Video: Making it up as we go along

﻿Hello, my name is Adam, and I'm here to do a drama lesson with you. So far in this unit we've been looking at storytelling through drama. In this lesson we're going to be looking at how we can change a story to find a different ending, perhaps introduce some new characters and create something new. We're going to use our imagination as we invent whole new worlds by making up new endings for stories we already know, and pretend or improvise as we perform them. There are some new words we're going to use in today's lesson. These are improvisation. This is when you use your imagination to make things up, like when you tell a story or you invent a new game. Still image. When you stop moving your body and you freeze and stay still like a statue. And creativity, or being creative, is when you have an idea of something that you want to do, or you want to make, and you give it a go. As we've done in previous videos, you may want to stand up, move your chair away from your desk, and make sure you have plenty of space around you so you can move freely without bumping into any furniture. Pause the video, make sure you have a clear space, and press Play when you're ready to carry on. I've got a game for you to play today. There are three parts to this game, so you may want to pause the video between each section. The first part is to look around the room that you're in, you point to things that you can see, and you say in a loud clear voice exactly what you can see. So, for example, I can see the ceiling, curtains, the door, my computer. Pause the video and give that a go. The second part of this game is to look around the room that you're in, you points to things, and in a loud clear voice you call it the name of the thing you pointed at last. So, for example, instead of pointing at the ceiling and saying "Ceiling," then the curtain and saying, "Curtain," I would point to the ceiling, but don't say anything. I'd then point to the curtain and say, "Ceiling," because that's what I pointed at last. So, ceiling, curtains, door, computer. Have a look around the room, point to things, and a loud clear voice say the name of the thing you pointed at last. Pause the video, have a go, and press Play when you're ready to carry on. Welcome back to the third part of this game. This time you look around the room that you're in, you point to things, and in a loud clear voice you call it anything other than what it is. Anything at all. So instead of pointing to the ceiling and saying, "Ceiling," I look at the ceiling and I might go, "Guinea pigs, gingerbread, Timbuktu, flapjacks." Look around the room, and point to things, and say anything other than what it is. Pause the video and give that a go. How was that? Quite complicated, isn't it? Sometimes our short-term memory doesn't quite work and we can't remember what we saw two seconds ago. And sometimes we find it really difficult to just think of new words to say. I want you to try that third part again, looking around the room and pointing at things and calling them anything other than what they are. But this time try not to get into any patterns of different types of animals, or different colours, or different types of foods. Keep it as random as you can. Say the first thing that comes into your head, and even if you freeze and go, "Blah," that is fine. As long as something comes out of your mouth, some sort of sound or word, it's okay. Give that a go, pause the video, and press Play when you're ready to carry on. Have you ever been to a farm or to a petting zoo? Today's story starts on quite a famous farm which you may have heard of, but where we'll end up is entirely up to you. This is where we're starting our story, on Old MacDonald's farm. Sing along if you know this rhyme. ♪ Old MacDonald had a farm ♪ ♪ E-I-E-I-O ♪ ♪ And on that farm he had a cow ♪ ♪ E-I-E-I-O ♪ ♪ With a moo moo here and a moo moo there ♪ ♪ Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo ♪ ♪ Old MacDonald had a farm ♪ ♪ E-I-E-I-O ♪ There are two characters here, aren't there? There's the farmer and there's the cow. Let's have a go at creating these characters using movement and still images as we start to create our stories. Let's start with the farmer, shall we? Not all farmers are men. They're often women. And the children who live on farms will usually help as well. It can be really hard work though. In drama we can use our imagination to create stories by interacting with real or imagined things that are around us. So I want you to pretend to be a farmer and think about what things you might have to do all day long, such as putting on your wellies, feeding the animals, or cleaning out their smelly barns. Ooh. Pause the video, have a go. And when you're ready, carry on. How was that? Was that fun? What I want you to do now is think about your favourite moment from the story you just created, whether you were feeding the animals, or cleaning