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Year 6 · The Arts
Unit: Devise It: Building a Scene From an Idea · Lesson 1 of 5
From Stimulus to Situation
We are learning to use a stimulus to find several possible situations, and to choose one that has room for drama.
Before you startAbout 55 minutes · what success looks like · notes for the helper
About 55 minutes. It's fine to stop after the Quick Check and come back another day: the lesson opens where you left it, at the Quick Check.
You'll know you've got it when
- I can say what a stimulus is, and that a situation is who, where, when and what is wrong
- I can make at least three different situations from one stimulus
- I can choose one situation and explain who wants something and what is in their way
For the helperhow to sit beside this lesson, and what this step is for
This step: Spark
Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.
- Getting ready
- A small everyday object to use as a stimulus, such as a single glove, an odd sock, a key or a torn ticket, plus paper and a pencil. A newspaper or a magazine with a few photographs is a useful extra, and a clear patch of table for spreading things out. The whole lesson takes about 55 minutes, so many families stop after the check and do the task the next day.
- What understanding sounds like
- Listen for your child asking questions of the stimulus ('Who left it? Why was it there at night?') and giving more than one answer. A child who says 'it could be this, or it could be that' is already thinking like a drama maker, even if the situations are rough.
- A likely mix-up, and something that helps
- A common belief is that the first idea is the one to use, or that a topic such as 'friendship' or 'a lost glove' is already a scene. You might ask, 'Who is there, where are they, when is it, and what has gone wrong?' If any answer is missing, it is a topic still waiting to become a situation.
- If it comes easily
- For a child who finds this easy, one option is a fourth situation that changes the genre: the same glove in a funny scene, then a scary one, and a talk about which one leaves the most room for the characters to want something.
- If it's a struggle
- If it is a struggle, one way is to start with just two of the four questions, who and what is wrong, and to offer a few options aloud for your child to react to. Choosing between two ideas an adult has said aloud is often an easier first step than inventing from nothing. If your child would rather not today, playing with the object together, with no writing at all, still counts as a start. Talking through 'stimulus', 'situation' and 'topic' first, in your home language if that is easier, can help.
Step 1 of 6 · Spark
Lesson 1 of 5 · Devise It: Building a Scene From an Idea
One glove on a fence post
For the helper
Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.
Imagine you are walking past a school gate at the end of the day. Nobody is around. On the top of a fence post, pushed down over the point of it, is one bright yellow glove. Before you read on, tell your helper what you think happened. Then ask your helper what they think happened. Did you tell the same story? Probably not. The gap between your two answers is where drama begins. Keep what you each said, because we will come back to it at the end.