March 09, 2021
Shakespearean Stories: The Language of the Bard!
As Shakespeare Week approaches, let's look at why The Bard's words are still so important today.
Welcome to our Creativity in the Classroom series! In this series, we share some of our favourite activities, games and challenges to stimulate creative learning on curriculum topics. All ideas come from our online teaching resource, Uno. To find even more engaging activities and interactive videos, visit the Uno website and sign up for your free trial!
Here at One Day, we love books. More than that, we love stories and characters. They help us meet new friends, tackle new foes and breathe life into the world around us.
We know many of you feel the same way. That’s why we love to celebrate World Book Day! Held on the first Thursday of every March (4 March 2021), World Book Day is a time to share our love of reading and ensure that children around the world have access to the joy of books.
As well as all the brilliant online resources from World Book Day, we wanted to share a World Book Day activity for both KS1 & KS2, which you can enjoy with your pupils. Whether at home, in the classroom or via remote teaching, these simple, fun exercises aim to showcase the art of storytelling and boost performance skills. Ready? Let’s go!
Activity 1: Old King Cole
In this warm-up activity, your class will memorise a simple nursery rhyme and replace the words with mime! It’s a great opportunity to get your bodies moving and engage your brain with the language of the story.
- Using call-and-response, teach your class the following line: “Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he.”
- Simple right? Except we’re now going to replace each word with a silent action!
- Start off with the easier words and let your pupils choose their own actions. You might choose to mime a crown for ‘King’, make a wrinkly face for ‘Old’ or put your hands over your heart for ‘soul’.
- Do this one-by-one, allowing your class to go through the rhyme with each mime before moving onto the next one. It can be tricky, so take your time and remember to have fun!
Once your pupils have mastered it, why not try speeding up? You could also learn the rest of Old King Cole, pick a different rhyme or even make up your own verse!
Activity 2: Character Cave
What makes a good character? In this World Book Day activity, you’ll become a fully-fledged Character Wizard and explore how descriptive writing can help bring characters to life.
- The Character Cave is a magical place where you have all the ingredients you need to make any kind of character! As an example, we’re going to create a cyclops – a one-eyed monster from Greek mythology.
- Ask your pupils to think about a cyclops’ characteristics. Add each one into the pot of ingredients along with descriptive terms e.g. ‘1 piercing eye’ (adjective), ’50 teeth as sharp as glass’ (simile), ‘a mammoth muscly body’ (alliteration).
- It doesn’t have to just be physical characteristics! Have a think about what a cyclops’ personality might be like e.g. ‘a sprinkle of fearless attitude’.
- Once you’ve created your very own cyclops recipe, it’s time to stir the pot, take a sip and act out the transformation! Have some fun acting out the cyclops, remembering all the ingredients you put in.
Afterwards, have a go at creating your own character! Enhance the learning by adding a line of dialogue after the transformation, writing an accompanying story or interviewing the characters being created!
If you’d like to learn more tips for improving Creativity in the Classroom, take a look at our online teaching resource, Uno. This easy-to-use website is packed with interactive videos and teacher guides on a wide range of topics. Please get in touch to find out more and begin a free trial for your school.