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Table of Contents Resource Guide: Primary 3-6 Programme Artistic Director: Peter Stephenson Jones (Dip. Ed) Executive Director: Willem P. E. Tetro (BA) The Flying Bookworm Theatre Company PO Box 1124G, Balwyn North Vic 3104. Phone: 9816-4129; Fax: 9857-6437 www.flyingbookworm.com.au [email protected] Registered Proprietor: Woodstock Coal P/L (ABN 65 005 514 947) © Copyright 2000 Revised and updated 2007 © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. © COPY RIGHT NOTICE ..........................................................................................ii IMPORTANT NOTE ..................................................................................................ii COPYRIGHT NOTICE...............................................................................................ii Artistic Director & Executive Director....................................................................ii Introduction .............................................................................................................1 About this kit............................................................................................................1 But the story changed .............................................................................................2 Tips on drama in the class room............................................................................2 Fun with Books........................................................................................................3 Primary 3-6 Programme ..........................................................................................3 The Man from Ironbark ....................................................................................4 The Geebung Polo Club...................................................................................4 When Dacey Rode the Mule.............................................................................4 Bush Christening .............................................................................................4 How McDougal Topped the Score ..................................................................5 Can I Have A Word? .........................................................................................5 Grades 5 & 6 Bully Program ............................................................................6 No, we are NOT a puppet show ..............................................................................6 The Bookworm Style ...............................................................................................6 It looks fast ..............................................................................................................6 We don’t mean to rush ............................................................................................6 Your feedback ..........................................................................................................7 Is There a Decline in Educational Theatre .............................................................7 Why are the Bookworms so cheap ........................................................................7 Our Actors ................................................................................................................7 Discounts .................................................................................................................7 When you grow up ..................................................................................................8 We're All Going to a Fabulous place......................................................................8 The Fabulous Place .................................................................................................8 Let’s Make a Bookworm..........................................................................................8 The Great Fashion Parade ......................................................................................8 The Memory Game ..................................................................................................9 Let’s make a Fairy Garden ......................................................................................9 Touching ..................................................................................................................9 Book-Week Ideas ...................................................................................................10 General Activities ..................................................................................................10 Teacher Workshop ................................................................................................10 Actors’ Showcase..................................................................................................11 Balloon Graphic .....................................................................................................12 Let’s make a bookmark .........................................................................................12 Flying Bookworm Graphic ....................................................................................13 i Published by the Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. PO Box 1124G, Balwyn North Vic 3104 Australia 3068 © First Published in Australia, 2003 Revised and reprinted 2005 Revised and web published 2007 This publication may be used and copied by a qualified teacher for use within the class room of a school only for the specific purpose of aiding instruction. Notwithstanding the above this publication is supplied with the express condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Important