Cross Curricular Links:
· SEAL – Say No to Bullying
· RRR
· CPSHE / Drama Focused Learning:
· Making – work confidently in groups to devise dramas that explore different issues and situations. Use a range of different drama techniques in their work.
· Performing – learn lines, collaborate with others and organise simple presentations. Use the acting space with an awareness that the audience has to see, hear and understand your intended meaning.
· Responding – comment on how theatrical effects have been achieved and how they have enhanced the performance.
· Other - / Drama Strategies:
· Drama Faces
· Drama Bodies
· Still Image
· Thought Tapping (character gives own thoughts)
· Parrot on the Shoulder / Thought Tracking
· Rumours
· Pupil in Role
· Role play
· Teacher Narration
· Writing in Role
· Conscience Alley
· Super Helpers
· Teacher in Role
QCA Learning Objectives:
· To perform a scripted scene making use of dramatic conventions.
· To reflect on how working in role helps to explore complex issues.
· To use and recognise the impact of theatrical effects in drama.
Resources:
· Say No to Bullying Y5/6 booklet
· Say No to Bullying Theme Overview
· SEAL photos
· Digital Camera
· Line drawing from ‘Bad Girls’
· Flip Chart
Activity: / Teacher Notes:
Lesson 1:
Begin the lesson by reminding children what drama is about – pretending, imagining, fun etc.
Revise any ‘rules of conduct’ and the consequences.
Up, down, freeze game
Children walk around the room listening to simple instructions. They must respond quickly! Once they are doing well move onto opposites where the group do the opposite to what you say.
Drama Faces / Bodies
Use this part of the lesson to focus children on thinking about what their faces and bodies show for specific emotions. Extend to small groups – 1 child shows 3 photos but only copies one of them – can the rest identify the photo and the emotion.
The Story
Read the children the first 4 lines of the Bullying story from ‘Say No to Bullying – Theme Overview’. What might children be playing or doing in this playground? What do you enjoy doing in the playground? Quick discussion. Ask the children to think about how they might show one of these things – quickly find people and show me. Give the children a few seconds then say FREEZE. Can you create a still image of your activity? How are we feeling? (happy!) How are we going to show this? Allow the children time to create their still images – can you hold that? Take photos of each group. Ask the children to move their still images to one side of the room – take a photo showing the ‘playground’.
Is this a realistic picture of the playground? Repeat activity but show scenes where everyone is sad or unhappy.
Is this a realistic picture of the playground? ‘Elements of both?’
Gather the children together again and ask them to sit comfortably with their eyes closed. Read the next part of the story to them (the next 3 lines, up to ‘invisible’). Ask the children to individually show the image of Laura they have in their heads using their own bodies and faces. Remind children about thought tapping. When you tap children on the shoulder they have to say how they are feeling (in role as Laura).
Circle Time
How was Laura feeling? Have you ever felt like that? Can you describe the feeling? What made you feel that way?
Fast Forward (100 Games for Social Skills)
Children in circle – say verse and children do actions. Speed up = who can still do actions. Miss out saying an action – who can do the missing action? Knock out competition etc. / Does everyone need to be in a group?
Lesson 2:
Greetings
Any variation of this – twinkly fingers, hug, handshake, compliment etc
Penguins
Group must eventually move and go at the same time without being told to.
Drama Faces/Bodies
Use this part of the lesson to focus children on thinking about what their faces and bodies show for specific emotions.
Begin today with drama faces. Show me … . Show me how you felt this morning, show me how you feel now… etc. Move onto drama bodies – use specific characters. Become a queen / king, become the queen from Snow White etc … Become Laura.
The Story
What can the children remember from last lesson? Can you show me Laura again? How do you think she is feeling? What is she trying to do? Relax. Ask the children to form a small group (4 or 5). Explain that you want them to show you the small section of playground where Laura is. Give the children time to do this then ask each group to show what they have created as a still image. Ask the children to bring the scene to life for a few seconds.
Read the rest of the first paragraph to the children (up to ‘follows miserably behind’).
Ask the children to get back into their groups. Can they show the part of the story where Laura feels threatened? Share with whole class. Ask one group to hold their still image. Does anyone want to come and be a parrot on the shoulder? – A child touches a characters shoulder and says what they think they are feeling at this moment.
Writing in Role
Focus the children back to being Laura. Teacher narrates (possibly journey home, getting into house, up to room etc). Give children a few minutes to write Laura’s diary entry for today.
Assassins
Children move round with their eyes closed. When they touch someone they ask ‘assassin?’. If the other person is NOT the assassin they reply ‘Assassin?’. If the other person IS the assassin then they say nothing. Anyone caught by the assassin is out.
Lesson 3:
Drama Bodies
Explain to the children that you have found a picture of Laura for them to look at (Use line drawing from ‘Bad Girls’ by Jaqueline Wilson). This is a picture of Laura on her way home from school. In small groups they should recreate the picture. Bring each character to the front. Introduce children to idea of forum theatre ready for later. Direct each character so that they are replicating the picture. What is each character showing?
