This teacher’s resource has been created to accompany Varmints – the co-‐production between Sadler’s Wells, Stratford Circus Arts Centre and East London Dance, based on the book by Helen Ward and illustrated by Marc Craste. Varmints tells the poignant tale of one small creature’s struggle to preserve a world in danger of being lost forever. Every day the city grows larger and the noise grows louder, until there is so much noise that no-‐one can hear themselves think. This exhilarating hip-‐hop dance-‐theatre show has been choreographed by B-‐boy and Sadler’s Wells New Wave Associate Wilkie Branson and directed by children’s theatre specialist Sally Cookson.
This resource is for use by anyone and is designed to support KS2 areas of learning of the National Curriculum Subject areas: English, Science, R.E, Citizenship, History, Geography, Art & Design, P.E and Music. There are also some suggested curriculum links for KS3. We hope you enjoy exploring the ideas and themes in this resource and we look forward to seeing you at a Varmints performance soon. GETTING STARTED... You don’t need to have read the book before you see the production of Varmints – it can be great to let the children interpret the performance themselves and then build on the legacy of seeing it by reading the book afterwards. Alternatively, reading the book first can help children contextualise what they are watching, particularly younger children. Either way, analysing both book and live performance allows a great opportunity to compare and contrast the two media. The following questions are designed to help start a conversation with your pupils about Varmints. Questions for Discussion THE STORY •
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What do you think the story is about? Who is in it? What is happening? When and where is it set? Who/what are Varmints? What is the message? What has happened to the plant? Who are The Others? What are the pods? THE BOOK •
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Why has the author chosen these words/font/layout? How does the illustrator create mood/emotion? THE PERFORMANCE •
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What comparisons/contrasts are there to the book? Which do you prefer and why? There was no dialogue – did you still understand the story? How? How did you know how the characters were feeling? How did it make you feel? How did the movement show action and/or emotion? What moves do you remember in particular? How did the director and designer portray the mood on stage? What did the costumes tell you about the characters? How did the sound and music help to tell the story? Some suggested starter activities to follow on from these discussions.... Ø
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Write a review of the show – using analytical skills to back up your opinions Write a letter to The Others – using persuasive language and devices for structuring an argument Choose a scene from the show and write a script or create a comic strip to fill in for the lack of dialogue Design a poster to campaign against The Others’ takeover Look at the Creative Team’s biographies on the Discover Varmints website and think about how they designed the show. Design your own Varmints costume or set, and annotate your drawing to explain why you have made particular choices KS2 Curriculum Links & Lesson Ideas The below gives a few ideas for developing some of the themes in the show to explore topics in other areas of the curriculum: Subject Learning Objectives Main Teaching Activity English / Literacy Other links: Understanding and interpreting texts; Engaging and responding to texts; Group discussion and interaction Using poetic devices and figurative language Explore interesting and appropriate vocabulary and create poems. Develop speaking skills by taking part in discussions and giving a presentation. Discuss the show using the questions above and look at the behind the scenes information on the Discover Varmints website. Recap on figurative language and features of poetry and display examples (metaphor, personification, simile, alliteration). Science Other links: Helping plants to grow well; Forces and Movement; Light & Shadows; Moving & Growing; Habitats; Life Cycles; Environmental contexts Interdependence and Adaptation Extend knowledge of the way in which plants and animals in different habitats depend upon each other. Pupils’ Activities Group carousel with children rotating and annotating large sheets of paper –
characters/setting/meaning. Create a word bank of adjectives to describe characters, setting and mood, thinking about all 6 senses. Take children to the quietest part of the playing field – what can you see/hear/feel here? Then repeat for busiest part of playground/street. Write poems based on the comparison and present to class. Can they use personification, assonance, simile, metaphor, alliteration? Peer review on presentation skills. Show a green plant to the class. Each pupil has a sign – sun, plant, What would happen if plants did insect or animal. In hall/playground, not exist? Discuss importance of pupils form into correct food chains plants. holding ropes. What happens if one Give out pictures of plants, insects, leaves the chain? Create food chain animals and birds. Who eats whom? ‘pyramids’. What happens if all the Sorting activity in small groups. aphids leave, for example? R.E. / Philosophy Human responsibility for the environment Develop a sense of curiosity about life, death, relationships and the natural world and express personal opinions. Explore the relationship between humans, their environment and other living creatures, including examples of religious teaching and practice.* What do Christians believe about the relationship between humans, their environment and other living creatures? Revise the Genesis Creation story. Focus on the part where God gives Adam and Eve “Dominion”. What does that mean? Look up other translations of the Bible to find different words. Use a thesaurus to find synonyms. Discuss what responsibility God meant humans to have over the natural world in the story. What does this mean in today’s world? Whole class speaking and listening. Compare with Buddhism and other religions.