Take One Picture Project
Over the past few weeks the whole school has been involved in a very exciting project, called 'Take One Picture.'
It is led by the National Gallery and the focus painting is called 'Men of the Docks.' Schools all over the country have been invited to respond to the painting and use it as a catalyst to explore a new area of learning, linking it across their curriculum.
In Early Years we looked at the painting and talked about what we found interesting. They were provided with word banks to support their writing and they practised the early stages of writing by linking it to our knowledge of initial sounds such as t-tower, m-man, s-smoke.
Next we listened to the soundscape which played in the Atelier, and the children were encouraged to respond to the painting using the available resources such as collage materials, clay and watercolours to interpret the sounds they could hear. The children imagined being on the docks, smelling the salty air and feeling the cold wind blowing through their hair, stinging their cheeks.
We noticed when the children were exploring the deconstructed role play areas they were beginning to use the open ended resources to make boats and tall structures as represented in the painting. Meanwhile in our outdoor area the children were building boats on a larger scale and pretending they were going on a journey.
We explored the drama conventions and acted out a 'freeze frame' which captured the people in the painting and imagined how they were feeling, what they were thinking and what they were talking about. The children's interest in drama led us to explore 'Helicopter Stories' where a student would sit upon a 'stage' and tell their story to the class as it was scribed by the teacher, word for word. When we reached the end of the page our friends were invited to 'act out' the story. We needed to remember our 'theatre manners' and behave accordingly. When the performance ends we all clap the actors.
Helicopter stories are a wonderful way to build confidence, develop storytelling vocabulary and build a foundation for competent writing. There is indeed a story inside each child!
Early Years will continue to run Helicopter Story sessions over the next two terms. Please encourage your child to share their own ideas for a story with you at home.
Are you familiar with the painting we have been looking at? We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!