The Story
What did we do last time? Does anyone want to show their still images from last lesson to remind us? Tell the children that you know for a fact that Natasha has also been saying these things about Laura when she is not there – rumours. Explain to the children how the ‘game’ of rumours works. Children circulate round the room – everytime they meet someone they say ‘I heard that…’ . Discuss rumours with the children. Ask for a volunteer to be Laura (choose someone who you know will respond well). They sit in the middle of a circle while the rest of the class stand around them. One at a time they tell everyone else the rumour they heard.
Talk to ‘Laura’ about how she felt. If child in role as Laura is comfortable allow class to ask other questions.
We know that the incident we read about is not the only thing happening to Laura – going home from school, name calling, rumours. In small groups ask the children to think of other things that might be happening to Laura that involve this group of children. Ask each group to produce and rehearse a 30 sec / 1 min role play of one of these situations. Remind children about drama faces and bodies and also the fact that they have an audience. Watch children’s performances.
Circle Time
What has been happening? Is this bullying? What makes bullying? Discuss with the children. Try to guide them towards the three point definition of bullying.
Starcatcher (100 Games for Social Skills)
Children are lights floating the night sky. One child is the starcatcher. They say ‘Lights to star bright. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5’. The lights get into groups of 5 and the starcatcher has a count of 5 seconds to catch the others. Anyone caught becomes a starcatcher as well. / Consider only allowing a few people to start a rumour.
Lesson 4: (Before lesson ask some children to take on the roles of the children who are bullying)
I feel so happy I could …
Each child says starter and completes it with an action. Everyone copies the action.
Sculptures
In pairs, 1 child is the ‘clay’ and 1 is the sculptor. Create ‘happy’, create ‘excited’, create ‘threatened’ etc. Swap roles each time.
The Story
Read the second paragraph to the children but leave the last line. Discuss this with the children. What should Laura do? Allow the children time to discuss this in pairs. Can you come up with some ideas of what she should do?
Form the children up for conscience alley. One child, as Laura, walks through the other children who tell her what they think she should do.
Tell the children that Laura did eventually decide to tell her teacher. Read the next 3 paragraphs. Explain that you want the children to act in role as Laura’s class mates while you are going to be Laura’s teacher. During this activity the children asked before the lesson should also act in role as their characters. Ask another adult to scribe the suggestions made by the children.
In small groups (2, 3, 4) children act out things that they could do to make Laura feel safe and happy.
Finishing Game
Allow children to choose.
Lesson 5:
Greetings with compliments
Penguins
The Story
Finish reading the story to the class except for the last paragraph. Explain that today we are going to create a photo story, telling the story of Laura, to go with the words. Ask for children to be each character. Work together as a class to set up each still image. Take a photo of each ‘scene’ when all the children are happy with the still image.
Read the last paragraph to the class. In threes, where one is Alex and the others are themselves, can they improvise what they would do? If necessary share some of these with the class.
Circle Time
Discuss some of the questions suggested on p. 9 of the ‘Say No to Bullying Y5/6’ booklet.
Finishing Game
Children’s Choice
HIAS Healthy schools website: SEALs Bullying by Janna Neame – Cherrywood Primary School 7
The Story
Lesson 1:
Imagine a school rather like this one. Imagine it has a playground where the children are chasing and running around laughing. Try and see it in your mind. It looks like a really good place to be.
But now imagine that you can see a child who is not laughing and playing with the others in the playground. Imagine that child is called Laura. Laura is standing be herself close to the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible, trying to be invisible.
Lesson 2:
But it’s no use. They have seen her. Natasha and her friends move slowly and deliberately towards her. When they are close, but not too close, they start. They say things about Laura, about her clothes and her hair, about her mum and her home. “We’d better not get too near to her,” says Natasha. “We might catch something.” Natasha does most of the talking. The others just copy her, or giggle and pretend to hold their noses. Laura pushes herself back against the wall. She tries not to listen, but she’s heard it all a hundred times before. It’s not just in the playground that they do it to her. They whisper and sneer about her in class. They move away if they have to stand or sit by her. Sometimes they just look at her and she knows what they are thinking. They make her feel ashamed. The bell goes. Natasha and the others saunter into the classroom. Laura follows miserably behind.
Lesson 4:
For days and weeks, even months, Laura does not tell anybody what Natasha and her friends are doing. She is too frightened to tell. She thinks that it will only make things worse. Sometimes she thinks it must be her own fault.
Lesson 5:
Imagine it is now two months later in that same school playground. Imagine that most of the children are running around happily. Imagine that you see Laura laughing as she plays with the children who used to be unkind to her. Imagine Natasha coming up to Laura. “Do you want to play?” says Natasha. “No thanks,” says Laura. “I’m fine.”
But over in the corner of the playground, imagine a boy is standing, angrily rubbing tears away with his hand. This is Alex. Alex does not want to go into the class where Farook and Matt are. He’s seen enough of them for one day. He’s seen enough of them forever. Every day he tries to hide but Matt and Farook always find him. Often they hurt him. Usually they take his tuck money. Today they wiped their muddy feet on his trousers.
Imagine that you are in that playground and you see what is going on. What are you going to do?
HIAS Healthy schools website: SEALs Bullying by Janna Neame – Cherrywood Primary School 7