on the island. In p art 2, some of the children do n ot want to do as they are told. T he children have to decide if they need rules on the island, how to make them and how to apply them.

MATERIALS

A recording of storm music, for example: Beethov en’s Sixth Symphony , First Movement.

IN CLASS

Arriving on the island

1 Clear a space in the classroom.Tell the children to stan d in the space. Tell the m it is the sea a nd they are shipwrecked. If possible, play som e storm music like th e symphony above. As it plays, say: The waves are big;you are trying to swim;you see an island; then you manage to get to the island.

Finish this first part with all the c hildren sitting exhausted o n the beach on the island. 2 Explain that there are no adults in the group. T he children have to look after themselves. W hat do they nee d to do? Ask them to make a list of the things to d o a nd to organize themselves into groups. Eac h gro up is responsible for one job: for example, finding food, cooking food, making shelter, and exploring the island. Each group should make a list of what they need to do. Th en they should m ake a timetab le o f the things they n eed to do every day, and every week, and decide who is going to do what. 3 Stop the activity when ea ch group has its list. T he group s explain their list to the o thers in turn . 4 W hen all the groups have explained their ideas, talk with the whole class about how they decided to sha re out the work. Did boys a nd girls get stere otyp ed jobs? D id they think abou t who was good at doing certain things? Making rules

5 Divide the ch ildren into grou ps o f five or six. Th ere should be a mixture o f children from the different groups. I f you are doing part 2 in a d ifferent lesson from part 1, remind th e children of the jobs they assigned themselves in p art 1.


125

6 Call one child from each group an d tell them tha t they are going to refuse to do th eir jobs. Th ey should say that they d on ’t think anyone should tell them what to do. 7 Send these children back to their groups .The y tell the othe r children that they are n ot going to do their jobs. Wait a sho rt time for the oth er children to react and then stop the activity and tell them they need to d ecide what to do abo ut this situation. Ask the children to think abou t the following points: Do you need rules on the desert island? How can you make the rules? What happens i f someone breaks the rules?

8 If the children decide to make rules, get them to write them out carefully and the n co mpare them with the o ther gro up s’ ideas. 9 W hen they have finished, ask them if they have learned anything abo ut rules, making them and keeping them.You will probably have to do this discussion in the ir first language as the childre n will find it difficult to exp ress their ideas in their lim ited English. COMMENTS

In Drama (Bright Ideas series, Scho lastic), this activity is carrie d mu ch further. It is used to explore o ther issues such as using leisure time, sharing food, bargaining, deciding on leaders, and so on.

126

WORKSHEET 1.4

Photocopiable ©Oxford University Press

WORKSHEET 2.5

127

128

WORKSHEET 2.7

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press

WORKSHEET 2.8


129

130

WORKSHEET 3.7

stick, strips or cord ov* -&irU\iskers

stick on a pipe ctawiev'or ' Han^T av\A t i e ' -for ltae1a.il

-fix a stick on 1Cie b ack uiita sh'ckj "tape-


131

WORKSHEET 3.12

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J X A f I \ I \ / V I V


132

WORKSHEET 4.3


133

PLAYSCRIPT 5.19

MARTY THE MARTIAN Peter Here you are. Try this!

Characters

Marty the Martian Anna Peter Chris Mrs Brown (Mrs B) Baby Brown (Baby B) _______________________________ SCENE 1 The kitchen

Marty (Eats all the ice cream very fast)

Ugh! I don’t like ice cream! Peter Oh no. My ice cream. My ice cream! Marty I’m hungry! Peter Well. Let’s go to Chris’s. S C E N E 3 _______________________________ Chris’s house

Ann a is in the kitchen. She is eating a Mars Bar. Suddenly Marty arrives. A n n a Oh! Who are you? Marty I’m Marty. A n n a Ah. I’m Anna. And where are you from? Marty I’m from Mars ... and ... I’m hungry! A n n a Do you like chocolate? Marty I love chocolate! A n n a Here you are. Try this! Marty ( Eats all the Mars Ba r very fast) Ugh!

I don’t like chocolate! A n n a Oh no! My Mars Bar. My Mars Bar! Marty I’m hungry! A n n a Well. Let’s go to Peter’s.

Chris is eating som e biscuits. Chris Hello Peter. Hello Anna. W ho are you? Marty I’m Marty. Chris Oh. Hello Marty. I’m Chris. Marty I’m hungry! Chris Do you like biscuits? Marty I love biscuits! Chris Here you are. Try this! Marty ( Eats all the biscuits very fast)

Ugh! I don’t like biscuits! Chris Oh no. My biscuits. My biscuits! Marty I’m hungry! Chris

^

Peter

/ Well. Let’s go to Mrs Brown’s.

A n n a

'

SCENE 2_______________________________ P e t e r ’s h o u s e

S C E N E 4 _______________________________

Pete r is eating an ice cream.

