Written and compiled by Dorinda HultonInstructions and Illustrations for the Finger Puppets by Trina Bramman

Other Illustrations by Willem Montagne

theatre alibi · northcott studio theatre · emmanuel road · exeter ex4 1ej☎ + fax 01392 217315 · info@theatrealibi.co.uk

www.theatrealibi.co.uk

theatre alibi

A FlyingVisitTeacher’s Resource Pack

A Flying VisitTeacher’s Resource PackThis year’s resource pack has been specially designed and developed toaccompany Theatre Alibi’s performance of A Flying Visit.

It’s intended as a resource for teachers of children at Key Stages 1 and 2 and maybe used either before, or after, the performance. It focuses on the Englishcurriculum. Some aspects are also especially relevant to PSHE, Drama, and Art.

Dorinda Hulton

ContentsLoneliness and how it makes you feel ........................................................page 3

Have you wondered if you were dreaming or awake? ..............................page 4

Different kinds of surprises..........................................................................page 6

Finding out about real life flying machines ................................................page 7

Making choices when you get cross ............................................................page 8

A story-telling sparrow, and other birds ....................................................page 9

Making finger puppets of the birds in Theatre Alibi’s story....................page 10

Creating a piece of story theatre with finger puppets ............................page 17

Making origami birds ................................................................................page 18

Feeling two different things at the same time..........................................page 19

Finding out about kites ..............................................................................page 20

Making kites and flying them safely ........................................................page 22

Responding to the performance of A Flying Visit ....................................page 23

Resources ....................................................................................................page 24

The script and production photos for A Flying Visit can be downloaded fromwww.theatrealibi.co.uk. Photos of the set model and miniature models of thecharacters can also be viewed there.

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Loneliness and how it makes you feelIn A Flying Visit, Joe is a cleaner who has worked in the same place for years and years. He’sspending his birthday on his own and it’s a windy day in autumn. All the leaves are coming downat once and he rushes around sweeping them into bin liners. Then Joe hears a rattling soundfrom the building and he sees that everyone is looking out of the windows. They all seem to belaughing at him - and their laughter feels like all the scratchy, prickly leaves which are flyingaround him, blowing in his eyes, and making them sting.

The children could talk in small groups about the feeling of loneliness. Can theyimagine how Joe felt when he heard everyone laughing at him? Can they suggestways of coping with bullying, as well as feelings of loneliness?

Younger children could be encouraged to empathise with Joe by creating a collage ofautumn leaves, seeds and other natural materials to express how Joe felt when peoplelaughed at him. Autumn materials can be collected on a dry day and stuck to cardwith PVA glue. Words could be added to the collage to create an impression of themuddled mixture of feelings inside Joe.

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Older children can create poems to express how loneliness feels. Below are a fewsuggestions. Can the children think of others? Perhaps the children can practisereading their poem aloud together in small groups.

Loneliness is like losing your best hat that keeps you warm in winterLoneliness is like forgetting the tune of a song you used to know

Loneliness is like the sound of a dog barking far awayLoneliness is like forgetting how to play

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Have you ever wondered if you were dreaming or awake?Joe gets so exhausted trying to gather up all the leaves that are flying around, that in the end hecollapses on a bench and falls asleep. When he wakes up he discovers he has grown wings, andcan fly. Perhaps he was dreaming, but at the end of the story, Joe finds something special in hispocket that makes him think he was awake all the time. He really had learnt to fly that day, andhe would never forget how.

Have the children ever wondered if real life was a dream, or a dream was real life?

Ask the children to look carefully at each of the three paintings that follow on the nextpages. They are by the surrealist artist, Rene Magritte and each painting shows amixture of the real and the surreal.

http://rene-magritte-paintings.blogspot.com/2007/08/homesickness-1940_19.html

connect.in.com/magritte-wikipedia/photo-gallery.html

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http://connect.in.com/magritte-wikipedia/photo-gallery.html

The painting of a man with wings, and a lion, is calledHomesickness. Can the children guess why the artist might havechosen this title? Can they choose their own titles for the othertwo paintings?

The children could consider how the artist has achieved thedreamlike effect in his paintings. Which things are real anddreamlike in each picture? Examples might include: makingthings bigger or smaller than they normally are, making thingsheavier or lighter than they normally are, putting things in placeswhere you wouldn’t normally find them, or making thingstransparent when they wouldn’t normally be.

The children could each write out their own story, which mightbe a mixture of things that could happen in a dream and in reallife. Maybe ask the children to choose a moment to make apainting of. Some things in the painting could be real andothers dreamlike. Can they think of a title for their story andpainting?

