Thought Spinner: Put the Class Into Two Equal Circles, One Inside the Other. Each Student

Lesson 1

Learning objectives:
To understand how a novel can be made to work as a play, and what changes need to be made for it to be successful.
Assessment Focus:
Reading AFs 4 and 6; Speaking and listening AF 3

Starter

Explain that Nation was originally a novel written by Terry Pratchett. Ask students to work in silence on their own and to read the extract from the novel on Resource sheet 1. Ask them to decide on one important thing that a reader might learn from the extract about either Mau or Daphne, or the relationship between the two. Students should be ready to explain their thoughts.

Introduction

Thought spinner: Put the class into two equal circles, one inside the other. Each student on the outside circle should face inwards; each student on the inside circle should face outwards. This means that everyone is facing a partner. Tell students to take it in turns to tell their partner about the one thing they chose in the Starter. They should listen carefully to each other and then discuss and ask each other questions. After a few minutes move the outer students one place clockwise and the inner students one place anti-clockwise. They now have new partners. Each of the new partners should take it in turns to tell each other what their original partner thought (rather than what they themselves thought) and then discuss. After a few minutes move the circles round again and repeat the process but with each partner telling their new partner about what both their previous partners thought.

Gather a few thoughts from the class to establish some key shared ideas about what a reader would learn from the Tea with Daphne extract (e.g. confusion and misunderstanding; what is suggested by Daphne’s ‘posh’ way of speaking; Mau’s mental discomfort because he feels out of place).

Development

Ask every student to work with the partner they ended up with. The pairs should take an extract from Resource sheet 1 of between eight and fifteen lines and prepare it as a play, emphasising some of the things the class has decided should be important for the reader/audience.

Plenary

Get pairs to perform their version of Tea with Daphne. Ask the audience what they thought the performers were trying to emphasise about Daphne and Mau and their situation. Ask the performers to explain what was difficult about converting the novel into a play. If they had more resources, e.g. lighting, more actors, props, etc., what might they do to perform the novel extract?

Homework/Follow-on

Ask students to do one or more of the following:

Write their version of Tea with Daphne as a script or read Act One, Scene 5 of the play and compare Terry Pratchett’s novel with the play version, asking themselves why the two are so different.

Lesson 2

Learning objective:
To understand how an actor can influence how an audience reacts to a character.
Assessment Foci:
Reading AF 6; Speaking and listening AF 3

Starter

Split the class into groups of between three and six. Give them Resource sheet 2a. Tell the groups that you want them to develop a performance of this short section, getting it ready to perform for the class. Give each group one mood instruction: either funny or threatening or scary. Tell them to keep their mood secret from other groups while they develop their performance within their given mood.

Introduction

Have some of the groups perform their version. Ask other students which mood they think was the performance guideline. How did they know?

Point out today’s learning objective. Ask for ideas about how the audience would feel about the raiders in the different versions that have been performed. Now focus everyone’s attention on one performance. What choices did the actors make that influenced the audience’s reaction? What else could they have done? (You might give groups a few minutes to discuss these questions before gathering answers.) Gather ideas about acting choices including movement, gesture, and tone of voice. Could music have been used?

Development

Read the rest of Act One, Scene 7 (on Resource sheet 2b) with the class and ask them how we might want the audience to feel about Cox. Encourage a range of thinking: e.g. the audience might hate Cox; they might pity him.

Put students into groups of six. Give them 10–15 minutes to develop a performance of the rest of Act One, Scene 7. They should quickly decide how they want the audience to feel about Cox, and then develop their performance to influence the audience appropriately. (You could give each group an impression of Cox you want them to bring out in the performance.) Remind groups that how other characters respond to Cox will contribute to how the audience feels about him.

Plenary

Choose two groups and get them to perform their versions. Guide class discussion around the differences in the performances and the presentations of Cox. How did the audience feel about Cox? What influenced their feelings?

Homework/Follow-on

Students write a review of the two performances, pointing out the differences and how Cox was presented in each version. They should articulate what they felt worked well and what wasn’t so successful – and why.