M r s B r o w n ’s h o u s e

Peter Hello Anna. ( Looks a t Marty) Who

Mrs Brown is giving Baby Brown his cauliflower.

are you?

He do es n’t like it. The others watch.

Marty I’m Marty.

Mrs B Here you are, lovely cauliflower.

Peter Oh. Hello Marty. I’m Peter.

Baby B No, no, no. I don’t like cauliflower.

Marty I’m hungry!

Mrs B Come on. It’s nice.

Peter Do you like ice cream?

Baby B No, no, no. I don’t like cauliflower.

Marty I love ice cream!

Marty I’m hungry!

Photocopiable

©Oxford University Press

134

PLAYSCRIPT 5.20

Baby B (Gives Marty the cauliflower) Here

you are!

Baby B Ha ha ha. My cauliflower, my

Marty (Eats all the cauliflowe r very fast)

Mmmm. Lovely. Delicious. I love cauliflower. Peter

^

/ Oh, no! Ugh! Disgusting!

A nna Chris

Mrs B Oh no! The cauliflower. The cauliflower.

'

cauliflower. Marty I like cauliflower. Peter

'j

Anna

> Oh yuck, he likes cauliflower!

Chris

/

CHICKEN LITTLE Characters

Chorus Chicken Little, run run

Narrator Chicken Little Ducky Wucky Rabbit Fabbit Piggy Wiggy Foxy Loxy Chorus

Chicken Little run run. Narrator She went into the woods and out of

the woods ... Chorus You must tell the King.

The sky is falling in! Narrator She went round the corner... and

there she met her friend Ducky Wucky. SCENE 1 _______________________________ Narrator Once upon a time there was a

chicken. Her name was Chicken Little. She lived in a little house in the country. There w as a big apple tree in her garden. One day she was sitting in the garden, enjoying the sun, when suddenly an apple dropped off the tree and on to her head. She jumped up ... Chicken Little Oh no!

The sky is falling in The sky is falling in I must tell the king The sky is falling in. Narrator And off she went to te ll the King.

SCENE 2

_______________________

Chicken Little Hello Ducky Wucky. Ducky Wucky Hi Chicken Little. What’s the

matter? Where are you going? Chicken Little To the castle. Ducky Wucky To the castle. But why? Chicken Little The sky is falling in! Ducky Wucky Oh no! The sky is falling in. Chicken Little Yes, we must tell the King. Together We must tell the King

Run Chicken Little, run.

We mu st tell the King The sky is falling in We must tell the King.

Narrator She went up the hill, and down the

Ducky Wucky Come on. Let’s go!

hill...

Narrator And off they went to tell the King.

Chorus Run Chicken, run

They went up the hill, and down the h il l...

The sky is falling in.

Chorus Run Chicken, run Chicken

Narrator She went over the bridge and

Run Chicken Little, run.

Chorus Run Chicken, run Chicken

through the tun ne l... Photocopiable © Oxford University Press

135

PLAYSCRIPT 5.23

Narrator They went over the bridge and

through the tun ne l... Chorus Run Chicken, run

The sky is falling in. Narrator They w ent into the woods and out of

the woods ... Chorus Chicken Little, run run

Chicken Little, run run. Narrator They went round the corner... Chorus You must tell the king

The sky is falling in! Narrator And there they met the ir friend

Rabbit Fabbit. S C E N E 3 _______________________________

Foxy Loxy To the castle. But why? Chicken Little The sky is falling in! Foxy Loxy Oh no! The sky is falling in. Chicken Little Yes, we must tell the King. A lto g et her We must te ll the King

We m ust tell the king The sky is falling in We m ust tell the king. Foxy Loxy Come on, follow me! Narrator And off they went to t ell the King.

They went up the hill, and down the h il l... Chorus Run Chicken, run Chicken

Run Chicken Little, run. Narrator They went over the bridge and

through the tun ne l... Repe at Scene 2 with Ra bbit Fabbit. Change the las t line. Narrator They w ent round the corner and

there they met their friend Piggy W iggy. S C E N E 4 _______________________________ Repe at Scene 2 with Piggy Wiggy. Change the las t line. Narrator They w ent round the corner and

there they met their friend Fo xy Loxy.

Chorus Run Chicken, run

The sky is falling in. Narrator They went into the woods and out of

the woods ... Chorus Chicken Little, run run

Chicken Little, run run. Narrator They went round the co rn e r... Chorus You must tell the King

The sky is falling in! A ll the charac ters go offs tage .

S C E N E S _______________________________

Narrator and ...

Chicken Little Hello, Foxy Loxy.

Foxy Loxy comes bac k on stage licking his lips

Foxy Loxy Hi Chicken Little. W hat’s the

matter? Where are you going? Chicken Little To the castle.

Photocopiable ©Oxford University Press

and rubbing his tummy. Narrator ... no body ever saw Chicken Little

and her friends again.