Older Children might enjoy watching Terry Gilliam’s wonderfuland surreal animated film, The Miracle of Flight, athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMpXUd_kesA

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Different kinds of surprisesJoe gets a nasty surprise when he discovers that his arms have turned into wings. To begin with,he doesn’t like it at all, and tries to shake them off shouting, ‘Get them off! Get rid of them!’ Lateron, when Joe realises that he can actually fly with his wings, it turns out to be the best birthdaysurprise he’s ever had.

You might ask the children to talk about different kinds of surprises. Have they everbeen surprised to discover they can do something that they didn’t think they could doat first? Can they think of examples of nasty surprises that have turned out to bewonderful surprises in the end? Has anything surprised them today? Did anythingsurprise them yesterday? What’s the best surprise they’ve ever had? Have they everbeen truly astonished?!

Perhaps the children could talk about their own experiences of flying. Some of thechildren may, for example, have flown in aeroplanes, or helicopters. Some may evenhave flown in hot air balloons, or seen people sky diving or paragliding.

Older children may be interested to find out more about the ancient Greek myth inwhich Icarus had a nasty surprise when he flew too near the sun. Ask the children toread the summary of the myth below, and to see if they can spot Icarus in PieterBrueghel’s painting below. Its title is Landscape of the fall of Icarus and it can be foundonline at:

http://irwinbartlet.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/icarus1.jpg

The Myth of IcarusDaedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned inside a massive labyrinth in Crete. The fathermade them each a pair of wings, and with these they were able to escape. Daedalus warnedhis son, “Don’t fly too high or the sun will melt the wax on your wings and you will fall. Followme closely. Do not set your own course.” But Icarus became so exhilarated by his ability to flythat he forgot the warning and followed his own course instead. He flew too high and when

the wax melted, Icarus fell down into the sea and drowned.

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Finding out about real life flying machines Joe is visited by his long lost Grandad Popsy, who was an RAF pilot during the Second World War.Popsy has also grown wings, so he and Joe have great fun together, flying around, here and there.

Older children might be interested to find out more about a real lifeRAF pilot from the Second World War called Wing Commander KenWallis. The Commander is 94 years old now, and fifty years ago, heinvented a miniature gyrocopter. This small, real life, flying machine(sometimes called an autogyro) has a rear engine. It flies on the sameprinciple as sycamore seeds that rotate as they fall, helping to keep theseeds in the air for longer.

There are some superb photos on line of Commander Wallis flying a gyrocopter:

http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/273030-mr-autogyro-legendary-ken-wallis.html

There are also numerous films on YouTube. A good one to look at is Commander KenWallis flying his gyrocopter.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=commander+ken+wallis+flying+his+autogyro&hl=en&sa=G&prmd=vo&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=T140TOyOKY_QjAe-

p6jDBQ&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=10&ved=0CEsQqwQwCQ

Of course, for thousands of years peoplehave imagined being able to fly, and somehave attempted to make that dream areality. Perhaps use slips of paper to writedown the names of different flyingmachines through the centuries. Youcould ask the children to pick a slip out ofa hat and find out more about the flyingmachine they’ve selected.

The children could then create a wallfrieze of attempts at flying through the ages. Their drawings could be arranged alonga time line; and captions added giving summaries of why each attempt might havesucceeded, or failed, and how the successful attempts actually worked (or work). Anexcellent source book called Flight is listed in the Resources section. Examples canalso, of course, be researched online. Ask the children if any of them have come acrossthe car that’s recently been invented which can grow wings and fly up to 2 miles?http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/features/article5483226.ece

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Making choices when you get crossPopsy gets cross about a number of things, and when he gets cross his reaction is to dosomething impulsive like smash a plate glass window or throw a bag of flour. Joe tries to get himto consider his actions - even if his anger is justified.

You could ask the children to discuss whether the reasons for getting cross in the listbelow are ‘good’ reasons or ‘bad’ ones. They could list them under three headings:‘good’, ‘bad’ and ‘it depends’. The children could be encouraged to think carefully abouttheir choices, as well as to explain them.

A friend of yours is being bullied

Someone is sitting in the bus on a seat where you normally sit

Your Mum says you can’t go out to play

You see an adult being hit by a small child

You see someone dropping their sweet papers in the street

A friend refuses to talk to you

A gang is picking on a smaller child in the playground

You can’t manage to do something you really want to do, no matter how hard you try

Perhaps ask the children to make three lists of ‘things to do’ and ‘things not to do’ ifsomeone gets cross. A third heading could relate to that grey area: ‘it depends’. Beloware a few suggestions to start the children off.

