OLYMPIC GOLD – TEACHERS' NOTES.
OLYMPIC GOLD
Olympic Gold is a celebration of the Olympic Games through the ages. In this show, we explore the origins of the Olympic Games and their symbols. We also introduce the children to Australian Olympic athletes of the past who became national heroes. All children are familiar with Olympic winners of the past few games, like Ian Thorpe, Grant Hacket and Cathy Freeman, but how many know about Dawn Fraser, Betty Cuthbert, Murray Rose or our Original Olympic hero, Teddy Flak.
As well as giving the history and rituals of the games, Olympic Gold also conveys the events and focuses on four stories. These stories are: The Myth of Pelops and the ancient Greek games, we then jump forward to 1896 and meet Coubertin and find out how the modern Olympics started. We then meet Teddy Flak, Australia’s first Olympic athlete who ran in the first modern Olympics and won two gold medals. He became known as the Lion of Athens. Finally we finish on the Melbourne 1956 Games and focus on the story of Betty Cuthbert’s rise to fame; the girl who became known as Australia’s golden girl.
The show incorporates comedy, slap stick, mime, physical theatre, sound effects and storytelling. The show also emphasises the philosophy of the Olympics – the whole world coming together as one to celebrate athletic events.
THE STORY OF PELOPS AND THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES
The Ancient Olympic Games were originally held in 776 BC and included events such as chariot racing, wrestling, discus javelin and athletics. After the success of the first Olympics, they were held every four years on the plains of Olympia as they were the biggest flat open space and were most suitable to hold the events and large crowds.
The games were an important part of Greek culture and religion. A statue of Zeus (the father of all Greek gods) was placed in Olympia and Athletes would have to pray in front of it before competing in the events. They would then have to swear an oath before the ten organisers of the games that they had been training for the previous ten months. After these two rituals were performed, they would then be allowed to compete in the events.
The games were also a fair ground with entertainers, horse traders and market stalls. During this time, only men were allowed to compete in the events. The winners of the games were greatly admired and were celebrated by having statues made of them and poems written about them. Each winner would be presented with a crown of Olive leaves. This symbolised peace and hope.
The games continued to be held for 1,000 years until 335 AD when Rome took over Greece and the Emperor Theodosius 1st outlawed them.
There are many stories about the origin of the Olympic Games. Some believed that they were invented by the great Greek hero, Hercules; who is known for fighting lions, performing the twelves labours and helping to conquer Troy. The most famous myth about the origin of the Olympic Games is about King Oenimaus and his beautiful daughter Hippodamia.
King Oenimaus was very possessive of his daughter and wouldn’t let her marry. He was also very greedy and knew that if she got married, he would have to share his wealth and half his kingdom with her husband. Hippodamia had many suitors who would come to the palace asking for her hand in marriage. All of them were challenged to a chariot race by King Oenimaus. This was a test of their strength and endurance; if they won the race, they would win Hippodamias hand in marriage. However if they lost, they were banished from the kingdom and never allowed to return again. What they didn’t know was King Oenimaus had magical horses that were given to him by the Greek god Ares and were the fastest in the land. It was impossible for anyone to beat him in the race. Twelve suitors took part in this race and all twelve failed.
Until Pelops came to the kingdom. Pelops also had magical horses that were given to him by the god Poseidon and was confident that he would win. Hippodamia warned him about her father but Pelops was determined to compete. Just to make sure that her father didn’t win again, Hippodamia asked the stable boy to take out the pins that held the axle to the wheels and replace them with pins of wax. This would mean that if King Oenimaus got to a certain speed the wax pins would melt, causing the wheels to fall off his chariot.
Pelops won the race and was crowned King and married Hippodamia. After King Oenimaus died, Pelops held a chariot race in his honour. This grew into an athletics competition and Greek warriors and powerful athletes from all over Greece were invited to take part in these games. As they were held on the plains of Olympia, they were eventually called, The Olympic Games.
THE ORIGIN OF THE MODERN OLYMPICS
In 1896, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens. Athens was chosen as the first host city to honour the country where the games were originally created. The revival of the Olympics began with a noble French man Baron Pierre de Coubertin who was seeking a way of bringing together all the nations of the world to compete in sport, rather than fighting one another in wars. The games have always represented friendship, peace, and unity of all the nations of the world.