136

PLAYSCRIPT 5.21

CINDERELLA Characters

Cinderella A Cinderella B Stepmother Stepsister 1 Stepsister 2 Rat 1 Rat 2 Fairy Godmother Prince

Stepsister 2 What? Stepmother What? Steps is ter 1 A letter! Stepsist er 2 A letter! Stepmother (Takes the letter and opens it)

An invitation! Steps ist er 1 Who from? Stepsist er 2 Who from?

SCENE 1

Stepmother The Prince!

The kitchen

Stepsi ster 1 The Prince!

Stepmother ( Shouting) Cinderella!

Stepsis ter 2 The Prince!

Cind erella A Yes?

Stepmother To a party!

Stepsi st ers 1 and 2 (Shouting) Cinderella!

Steps is ter 1 A party!

Cinderella A Yes?

Stepsist er 2 A party!

Steps is ter 1 Come here!

Stepmother Tomorrow!

Stepsist er 2 Come here!

Steps ist er 1 Tomorrow!

Stepmother Wash my dress!

Stepsist er 2 Tomorrow!

Cind erella A OK. Steps ist ers 1 Clean my shoes! Cind erella A OK. Stepsis ter 2 Clean my boots! Cind erella A OK. Stepmother Hurry up now! Go away! Steps ist ers 1 Cinderella! Cinderella A Yes? Steps is ter 1 Go away! Stepsister 2 Go away! Stepmother Go away!

A ll Cinderella! SCENE 3 ____________________________ The kitchen Stepmother Come on! Steps ist er 1 Hurry up! Stepsist er 2 Where ’s Cinderella? Stepmother Cinderella! Steps ist ers 1 and 2 Cinderella! Cinderella A Yes? Stepmother Where’s my dress? Steps is ter 1 My shoes!

SCENE 2

Stepsist er 2 My boots!

The kitchen

Stepmother Cinderella! Hurry up!

Steps is ter 1 Look!

Cinderella A Yes, yes, yes!


137

PLAYSCRIPT 5.24

Stepmother Girls! Are you ready?

Rat 2 Her Fairy Godmother!

Steps ist ers 1 and 2 Yes, yes.

Cinderella A My Fairy Godmother!

Cinderella A Yes.

Fairy Godm other Come on. Your wishes!

Stepmother Cinderella!

Cinderella A What wishes?

Cinderella A Yes.

Fairy Godmother ) Come on! Come on!

Stepmother Stay here! Cinderella A Here? Stepmother In the kitchen! Cinderella A In the kitchen? Stepmother Yes, clean the kitchen!

Rats 1 an d 2

j Your wishes.

Cinderella A Oh, my wishes! Fairy Godm other Number one? Cinderella A A dress— please. Fairy Godmo ther A dress! (Magics a dre ss the lights go o ff and Cinderella A changes

Cinderella A Clean the kitchen?

places with Cinderella B)

Stepmother That’s right.

Rats 1 an d 2 Ooh—a dress.

Steps is ter 1 and 2 Goodbye!

Fairy Godm other Number two?

Stepmother Goodbye!

Cinderella B Shoes—please.

S C E N E 4 __________________________

Fairy Godm other Shoes! (Magics some shoes)

The kitchen Rats 1 an d 2 Ooh—shoes. Cindere lla is crying. Rat 1 Look, it’s Cinderella. Rat 2 She’s crying. Rat 1 an d 2 Poor Cinderella. R a t i What’s the matter? Cinderella A I’m tired. R a t i Cheer up! Rat 2 What’s the matter? Cinderella A I’m sad. Rat 2 Cheer up. Rati

Don’t cry!

Rat 2 No, don’t cry! The Fairy Godm other appears. Cinderella A Who are you? Fairy Godm other Your fairy godmother! R a t i Who’s she? Photocopiable © Oxford University Press

Fairy Godm other Number three? Cinderella B A car — please. Fairy Godm other A car! (Magics a car) Rats 1 an d 2 Ooh— a car. Cinderella B Thank you! Fairy Godm other OK. Goodbye! Cind erella B Come on Rats! Rats 1 an d 2 Goodbye, goodbye! Fairy Godm other Wait, wait! Cinderella B What? Fairy Godm other Come home at 12 o’clock. Cind erella B OK. 12 o’clock. Rats 1 and 2 12 o’clock. Cinderella B Goodbye! Rats 1 and 2 Goodbye! Fairy Godm other Goodbye!

138

PLAYSCRIPT 5.24

S C E N E S _______________________

Rats 1 an d 2 Run Cinderella, run!

The palace

Cinderella B Goodbye!

Cinderella arrives a t the party.

Prince Goodbye?

Steps is ter 1 Who’s that?

Cinderella B Yes, it’s 12 o’clock. Goodbye!

Steps is ter 2 I don’t know. Stepmother Who’s that? Steps is ter 2 I don’t know.

(C inderella runs away) Prince Stop, stop! Cinderella B I can’t. Prince Stop, stop!