Think about the other person’s side of the story

Beat someone up

Scream very loudly for a very long time

Ring the police

Count to 10

Go for a walk

Play outside in the fresh air

Talk to someone you trust about what you have seen

Say something spiteful to someone else

Try and explain how you feel

Pull someone’s hair

Stamp on someone’s foot

Find something that isn’t precious to break

Say no to something if you think it’s wrong

Can the children add to the lists? Can they explain their choices clearly? Can thechildren think WHEN it might be good to do one thing, and not another? Are theresome things that might sometimes be a good idea?

A story-telling sparrow and other birds The story of Joe and Popsy’s flight is told by a sparrow called Enid. Enid knows all about flyingbecause, of course, her own body has been designed for flight. So when she’s working withPopsy to encourage Joe to fly, the first thing they get Joe to do is shed a bit of weight. Anotherthing Joe needs to learn is how to manoeuvre to the left and right. Then there’s the question oflanding; and finally, how to feel at home in the air.

In the show - apart from Enid the sparrow - there’s a skylark, a peregrine falcon, apigeon and a seagull. The children can find out as much as they can about one ofthese birds, including what makes it possible for birds to fly.

There are numerous sources for children to find out about all kinds of birds. Theseinclude a superb series of online links that may be accessed via the Usborne Quicklinkswebsite at: www.usborne-quicklinks.com Then type in the keywords ‘little birds’.Here are some of the things children can do on the internet:

Take a virtual flight with a golden eagle

Watch videos and listen to sound clips of a huge array of birds

Create their own birds and see how they would survive in different environments

Children can present their findings on a wall chart under different headings. TheRSPB’s Children’s Guide to Bird Watching suggests some generic headings(IDENTIFICATION, BEHAVIOUR, VOICE, WHERE TO SEE). Children could also beencouraged to choose their own headings according to the information they find outthat really excites and strikes them (for example, BONES, EYES, FOOD, FLIGHT PATH).

Children can choose one of the birds they have studied and write an imagined story oftheir own with the bird as storyteller. Can they imagine what it might be like to fly highabove the earth and get a bird’s eye view of things that are happening down below?What can they see? What can they hear? Does anything funny, or scary, or surprisinghappen?

Children may also enjoy making up conversations between two birds using finger puppets (seenext page), as well as making up stories to tell each other about what they have seen and heardin their journeys through the sky. Older children could be encouraged to include some of thefacts about birds that they have discovered. For example, someone may have seen a gull at theseaside stealing an ice cream, or several of them might have read about the peregrine falcon inthe city of London that has been nesting at the top of the Tate Modern building.

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Instructions for making Bird Finger Puppets

You’ll need

➽White paper or card

➽Scissors

➽Glue

➽Pencil crayons or felt tipped pens

TemplatesChoose which bird you would like to make and cut out the corresponding pieces:

Skylark body, wings, crest

Peregrine body, wings, feet

Gull body, wings, feet

Pigeon body, wings x 2, feet

It’s best to colour-in your pieces before construction, as it will be more difficultafterwards. Use the specific bird sheets on pages 14 - 16 as a guide to the colours andpatterns for each bird. The wings, feet and tails need to be coloured in on both sides.

VariationsThe skylark has a little crest that can be glued to the top of its head pointing backwardsand its feet are drawn-on as if they are tucked away as it flies. It also has little cuts in itstail to separate the feathers - this can be done at the very end.

The pigeon is sitting rather than flying, so unlike the other three birds, has two separatewings glued to either side of its body.

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Templates

1 Take the body pieceand curl it around tomake a cone shapeand glue together thetwo edges with a lineof glue along the tab.The join is at the backof the bird’s body.

2 Stick the wings to theback of the body,across the join.

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6 If the bird has feet,stick them to itsunderside by theankles so that the feetstick out

7 Curl the wings upand over to give thebird more shape

5 Take the verytip of the coneand bend indown to makethe beak

3 Put your finger inside with the puppet theright way up – with the wings and tail on top

4 Pinch the pointy (head) end of the conetogether between your finger and thumb sothat the sides of the bird’s head are flat

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Skylark Template

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Peregrine Template

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Gull Template

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Creating a piece of storytheatre with finger puppets

Ask the children to imagine a friendship between a bird and a human being, a bit likethe friendship between Joe and Enid. Working in pairs, the children can improvise astory about all the things the two friends get up to together.

