Story Making. An introduction to creative story making.
.Lives immersed in story:
The Cultural World of the Pupils as a Resource.
This is the first in a series of lessons in story making designed by playwright Jack Healy based on his general experience of developing scripts and especially on his experience of working in the classroom.
Central to this first lesson is a bid to get the pupils and the teacher to identify, quantify and acknowledge what the pupils already know and to empower the pupil through a recognition and acknowledgement of this expertise.
The objectives of this lesson are:
To get the pupils to identify the extent to which ‘story’ plays a part in daily life.
To detail the different ways in which they ‘get’ story every day.
In connection with this to identify and list favourite stories and story sources.
For the teacher: to familiarise him/herself with the cultural world of the child.
The pupil as expert: To empower the pupil by pointing out the extent to which he/she is an expert with respect to his/her own cultural world.
Discussion: Every body needs a little bit of ‘story’ every day!!!
QUESTION: Who do we think of as needing a story every day?
ANSWER; Small children
QUESTION: Where do small children get their stories from?
ANSWER: Big people, (parents or brothers and sister etc) will tell them, or read them, stories.
Promote the idea that everyone, from the smallest child, to the oldest person needs a bit of story every day.
DISCUSSION: Where do you get your daily supply of story from?
ASK THE QUESTION: On a day to day basis where do you get your daily supply of “story” from? You get your food from the field, or the canteen or the supermarket, or the fridge or from your mum or dad or other adults in your life, so where do you get your “story” from?
“From your mind” or “from your experience” are also common answers. It may be necessary to clarify the question. When we ask; where do you get your stories from, what we mean is; through what medium do you get your ‘story’. A story is not a story until it is mediated in some way. What are the different ‘media’?
You can have an experience, it doesn’t become a story unless you mediate or ‘tell’ it in some way.
“From Books” is an obvious answer. Films and TV etc may not readily come to mind.
If the pupils are still somewhat vague as to where they get their daily supply of ‘story’ from, the following questions are useful for clarification.
“Hands up who watches the Simpsons? Malcolm in the Middle? Etc. Ask the pupils what other programmes they watch on TV. Make a list.
“Hands up who has seen Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Pirates of the Caribbean. Toy Story. Toy Story 2. Monsters Inc. Home Alone etc.
Check favourite films and films that they have seen recently and again make a list.
Discussion: Do the adults that you know need story, and if so, where do they get their ‘story’ from?
QUESTION: Where do the older people that you know, (mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers sisters etc ) get their ‘story’ from every day?
ANSWER: The news, news papers, gossip, talk. Also books Films TV etc. Sport.
A full list of story sources could include:
Talk, gossip etc.
Books, magazines, newspapers etc.
Film
TV, DVD etc.
Theatre – plays, pantomimes, puppet shows etc.
Computer Games, playstation etc.
Sport as a source of story (See Below)
Dreams (See Below)
Myths/Legends
The Internet, the phone, etc. (Beebo etc)
Comics
Animated films
Tapestries and old cave drawings
DISCUSSION; Use any of these categories as a basis for discussion.
The connection between story and sport.
A huge number of stories, especially films for children have a competitive element in them. Many will actually be about a sport or game of some kind.
QUESTION: Can you name any films that involve a sport or game?
ANSWER: The Mighty Ducks. The Waterboy. Any Given Sunday. Man About Dog. Babe The Sheep Pig. Cool Runnings. Rocky (1, 2, 3) Rocky Balboa. Blades of Glory. Bend it like Beckham. Sea Biscuit. Happy Gilmore. Etc.
Even stories that on the face of it are not about a sport often have a competitive element in them. Look at Cuchulainn, Cinderella, Harry Potter. Shrek, High School Musical.
QUESTION: Would you ever watch a romantic film?
ANSWER; This usually meets with a ‘no’.
Mention Shrek as a romantic film that most of the pupils will have seen. Point out that many romantic films have a competitive element in them. The story of the film is often about one person ‘winning’ another persons love, often against an opponent.
Short Harry Potter Quiz. (Pertaining to the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)
QUESTION. The first Harry Potter Film has at least three different types of game, competition or sport in it. Can you name any of them.
ANSWER. Quiditch. Wizard Chess (especially Ron’s game at the end.) The House Cup.
QUESTION. Who wins The House Cup?
ANSWER. Gryffindor.
QUESTION. By how much do they win?
ANSWER. Ten Points.
QUESTION. Who gets them the ten points and why?
ANSWER. Neville Longbottom, for standing up to his friends.
ANY GAME IS LIKE A STORY UNFOLDING. YOU WATCH BECAUSE YOU IDENTIFY WITH ONE TEAM OR PLAYER AND YOU WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE END.
DISCUSS: Recent sporting events. Also, ‘the computer game’ as a kind of story. Talk about stories that are also available as a computer game. Eg. Harry Potter.
The Dream as a Kind of Story:
This is a beginning point for the next lesson but-
Do a quick check as to any of the pupils who can remember a dream of any kind.
DISCUSSION: Is the dream a story?
Some children may be anxious to tell dreams. Perhaps hear one or two, but keep the bulk of them for the next session. (Note 4, on the telling of dreams)
Exercise;
Write a short account of a film, book or other story that you like, giving as much detail as possible.
Note 1: Children as experts!
Check how many times children in your class have seen the first Shrek film or the first Home Alone film.
A useful consequence of this kind of exploration is a realisation that the children are experts in all forms of popular culture that are appropriate to them (and quite a bit that is not!) It can be beneficial to explore and detail this. It can often bring out an enthusiasm in a pupil who may be ambivalent in other areas of classroom pursuit. (For short quizzes on Home Alone and The Simpsons go to www.theatremakers.net/Categories/Education.
Note 2. Give all media equal validity.
With regard to film and TV etc promote the idea that these also are valid sources of story.
Try to avoid privileging one source of story over another. It is not uncommon for children to believe that a story must by necessity come from a book and that, in this regard, books are better than films etc.
Note 3. Spelling and Punctuation:
When doing story work, it is important not to place too much emphasis on spelling, punctuation etc. Also, encourage pupils to consider other ways of detailing a story such as drawing or literally ‘telling’.
Note 4. A note about dream sharing:
When someone shares a dream, they are putting a private experience into the public arena. If you are facilitating this process, it is important to let those who are offering dreams know that the choice is entirely theirs. Also, with pupils in a class, they will often have dreams about one another. It is important to be vigilant about the offering of dream content that might be a source of discomfort to another class member. With regard to dreams the pupils have had about one another, encourage them to be sensitive to the other class members in the telling of these dreams.
Useful websites for film and other information.
http://www.filmsite.org/100kidsfilms.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_children’s_films
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/10/29/bftop29.xml
http://www.filmaffinity.com/en/listtopmovies.php?list_id=510
http://www.spout.com/films/28608/ViewFilmList.aspx