The Prince talks to Cinderella. The Prince Hello! Cinderella B Hello. The Prince Come and dance.

Prince Look, a shoe! R a t i A shoe! Rat 2 Her shoe. Prince Her shoe!

Cinderella B Yes, please. The Prince and Cinderella dance. Steps is ter 1 Look! Stepsister 2 What? Steps is ter 1 The Prince! Stepsister 2 What? Steps is ter 1 They’re dancing! Steps is ters 1 and 2 Oh no! Rati

Look!

Rat 2 What? Rat 1 The Prince! Rat 2 What? R a t i The y’re dancing! Rats 1 and 2 Aaaah (a romantic sigh) R a t i What’s the time? Rat 2 12 o’clock. Rat 1 12 o’clock. Oh no! Rat 2 Oh no, Cinderella! R a t i Cinderella! Rats 1 and 2 It’s 12 o’clock! Cind erella B 12 o’clock. Oh no! Photocopiable © Oxford University Press

SCENE 6 ____________________________ C i n d e r e l l a ’s h o u s e The Prince has g ot the shoe. Prince Is it yours? Steps is ter 1 Yes, yes! Stepmother Yes, yes! Prince Oh, no it isn’t. Rats 1 and 2 It isn’t, it isn’t. Fairy Godmother No, it isn’t. Prince Is it yours? Stepsis ter 2 Yes, yes! Stepmother Yes, yes! Prince Oh, no it isn’t. Rats 1 and 2 It isn’t, it isn’t. Fairy Godmother No, it isn’t. Prince Is it yours? Cinderella Yes. Steps is ters 1 and 2 No, it isn’t. Stepmother No, it isn’t. Rats 1 and 2 Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

139

PLAYSCRIPT 5.22

Fairy Godmother Yes, it is. Prince Yes, it is. Donee mus ic starts.

Rats Yes, yes, let’s dance! {The Rats dance togethei) Fairy Godmother Come on, let’s dance! ( The Fairy Godmother and Cinderella B dance

Prince Here you are!

together)

Cinderella Thank you.

Steps is ter 1 It’s not fair!

Prince Let’s dance!

Stepsis ter 2 It’s not fair!

Cinderella Yes, let’s dance. ( Cinderella and

Stepmother It’s not fair!

the Prince dance together.)

FIND A BIN TO PUT IT IN Characters

Narrator Mermaids 1,2, and 3 Sal Pete Mum Dad Narrator Once upon a time there was a family

Mum And Dad wants ham and cheese. Narrator The merm aids and mermen saw the

humans and decided to hide. Mermaids Humans, quick hide. Merm aid 1 Don’t move, keep still. Mermaid 2 Keep still, don’t move. Mermaid 3 Wait u ntil they go.

of mermaids and mermen who lived by the beach. They swam in the sea and playe d on the beach.

Mermaid 2 Keep still, don’t move.

Together What a lovely day!

Mermaid 3 And they w ill never know.

Merm aid 1 The sand is white.

Narrator The merm aids watched while the

Mermaid 2 The water’s clean. Mermaid 3 The fishes are our friends. Merm aid 1 The sun is bright. Mermaid 2 The rocks are warm. Mermaid 3 I hope it never ends. Narrator Then a family o f humans came to the

Merm aid 1 Don’t move, keep still.

humans ate their picnic. Mer m aid 1 What’s that? look, look. Mermaid 2 Look look, what’s that? Mermaid 3 Flying through the air. Mermaid It’s rubbish. Mermaid 2 From their picnic.

beach.

Mermaid 3 Going everywhere.

Together What a lovely beach!

Mer m aid 1 A can, a bag,

Sal I want to eat.

Mermaid 2 A cup, a pot,

Pete I’m hungry too.

Mermaid 3 And a banana skin.

Mum Wait a minute please.

Merm aid 1 A dirty rag,

Dad Your picnic, Pete. And one fo r Sal.

Mermaid 2 Some s ilver foil,


140

PLAYSCRIPT 5.23

Mermaid 3 A fizzy drink tin!

Sal A dirty rag,

Mer m aid 1 What a stink!

Pete Some silve r foil,

Mermaid 2 What a mess!

Together A fizzy drink tin!

Mermaid 3 What a horrid sight!

Mum What a stink!

Mer m aid 1 It’s theirs I think.

Dad What a mess!

Mermaid 2 Yes, throw it back.

Mum What a horrid sight!

Mermaid 3 Let’s have a rubbish fight.

Sal Let’s find a bin,

Narrator So the mermaids and mermen

Pete To put it in,

started throwing the rubbish back at the humans.

Together And stop this rubbish fight!

Mum What’s that? Look, look! Dad Look, look, what’s that? Mum Flying through the air. Sal It’s rubbish. Pete From our picnic. Together Going everywhere. Mum A can, a bag, Dad A cup, a pot, Mum And a banana skin.

