Year 4 Additional Unit 5 Horrible Histories

Year 4 Unit 5 Horrible Histories

Teaching sequences

Phase 1: Reading, listening and responding; familiarisation with the text-type

Suggested timing - Three to five days

Resources  Two or three examples of live-action drama such as plays or documentary- style TV programmes for children. These should be in suitable formats for whole- class and group viewing. Each example should include a range of strategies to inform on a particular theme. Text used in the examples: Horrible Histories DVD Series 1 (BBC): ‘Awful Egyptians’.  Examples of familiar plays children have read and viewed previously, including a familiar playscript to refer to as a model for the text-type.  A range of information sources to support children’s planning for writing on the theme chosen, including resources that provide information (e.g. on a topic studied earlier in another subject) and additional resources such as photographs, simple props, costumes and music.

Teaching content  As an introduction to the unit, activate children’s prior knowledge of plays and playscripts by reminding them about plays they have read and viewed. For example, refer to the texts they read and plays they watched in Year 3 Unit 5 (Dialogue and Plays) or share photographs taken when a theatre group visited the school. Revisit the conventions of playscripts, for example through shared reading of a favourite scene. Discuss the common purposes and audiences for familiar plays and establish that the purpose of a play is often to tell a story and to entertain. Tell the children they will be applying what they know to write a different kind of play.  Select a short play or a scene to show the class. Choose an example that provides information, such as a documentary extract or a short play on a history topic. You could select examples on a topic children have recently covered in another subject, such as a unit of work in history or science. Discuss whether the content is ‘a play’ or not, and in what ways it does or does not exemplify the features of a play.  For example: choose two sections from the Horrible Histories series (referred to in the resource as ‘scenes’) both on the same topic. The following examples are from episodes on ancient Egypt (Series 1, Awful Egyptians scenes from Episodes 2, 3 and 5).  Begin by showing the class the song clip Egyptian Kings (1 minute 24 seconds) by selecting from the Savage Songs menu. Ask the children to decide whether this example is a play or not. If so, how is it like the plays they discussed earlier? In what ways is it different? For example, the song performance includes: an actor in role, a costume, a script that has been learned by heart, a setting and props, rehearsed actions in the setting. It does not tell a story but it does present a series of facts that the children already know to be valid information. The purpose of the example is to inform and to entertain.  Summarise the main points from the discussion, ensuring that children understand that the purpose of a scripted performance can also be to provide information. Use teacher scribing to make notes about the play-like characteristics of the example viewed and to record the range of dramatic strategies used to inform or entertain.  For example:  Use shared writing to make quick notes that list the information about ancient Egypt that the performance provides. Show the clip again if necessary. Ask children to comment constructively on whether the performance meets its objectives. How well does it convey information? What part do the words play and how important are the setting/costume/props and the music? Is the sub-titling of the lyrics an important addition or not? (“Of Egyptian kings we know oh so many things, ‘cos the arch-ae-olo-gists have dug their tombs...”  Tell the children they are going to view a second example independently to record a) any additional facts they notice and b) any additional strategies for giving the information (i.e. apart from those seen in the previous example, i.e. singing a song) and for entertaining the audience. Show the second clip on the same topic and re-run for a second time if necessary. Summarise the children’s feedback on both aspects and demonstrate how to record the dramatic strategies used for giving information.  For example: Show two complete sections on Awful Egyptians, such as Episode 2 (King Pepi’s Super Sticky etc) and Episode 3 (Making a Mummy etc). Summarise the feedback from groups on additional information and add this to the original list. Add to the shared notes any additional strategies used in the examples to inform and to entertain, such as: a play, information boxes (King Pepi really did this!), a presenter who speaks directly to the audience (the rat), a quiz (true or false questions with answers provided) a play with a narration and visible narrator (Princess and the pea) and a funny advert in the style of a television advert (Shouty Man’s all purpose Egyptian mummy) a character who appears in more than one menu or clip (the rat and the cartoon mummy).  If children are confident in responding to film texts, you could allocate different examples for groups and then share their findings as a class, to create a larger store of ideas: Episode 7 (Real Estate Pyramids etc) and Episode 13 (This Is Your Reign etc)

Learning outcomes  Children can recognise some strategies used to inform and entertain in a play or similar live-action text, including textual features (e.g. jokes) and dramatic features (e.g. an actor speaking directly to the audience).