Lesson 3

Learning objective:
To investigate how actors can help an audience to understand the relationships between characters.
Assessment Foci:
Reading AF 3; Speaking and listening AF 3

Starter

Put students into groups of four. Give students Resource sheet 3a. Ask groups to choose two of their members to play Mau and Ataba (Milton is unnecessary); the remaining two members should act as the thoughts and feelings of Mau and Ataba.

Tell the groups first to read through and practise the scene. The ‘thought members’ can give help and advice. They should then perform the lines, but stop after each line for the ‘thought members’ to speak the thoughts and feelings of each character. This means we see a performance consisting of an alternation between the written lines and the unspoken thoughts and feelings of the characters. This process is known as ‘thought-tracking’.

Groups could use the right-hand columns on Resource sheet 3a to plan thoughts and feelings.

Introduction

Explain today’s learning objective and that we are interested in the relationship between Ataba and Mau: what it is and how it can it be suggested to the audience.

Ask a couple of groups to perform their thought-track of the lines from Resource sheet 3a. After each performance invite comments about the thoughts and feelings. Ask students to consider how those thoughts and feelings could have been hinted at in the acting. (You could give the groups time to formulate answers to these questions before taking ideas.)

Development

Put the class into pairs. Ask the pairs to use Resource sheet 3b to note down ideas about how the actors could suggest the thoughts and feelings of Mau and Ataba – mainly about each other. Tell the pairs to try out different ways of conveying these thoughts and feelings as part of their discussions.

Plenary

Re-join the pairs into fours. Tell each pair to explain their ideas recorded on Resource sheet 3b and then to discuss differences and similarities. Encourage them to amend what they have written down, if appropriate.

Tell every group to choose an envoy. That envoy should now visit the next group, explain their own group’s ideas and receive ideas from the visited group. Repeat this process at least once and then return the envoys to their starting group for a final sharing and amendment of ideas.

Homework/Follow-on

Students either write the diary entries of Ataba and Mau about their conversation (from the extracts on the resource sheets) or write an email to the actor playing either Ataba or Mau explaining what thoughts and feelings they would like the actor to have, and making suggestions about how they could convey these to an audience.

Lesson 4

Learning objectives:
To understand how tone of voice, gesture and movement can be used to explore characters and relationships. To plan and perform using those dramatic techniques.
Assessment Focus:
Speaking and listening AF 3

Starter

Put students into groups of three. Ask them to read Act Two, Scene 2 lines 1–69 from ‘The Grandfathers forbid us…’ to ‘…And you travelled the world.’

Ask each group to discuss the following questions:

a What should the audience be feeling during this section?

b How can the actors show their thoughts and feelings?

c Does Ataba really believe in Imo and the gods, or is he full of doubts but desperate to believe?

d How does Ataba feel about Mau and Daphne and their challenge to the Nation's traditional beliefs?

Point out that their answers to these questions will guide how the actors should present the characters and the relationship between them.

Introduction

Gather and display some ideas from the starter. Explain to the class they are going to work on a presentation of the beginning of Act Two, Scene 2 (the section they have just read). They are going to be assessed on how well they plan and perform the section. Show students the levelled performance criteria on Resource sheet 4a. Give them 5 minutes to discuss the criteria and to jot explanatory notes on the right of the criteria for the level they are trying to reach. Different group members may well be aiming to meet different criteria.

Development

Give the groups 25 minutes to work on their version of Act Two, Scene 2, constantly developing it to improve it. They need to get it good enough to perform. They must keep the criteria on Resource sheet 4a in mind.

While the groups develop their performance, circulate and jot down assessments against the criteria, using Resource sheet 4b. Give the class some initial feedback 5 minutes before the end of the lesson.

Plenary: Tell the class when they will have the opportunity to perform their improvised pieces.

Homework/Follow-on

Students are to write 200 words about how well they prepared their performances of Act Two, Scene 2. What were they pleased with? What could they have done better? Students should refer to the level criteria to help them judge their own work.

