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Anna Edwards, Beacon Teacher
Four of us have tried using 'Starting Stories' now.
Teresa tried 'Laughing Moon' with her group of first termers (3,6 years), starting with the soundtrack. Once they got over not seeing the screen, she was amazed what they came out with in guessing the sounds. They got better at listening over the week. One child, who is particularly interested in music, commented thoughtfully on the musical elements. They nearly all went home talking about the film, which meant that parents came and asked about it. Teresa followed it up by a larger group session with 'Baboon on the Moon', soundtrack only, and they all knew it would be 'sad'. Teresa thought the exercise was very good for listening and for imagining. With her own group she went on to work with 'The Snowman' animation.
Rebecca had similar experiences with her group of second termers (rising 4s). They loved 'Laughing Moon and looked for the jokes eg kicking the heavy ball - ouch! They were keen to see it again and again, and enjoy every bit.
I led a week's work with Martha's group of fourth and fifth termers (rising fives), starting with 'Laughing Moon', then 'Baboon on the Moon' and finally 'Otherwise'. As with the younger children, we found that for the initial listening exercise, 2-3 minutes was enough. They were then very excited to see what was happening. All the group were able to contribute - everyone was able to bring their own sound experiences to it.
On the second day, I asked them to watch it again and make up voices and thoughts for the characters, which they found much harder. We used some paper tangrams, which some found quite challenging. On the third day, with Baboon on the Moon, these slightly older children not only picked up quickly that that he was sad but were able to give ideas as to why - 'he's lonely', was the main one. They all thought he wanted to go to earth and they thought of different ways to help him get there.
'Otherwise' was the most emotionally gripping for the children and led well into discussion about 'being friends' etc. The story was very gripping, with lots of thinking and prediction. Actually, the film defies easy prediction. Several children contributed well. When the green chameleons are angry with the red one, L said urgently, 'But he didn't do nothing wrong!' With support, they were able to analyse all the differences between the 'hero' and his fellow chameleons. I tried to lead a discussion about the things which were the same about us, in the group but the children found this very difficult indeed!
All the films were good for prediction. It was harder to introduce talk about 'character', 'setting' etc. Martha commented that the films offered a lot to discover about the children's thinking, language and concepts. 'Otherwise' was very good for bringing out the children's understanding of feelings and their sense of humour. As a teacher, it is good to be able to watch the children's faces as they respond to the film. It also worked well to get the children to tell an adult who hadn't seen the film yet all about it. We all agreed it was important to show the film several times, as you get more at the second and third viewing.
There, it's a bit flow of consciousness, but I hope that's useful.