Phase 2: Capturing ideas and planning

Suggested timing - Two to three days

Teaching content  Tell the children they are going to write and perform their own playscript for a play, episode or scene (as appropriate) on the same theme. They will work as a group, sharing responsibilities for collecting ideas, planning content and reporting back to the rest of the class. Tell them the specific focus for the episode they are going to write and provide appropriate themed resources to support early stages of gathering ideas and planning. Allocate the roles of leader, researchers, scribe and reporter in each group.  Allow time for the children to find and talk about their ideas, to list the information they wish to include in their script and to agree the strategies they will use to inform and entertain. Clarify how much time is available for their planning and ensure that they are not over-ambitious in the amount of content they decide to write.  For example: tell the class they are going to write and perform their own episode of Horrible Histories to add to the series on Awful Egyptians. Provide a more specific brief based on a particular aspect of the topic, such as ‘Medicine in Ancient Egypt or ‘Food and farming’. They should agree in their group which strategies they will use to entertain their audience at the same time as they provide factual information. What additional information do they want to include? Provide useful resources, such as completed work from the history unit they have completed earlier, reference books on ancient Egypt, visual resources such as photographs and music they can access as audio files if appropriate.  Ask the reporter from each group to summarise their ideas for content and the decisions made so far. Use this opportunity to check that each group’s aims are achievable with the resources available and in the time allocated for Phase 3.  Use one or more drama activities to provide oral rehearsal of dialogue or commentary and to help children apply new vocabulary.  For example: provide a relevant situation or context, such as ‘the building of the great pyramid at Giza’ or ‘life on a farm beside the River Nile’. Use ‘freeze- frame’ and ‘hot-seating’ to explore characterisation, to discuss motivation and to reflect on character views or feelings: What is the slave thinking as he climbs the pyramid carrying a heavy load in the midday heat? What is the chief stonemason thinking as he compares his plan on papyrus with the building growing in front of him? Support the children in finding ways of dealing with humour sensitively and appropriately. Use improvisation during drama, and shared writing strategies, to record potential dialogue.  In a plenary, groups reflect on the settings, characters and drama strategies they have discussed so far and eliminate the least effective ideas. They report on their group plan for sharing the script-writing in Phase 3.

Learning outcomes  Children can work collaboratively to achieve a group outcome by taking different roles as readers, writers and speakers.  Children can use drama improvisation to discuss and develop their ideas for characters’ feelings, motivations and actions.

Phase 3: Writing and performing

Suggested timing - Five to seven days

Teaching content  The aim for children’s independent writing in this phase is to create a script and performance that meet the dual objectives of informing and entertaining. Children will need to achieve a balance between accuracy and fluency, maintaining legibility that allows actors to read their parts so begin by clarifying the success criteria for their writing and performances. You could decide to ask children to write their plays individually and then select some plays for performance in groups.  While children are writing, ensure that groups are managing the sharing of tasks efficiently. Provide additional support through guided sessions to focus on the way language is used to entertain.  Arrange suitable times for each group to perform their completed script for an audience. These could be used one after the other (for example, in the style of the original Horrible Histories) as part of a class assembly performance, or they could be recorded and saved as a resource for other children who study the same topic. Use the children’s final performances for individual and/or group reflection on the effectiveness of the playscript for its original purposes.

Learning outcomes  Children can apply their knowledge of playscripts to write a script on a given topic, using a range of dramatic and textual strategies to inform and entertain. Assessment These are suggested strategies for assessing learning in an additional text-based unit on Plays: Horrible Histories This resource includes assessment focuses and examples of opportunities for assessment that link to the learning outcomes for this unit. Evidence against a variety of assessment focuses will be collected at many points during the teaching sequences. It will be important to collect evidence of achievement against the assessment focuses from occasions where children can demonstrate some independence and choice away from direct teaching. This is particularly important when making a judgment against reading assessment focuses 2 and 3, and writing assessment focuses 1 and 2. In this exemplified unit the 'main' assessment focuses for reading and writing are identified but you can interpret and adapt the teaching sequence to meet the needs of your class. This may affect the types of evidence which it is desirable and possible to gather.