Note: Stories included in this guide have at one time or another been part of our presentations over the years. They are included for the sake of completeness only. Therefore, inclusion of any particular story in this guide does NOT signify that any particular story is included in our current presentations, and any inclusion is at the sole discretion of the Artistic Director of the Flying Bookworm Theatre Co., and will depend on artistic judgements and time constraints. This resource guide is only intended as a post-show activity guide and may only be used by those schools who have actually booked one of our productions. Portions of this guide may be photo copied for classroom use purposes only. Use for any other purpose is prohibited. If you intend to use this kit for any other purpose than that intended please write to us for permission specifying your intended purpose. © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. Copyright Notice We hope you can understand that to an actor their image is everything. This company will therefore not allow an actors’ image to be recorded unless it’s done under a strictly controlled studio environment. A badly recorded image can haunt an actor for years to come and could be a source of much anxiety in the future. Similarly our shows are also copyrighted. We appeal to your sense of fairness and read this notice carefully and be on your guard of any illegal recording or photographing that might take place during a session at your school. We urge you therefore to read the following section carefully.` It is strictly prohibited that any actor, show, or portion of our shows be recorded by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic, digital, or any other means not mentioned or yet to be devised, without the express and written permission of The Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. Artistic Director… Peter Stephenson Jones is one of Melbourne’s leading drama teachers and an expert in children’s theatre. As artistic director of The Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. he has been responsible for the production of all our shows. His vast experience in theatre, first in performing and later in teaching and directing has been a mainstay of this companies’ success over the last twenty-eight years. Peter is passionate about educational theatre and continues to work tirelessly to improve the image and real influence of educational theatre in this country, especially amongst the various artistic communities in Australia. This company is privileged to have Peter at the helm of its shows and knows it can rely unconditionally on the delivery of quality productions each year. Executive Director Willem Tetro has been the executive director of the company since 1997 when he replaced long time director Norman Hancock upon his retirement. Willem gained his BA in 1994 at La-Trobe University as a mature aged student. Willem immigrated to Australia in 1970 from the Netherlands and after a successful career in various businesses including his own he was persuaded in 1997 to step into the role of executive director of Bookworm. His interests are varied but are probably summed up by his commitment to children’s theatre and a special interest in science literature and computing. He updated the company’s financial and booking system and oversaw the introduction of the GST. His goal is to at least make the company self-sufficient and to further expand the scope of the company. The Flying Bookworm has been fortunate to obtain the dedication and experience of Willem. ii Introduction… The Flying Bookworm celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1999 and is immensely grateful to its many loyal clients for the support that has been extended to us over all those years. The going has been rough at times and while we were very close to closing down a few years ago the support and loyalty from our clients has enabled us to continue, with difficulty at times, in the sure knowledge that the experience we bring to many children has been and continues to be valued highly by the children of course, but also by their parents, teachers, and other people involved. Without the loyalty and support of the many former actors and other supporters of the company over the years, many of whom continued to work for us in difficult times and despite the fact that rewards were non-existent, this company would have closed down many years ago. It is to those wonderful former actors, and other supporters who provided their labour and creative input virtually free of charge we would like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU! It is a testament to their commitment and loyalty that the Flying Bookworm is today emerging as a major Theatre in Education Company in this country. I have prepared this kit both as a thank you and because I felt that many educators/teachers would find something of value in this and to assist them in their already difficult task in teaching and taking care of our youngest generation. I have included a summary of many stories we have performed over the years and some selected activities which can be altered to suit the individual circumstances of different schools. The stories included in this kit are not necessarily on our current program but have been included for historical accuracy sake. Most stories can be found on the internet, just type in the title in your search engine. I am firmly convinced that with your support we can continue to provide our wonderful programme to new generations of children every year. By supporting our company you are helping to maintain a company dedicated to children’s theatre. The Flying