The YES/AND game is a perfect springboard to get the children started. They canbegin the game sitting side by side with one person playing the bird character (usingthe finger puppet) and the other person playing the human character (possiblyinventing someone who is stuck in a routine like Joe).

Once the children’s concentration and involvement has been firmly established, and ifthe space is available, they can be encouraged to move around the room, or hall, morefreely, and to act out the story using the whole of their bodies, not just their arms,hands and faces!

Each pair can progress to working in fours, and try re-telling their story to another pair.Then ask them to swap over and enjoy the other story. Were there funny moments? Orscary ones? Or surprising ones? Were there realistic moments as well as fantasticalones? Did they think the stories had found good endings?

Of course, the whole process could be followed with writing stories.

How to play the “yes, and…” gameIn pairs, the children take it in turns to make up a story using words,gestures and facial expressions. Each person can make up as much of thestory as they like before the other person speaks. The only rule of the gameis for each person to begin the next bit of the story by saying “YES, AND…”with lots of excitement and enthusiasm. There are no rules about whetherthe things that happen in the made up story are real, or dreamlike. Forexample, in the story, the two friends could fly to the North Pole and eatbananas, or they could sit on top of a football stadium and watch the game!

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Making Origami Birds The set for A Flying Visit is inspired by paper sculpture and older children mayenjoy making origami birds. Origami is the traditional Japanese Folk Art traditionof paper folding and originated in the 17th Century. Ori is the Japanese word forfolding and kami the word for paper. The number of basic origami folds is smallbut they can be combined in many ways to make very intricate designs. Mostorigami designs begin with a square piece of paper and sometimes the paperhas different coloured sides.

Below are some links to websites that have instructions for making differentbirds and there are many others online:

http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-twirling-bird.html

http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-pelican.html

http://www.origami-fun.com/support-files/origami-crane-print.pdf

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-flapping-bird.html

http://origami.org.uk/bos An animated film of how to make a flapping bird

Twirling Bird

Pelican

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Feeling two different things at the same timePopsy, Joe and Enid see all kinds of things that are funny and beautiful whilst they are flying –but they also see something that is sad and scary. A gull flies higher and higher with a snake inits beak. Then the gull drops the snake and it falls down a long way until it hits the ground with abig whack. They all feel sad that the snake has died. But at the same time Enid knows that thesnake will make a good meal for the gull, and Popsy and Joe know that too.

The death of the snake reminds Popsy of his experiences during the Second World War, and hetells Joe and Enid about how many of the bomber crews didn’t make it home safely after theirbombing raids. Popsy’s memories make him feel sad, but at the same time he remembers howgrateful he was to get back alive himself and how important he feels it is to really enjoy things.

The children can discuss things they have really enjoyed. They could be big things, ortiny moments when they saw or heard something they really enjoyed. Perhaps theycan write a poem called ‘Things I’ve really enjoyed’

Ask the children why they think it’s important to remember people who died in warslong ago, and who are still dying in wars today. To find out more about RemembranceSunday, children can visit the British Legion website at www.britishlegion.org.uk

The British Legion schools pack can be downloaded athttp://www.britishlegion.org.uk/search?q=schools+pack

Perhaps the children can also talk with adults they know well about the meaning ofRemembrance Sunday and all the different feelings people might have on that day:Pride? Sadness? Anger? The children could be encouraged to listen carefully to whatother people have to say, and to find words to express other people’s feelings, as wellas their own. Also, to recognise that it’s quite normal for people to feel two differentthings at the same time.

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Finding out about kitesPopsy, Enid and Joe fly to the beach where they see the sky full of kites: red, blue, green, big onesand small ones. Joe says that seeing them whirling around in the air is the most fun he’s had in years.

Ask the children to talk about kites that they may have seen or flown.

Of course, kites come in all shapes and sizes. Below is a kite that looks like someoneswimming underwater in the sky! It can be accessed online at:http://www.johndobson.info/Menu%20Items/George's%20Kitebag/soft/index.html

Older children may enjoy finding out about kites from different countries. The websitebelow categorises them in helpful ways and is a great resource:http://www.johndobson.info/Menu%20Items/George.html

The children could choose a kite they like, and draw a picture of it. If they can find outwhich country it comes from, they could draw a thread connecting the kite to thatpart of the world. Free outlines of world maps can be downloaded from:http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps/print-world-maps.html

Younger children can be asked to draw a line between the shape of the kite and itsname. Designing and colouring in a pattern or picture for each kite could also be fun.