Narrator So the fam ily of humans picked up all

their rubbish and put it in the bin. And then the mermaids and the humans enjoye d the beach together. Merm aid 1 The sand is white. Mermaid 2 The water’s clean. Mermaid 3 The fishes are our friends. Children The sun is bright. Mum and Dad The rocks are warm. A ll I hope it never ends.

THAT’S FUNNY Characters

SCENE 1 _______________________________

Nicky, a cleaner Jerry, a cleaner Detective Smart, a detective Slow, the dete ctive’s assistant Al, a caretaker Pat, a caretaker Four children

The hall

The stage area is divided into three parts: the hall, where the concert will take place, the kitchen, and Detective Smart’s office. When the children are not involved in the action, they should keep still.

Nicky and Jerry are preparing the hall for the concert, putting up balloons and streamers. The children creep in and take some balloons. Detective Smart and Slow are in the office. Slow is reading the paper. Nicky Look! Jerry What? Nicky They’ve disappeared! Jerry What? What’s disappeared? Nicky Those balloons! Eight balloons! Th ey’ve

gone! Photocopiable ©Oxford University Press

141

PLAYSCRIPT 5.26

Jerry Well, tha t’s funny! Where can they be?

A l Tha nk you, Detective Smart. Goodbye.

Nicky I don’t know. C all Detective Smart!

Detective Smart Goodbye! Well, well, well.

Jerry Detective Smart. Hello. Th ey’ve gone!

Wooden blocks. W hat a funny thing to disappear.

Detectiv e Sm art Wh at’s gone?

Slow Detective Smart, look, look at this.

Jerry Eight balloons!

There’s a concert with big prizes ...

Detective Smart Eight balloons. D on’t worry!

Detective Smart Be quiet! I’m thinking.

I’ll find them. Jerry Thank you, Detective Smart. Goodbye.

SCENE 3 _______________________________


The kitchen

Eight balloons. Wha t a funny thing to steal.

Nick y and Je rry are working. The children creep

Slow Detective Smart, look, look at this.

in and take som e saucepan lids.

There’s a concert...

Detective S mart and Slow are in the office. S low


is read ing the paper. Jerry Look!

SCENE 2 _______________________________ A n o t h er p a r t o f t h e h a l l

Nicky What? Jerry They’ve disappeared!

Al an d Pat are working. The children creep in and take some bits o f wood. Detective S mart and Slow are in the office. S low is read ing the paper.

Nicky What? W hat’s disappeared? Jerry The saucepan lids! The y’ve gone! Nicky Tha t’s funny! W here can they be? Jerry I don’t know. Call Detective Smart!

A ll Look!

Nicky Detective Smart. Hello. Th ey’ve gone!

Pat What? A l They’ve disappeared! Pat What? What’s disappeared?

Detectiv e Smart What’s gone? Nicky Some saucepan lids.

A l Those blocks. Those woode n blocks.

Detective Smart Some saucepan lids. Don’t

Th ey’ve gone!

worry! I’ll find them.

Pat That’s funny! W here can they be?

Nicky Than k you, Detective Smart. Goodbye.

A l Don’t know. Call Detective Smart! Pat Detective Smart. Hello. Th ey’ve gone! Detective Smart What’s gone? A l Some wooden blocks.


Some saucepan lids. W hat a funny thing to disappear! Slow Detective Smart, look, look at this.

Detective Smart Wooden blocks! Don’t worry!

There’s a concert with big prizes tonight....

I’ll find them.


Photocopiable

© Oxford University Press

142

PLAYSCRIPT 5.26

S C E N E 4 ________ ___ ____________ _ _ _ _ _ The hall Al and Pa t are working. The children c reep in and take some elastic bands. Detective S mart and Slow are in the office. S low is reading the paper. Pat Look!

Nicky The beans! The beans for lunch.

They’ve gone! Jerry That ’s funny! W here can they be? Nicky I don’t know. Call Detective Smart! Jerry Detective Smart. Hello. They ’ve gone! Detectiv e Smart What’s gone? Jerry The beans. The beans for lunch!

A l What?

Detectiv e Smart Beans. Don’t worry! I’ll find

Pat They’ve disappeared! A l What? W hat’s disappeared? Pat The elastic bands. The y’ve gone! A l That’s funny! W here can they be? Pat I don’t know. Call Detective Smart! A l Detective Smart. Hello. They’ve gone! Detective Smart What’s gone? A l The elastic bands. Detective Smart Elastic bands. Don’t worry!

I’ll find them. A l Thank you, Detective Smart. Goodbye. Detective Smart Goodbye! Well, well, well.

What a funny thing to steal. Slow Detective Smart, look, look at this.

There’s a concert tonight with big prizes. It says big prizes fo r ... Detective Smart Be quiet! I’m thinking. S C E N E S _______________________________ The kitchen Nick y and Jer ry are working. The children creep in and take some beans.

them. Jerry Thank you, Detective Smart. Goodbye. Detective Sm art Goodbye! Well, well, well.