out their barn, or another story that you invented with your imagination. I want you to pick your favourite moment and create a still image. Remember, a still image is when you stop and you freeze like a statue. It doesn't matter what you're doing, but think of your favourite moment. That might be putting on your wellies and you get stuck. It could be giving some hay to a cow. You decide. Pause the video, create your still image, and press Play when you're ready to carry on. Now let's think about being the cow. On farms, cows are usually used just to make milk. But what else do you think a cow does all day? Does your cow like being taken for walks by the farmer? Imagine that you are the cow and you're being taken for a walk around the farm. Think about how you're going to use your whole body to be a cow and what sounds you're going to make. And when you've had a go at being the cow, create a still image for the cow as well, just like we did for the farmer. Pause the video, give that a go, and when you're ready, press Play. Let's have a look at another verse of our nursery rhyme and see what character comes up here. ♪ Old MacDonald had a farm ♪ ♪ E-I-E-I-O ♪ ♪ And on that farm he had a duck ♪ ♪ E-I-E-I-O ♪ ♪ With a quack quack here ♪ ♪ And a quack quack there ♪ ♪ Here a quack, there a quack ♪ ♪ Everywhere a quack quack ♪ ♪ Old MacDonald had a farm ♪ ♪ E-I-E-I-O ♪ I think ducks are really funny, don't you? Have you ever seen one walk? I want you to pretend to be a duck. But what sort of duck are you going to be? Are you going to be a baby duckling or a grownup adult duck? Are you going to swim around the pond all day and eat seeds? Or are you going to be protecting your eggs or baby ducklings? You decide. Think about using your whole body, and your face, and your voice, as you pretend to be a duck, and think about what you're going to say and do when you meet other animals on the farm. Pause the video, have a go. And when you're ready, press Play. How was that? Good? What I want you to do now is think about using your voice a bit more. But instead of going quack quack all the time, think about what words you might say as if your duck could talk. Have a go at being a duck and think about what your duck is going to say when it meets the other animals. What does it sound like? What sort of voice does it have? Press Pause, give it a go, and when you're ready, press Play. When it comes to acting, it can be really fun to be different characters or to play different animals. It can be great fun to find new ways of moving our bodies and creating little stories. When you were being the farmer, or the cow, or the duck, what stories did you discover when you pretended to interact with the other animals around you, when you used your imagination? Perhaps your cow didn't want to go for a walk unless it was given some food. Maybe your duck was really protective of its eggs and scared away some of the other animals. Perhaps your duck and the cow were the best of friends, but were sad when they were apart. When it comes to storytelling, anything is possible. And it doesn't matter whether they last a few seconds or several hours. It doesn't matter at all. The key is to say, "Yes, let's try that and give it a go. "See what happens." What I want you to do now is to pause the video, have a go at being one of those characters again, and think about what new stories you can create. And when you're ready, press Play. How was that? Was it fun? What I want you to do now is to be the farmer. And I want you to think about a job that they have to do. Perhaps you have to fix a a broken gate, but the cow escapes when you're not looking and then you have to chase it around the field with some lovely fresh hay to get it back into the barn. Think about what story could happen to your farmer today. Pause the video, give it a go, see what happens. Try a few different ideas if you want to. And when you're ready, press Play again. I've got a quick question for you to make sure you were listening carefully earlier on. What is improvisation? Is it option one, when we're told exactly what to do and we do it, or is it option number two, when we pretend to be someone else and make things up to do? Option number two is the correct answer. Did you get that right? I hope you've enjoyed your lesson today. I know I have. If you have enjoyed it, you may want to ask a parent or carer to share your work on Twitter using the tag @OakNational or the hashtag #LearnwithOak. I hope you have enjoyed it. Thank you for spending the time with me and playing along, and I'll see you again soon for another drama lesson. Bye.

Lesson summary: Making it up as we go along

In this lesson, we will look at how we can change a story to find a different ending, introduce new characters, and create something new.

Drama

Making it up as we go along

Video

Lesson summary: Making it up as we go along

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