Bookworm is an Australian owned company employing Australian actors, writers, directors, admin staff, and designers. It is with the greatest pleasure and gratitude that I dedicate this kit to the many teachers who have supported children’s drama and theatre and in particular this company over many years…THANK YOU! About this kit… This kit is designed to give you, the teacher, a few follow up activities and story summaries you can use within your own teaching structure after we have visited your school. You will probably have many activities of your own and we would be delighted if you could let us know of any you would like to share with us. Our Artistic Director Peter Stephenson Jones worked for many years in children’s theatre both as an actor and as a specialist in child drama. He was one of the few full time drama teachers in Victoria and has often conducted workshops for teachers. In this kit we may refer to stories which at one time or another have been part of our programme but not necessarily our current programme. We often introduce new stories into our programme and/or reprise stories we’ve performed in the past. We are constantly listening to your ideas and suggestions. Teachers often request we bring a particular favourite back and if enough requests are received we may do so provided it fits within our current view of our programme. Willem Tetro Executive Director © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 1 But the story changed… It is not unusual for children to give us unexpected responses and while we try to get the story back to its original format we also aim to respect the imagination of the children. The unexpected is respected! For instance, Hans and Helga might not appear in the original version of the Billy Goats Gruff but these characters make it possible to prevent the troll from being too scary for little children. Sometimes children can take the story into new directions with new original characters. We once had two billy goats and a dinosaur crossing the bridge…! also find lots of bumping. Who can move around without bumping? Great. Praise! Another strategy is to get children practice being dodgem cars. Many drama tutors in teachers colleges are out of touch saying there should be no rules in drama. Nonsense! These tutors often sent teachers crazy, because drama lessons ended up in chaos and the poor teachers were in despair. Children do not object to simple, logical rules! Whenever I say this at workshops I conduct for teachers I hear a loud sigh of relief from teachers. You have rights! Shy children… ¾ In the early stages avoid the audience factor. Have total participation. In other words let’s all do it together. Eventually you will find the children grow in confidence. Give easy work to the shy child and give plenty of praise. Drama is a wonderful way of building the self-esteem of some of the academically slow children. Avoid competition and sense of failing. The dress-up box… ¾ This is a great aid to drama. Parents are a great help. Not just old clothes but fabric as well. A prop box is great too. Make sure that all material and clothes are washed and clean. Tips on drama in the class room… Have rules… ¾ In the early days practice a few limitation exercises. Have a drum and stress that if there is one loud beat of the drum you must all stand very still and quietly. ‘Let’s walk around the room.’ One beat. ‘Look how still Tom is.’ The rest will get the point. Many drama classes end in chaos because these simple limitation exercises are not carried out. Remember you have rights as a teacher. Do not accept bad behaviour. When you beat the drum and ask children to stand still you’ll find lots of falling down when you say stand still. Rather than being negative say ‘look Tim was able to stand still without falling over’. Praise good behaviour. You will © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. The show off… ¾ Be very careful. Don’t judge the world of child drama by your standards. Children find some things very funny that we as adults do not always agree with. This is why some of the humour in our shows eludes adults. The children may laugh but adults think it is silly. Try not to discourage it too much and try to steer children to more interesting choices. There is no way of avoiding value judgements. I find that if I let children use their ideas they will follow mine as well. Never accept violence though or bad language. Drama is not a free time to work out aggression. There is a difference between the show-off and the confident child. I believe if you show little reaction it is better than showing displeasure. It’s an issue you will have to decide on. Above all be very careful you do not destroy confidence. Let yourself have fun… ¾ I think this is most important of all. Be prepared to a bit silly. For some teachers this is very hard. Look at these important words… ‘Thou shalt not be afraid to be corny!’