Beans. W hat a funny thing to steal. Slow Detective Smart, look, look at this.

There’s a concert tonight with big prizes. It says big prizes for the most original music. Detective Smart Be quiet! I’m thinking. Slow But Detective— the concert Detective Sm art I’m thinking! Slow Original music! Detectiv e Smart Be quiet! Slow Goodnight sir. I’m going to the concert! SC EN E 6_______________________________ A b a r w i t h a s m a l l s t ag e On the stage are the balloons, the wooden blocks, the lids, yog hurt pots with beans in (maraccas), an d a shoe box guitar. Everyone is there exce pt Detective Smart. Nicky Look, my balloons! A l And my elastic bands!

Detective Sm art and Slow are in the office. Slow is read ing the paper.

Jerry And my lids!

Nicky Look!

Nicky And my beans!

Jerry What?

A ll Now we understand! What a surprise!

Nicky Th ey’ve disappeared! Jerry What? W hat’s disappeared?

Photocopiable

Pat And my blocks!


The children come on and perform the rap. The audience does the actions.

143

PLAYSCRIPT 5.24

Listen to The saucepan lids We’re the odd band Now join in kids!

The Odd Band Rap

Making music’s Lots of fun With instruments For everyone.

Making music’s Lots of fun Instruments for Everyone.

Listen to The ballon beat Move your hands Move you r feet.

Slow And the winners are ... The Odd Band!

Listen to The yoghurt pot Move your body On the spot.

A ll W ell done! Very good! The children give b ack the things. Children Thank you. It was a suprise. Here

you are.

Listen to The rubbe r bands Stamp you r feet Clap yo ur hands.

Slow phones Detective Smart. Detective Smart Hello! Slow The con cert...

Listen to The blocks of wood Dance together That feels good.

Detective Smart Be quiet! I’m thinking!

STARLET The floor space sh ould be divid ed into 11 parts, includin g the introduction, se e diagram. There is a film poster of an Egyptian m umm y on the wall, or drawn on the blackboard. It says Stacy/Steve Star, in The Mummy.

Sce-we

3

5c«*V€' 4Scevie-

Sc&y^'

7

Sccmo

8 <2.

Scene IO

Scene

Characters

Stan/Stacy Starlet Starlet ’s Mum Starlet ’s Dad Bus Conductor Starlet’s Friend Film Director Film Star Passer-by Am bulance Attendant 1 Am bulance Attendant 2 Nurse Robber

(o

I N T R O D U C T I O N ______________________

1

\i^tro
Scewe 5

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this! Photocopiable


144

PLAYSCRIPT 5.27

SCENE 1 ______________________________

Film Star And I don’t like this costume. I’m

Mum Stacy! It’s 9 o’clock.

leaving. ( Film S tar goes out)

Starlet It’s what? Oh no, I’m late!

Director You are?

Mum Again! Get a move on! Bye! Starlet Bye!

SCENE 6_______________________________ On the street

S C E N E 2 ______________________________

Director I don’t believe it. S he’s gone!

In t h e c a r

Robber Hands up!

Starlet Oh no!

Director What am I going to do?

Dad What’s the matter?

Robber Your money or yo ur life!

Starlet There isn’t any petrol in the car!

Director My star! My film!

Dad Well, get the bus!

Robber I said ‘Your money or your life’!

Starlet The bus. Good idea! Bye!

Director Oh yes! (He realizes what is happening, He faints)

S C E N E 3 ______________________________ On the bus

SCENE 7_______________________________

Starlet The High Street, please.

On the bus

Bus Conductor 54p, please.

Starlet Oh no! That was my stop!

Starlet Here you are.

Friend Wait a minute. Don’t jump!

Conductor Thanks.

Starlet jump s off the bus and lands in the same scene as the Film Director.

S C E N E 4 ______________________________

Starlet Ow, ow ow, my ankle, my arm,

On the bus

my legs!

Starlet Well, hello! How are you?

Friend Too late!

Friend Hi Stacy! How’s things?

SCENE 8_______________________________

Starlet Fine, fine. How’s your Mum?

On the street

Friend She’s fine. And your brother?

Passer-by Oh no! I’ll call an ambulance.

S C E N E S ______________________________

Passer-by takes out a mobile phone an d calls an ambulance.

On a film set

Film Star is dressed as a mummy in bandages.

Starlet Ow, ow, ow, my ankle, my arm,

my legs.

Film Star I don’t like you.

Passer-by Oh dear. I think they’re broken?

Director You don’t?

Starlet Of course they’re broken. Ow, ow, ow.

Film Star I don’t like the film!

Call an ambulance.

Director You don’t?

Passer-by Don’t worry it’ll be here in a minute. (Notices Film Director) Oh look, another body.


145

PLAYSCRIPT 5.27

Here’s the ambulance. Take them away please. Am bulance attendants take Starlet and the Director away to the hospital scene.

