helicopter project

Helicopter Project

Based on Vivian Gussin Paley's approach to Storytelling and Story Acting for children from Foundation Stage through to Key Stage 1

"The class room has all the elements of theatre, and the observant, self-examining teacher will not need a drama critic to uncover character and plot, and meaning. We are, all of us, the actors trying to find the meaning of the scenes in which we find ourselves. The scripts are not yet fully written, so we must listen with curiosity and great care to the main characters who are, of course, the children."

Vivian Gussin Paley 'On Listening to What Children Say' Harvard Educational Review, Volume 56, No 2 May 1986,

Practicalities

The Helicopter Project is geared towards children from Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. MakeBelieve Arts are available to run in-school workshops with children for one day a week over a 6-10 week period where we introduce the technique to the children and take care to hand over the project to the class teacher to ensure sustainability. We can accompany these visits with a half day INSET or Twilight session.

"A day without storytelling is, for me, a disconnected day. The children at least have their play, but I cannot remember what is real to the children without their stories to anchor fantasy and purpose."

Vivian Gussin Paley in The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter

The Ethos

The Helicopter Project of Storytelling and Story Acting grew out of Vivian Gussin Paley's book 'The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter'. It was first piloted in this country by Trisha Lee as part of her work for the London Bubble. MakeBelieve Arts are now the only theatre company in the UK who use this technique as a major part of their work.

Storytelling and Story Acting is, in theory, a simple technique. The teacher or workshop leader sits with the child, listens to their story, and writes it down word for word. At the end of the story, the child decides which character they wants to play and the teacher takes a story from the next child on the list. Towards the end of the session, the class gather together as audience and actor ready to observe and take part in the stories of their peers. A simple stage is marked in tape on the floor and immediately the classroom is transformed into a theatre.

As the children gather to act out their stories, the classroom is filled with the quiet of an expectant audience waiting to see what happens when the curtain rises. The first phrase of the first story is read, the theatre begins and children in turn leave their places around the stage to become babies or dragons, princesses or superheroes, lions or daddies, leaving the classroom behind to act out their part in the story. As each narrative ends the children who remain seated clap, thanking the storyteller and actors and the stage is cleared, ready for the next story and the new cast to emerge.

As the process goes from a one off experience to a regular classroom event, the children's stories develop and begin to incorporate aspects of the stories told by their peers. This is the community of storytelling. Stories are shared, ideas are taken on by other children, and the potential for language development and shared imagery is one of the most powerful aspects of the work.




Helicopter Project Based on Vivian Gussin Paley's approach to Storytelling and Story Acting for children from Foundation Stage through to Key Stage 1 "The class room has all the elements of theatre, and the observant, self-examining teacher will not need a drama critic to uncover character and plot, and meaning. We are, all of us, the actors trying to find the meaning of the scenes in which we find ourselves. The scripts are not yet fully written, so we must listen with curiosity and great care to the main characters who are, of course, the children." Vivian Gussin Paley 'On Listening to What Children Say' Harvard Educational Review, Volume 56, No 2 May 1986,
	Practicalities The Helicopter Project is geared towards children from Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. MakeBelieve Arts are available to run in-school workshops with children for one day a week over a 6-10 week period where we introduce the technique to the children and take care to hand over the project to the class teacher to ensure sustainability. We can accompany these visits with a half day INSET or Twilight session. "A day without storytelling is, for me, a disconnected day. The children at least have their play, but I cannot remember what is real to the children without their stories to anchor fantasy and purpose." Vivian Gussin Paley in The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter
The Ethos The Helicopter Project of Storytelling and Story Acting grew out of Vivian Gussin Paley's book 'The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter'. It was first piloted in this country by Trisha Lee as part of her work for the London Bubble. MakeBelieve Arts are now the only theatre company in the UK who use this technique as a major part of their work. Storytelling and Story Acting is, in theory, a simple technique. The teacher or workshop leader sits with the child, listens to their story, and writes it down word for word. At the end of the story, the child decides which character they wants to play and the teacher takes a story from the next child on the list. Towards the end of the session, the class gather together as audience and actor ready to observe and take part in the stories of their peers. A simple stage is marked in tape on the floor and immediately the classroom is transformed into a theatre. As the children gather to act out their stories, the classroom is filled with the quiet of an expectant audience waiting to see what happens when the curtain rises. The first phrase of the first story is read, the theatre begins and children in turn leave their places around the stage to become babies or dragons, princesses or superheroes, lions or daddies, leaving the classroom behind to act out their part in the story. As each narrative ends the children who remain seated clap, thanking the storyteller and actors and the stage is cleared, ready for the next story and the new cast to emerge. As the process goes from a one off experience to a regular classroom event, the children's stories develop and begin to incorporate aspects of the stories told by their peers. This is the community of storytelling. Stories are shared, ideas are taken on by other children, and the potential for language development and shared imagery is one of the most powerful aspects of the work.	Bethany's Story, aged 4 Once upon a time there was a girl and she was very married, and she danced to the music with her marrier. And there was a big bad wolf sneaking while she was dancing. And then they looked behind them and they saw the wolf and the wolf gobbled them up. And then they was alive again. And they went home and then they saw a broken chair, so much they liked the broken chair it broked to little pieces and they sitted on their new settee.

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