Coubertin put together the International Olympic Committee which still exists today and makes decisions on the rules and organisation of the games. The IOC organised the first games which were sponsored by a wealthy Greek philanthropist called Evangelos Zappas who paid for the refurbishment of the ancient panathenian stadium. The total number of athletes at the first games were less than 250 and the games were the largest international event ever to have been held until that time. The second Olympic Games were held in Paris and were the first games that women were allowed to compete in. It was then decided that the two languages of the games were to be French and English.
The Olympic movement uses many symbols, most of them representing coubertin’s ideas and ideals. The best known symbol is the Olympic rings. These five intertwined rings represent the unity of the five inhabited continents. They appear in five colours on a white field on the Olympic flag. These colours are white (for the field), red, blue, green, yellow and black and were chosen as they are colours that each of the nations flags have in common.
The official Olympic motto is “Citius, Altus, Fortius.” A Latin phrase meaning “Swifter, higher, stronger.” Coubertin’s ideals are probably best described in the Olympic creed:
“The most important thing about the games is not to win, but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
The Olympic flame was later introduced in 1928 and the relay was introduced in 1936. The flame of the torch is lit in Olympia Athens, as it is an ancient symbol that originated with the Ancient Olympic Games. It is then brought to the host city by runners carrying the torch in relay. There it plays an important role in the opening ceremony.
THE LION OF ATHENS
Edwin Flak, known as Teddy Flak, was Australia’s first Olympic hero. In 1894, Teddy finished school at Melbourne grammar and had done very well in athletics at school. He had also won many Victorian athletic carnivals. Although his big dream was to run professionally, his father saw it as a waste of time and encouraged him to take on a job with his firm as an accountant. After two years of working with his father, Teddy was sent to work in their London office. This delighted Teddy as it meant that he was closer to Athens. His dream since leaving school was to take part in the first modern Olympic Games.
On arriving in London, Teddy joined three Athletic clubs and trained every day. His father finally gave in and allowed him to partake in the games on the condition that he bought his own ticket to Athens.
The Australia that Teddy left behind was very different to the Australia that we see today. It was before federation and was just a collection of six colonies. In 1894, Australia had no national flag, no national anthem and no national emblem. It was therefore a lot more closely linked to England.
As he was the only Australian competitor and England wasn’t doing very well in the games, the English papers decided that Teddy was one of his own. He was so celebrated in England and not only appeared in all the papers but was sent a butler from the British Embassy to follow him around on a bicycle and look after him during the games.
Teddy Flak won two gold medals at the 1896 Olympics and was known as the Lion of Athens. He was Australia’s first Olympic Athlete to compete and the first Athlete to win gold.
THE SYDNEY OLYMPICS AND IAN THORPE
In the year 2000, the magic came to Australia. At the Sydney 2000 Olympics, one of our greatest sporting hero's was Ian Thorpe.
Known as the Thorpedo or Thorpey, Ian Thorpe is one of Australia’s all time sporting heroes. He is regarded as one of the greatest swimmers of all times, still holds the world records and have five Olympic gold medals more than any other Australian Athlete. In total, Thorpe has won 11 world championship golds, the second highest number of any swimmer.
Born in the western suburbs of Sydney, Ian Thorpe followed in his sister’s footsteps and became interested in competitive swimming. At the age of 14, he was the youngest male to represent Australia and his victory in the 400 metre freestyle at the 1998 Perth world championships made him the youngest ever individual male World Champion. After that victory, Thorpe dominated the 400 metre freestyle event, winning the event at every Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific swimming championships.
Ian Thorpe’s most notable performance was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games where he won four gold medals and gained international recognition as a swimmer.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Thorpe continued his winning streak and gain three gold medals and two silvers. At the Athens Olympics in 2004, he won two gold, one silver and one bronze.
Thorpe was the first person to be named world swimmer of the year four times by Swimming World Magazine, and was the Australian swimmer of the year from 1999 – 2003. His athletic achievements have made him one of Australia’s most popular athletes and he was recognised as the Young Australian of the Year in 2000. He is now making his come back at the London Olympics.
PREPARATION AND FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
· A good preparation activity is to find the story of Pelops and read it aloud to the students. Then discuss the ancient
games and their rituals and compare these to our modern Olympics.
· With older students, set the task of them writing their own myth about how the games originated.