Starlet I can’t! Film Director Hello. How are you? Starlet Terrible, it’s been the worst day in my life.

SCENE 9 _______________________________ In h o s p i t a l Nurse He’s waking up! Film Director Where am I? Nurse In hospital. Film Director Oh, what happened? What happened? My film. My film star! Where is she?

Film Director Really? Starlet Yes! Just look at me! Film Director Oh yes. I see. Oh yes. Mmmm, would you like a job?

Starlet A job? Film Director Yes, I’m looking for a film star, jus t like you!

Nurse Oh, so that woman is a film star. Well, well, well. She’s over there. Look.

Points to Starlet, who is cove red in bandages like a mummy. Film Director Perfect, she’s perfect. Nurse (To Starlet) Don’t move

Photocopiable


SCENE 10_____________________________ A t t h e f r o n t Starlet And that’s how it all started. A ll the othe r actors cro wd roun d asking fo r autographs.

146

WORKSHEET 5.24 (a) and (b)

Match th e sentences to the pictu res in Starl et’s story A

She meets an old friend on the bus and they talk and talk.

B A man calls an ambulance. C She goes to her car but it doesn’t work. Her father tells her to get the bus. D Film Star is not happy with her part in the film The Mummy. She leaves. E Starlet m isses her stop so she jumps off the bus and breaks som e bones. F

Film Director meets Starlet in hospital.

G Starlet becom es a famous film star. H She gets on the bus.

I

Starlet gets up late. Her mother tells her to hurry.

J A thief takes all Film Director’s money, he faints. K Starlet introduces the story.

At SWleVs house.-- ^ ^ 7

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147

WORKSHEET 6.2

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148

WORKSHEET 6.3(a)

Role cards Cook

Waiter/waitress

1 You are feeling very tired today.

1 You are feeling very tired today.

Cook

Waiter/waitress

2 You have a cold and a headache.

2 You have a cold and a headache.

Cook

Waiter/waitress

3 You don’t like waiters.

3 You want to earn a lot of tips.

Cook

Waiter/waitress

4 You are in love with one of the waiters.

4 You are in love with one of the cooks.

Cook

Waiter/waitress

5 You hate your job.

5 Your feet hurt.

Cook

Waiter/waitress

6 You need to make a phone call urgently.

6 You are in a hurry to go home.

Customer

Customer

Customer

3 You are very, very hungry.

1 You don’t eat meat.

5 You don’t like fried food. Customer

Customer

Customer

6 You can’t eat salt.

4 You don’t eat eggs.

2 You are on a diet.

WORKSHEET 6.3(b)

Who says what? This meat is not cooked!

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Further reading Ma ny stories, rhymes, chants, and poem s can be a dap ted for dram atization, and th e activities in this boo k are inten ded to sug gest ways in which teachers can do this. Below are some th eoretical books a bou t using drama, as well as various fictional works w hich may provide useful material. Th is is not inten ded to be an exhaustive list and teache rs sho uld feel confident ab ou t selecting material o f their own.

Using drama Maley, A. and A. Duff. Second edition 1983. Drama Techniques in Language Learning:A Resource Book o f Communicative Activities for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cam bridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 2886 1. A rich source o f‘dram atic’ ideas which can be used and adapted with young learners. M cC aslin , N. Sixth edition 1996. Creative Drama in the Classroom and beyond. NewYork: Lon gm an . ISBN 0 8 01 31 58 59 . H ow to in trodu ce the dynamics of dram a into the classroom and other settings. Th e text stresses the benefits o f dram a as a tool for helping all children develop comm unication and critical thinking skills. Th ere are numerous exercises and practical suggestions for plannin g activities and ad apting materials for use in improvisation, pantomime, movement, speech, and other dram atic arts. Wessels, C. 1987. Drama. Oxford: Ox ford University Press. ISB N 0 A 4370 976. Resource Books for Teachers series. Gives practical ideas on using dram a to prom ote language acquisition; to improve coursebook presentation; to teach spoken comm unication skills; and for revision and reinforcem ent.

Teaching children Halliwell, S. 1992. Teaching English in the Prima ry Classroom. Harlow: Longm an. ISBN 0 58207109 7. Longman Han dbooks for Language Teachers series. Gives an insight into how c hildren learn a nd how to achieve a positive attitude toward s language learn ing in your classroom. Jennings, C. 1993. Children as Storytellers: Developing Language Skills in the Classroom. Oxford: Ox ford University Press. A practical boo k for classroom teachers tha t uses and develops children ’s natu ral talents for telling stories. Phillips, S. 1993. Young Learners. Oxford: O xford University Press. ISB N 0 19 4371 956. Resou rce Books for Teachers series. A rich source of ideas for different activities including pu ppet s, dram a, songs, and stories. Reilly,V. and S. M.Ward. 1997. VeryYoungLearners. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISB N 0 19 4372 09 X. Resource Books for Teachers series. Gives advice and ideas for teaching children aged 3 to 6 years. It contains activities using songs, dram a, stories, and a rts an d crafts.