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Classic Diamond

Hexagon

English Arch-top

Serpent

Centipede

Kimono

Names of kites

Star

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Making kites and flying them safely

Reassuringly manageable instructions for making simple kites for younger childrencan be seen through free video at www.activitytv.com under the headings How tomake a Simple Paper Kite and How to make the Simple Sled Kite. Written instructionscan be accessed at www.activitytv.tv

Older children will need help from an adult to make their own stunt kites. Onceairborne these kites can perform all sorts of tricks like the stunt kites that Popsy, Joeand Enid see in A Flying Visit. Instructions for making a Stunter can be found on page76 of the excellent Dorling Kindersley publication The Book of Kites.

The rules for Kite Etiquette noted below can prompt children to think about playingresponsibly and safely, at the same time as having fun. Ask the children if they canexplain WHY they think each rule is important.

The children could talk about activities they think are good fun. They could decide onone of these activities, and write down a list of rules that will ensure everyone has fun -and plays safely at the same time. Examples of activities they could choose mightinclude skateboarding, bike riding, swimming in the sea, or walking a dog in the park.

Kite Safety and EtiquetteAlways fly a kite in an open space and away from power lines

Check the ground carefully before you run in order to launch a kiteKeep lots of space between yourselves and other kite flyers

Be careful about where your kite is landing

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Responding to the performance of

A Flying VisitThe children can discuss how different moments in A Flying Visitmade them feel. Were there exciting moments? Or funny ones? Orsad ones? Or scary ones? Were there moments when they all felt thesame thing? Discuss the similarities and differences between theirresponses.

In pairs, or small groups, the children can choose their own most vividmemories of the performance. Were they linked to the acting, a prop,a costume, the music, a sound effect, or the set design? Or a mixtureof them all? Between them they can make notes or draw pictures anduse these to help them share their choices with the rest of the class.

Together the class could make a list of ‘memorable moments’ from theperformance, and discuss whether, or not, this was a make-believemoment or could happen in real life. Did they enjoy the make-believemoments in the story more, or the realistic ones? Or both of themjust as much? Can they think of moments when the story seemed tobe make-believe, as well as realistic, both at the same time?

In pairs, or small groups, ask the children to choose a moment fromthe performance that they think might have been done in a differentway – not necessarily better. They can discuss other ways of tellingthat part of the story, perhaps by changing the acting, a prop, a soundeffect or an aspect of the set design, costume or music. They can notedown their own creative ideas and add drawings to help explain them.Then each small group can share them with the rest of the class.

The children could write a review of the performance and send it toTheatre Alibi. They could include their own creative ideas as saywhat their favourite moments were, and why, and how eachmoment made them feel.

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Resources

AutumnAutumn. Liz Gogerly. Published by Franklin Watts, 2004. ISBN 07496 5459 7

Seasonal Crafts Autumn Gillian Chapman. Published by Wayland Ltd., 1997. ISBN 0 7502 1839 8

BirdsThe Usborne Little Book of Birds. Sarah Kahn. Published by Usborne. 2008. ISBN: 978 0 7460 8757 2

RSPB Children’s Guide to Bird Watching. David Chandler and Mike Unwin. Published by A.C.Black,2005. ISBN 0 7136 7157 2 www.rspb.org.uk/youth

A Closer Look at Penguins, Falcons, Finches and other birds. Alex Edmonds. Published by FranklinWatts, 1998. ISBN 0 7496 2830 8

Craft‘Flying Things’ in The Usborne Book of Papercraft ed. Alistair Smith. Published by Usborne, 1995.ISBN 9 7807 048641

`Flapping Birds’ in The Usborne Book of Paper Engineering. Fiona Watt. Published by Usborne. ISBN07460 2327 8

Making Puppets Clare Llewellyn. Published by Evans Brothers Ltd., 2006. ISBN 10: 0 237 53027 9

Seasonal Crafts Autumn Gillian Chapman. Published by Wayland Ltd., 1997. ISBN 0 7502 1839 8

FeelingsRemembrance Day. Liz Gogerly. Published by Hodder Wayland, 2003. ISBN O 7502 4429 1

Violent Feelings. Pete Sanders. Published by Aladdin Books Ltd., 2004. ISBN 0 7496 5402 3

FlightFlight. David Jefferis. Published by Franklin Watts, 1991. ISBN 0 7496 0616 9

KitesThe Book of Kites. Paul and Helene Morgan. Published by Dorling Kindersley, 1992. ISBN 0 86318 785 4

theatre alibi · northcott studio theatre · emmanuel road · exeter ex4 1ej☎ + fax 01392 217315 · info@theatrealibi.co.uk

www.theatrealibi.co.uk