· Read about the stories of our Australian athletes. With a particular focus on Teddy Flak, our first Australian sporting
· Discuss the Olympic symbols and their meanings.
· Make your own Olympic flag with five interconnecting rings. Study the flags of the world and then set the task for the students to design and make their own Olympic flag, patterns or pictures which symbolize the world working together
as one.
· Ask children to make up their own Olympic motto and creed.
· Hold your own Olympic Games. Include traditional events as well as your own events such as balloon races, egg and
spoon races and poison ball.
· Discuss the events and rituals that take place in our opening ceremonies.
QUIZ FOR AFTER THE SHOW:
1). What are the two official languages of the Olympic Games?
2). What date were the first modern Olympics held?
3). What do the Olympic rings symbolise.
4). Where were the first modern Olympics held?
5). What country started the ancient Olympic games
6). Who was Australia’s first Olympic hero?
7). Who won 3 gold medals and 2 silvers at the 2000 Sydney Olympics?
8). Name three Olympic events?
9). Where did Teddy Flak grow up?
10). Where will the next Olympic games be held?
FOUR FUNNY FOLK TALES - TEACHERS' NOTES
1. CONTENT
The stories usually referred to as having been written by the brothers Grimm are folk tales which were collected and recorded by the two brothers and their sister Grimm (who rarely rates a mention.)
The stories include plots and conventions common to storytelling from many countries and periods: the granting of three wishes, the rewarding of good deeds, and the mocking of pretence.
These stories are a part of childhood - portraying winners and losers with a sense of justice and fairness in their outcomes.
The program comprises of four stories and they will be selected from the following six, depending on the audience composition.
MRS OWL relates the furore which erupts when a whole town comes to believe that a monster has taken up residence in a local barn. The audience knows that there is no monster and that one person has seen an owl's eyes in the dark and made a wrong assumption.
THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE is a classic "wishes" story. A poor fisherman catches a magic flounder who grants three wishes. With the granting of each progressive wish the fisherman's wife becomes more ambitious and greedy, until the magic flounder considers her wish to become the ruler of the universe too extreme, and the fisherman and his wife return to poverty.
THE GOLDEN GOOSE Three sons in turn try to cut down a large tree. At lunch time each day an old man approaches them in turn and asks if he can share their lunch. The first two sons arrogantly refuse, but the third son, who is nicknamed Silly, shares his lunch with the old man and is rewarded for his kindness. The reward is a golden goose which leads him to more adventures and further rewards when he makes a sad king laugh.
CINDERELLA The child of a dysfunctional family has to compete for her father’s affection with two manipulative step sisters. When they are all invited to the royal ball, the step sisters try many ruses to prevent Cinderella going. However, Cinderella finally goes to the ball, and falls in love with the young prince. The familiar story is told using percussion sounds as the characters.
2. STYLE
The production mixes direct storytelling with vigorous re-enactment of the tales. The actors create a gallery of characters using mime, physical comedy and clowning to achieve an engaging and entertaining forty five minute experience. THE GOLDEN GOOSE involves three of the audience members as characters in the story.
3. PREPARATION AND FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
* A good preparation is for the children to find the stories in the library and read them, or have them read aloud by teachers or parents.
* Where the children have not seen a live performance before, a simple preparation is to explain the difference between seeing actors live, rather than on television, and reminding them that the actors will each be playing several people.
* In follow up discussion with the children, the plot of the stories can be retraced and qualities such as generosity, selfishness, greediness, honesty and foolishness highlighted.
* With older children, some teachers discuss the techniques used in the acting, design and production. The actors' use of comedy, of storytelling, of mime, of playing multiple roles. The scripts draw their inspiration from sources as varied as silent movies, Peking Opera and English pantomime. With grades 5 and 6 the actors' techniques can be identified.
*Hot seating. Individual students can come up and sit on a chair known as “The Hot Seat”. When sitting on the hot seat, the student becomes one of the characters from the stories and answers questions from the rest of the class to your directions. For example, “You are the Lord, why do you bring Dr know it all into your home? Who do you think has stolen your money?”
* Improvisation. In small groups take one of the stories and devise a scene around some of the issues that came up in the story.
* Write up your own folk tale. Discuss the student’s own environment. Individually or in group’s students can make up their own folk tale to describe how something in their landscape was built or formed or to describe how a situation came about. This can be written down as a project or acted out as a piece of theatre.