Lesson 5

Learning objective:
To analyse character in detail by asking the questions: how do the European characters speak to characters from the Nation? How do European characters feel about characters from the Nation?
Assessment Foci:
Reading AF 3; Speaking and listening AF 4

Starter

Put students in pairs. Give each pair a copy of Resource sheet 5. Tell students to look at each character and decide if they are European (E) or the Nation (N). Then students should decide who said each quotation in the right-hand column. See below for answers.

Introduction

Introduce the learning objective and use some feedback from the starter to begin to establish the attitudes of the Europeans towards the Nation inhabitants. Point out that prejudice and fixed beliefs are present in the Nation too: for example, Ataba assumes that everyone will follow his beliefs and give in to his status and authority. Point out that it is Mau who says ‘Look at them. Savages’. Why does he say this? Make sure you develop class discussion around Polegrave’s order, ‘Hands off darkie’. What attitudes are being revealed here? Are they suggested by any of the other lines?

Development

Tell the class that you now want them to get a feel for the lines they have been looking at: what do they sound like? How would you feel if they were said to you? Give every student one of the 16 lines on the resource sheet. Take the whole class to a clear and preferably large empty room. Space all the students out in the room. Ask all the students to walk around the room, weaving in and out of each other’s paths without touching. Stop the class every 10-15 seconds. At each ‘stop’ command, each student should pair up with someone near them. Each partner should take it in turns to deliver their line. They can use whatever expression they like but may not add to or alter the wording at all. Keep starting and then stopping the class so that they all keep finding new partners and speaking their lines to them.

Plenary

Put students into groups of four and ask them to discuss (a) how it felt to deliver and receive the lines, and (b) their answers to the two questions that make up the learning objective.

Homework/Follow-on

Ask students to write full answers to the two questions.

Answers

Book activity answers: ‘Half-bake: I challenge you to a fight’ (Raider Chief, Act 1, Sc.7 line 30); ‘I’ve seen people like him in books, the noble savage’ (Daphne, Act 1, Sc.4 lines 5–6); ‘Speakee Englishee yes?’(Foxlip, Act 2, Sc.4 line 37); ‘Look at them. Savages.’ (Mau, Act 2, Sc.1 line 90); ‘Back savage’ (Foxlip, Act 2, Sc.4 line 45); ‘Hands off darkie’ (Polegrave, Act 1, Sc.11 line 4).

Worksheet 5 answers: ‘I’ve seen people like him in books, the noble savage’ (Daphne, Act One, Sc.4 lines 5–6; ‘Half-bake: I challenge you to a fight’ (Raider Chief, Act 1, Sc.7 line 30); ‘Look at them. Savages’ (Mau, Act 2, Sc.1 line 90); ‘Back savage’ (Foxlip, Act 2, Sc.4 line 45); ‘Brave girl’ (Marisgala, Act 1, Sc. 14 line 69); ‘Hands off darkie’ (Polegrave, Act 1, Sc. 11 line 4); ‘Boy. Go and fetch your chief’ (Ataba, Act 1, Sc. 8 line 21); ‘Give in. I have you’ (Locaha, Act 1, Sc.15 line 74); ‘Stay you fools. Look how small he is’ (Cox, Act 2, Sc.7 line 20); ‘A little fruitcake, Knickers’ (Milton, Act 2, Sc. 8 lines 215-16); ‘Year I live Port Mercia’ (Pilu, Act 1, Sc. 8 line 51); ‘Cox, see to it’ (Grandmother, Act 1, Sc.15 line 69); ‘Has this one had the woman ceremony?’ (Milo, Act 1, Sc.8 line 48); ‘The power and glory forever and ever’ (Roberts, Act 1, Sc.1 line 58); ‘I’m no mother’ (Cahle, Act 1, Sc.10 line 22); ‘I would like to say a few words on this historic...’ (Daphne’s father, Act 2, Sc.9 lines 74–75).