New
New
Year 6

Using drama to explore a character 'low'

I can take part in role play to deepen my understanding of characters’ perspectives in a key part of the build-up in ‘A Kind of Spark’.

New
New
Year 6

Using drama to explore a character 'low'

I can take part in role play to deepen my understanding of characters’ perspectives in a key part of the build-up in ‘A Kind of Spark’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The events culminating in the meeting between Miss Murphy and Addie's sisters are a key part of the build-up.
  2. When we write these events, we will need to understand the characters' actions and feelings.
  3. We can use drama to help us understand and remember these actions and feelings.
  4. We will also want to use internal monologue to show Addie's inner thoughts.
  5. We can practise saying these inner thoughts using drama.

Keywords

  • Build-up - the part of a narrative where problems are introduced and tension rises

  • Dialogue - a conversation between two or more people, written in a text or story to show what each person is saying

  • Internal monologue - the inner voice of a character - their thoughts to themselves, not spoken aloud

Common misconception

Pupils may feel they have to stick rigidly to the dialogues and Addie's thoughts as shown in the book.

Explain and model how we can use our own imagination to build on the ideas in the book and make the drama our own.

Allow lots of time for the drama activities; you will want to pause occasionally to showcase good examples and to model your own ideas for extending and deepening the drama.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need a copy of the 2020 Knights Of edition of ‘A Kind of Spark’ written by Elle McNicoll, illustrated by Kay Wilson, for this lesson.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following are character traits of Miss Murphy?
warm
considerate
Correct answer: short-tempered
Correct answer: spiteful
Q2.
Which character has the following traits? Inconsiderate, thoughtless, self-centred.
Nina
Correct answer: Jenna
Mum
Keedie
Q3.
Which of the following are common features of autism?
Correct answer: challenges interacting with people
Correct answer: challenges in dealing with changes to routines
Correct answer: challenges with sensory overload
challenges with sight and hearing
Q4.
Which element of the story structure comes last?
Correct answer: resolution
build-up
opening
climax
Q5.
Which part of the story structure is where the action and drama reaches its highest point?
build-up
Correct answer: climax
resolution
opening
Q6.
Which part of the story does the following event fall into? Addie learns about the witch trials.
opening
Correct answer: build-up
climax
resolution

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following elements happen in the build-up of a story?
Correct answer: problems are introduced
problems are resolved
Correct answer: obstacles are placed in front of the main character
the main character is introduced
Q2.
Which of these events fall into the build-up of 'A Kind of Spark'?
Audrey gives Addie a new thesaurus.
Correct answer: Addie hits Emily.
Correct answer: Miss Murphy meets with Nina and Keedie.
Audrey starts at the school.
Q3.
Put these events from the build-up in order.
1 - Addie sees her thesaurus destroyed.
2 - Addie hits Emily.
3 - Addie is kept isolated all day.
4 - Addie is alone with Miss Murphy.
5 - Keedie and Nina arrive to see Miss Murphy.
Q4.
Which of the following best describes 'dialogue'?
Correct answer: the conversations a character has
a character's inner thoughts
a character's inner feelings
a character's actions
Q5.
Why is writing a character's internal monologue a useful choice that a writer can make?
to show what characters are saying
to show what characters are doing
Correct answer: to show what characters are thinking and feeling
Q6.
Which character's internal monologue might include the following idea? 'I know she was wrong to do it, but what Emily did was terrible!'
Addie
Correct answer: Audrey
Miss Murphy
Emily