OLYMPIC GOLD
Olympic Gold is a celebration of the Olympic Games through the ages. In this show, we explore the origins of the Olympic Games and their symbols. We also introduce the children to Australian Olympic athletes of the past who became national heroes. All children are familiar with Olympic winners of the past few games, like Ian Thorpe, Grant Hacket and Cathy Freeman, but how many know about Dawn Fraser, Betty Cuthbert, Murray Rose or our Original Olympic hero, Teddy Flak.
As well as giving the history and rituals of the games, Olympic Gold also conveys the events and focuses on four stories. These stories are: The Myth of Pelops and the ancient Greek games, we then jump forward to 1896 and meet Coubertin and find out how the modern Olympics started. We then meet Teddy Flak, Australia’s first Olympic athlete who ran in the first modern Olympics and won two gold medals. He became known as the Lion of Athens. Finally we finish on the Melbourne 1956 Games and focus on the story of Betty Cuthbert’s rise to fame; the girl who became known as Australia’s golden girl.
The show incorporates comedy, slap stick, mime, physical theatre, sound effects and storytelling. The show also emphasises the philosophy of the Olympics – the whole world coming together as one to celebrate athletic events.
THE STORY OF PELOPS AND THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES
The Ancient Olympic Games were originally held in 776 BC and included events such as chariot racing, wrestling, discus javelin and athletics. After the success of the first Olympics, they were held every four years on the plains of Olympia as they were the biggest flat open space and were most suitable to hold the events and large crowds.
The games were an important part of Greek culture and religion. A statue of Zeus (the father of all Greek gods) was placed in Olympia and Athletes would have to pray in front of it before competing in the events. They would then have to swear an oath before the ten organisers of the games that they had been training for the previous ten months. After these two rituals were performed, they would then be allowed to compete in the events.
The games were also a fair ground with entertainers, horse traders and market stalls. During this time, only men were allowed to compete in the events. The winners of the games were greatly admired and were celebrated by having statues made of them and poems written about them. Each winner would be presented with a crown of Olive leaves. This symbolised peace and hope.
The games continued to be held for 1,000 years until 335 AD when Rome took over Greece and the Emperor Theodosius 1st outlawed them.
There are many stories about the origin of the Olympic Games. Some believed that they were invented by the great Greek hero, Hercules; who is known for fighting lions, performing the twelves labours and helping to conquer Troy. The most famous myth about the origin of the Olympic Games is about King Oenimaus and his beautiful daughter Hippodamia.
King Oenimaus was very possessive of his daughter and wouldn’t let her marry. He was also very greedy and knew that if she got married, he would have to share his wealth and half his kingdom with her husband. Hippodamia had many suitors who would come to the palace asking for her hand in marriage. All of them were challenged to a chariot race by King Oenimaus. This was a test of their strength and endurance; if they won the race, they would win Hippodamias hand in marriage. However if they lost, they were banished from the kingdom and never allowed to return again. What they didn’t know was King Oenimaus had magical horses that were given to him by the Greek god Ares and were the fastest in the land. It was impossible for anyone to beat him in the race. Twelve suitors took part in this race and all twelve failed.
Until Pelops came to the kingdom. Pelops also had magical horses that were given to him by the god Poseidon and was confident that he would win. Hippodamia warned him about her father but Pelops was determined to compete. Just to make sure that her father didn’t win again, Hippodamia asked the stable boy to take out the pins that held the axle to the wheels and replace them with pins of wax. This would mean that if King Oenimaus got to a certain speed the wax pins would melt, causing the wheels to fall off his chariot.
Pelops won the race and was crowned King and married Hippodamia. After King Oenimaus died, Pelops held a chariot race in his honour. This grew into an athletics competition and Greek warriors and powerful athletes from all over Greece were invited to take part in these games. As they were held on the plains of Olympia, they were eventually called, The Olympic Games.
THE ORIGIN OF THE MODERN OLYMPICS
In 1896, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens. Athens was chosen as the first host city to honour the country where the games were originally created. The revival of the Olympics began with a noble French man Baron Pierre de Coubertin who was seeking a way of bringing together all the nations of the world to compete in sport, rather than fighting one another in wars. The games have always represented friendship, peace, and unity of all the nations of the world.
