Bonfire Night

[Steve]

Hi -

Just to let you know that we have a seasonally appropriate article available from JacquieL which you can find here.

 

This comes from Jacquie's long background in "Learning through Imagined Experience" and makes very enjoyable reading!

[Marion]

Thanks for pointing it out Steve

[Guest]

Very interesting! I will use some of those ideas after half-term with my class.

[Guest]

Thanks Jackie, I am certainly inspired, I could actually feel the warmth of the bonfire as I joined your class in the hall

Just a quick question, would you do this activity before or after the children had possibly experienced the 'real' event? I wonder if the responses to the 'drama' would differ comparing before and after an actual bonfire night experience.

If done before then the imagination would come from memory or individual interpretation of the lead or following others whereas after experiencing the context of the event the responses may become either more 'specific' or include other peoples roles experienced ie: a parent holding hands tightly, more from a looking on perspective than getting completely involved in the 'safety' of a completely imaginary situation where they can explore ideas deeper, ie: look right into the bonfire, become a firework etc.

 

Thanks again for a well written peice which shows the experience from the childs perspective.

 

Peggy

[JacquieL]

I have done it both ways Peggy but usually do this just before Bonfire Night or even on the day itself. It is quite a leap of imagination for children to remember from one year to the next, but we do put up pictures and books about celebrations some time before this, and will have spoken about them. They do need some prior learning. On the other hand children engage with the experience at their own level and they are 'going out' and building a fire etc. I keep them in role as themselves. We have also done the 'Let's Move' (old fashioned perhaps) programme on fireworks in the past which is actually very good, with lovely music, and that gives them more experience of being different types of fireworks. Doing it afterwards gets a more immediate response and better descriptive language. What is so good about is that we can take an idea and it grows and changes to suit.

I don't actually do my dramas in isolation but it would end up being a magnum opus if I were to explain how how I feed one theme into another.

[Guest]

That's what I liked about your article, it doesn't matter what contextual experience I child has had to be able to enjoy and participate in drama, it is from the child, subtley supported by the adult.

It seems to me to be a very inclusive activity which enables participation from everyone at every level, including the childrens diverse personalities and prefered learning styles.

 

Peggy

[hali]

excellent article definatly some food for thought there

[Andreamay]

we do this jacqui the children love it sometimes the staff struggle to let go tho but they are getting better

other favourites are the snowman drama,our trip to the seaside on a train,and a magical journey on our flying carpet.

[JacquieL]

Do I know you andreamay? - just asking as I do a Snowman drama which I have done for INSET for practitioners and for the litereacy training. I used to work in Cheshire and was a memebr of CADE

[Guest]

Great article Jacquie, really inspiring.

[Andreamay]

hiya jacqui

You may know me but i havent attended any drama courses apart form one many years back but it didnt have anything like we discussed in it!

I do these things as part of our curriculum and it has basically stemmed from working and observing children for many years!

I used term 'drama' because you did but i am really interested in what you do and it made me feel quite proud that we do it in our pre-school thank you

I have sent you a pm

[JacquieL]

I am so glad that you use this way of working. I know there are some practitioners out there who do, but I would like to see many many more, as it is so exciting and the children, and staff, get such a lot from it. It is such fun- sometimes it goes pear-shaped, but we just laugh, pick ourselves up and move on. I also find that the relationship with the children seems to change for the better. Perhaps because we are really playing with them,and relax and have a laugh. I am hoping that Steve will be happy for me to do one or two more of these in the future if people find them useful. I think once people have had a go then they soon take off and do their own thing. Wonderful.

 

thanks for the pm i've replied.

[Susan]

Id really like to feel confident to do this sort of thing as you describe. More please!!

[Guest]

Thanks Jacquie

I feel inspired and ready to go