…In any decent drama school this is the first rule of comedy taught to students. There might be popular sophisticated comedy but the most universal and most loved is the art of corn! All great comedy is corny be it Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Basil Faulty, Robin 2 Williams and I am sure you can think of many more. Watch our Bookworm actors. Grown men in drag, women playing dogs or pigs; it’s all about letting yourself play. Our artistic director spends a lot of time training serious actors to do this. If you don’t have a lot of confidence, remember we are not all the same. Be yourself, have fun. It is best to just have the children in the room with you and no cynical adults. Often after a visit from the Bookworms children are already motivated and ready to go! We motivate the children and apparently many teachers as well! (By the way you can organise a workshop with us for teachers) Fun with books 1. Ask a pupil to read a story to the class using different voices for the various characters, it doesn’t matter if they pretend to read 2. Name five places you can find books. eg. library 3. Pretend that you have your own library. What are your rules? Pretend games are fun. One child can be the librarian and the others borrow books. Make your own library cards with the children 4. Get a collection of books and set a group task by getting children to categorise the books. Put them in different piles and find out what the children thought the links were. Eg. Books about fairies together, books by a certain author together Upper Primary & Aussie Literature Program… Each year we present an Australian literature program using some of the poems below. Here are a few activities you may want to try in your Australiana work. Make a list of the differences between life in the bush and life in the city. Wear some bush gear to school and why not see if you can learn some bush songs and dances. A walk in the bush. Listen to the sounds of the birds, the breeze in the trees and smell the fresh air. Try to make some damper! Damper Ingredients: 8 cups of flour 2 level tsp cream of tartar 2 level tsp bicarbonate soda Mix all ingredients then slowly add enough cold water to make a firm dough. Grease a tin and let dough stand for ten minutes before putting on the camp fire (you can use a hot oven). It takes about 35 minutes but check it. Serve hot with jam or as the bushies had it with treacle. Try some Billy tea with it. When the water has boiled add tea according to taste. Mostly one teaspoon per person and one for the Billy. Stir it with the stick of a gum tree. Some bush men added some eucalyptus leaves. Let it brew and add sugar. Strictly NO MILK! What rations should you take with you into the bush? In the old days? what about today? 5. Let’s cover a damaged book in a nice new cover to protect them 6. If you were on a desert island what five books would you take with you 7. See if you can make your own mini book 8. Let’s look at family photo albums! 9. Let’s make our own grade magazine. This is great because it can cater for varied interests. A girl or boy might have their own fashion, sports, movie or cooking section! 10. Pretend pupils are famous authors and other pupils interview them © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 3 The Man from Ironbark The Geebung Polo Club This is a very famous poem by Banjo Patterson about a man from the bush who comes to the city and decides to have a shave. A sneaky barber plays a trick on him and makes the man think his throat has been cut. As one student reads the poem get some students to perform the actions. In those days men shaved very differently than they do now. Describe a cut throat razor. How do men shave today? Pretend to go to a barber and with a partner ask for a hair cut and a shave. What is a strike your fancy sash? This has been a perennial favourite of the Flying Bookworms and it is a satire about a game of polo between a country team and a city team. Explain the rules of polo and try your own slow motion version of the game. Banjo often made fun of city people. Why? What does nationalism mean? Are there other kinds of polo? Where is Geebung? Why are the snobby team called the cuff and collar team? Have you ever met a real bush character? As a drama game commentate your own imaginary game of polo. What does it mean when the poet says “They had a mighty lot of dash” How important was the local pub to the community? When Dacey Rode the Mule The circus comes to town and Dacey has a terrible trick played on him by a clown. Have your own circus parade. There are probably lots of things you can use from the dress up box. Also why not have your own circus. Do some research about Australia’s circus history? What was the joke that the clown played on Dacey? What was a crown in old currency? Patterson makes fun of politicians. Do you know any modern comedians who do this? What is a mule? Bush Christening What does repartee mean? Give an example of repartee. “He laid the odds and kept the tote”. What does that mean? What is a bookie? What is an SP bookie? Who were the gilded youths? Explain the trick the barber tried on the man? What is a peeler man? Do you think it was a nasty trick to play on the man? Has anyone ever played a trick on you? Let’s make our own barbers red and white pole. These poles were red and white. Why? This is a wonderful classic poem about a bush christening that goes terribly wrong! What is a christening? How did he come to be christened Mc Ginnis? “Spalpeen a prod”.. What does that mean? Make a list of some of the words in the poem that are not used much any more. Can you think of any bush characters like the ones in the poem? Where do you think the outer Barcoo is? What is the big joke in this famous poem? Why do people find the poem very funny? Write your own version of the story. What does the following verse mean? He was none of your dolts – he had seen them and colts, © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 4 And it seemed to his small understanding, If the man in the frock made him one of the flock It must be something very like branding. Try writing it your own words. How McDougal Topped the Score A funny poem about a game of cricket involving a dog who changes the whole course of the game. Lets have a game of cricket but pretend we are the two teams in the poem? When Mrs Mac played what was used for a bat? What does won the toss mean? What are heads