150

FURTHER READING

W right, A. 1995. Storytelling with Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 437202 20. Resou rce Books f or Teach ers series. Gives ideas for exploiting over 30 stories in class. Wright, A. 1997. Creating Stories with Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISB N 0 19 437204 9. Resource Books for Teachers series. Ideas for getting children to tell and w rite stories in English.

Songs, chants, and rhymes Byrne, J.,M. Pratt, and A. Waugh. 1982.Jingle Bells. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Book and cassette.Tr aditional songs for use with young learners. Da vies, L., F. Leibe, and J. Matthews. 1987. Language Resources. Bright Ideas series. Leam ington Spa: Scholastic.This bo ok has rhymes, games, dances, and poems in it. Althoug h it is aimed at teachers o f Englishspeaking children, some of the m aterial can be ad apted for English as a foreign language. Ca hill, N. and M. Pratt. 1993. Literacy Skills Through Rhyme and Rhy thm. Oxford: Oxford University Press. A photocopia ble book designed for native speaker primary teachers offering differentiated activities throug h rhyme and rhythm . Graham , C. 1979. J a zz Chants for Children. 1988. N ew York: Oxfo rd University Press. ISBN 0 19 502 497 4.Teac her’s book, workbook, and cassette. A collection o f chants w hich focus on English stress, rhythm, and pronunciation. Graham, C. 1988. J a z z Chant Fairy Tales. New York: Oxford U niver sity Press. ISBN 0 19 434299 9. Fairytales told in verse to a strong rhythm, suitabl e for child ren with several years o f English. Murphey,T. 1992. Music and Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISB N 0 19 437055 0. Resource Books for Teachers series. Ideas for using music in the classroom. Many can be adapted and the book has a chapte r on young learners. Paul, D. 1996. Songs and Gamesfor Children. Oxford: Heinemann. Songs and games group ed arou nd target language areas. Ward, S. 1980. Dippitydoo. Harlow: Longm an. A book o f songs with actions. The Oxford Book of Story Poems. Oxford: O xford University Press. An anthology o f poems that tell stories.

Puppets and props Robson, D. 1990. Ra iny Days: Puppets. London : Franklin Watts. Lots of different kinds of pup pets aimed at native speaker 7-year-olds and above. Simple instructio ns an d colour photograph s. Wright, A. 1993 (new edition). 1000+ Picturesfor Teachers to Copy. Harlow, Essex, UK: Longman. ISB N 017 556878 2.These pictures could provide ideas for outlines o f pupp ets. Wiz adorn. Oxford: Oxford U niversity Press. C ontains several scenes which could be acted out with puppets.

FURTHER READING

151

Plays Conklin,T. Mystery Plays. Scholastic. Detective story plays aimed at native-speaker children. Cou ld be us ed with children who have a few years o f English. Oxford Playscripts. ‘Owls Stage s’. Oxford: O xford Unive rsity Press. Playscripts ada pted from pop ular stories for native speaker children.

Stories Carle, E. 1984 TheVery Hu ng ry Caterpillar. Harmondsw orth: Penguin. A story ab out a baby caterpillar growing into a butterfly. Clarke, G. 1993 Ten Green Monsters. London: Anderson Press. Funny story abo ut ten mon sters w ho fall off a wall. Hill, E. 1999 Where’s Spot?. London: Penguin.This practises simple structures. It is a story about a pop ular dog. Rosen, M. and H. Oxenbury. 1989 We’re going on a Bea r Hu nt. London: Walker Books. ISB N 07445 23230. An illustrated version o f a wellknown rhyme. Ross,T. 1995 Stone Soup. London: Picture Lions, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. A story abo ut a clever hen who pe rsuades a hungr y wolf to taste her stone soup. Tolstoy, A. and H. Oxenbury. The Great Big Enormous Turnip. Oxford: H eine m ann .Th e famous s tory of a big turnip th at is very difficult to get out o f the ground. Vip ont, E. 1971 The Elephant and the Ba d Baby. Lond on: Puffin Books, Penguin. Th is is the story o f a journey taken by an ungrateful baby.

Role plays and improvisation Paul Rooyackers et al. 101 Drama Games for Children: Fun and learning with Acting and Make-believe. California: Hun ter House. No n competitive improvisational games which include: Intr odu ction games, sensory games, story games, and games with masks an d costumes.

Useful address T he E nglish Folk Dance and Song Society has a num ber o f useful pu blications writte n for Englis h sp eaking children, b ut which Englis h language teachers could easily use in their classes.Their m aterial is especially useful if you are teaching English culture as par t o f your curriculum .They take orders by phone. T he English Folk Dan ce and Song Society 2 Cecil Sharp H ouse Regents Park Road London NW 1 7AY Tel: 44 (0)171 485 2206 Fax: 44 (0)171 284 0523

Drama With Children Resource Books for Teachers

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