Assessment Focuses The teaching of this unit should particularly support the collection of evidence against:  Reading assessment focus 3 (Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts) and Reading assessment focus 4 (Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level  Writing assessment focus 3 (Organise and present whole texts effectively, sequencing and structuring information, ideas and events) Learning outcomes The suggested outcomes for this unit are: Phase 1  Children can recognise some strategies used to inform and entertain in a play or similar live-action text, including textual features (e.g. jokes) and dramatic features (e.g. an actor speaking directly to the audience).  Children can discriminate word parts, including word stems and affixes, that indicate word origins or give clues to the meanings of key words in the topic. Phase 2  Children can work collaboratively to achieve a group outcome by taking different roles as readers, writers and speakers.  Children can use drama improvisation to discuss and develop their ideas for characters’ feelings, motivations and actions. Phase 3  Children can apply their knowledge of playscripts to write a script on a given topic, using a range of dramatic and textual strategies to inform and entertain. Opportunities for assessment The following are examples selected from the teaching sequence for this exemplified unit of work. These will that will support planning for effective assessment as an integrated part of the teaching and learning process.

Learning outcomes Example of teaching Evidence Approach to content and assessment assessment opportunities Children can Children watch a scene Oral Teacher recognise some or episode from a contributions to observation of strategies used to children’s documentary group group inform and entertain on a familiar topic. Their discussion discussion in a play or similar viewing focus is the Notes from Questioning. live-action text, range of strategies used group including textual to inform and to collaborative features (e.g. jokes) entertain. After watching writing and dramatic features the clip, the group Oral responses (e.g. an actor discusses the strategies to questions in speaking directly to they noticed and they plenary the audience). make quick notes to prepare for feedback to the class. The teacher invites each group to share the list of strategies they made and questions children further, asking for examples from the clip. Children can After viewing a topic- Children’s oral Teacher discriminate word focused clip from a play responses: the observation of parts, including word or documentary, the range of individual stems and affixes, teacher draws attention strategies they children that indicate word to unfamiliar vocabulary. suggest and the origins or give clues The teacher appropriateness Questioning to the meanings of demonstrates how to of the reading during individual key words in the apply a range of reading and spelling activity and in topic. strategies to work out strategies they plenary what a word means and apply for each how to apply a range of word Marking spelling strategies to children’s remember the spelling. writing for The teacher asks the evidence of class to think application of individually about the spelling remaining words on the strategies of the list and to consider same words in which strategies they their written think work best to work outcomes at the out the meaning and end of Phase 3 remember the spelling for each word. Children can work In small groups, children Oral Teacher collaboratively to are allocated individual contributions: observation of achieve a group roles as leader, suggestions group outcome by taking researcher, scribe or made, collaboration different roles as reporter and told how questions Discussion readers, writers and long they have to plan asked, Questioning to speakers. their first ideas for a evidence of extend detail play. They agree on and effective beyond brief share out any tasks so listening, feedback, e.g. that they have time to evidence of about the way collect the information effective each group they need on the topic, strategies for plans to use make decisions about collaboration strategies to cast and scenes and Children’s inform and record their ideas as writing: notes persuade notes for the reporter to made and feed back to the class. information collected on the topic Children can use Children use Individual Teacher drama improvisation improvisation in small contributions to observation of to discuss and groups to create a group planning group develop their ideas scene for their play, for the scene : preparation for for characters’ each taking the role of a who will do drama and feelings, motivations key character such as a what; why a observation of and actions. historical figure or a character the commentator / should behave improvisation presenter. They in a certain way itself improvise the dialogue for their character and Action and interact with others in dialogue during their roles. Each group improvisation. shares their scene with Observation of the rest of the class. Responses to children’s Children then discuss questions responses to what their character during whole peer said and why, and how class questioning and they could make the discussion: comments dialogue more realistic justification for and informative. The their character’s Teacher teacher and other actions or questioning groups question them dialogue and about their characters’ suggestions for actions and motivations. improving Children can apply Each group performs for Group their knowledge of the class the playscript performances playscripts to write a they have written of their scripts script on a given collaboratively. The Children’s topic, using a range teacher invites them to writing of dramatic and describe the strategies (collaboratively textual strategies to they used to inform their written scripts) inform and entertain. audience on the topic Individual oral and to entertain them. responses to The teacher uses teacher’s follow-on, more focused questions after questions to individual each group children in the group to performance ensure that all children contribute evidence of their knowledge and understanding of the strategies and reasons for the textual or dramatic choices made by the group.