and tails? A single-innings match for lunch-the losing team to pay. What does this mean? Lets all try speaking with a Scottish accent. How can we learn to do accents? Try listening to some accents. Draw up your own plan of a cricket field. Explain to some one who does not understand cricket how to play. What does bite the dust mean? How exactly did McDougal top the score? Pincher is a very important character in the poem. Why? Have you a pet that does funny things. Tell us about it. Lewis Carroll’s poem Jabberwocky is a wonderful poem full of nonsense words. Read the poem to the children or let them read it. As it is read improvise the story. Children may write their own nonsense poem. What is a synonym? Can you list examples? A very popular section of our show is the traditional spelling Bee. Our spelling Bee is conducted by a very funny professor. Perhaps you might like to have your own spelling bee. SUGGESTED WORDS FOR SPELLING BEE Rooster Plague Yield Weird Irresistible Accommodate Harass Incredible Judgement Privilege Separate Accidentally Despair Existence Dictionary Suicide Business Explanation Pernicious Groceries Difficulties Theatrical University Playfully Bachelor Terrifically Professor Pursue Alphabetical Encyclopaedia Terrorism Ancient Can I Have a Word? This exciting show covers several approaches reinforcing a love of words and language. The performance adheres to VELS. ‘This dimension refers to the various formal and informal ways oral language is used to convey and receive meaning. It involves the development and demonstration of knowledge about the appropriate oral language for particular audiences and occasions, including body language and voice. It also involves the development of active-listening strategies and an understanding of the conventions of different spoken texts including everyday communication, group discussion, formal presentations and speeches, storytelling and negotiating.’ VELS Apart from VELS we do have a section of the program devoted to Shakespeare. The company and teachers who book the show are amazed at the response of students to this simple introduction to Shakespeare. Many shows simply do not stretch the children and teachers have widely praised this component of the show. © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 5 ‘Bully’… For Student Welfare Organisers ‘Bully’ is a series of sketches examining the issue of bullying in schools, the workforce, and the effects of bullying on the victims and society as a whole. The production presents various scenarios of bullying, including inter-gender bullying. The production aims to personalise bullying behaviour, ie. relate bullying directly to the audience’s own experiences and to make the scenes relevant to the target age groups of grades 5 & 6 of primary school. While the presentation is nonconfrontational it nonetheless offers realistic scenarios and potential resolution tips for the target age groups. You can book this critically acclaimed production by ringing our office. teachers can use similar ideas in the classroom. In other words while our costumes often look simple they are not simple in design and intent. The Bookworm Style… The Bookworm style is based on acting styles and performance ethics relevant to children. Our acting is at times a lot bigger, almost vaudevillian, than television or other theatre, and at other times a little more understated, and to some adults our presentation may look ‘over the top’. But then the show is not designed for adults but for children! Many experts now agree that a great deal of children’s theatre is geared to and designed to be more interesting to the adults in an audience than it is to the children for whom it is meant. Many child drama experts, and Bookworm concurs, caution adults about falling into the trap of judging and evaluating children’s theatre through the eyes of a vastly more sophisticated adult. It looks fast… No, we are NOT a puppet show…! As many of you already know we are neither a puppet show; a magic show; nor traditional clowns. We are a Theatre in Education Company (T.I.E.) presenting theatre to children through participation. A child drama specialist and a team of experienced performers make up the artistic component of the company. In addition the company is headed by an experienced executive manager for the day to day running of the company. Our long standing philosophy is to use simple, basic props and costumes which are not intimidating to children. It also demonstrates that you do not need an enormous amount of scenery to make theatre happen. Although experienced designers make our costumes they are made in such a way that children and © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. To understand the Bookworm style of performing you need to see the show through the eyes of the child. We believe that a great deal of educational theatre in Australia is out of touch. Modern research tells us that children react best and love a show that has pace and energy. As in every type of show there are parts of our shows that are slower than other parts. Because of varying differences of pace in a show the unsuspecting adult might think that in some parts the shows almost looked rushed. Not so! Our shows are the result of cognitive and psychological research, which strongly indicates that children have a very different attention span than adults. Remember the shows are geared to children and not to adults! Our artistic director has observed an enormous amount of ‘children’s’ theatre over many years, which dragged on for an hour or more with children inevitably becoming bored and losing interest. We believe it is best to let children wanting more