Coubertin put together the International Olympic Committee which still exists today and makes decisions on the rules and organisation of the games. The IOC organised the first games which were sponsored by a wealthy Greek philanthropist called Evangelos Zappas who paid for the refurbishment of the ancient panathenian stadium. The total number of athletes at the first games were less than 250 and the games were the largest international event ever to have been held until that time. The second Olympic Games were held in Paris and were the first games that women were allowed to compete in. It was then decided that the two languages of the games were to be French and English.
The Olympic movement uses many symbols, most of them representing coubertin’s ideas and ideals. The best known symbol is the Olympic rings. These five intertwined rings represent the unity of the five inhabited continents. They appear in five colours on a white field on the Olympic flag. These colours are white (for the field), red, blue, green, yellow and black and were chosen as they are colours that each of the nations flags have in common.
The official Olympic motto is “Citius, Altus, Fortius.” A Latin phrase meaning “Swifter, higher, stronger.” Coubertin’s ideals are probably best described in the Olympic creed:
“The most important thing about the games is not to win, but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
The Olympic flame was later introduced in 1928 and the relay was introduced in 1936. The flame of the torch is lit in Olympia Athens, as it is an ancient symbol that originated with the Ancient Olympic Games. It is then brought to the host city by runners carrying the torch in relay. There it plays an important role in the opening ceremony.
THE LION OF ATHENS
Edwin Flak, known as Teddy Flak, was Australia’s first Olympic hero. In 1894, Teddy finished school at Melbourne grammar and had done very well in athletics at school. He had also won many Victorian athletic carnivals. Although his big dream was to run professionally, his father saw it as a waste of time and encouraged him to take on a job with his firm as an accountant. After two years of working with his father, Teddy was sent to work in their London office. This delighted Teddy as it meant that he was closer to Athens. His dream since leaving school was to take part in the first modern Olympic Games.
On arriving in London, Teddy joined three Athletic clubs and trained every day. His father finally gave in and allowed him to partake in the games on the condition that he bought his own ticket to Athens.
The Australia that Teddy left behind was very different to the Australia that we see today. It was before federation and was just a collection of six colonies. In 1894, Australia had no national flag, no national anthem and no national emblem. It was therefore a lot more closely linked to England.
As he was the only Australian competitor and England wasn’t doing very well in the games, the English papers decided that Teddy was one of his own. He was so celebrated in England and not only appeared in all the papers but was sent a butler from the British Embassy to follow him around on a bicycle and look after him during the games.
Teddy Flak won two gold medals at the 1896 Olympics and was known as the Lion of Athens. He was Australia’s first Olympic Athlete to compete and the first Athlete to win gold.
THE SYDNEY OLYMPICS AND IAN THORPE
In the year 2000, the magic came to Australia. At the Sydney 2000 Olympics, one of our greatest sporting hero's was Ian Thorpe.
Known as the Thorpedo or Thorpey, Ian Thorpe is one of Australia’s all time sporting heroes. He is regarded as one of the greatest swimmers of all times, still holds the world records and have five Olympic gold medals more than any other Australian Athlete. In total, Thorpe has won 11 world championship golds, the second highest number of any swimmer.
Born in the western suburbs of Sydney, Ian Thorpe followed in his sister’s footsteps and became interested in competitive swimming. At the age of 14, he was the youngest male to represent Australia and his victory in the 400 metre freestyle at the 1998 Perth world championships made him the youngest ever individual male World Champion. After that victory, Thorpe dominated the 400 metre freestyle event, winning the event at every Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific swimming championships.
Ian Thorpe’s most notable performance was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games where he won four gold medals and gained international recognition as a swimmer.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Thorpe continued his winning streak and gain three gold medals and two silvers. At the Athens Olympics in 2004, he won two gold, one silver and one bronze.
Thorpe was the first person to be named world swimmer of the year four times by Swimming World Magazine, and was the Australian swimmer of the year from 1999 – 2003. His athletic achievements have made him one of Australia’s most popular athletes and he was recognised as the Young Australian of the Year in 2000. He is now making his come back at the London Olympics.
PREPARATION AND FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
· A good preparation activity is to find the story of Pelops and read it aloud to the students. Then discuss the ancient
games and their rituals and compare these to our modern Olympics.
· With older students, set the task of them writing their own myth about how the games originated.