* Geography Other links: Population and Urbanisation; Water cycle; Use of Natural Resources; Connecting ourselves to the world Improving the environment Begin to understand causes of pollution, and how to protect our environment. Watch presentation/film clip of Mexico City (brief history, geographical position, climate, topography, population). Explain it is one of the world’s most polluted cities. What has caused this? What types of pollution are there?(air, water, noise) Discuss in groups. History Period focus: The Victorians Understand how the Industrial Discuss the term ‘Industrial Revolution’. What do you already Using national and local newspapers, pupils cut out articles about environmental issues. In groups discuss the stories and identify where the responsibility lies. Plenary to share stories and ideas. Make a class scrap book, with articles annotated with views. Imagine they are writing to the editor of the paper, giving their ideas about responsibility and solutions. Add these to the scrap book. Write a letter to Adam and Eve explaining where successive generations of humans have gone wrong. Swap letters for a reply making suggestions for the present generation.* Research on computers causes of Mexico City’s pollution and what has been done to address the issue. Create a survey on environmental habits and collect findings from families, friends and school staff. Present findings in a graph. Create pamphlets campaigning to improve the environment with specific examples, and using facts and statistics from research survey. Research on computers positive and negative impacts of Industrial Art & Design PSHE / Citizenship Other links: Living in a diverse world; Children’s rights; Human rights; Respect for property PE Revolution altered cities and lives in know? When was it? Why was this Britain. period in history so influential on how we live today? What do you think it would have felt like to see the world changing like that? Have we ever seen big changes in our world like that? A Sense of Place Show Lowry’s ‘Our Town’, ‘Going to Explore rural and urban landscapes. the Match’ and ‘Going to the Mill’. Consider ideas, methods and Discuss. When were these painted? approaches of artists who have Where? Share facts on Lowry’s life responded to landscapes in and works. Introduce ‘urban’ and different ways. Create an urban recap ‘landscape’ meaning. How scene in the style of L.S. Lowry. could you create your own urban landscape in this style? What media could you use? Revolution (factories, slums, pollution, child labour // railways, production, export, machinery) and have a class debate. Write a diary entry from a Victorian child experiencing change in their area through industrialisation. Create own cityscape pictures using block printing and pen and ink. Population Debate Create arguments for and against a social issue and debate with peers. Opposing teams to plan key points of view and supporting evidence. Class debate. Dance – focus on using visual images to compose and perform Demonstrate an understanding of compositional devices and to develop motifs and group relationships. Describe, analyse, interpret and evaluate simple choreographic form. Current world population is 7 billion. Does the ever-‐rising population result in a lower quality of life for everyone? Yes or No? Make notes on population facts for debate. Remind of debate aspects (listening, respecting points of view, taking turns). Watch clips of Wilkie Branson teaching dance moves on Discover Varmints website – whole class try the moves out. Remind class of dance moves taught in post-‐show discussion or workshop (if they took part in one). In groups, children choose (or are given) a scene from the book/show. Each group creates an initial tableau of the scene and other groups guess the scene. Groups then choreograph their own dance to perform to the class. Music Understand musical composition Build confidence in performing and develop understanding of how to organise ideas and express mood using musical structures. Discuss the importance of music and composition in the piece and the process of making it. Listen to the soundtrack on Discover Varmints website (and other examples of music) and discuss as a class how each piece captures a mood or atmosphere. Draw soundscapes whilst listening to music – close eyes and listen and let your pen freely roam on the page. What do you end up with? How does it vary for different types of music? In groups select a scene from Varmints and use class instruments, voices, objects, percussion etc. to compose accompanying music that captures the mood of that moment. Perform to class. Class to guess which scene it represents. The production of Varmints could also link to the following areas of the KS3 National Curriculum: Geography – Can the earth cope? Ecosystems, population and resources (including globalisation, urbanisation etc.); Development and Regeneration; Local Action; Global Effects Science – Energy resources; Environment; Feeding relationships Citizenship – Human rights; The Law on animal protection; Dealing with conflict; People and the environment Literacy – Listening and responding; Drama, role-‐play and performance; Understanding the author’s craft; Composition – shaping and constructing language for expression and effect We hope you are able to build on Varmints in the classroom. We would love to see any work you produce as a result of seeing the show and getting involved in Discover Varmints http://discovervarmints.com/ Please email your work to [email protected] for it to be uploaded to the Discover Varmints blog http://www.discovervarmints.tumblr.com/ With thanks to the teachers who helped us put this pack together – Dinah Carroll and Jennifer Brizman. *From Hertfordshire Grid for Learning: http://www.thegrid.org.uk Useful Links and information Varmints the book, at Templar Publishing Click Here -‐ http://www.templarco.co.uk/picture_books/helen_ward/helen_ward.html The award winning animation of Varmints by Marc Craste Click Here -‐ http://www.studioaka.co.uk/OurWork/varmints Websites: www.eastlondondance.org www.stratford-‐circus.com www.sadlerswells.com www.thelegacylist.org.uk