rather than ‘we’ve had enough’! So if you think our shows look a bit faster than you might have expected it’s because we have studied and incorporated the latest concepts of children’s theatre very carefully in our presentations. We don’t mean to rush… You might think WOW they can’t wait to leave. Far from it! We believe performing to children is a pleasure and a great honour. But we are the Flying Bookworms and must fly away to our next eager audience. The Flying Bookworm has for many years now been a very popular company and because of the demand for our shows (we don’t like to disappoint anyone) we need to fit in 6 as many shows as we can. But we are also very concerned about the safety of our actors. We do not want our actors to place themselves in danger and speed to their next location. So after the show our actors must pack up, say a friendly good bye and travel to their next show. If we could we would love to stay longer but there are other schools waiting! In addition many schools need to fit us into their schedules and/or use another location with limited availability which is placed in jeopardy when we’re late arriving. Your Feedback… Much of what you see in our shows is a result of the feedback and suggestions we have received from many teachers. The length of the show, performance style, simplicity of sets and costumes has come from discussions with teachers, psychologists, actors, parents, and of course children. We have learned so much from our public. But we never stop learning. Your suggestions and ideas as well as your encouragement are very important to us. There are many offerings out there but these are often solo performers, story tellers, or companies formed for a short term to give their members work while they waiting for their big break! Because many do not have the background and training to offer serious and relevant educational theatre we believe that all this adds up to a serious decline in the standards of children’s theatre. Children’s theatre IS the business of The Flying Bookworms. We don’t treat children’s theatre as just something to do before we break into adult theatre. Children’s theatre IS our big break, we’ve arrived! We believe in the philosophy of theatre for children and make it our business to present the best quality children’s theatre. Why are the Bookworms so cheap…? Because we are acutely aware of the limited funds available to many schools and parents we have for many years kept, and continue to keep, our prices as low as possible. Unlike other companies we have resisted for many years, and continue to do so, to add a surcharge to our country tours. The cost of our shows must cover remuneration, running costs, transport, and accommodation. In addition it must cover the cost of our statutory obligations that many solo performers or temp companies simply don’t comply with because they work in an unofficial, unregistered capacity. The Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. does not receive a penny in funding and it is only with the support of a very few generous sponsors that our company is able to continue providing our shows at the prices we do. Our Actors… While our props are simple our actor training is not. Our actors are thoroughly trained coming from schools such as VCA, NIDA, Actors Showcase and elsewhere. But it does not stop there. Bookworm actors constantly review their skills and use your feedbacks to develop their craft. We frequently conduct workshops for our actors; constantly improving their skills. Many teachers remark that our understanding of what children like is quite uncanny. This is probably because our presentations are a very carefully planned programme with constant reviews to devise a unique performance process. Running a team of actors is a very intensive (and expensive) operation. Even though our shows run for forty minutes apprx, our actors aim to arrive at a location (traffic permitting) half an hour before show time. Add to this the travelling from location to location and it is easy to see the demanding job of our actors. Is There a Decline in Educational Theatre…? © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. Discounts…? 7 In general our prices are set not only to enable us to recover cost but also to maximise participation by the largest number of schools. We believe our prices are not a barrier to most schools; indeed our research shows that most schools find the cost of our presentations to be eminently reasonable. Discounts will, in the end, only disadvantage other schools because we would somehow have to recover the lost revenue to maintain our break even point. Remember that this company for most of the time is on a knife edge. When prices no longer cover our costs we would have no choice but to close. We believe then, that the question that really needs to be asked is: ‘How does drama assist the development of our children and how will it affect their future development if we don’t do anything about it because we (or parents) think we can’t afford it? When you grow up… This is a game, which teaches children about jobs and occupations. It gives you a wonderful opportunity to do some follow up work using pictures and other teaching aids to learn about different jobs. We all say this together… ‘When you grow up, when you grow up What will you be when This simple game can lead to many you grow up?’ interesting discussions and to ‘Yes Tommy’ drama. It can be played often ‘An ambulance driver’ because children can always think of ‘That’s right. He drives sick new and interesting occupations. people to the hospital’ ‘All right what does an ambulance driver do?’ ‘Let’s all be ambulance drivers’ We’re all going to a fabulous place… Here’s a game that not only teaches about different kinds of transport but children often invent their own. We start by walking around the room. TEACHER (children can join in) We’re all going to a fabulous place, a fabulous place, a fabulous place. We’re all going to a fabulous place, but my feet are getting sore. How can we get there? CHILDREN Pick a child who has hand • By car up to give an answer. You TEACHER can also point to a child or Let’s drive our cars. All together: name a child. Were all going to a fabulous place, a © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. fabulous place, a fabulous place. We’re all going to a fabulous place but oh no. What’s happened to our car? CHILDREN • (Listen to interesting answers) Flat tyre, crash, broken down. TEACHER • Well how can we get there? CHILDREN • Helicopter TEACHER • All right, into our helicopters... ¾ The rhyme continues and each time our transport stops for some reason. You will find lots of interesting reasons from children. Ships sink; earwigs eat the flying carpet; lots of reasons. The modes of transport are great fun. Any idea is a good idea! Finish by saying WELL HERE WE ARE. Where is our fabulous place today? This can lead to many activities. Children might say the beach, the show, Moomba. Anything. The Fabulous Place… The fabulous place itself can be a great place for many interesting activities involving the whole class. If, for example, the children chose the beach you can all make sand castles, go swimming, get chased by a shark or go yachting? The possibilities are endless. Let’s Make a Bookworm… After your visit from the Flying Bookworm Theatre Company you can make your own Flying Bookworm. Collect several egg cartons and cut them in half. This can be the body of the bookworm. The head can be made using a couple of pipe cleaners. Children love painting the bookworm. The Great Fashion Parade… Make sure you have a box of dress ups. All the dress-ups must be washed and clean. The parents donate old clothes, material and hats etc. You never know you might find a future Yves Saint Laurent in this fun game. Children get dressed up using very creative fashion. You might like to show pictures of fashion to children. Demonstrate to the children how to use the catwalk. And as they parade their creations you start by commenting on the fashions. You can have funny fashions as well. TEACHER… “As you see John is wearing a lovely blue and red jacket with a pink scarf. Notice the wonderful shoe he is wearing on his head, which is 8 so much more attractive than always wearing it on your feet” As children get more confident, the fashions become more exotic and very soon the children themselves take it in turns to do the commentary. Mum and Dad could even be invited to watch a gala parade. The Memory Game… When the Flying Bookworm Theatre Company visited you today the actors had to remember lots of lines. Here are a couple of memory games you might like to try. The teacher puts 5 to 10 items on a table eg a lolly, crayon, watch, pencil, scissors, ribbon, sock, whistle, sticky tape roll, ball of wool. Let children have a good look. Now cover it with a tablecloth but make sure it is not see- through. As children name the objects take them out from under the sheet or tablecloth. Another great game is for children to sit in a circle. Each child thinks of something they like. First child says: My name is Jim and I like ice cream. Jim pretends to eat ice cream. Next child says His name is Jim and he likes ice cream. (Mimes eating ice cream) My name is Susan and I like horses. (She gets up and gallops). Next child. His name is Jim and he likes ice cream, her name is Susan and she likes horses (mimes action) my name is Billy and I like jumping (he jumps)…. And so on. If it is a young group you can stop half way and start again. Let’s make a Fairy Garden… Of course it would be wonderful to plant some flowers etc in a real garden and if you can it’s a great way to learn about plants in nature study, but let’s face it this is not always possible. Find a nice spot in the yard. Enclose the spot with some rocks, stones, anything. Our fairy garden does not have to last forever but you might find children often decorating the garden. Potted plants are fine. You can also simply put flowers in the earth. Little garden gnomes, fairies, ice cream containers filled with water with little toy boats or even match boxes can be used for fairies to play in. You can leave fairy bread out if you like for the fairies. The only limit is the imagination. Children come up with wonderful ideas. The fairy garden becomes a wonderful place and a great follow up when the bookworms visit your school. In some years we include a fairy story in our programme. The fairy garden can become a real focal point and a very special child only venue! Touching… These are great sense awareness activities. We will explore touch. Your activity is to make a feely box. Children can add objects to the box and it can become a lovely place to visit in free time. © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. Get large cardboard box. Put inside the box a series of interesting tactile items such as felt, fur, satin, balloon filled with water, sticky tape. Use your imagination. Now seal the box and cut a hole in the front. Children put hand 9 in the hole feel around and guess what’s in our FEELY BOX. Sit children in circle. Close eyes and pass interesting things around. Let them guess what it is. This is great fun. YUCKY FEELS. A bowl of wet cold spaghetti; tell the children it’s a bucket of worms, put your finger in the pirates eye but it’s really a lemon. See if you can think