· Read about the stories of our Australian athletes. With a particular focus on Teddy Flak, our first Australian sporting
· Discuss the Olympic symbols and their meanings.
· Make your own Olympic flag with five interconnecting rings. Study the flags of the world and then set the task for the students to design and make their own Olympic flag, patterns or pictures which symbolize the world working together
as one.
· Ask children to make up their own Olympic motto and creed.
· Hold your own Olympic Games. Include traditional events as well as your own events such as balloon races, egg and
spoon races and poison ball.
· Discuss the events and rituals that take place in our opening ceremonies.
QUIZ FOR AFTER THE SHOW:
1). What are the two official languages of the Olympic Games?
2). What date were the first modern Olympics held?
3). What do the Olympic rings symbolise.
4). Where were the first modern Olympics held?
5). What country started the ancient Olympic games
6). Who was Australia’s first Olympic hero?
7). Who won 3 gold medals and 2 silvers at the 2000 Sydney Olympics?
8). Name three Olympic events?
9). Where did Teddy Flak grow up?
10). Where will the next Olympic games be held?
FOUR FUNNY FOLK TALES - TEACHERS' NOTES
1. CONTENT
The stories usually referred to as having been written by the brothers Grimm are folk tales which were collected and recorded by the two brothers and their sister Grimm (who rarely rates a mention.)
The stories include plots and conventions common to storytelling from many countries and periods: the granting of three wishes, the rewarding of good deeds, and the mocking of pretence.
These stories are a part of childhood - portraying winners and losers with a sense of justice and fairness in their outcomes.
The program comprises of four stories and they will be selected from the following six, depending on the audience composition.
MRS OWL relates the furore which erupts when a whole town comes to believe that a monster has taken up residence in a local barn. The audience knows that there is no monster and that one person has seen an owl's eyes in the dark and made a wrong assumption.
THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE is a classic "wishes" story. A poor fisherman catches a magic flounder who grants three wishes. With the granting of each progressive wish the fisherman's wife becomes more ambitious and greedy, until the magic flounder considers her wish to become the ruler of the universe too extreme, and the fisherman and his wife return to poverty.
THE GOLDEN GOOSE Three sons in turn try to cut down a large tree. At lunch time each day an old man approaches them in turn and asks if he can share their lunch. The first two sons arrogantly refuse, but the third son, who is nicknamed Silly, shares his lunch with the old man and is rewarded for his kindness. The reward is a golden goose which leads him to more adventures and further rewards when he makes a sad king laugh.
CINDERELLA The child of a dysfunctional family has to compete for her father’s affection with two manipulative step sisters. When they are all invited to the royal ball, the step sisters try many ruses to prevent Cinderella going. However, Cinderella finally goes to the ball, and falls in love with the young prince. The familiar story is told using percussion sounds as the characters.
2. STYLE
The production mixes direct storytelling with vigorous re-enactment of the tales. The actors create a gallery of characters using mime, physical comedy and clowning to achieve an engaging and entertaining forty five minute experience. THE GOLDEN GOOSE involves three of the audience members as characters in the story.
3. PREPARATION AND FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
* A good preparation is for the children to find the stories in the library and read them, or have them read aloud by teachers or parents.
* Where the children have not seen a live performance before, a simple preparation is to explain the difference between seeing actors live, rather than on television, and reminding them that the actors will each be playing several people.
* In follow up discussion with the children, the plot of the stories can be retraced and qualities such as generosity, selfishness, greediness, honesty and foolishness highlighted.
* With older children, some teachers discuss the techniques used in the acting, design and production. The actors' use of comedy, of storytelling, of mime, of playing multiple roles. The scripts draw their inspiration from sources as varied as silent movies, Peking Opera and English pantomime. With grades 5 and 6 the actors' techniques can be identified.
*Hot seating. Individual students can come up and sit on a chair known as “The Hot Seat”. When sitting on the hot seat, the student becomes one of the characters from the stories and answers questions from the rest of the class to your directions. For example, “You are the Lord, why do you bring Dr know it all into your home? Who do you think has stolen your money?”
* Improvisation. In small groups take one of the stories and devise a scene around some of the issues that came up in the story.
* Write up your own folk tale. Discuss the student’s own environment. Individually or in group’s students can make up their own folk tale to describe how something in their landscape was built or formed or to describe how a situation came about. This can be written down as a project or acted out as a piece of theatre.
