Using Myths and Legends - Case Study

Example lesson sequence - Janice Russell - Barton Le Clay Lower School

willowMy Year 3 class had been exploring the story of the Willow Pattern in literacy and I wanted to allow the children to retell it using the Story Creator (SC2) tool from E2BN's Myths and Legends site. www.myths.e2bn.org

Prior to beginning the work with the children I registered on the Myths and Legends site . Because I would be responsible for publishing the children’s stories on the Myths site a few days after I registered someone from E2BN contacted the school to ensure that I was a bona fide teacher.

Assured that I was who I said I was my account was activated and I register my pupils. This involved uploading a simple spreadsheet of pupil usernames, and passwords. Because the username appears with the published stories, in keeping with my schools e-safety policy I made sure these names did not identify the children. However, so I would know whose story was whose I also included the children’s real names on the spreadsheet.

 

Lesson 1 Learning Objectives: EN3 Writing - Planning and Drafting

To develop their writing on paper and on screen, pupils should be taught to: a) plan - note and develop initial ideas b) draft - develop ideas from the plan into structured written text Task: Become familiar with the SC2 tool and use a storyboard template to plan 9 ‘scenes’ that retell the story of the Willow Pattern

After providing the children with a quick demonstration of SC2 we let the children have a ‘play’ with it to give them a feel for how it worked. At first they wanted to explore all the different scene and character options but quickly discovered that there is a full set of assets for the Willow Pattern story. They found the tool easy to use and they were soon creating story scenes with characters and objects.

Without logging in they could create a story but not save it. From our earlier more traditional work on the Willow Pattern the children were already familiar with the story. So once the children hand an understanding of how S22 works I provided each child a story board template and they made sketches for each scene in the story.

SC2 supports nine scenes per ‘chapter’ and I decided that for most children nine scenes would be about right. Some children did a few more scenes.

Lesson 2 Learning Objective: EN3 Writing - Planning and Drafting To develop their writing on paper and on screen:

a) revise - change and improve the draft

b) proofread - check the draft for spelling and punctuation errors, omissions and repetitions

d) discuss and evaluate their own and others' writing.

Task: Retell the Willow Pattern Story in pictures using Story Creator2

After recapping the story of the Willow Pattern, I showed the children how to log in and they immediately started to create their stories. The work prior to the session on their storyboard sketches helped them recall the story.

During this lesson we concentrated on the pupils producing the images for the story: within SC2 there are lots of graphics in the style of the Willow Pattern so it is possible to create a very traditional looking version. Some pupils did this whilst others choose a less traditional set of images. By the end of the lesson most pupils had created 9 scenes to depict the Willow Pattern.

Plenary: I showed the class the preview button so that they could see how their story would appear once it was published. I then asked a couple of children to log on to Myths on a laptop that was connected to the class projector. As these pupils showed their stories to the class we discussed ways in which the each could be improved.

Lesson 3 NC Learning Objective: EN3 Writing

Composition

b) broaden their vocabulary and use it in inventive ways

c) use language and style that are appropriate to the reader

d) use and adapt the features of a form of writing, drawing on their reading

e) use features of layout, presentation and organisation effectively

Task: To add a written narrative to the Willow Pattern story created the previous lesson

myths The children were really keen to carry on with their stories. Some had even created new stories or continued their Willow Pattern work at home. During the lesson most children produced the text for their stories by typing it directly below each scene. Having already developed the scenes visually the children were able to really concentrate on their writing using the scenes as prompts for their writing. Some children added cartoon/ graphic novel style speech bubbles to their work which supported work we had been doing on writing speech earlier in the term. P

lenary: As lesson 2

Lesson 4 NC Learning Objective - (EN1 Speaking and Listening)

e) Speak audibly and clearly, using spoken standard English in formal contexts

f) Evaluate their speech and reflect on how it varies

Task: To add sound effects and /or a spoken narrative to the Willow Pattern stories with SC2

Within SC2 there is a simple sound recorder. Using headphone and microphone sets the children were soon independently recording their narratives and adding them to each scene. The sound recorder doesn’t have any editing features – if you aren’t happy with the narrative for the scene you simply re-record it.

Plenary: Everyone was really keen to share their work by this stage so I ran a slightly longer plenary which involved pupils putting their work into Preview mode and then moving to their neighbour’s computer to watch and listen to the neighbour’s story.

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