of more! Put your finger in a bowl of custard; its elephants poo. Book-Week Ideas… Of course in many primary schools no book week is complete without a visit from the Flying Bookworms. But you must book well in advance and as early in the year as possible because mostly our timeslots for book-week (late August) are filled by the end of term 1. Make sure your local library has booked the Bookworms. With the Bookworms, however, every week of the year is bookweek! Lots of children like a book-week dress up and while that’s a great idea don’t forget that some parents might not have the time or money to spend on elaborate costumes. The dress up box is just as much fun. Imagine that the characters from the book popped out and came to life. Where could you go together for tea? General Activities… Sing the Bookworm song. It’s very easy and it’s sung to the tune of ‘Farmer in the Dell’. We’re going to Bookworm Land; We’re going to Bookworm Land. To read some picture story books. We’re going to Bookworm Land. Let’s all make our own picture storybook. Design your own poster advertising the Flying Bookworms or think of your own theatre company name. Look at our poster. Let your grade or class write a letter to the Bookworms. You must enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Please just one letter from class because we are a small company, but we will write back to your grade. The quick thinking story. Sit in a circle. You start… ¾ Once there lived a little old lady and she lived in a (children respond pumpkin, house, you choose the most interesting answer) pumpkin and she walked along a (bridge, roof, street) roof, because she loved walking on the roof, etc. Its great fun for you too and children start to give wonderfully quick creative responses the more they play. Soon children can be the storytellers. Some ideas for book-week… What is your favourite book? Did you agree with the judge’s choice? Why or why not? Is there a book you think should be nominated? Let’s have our own class book-week… Children can write their own books. It’s best if each child wins a prize or medal, some examples: Best book with aeroplanes pictures Best picture book using the colour blue Funniest book Teacher Workshop:… The Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. also provides an in-service ‘Teacher Only’ workshop program. This is great opportunity for continuing professional teacher development, and keeping up to date with the latest techniques for drama in the classroom. Melbourne Metro Area Only. Contact our Artistic Director for more details. The sky is the limit and it’s great fun. Be careful that you treat the awards seriously as children are very proud of awards. Decorate a reading environment. (Find a quiet corner of the room and let the children create a reading area) Do a puppet show about a book. (If children don’t have puppets you can make them or use cuddly toys) Make Happy Book-Week Cards Ask mum and dad to name their favourite books when they were kids. Write a class letter to our bookworm actors © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 10 Actors’ Showcase Director: Peter Stephenson Jones PO Box 1124G Balwyn North Vic 3104 Phone: 9857-6435 Fax: 9857-6437 _________________________________________________________________________ The Actors’ Showcase offers a thorough and disciplined introductory course of acting training for the committed aspiring actor. The course is part-time of one year duration culminating in a gala graduation performance. The part-time nature of the course enables many to participate who would otherwise not able to enrol in a full day time course. Benefits for the serious acting student includes: ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ thorough grounding in acting techniques, stage craft, text work, rehearsal techniques, co-operative approaches to acting, ensemble work, and associated personal discipline principles ‘practical (do it!)’ training, of course we do not neglect the theoretical underpinning of our program receive training in a wide range of acting disciplines with a variety of experienced actors and teachers preparation and assistance for NIDA auditions improve audition techniques extend chances for successful auditions win that first interview widen professional & personal contacts to assist career negotiate with agents more effectively get to know who are the main agents in the industry Enrich your personal attributes with widely recognized acting skills The course is centrally located in Clifton Hill, Melbourne. Classes are usually Monday & Wednesday nights with Saturday workshops scheduled during the whole year of the course. Prices are reasonable and a payment plan is available if needed. Contact us on above address for our brochure and more information. © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 11 Balloon Graphic LIGHT BLUE RED Begin reading a new book today BLU Open a new page every YELLOW day GREEN Let’s make a bookmark Over the holidays, sit (Teachers may copy this) under a tree and read Colour the Flying Bookworm Graphic and decorate the book mark. Cut along the dotted lines. Paste our book mark onto cardboard and enjoy reading without losing your place! K eep your book free from dog ears, use our bookmark Why not read to a friend MATCHING COLOUR STRINGS You may photocopy this graphic for children to use as a colouring template. Organise a book club Reading is a great way to learn Make sure you join your local library © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 12 Flying Bookworm Graphic You are free to photocopy this graphic for your kids to use as a colouring template. © 2000 Flying Bookworm Theatre Co. 13
