Teach Primary Issue 18.6

• What makes an interesting story? • What makes an interesting character? • Which characters from stories that you know do you find compelling, and why? 2 | CREATING A CHARACTER WITH HOT-SEATING Ask pupils to think of the character they just created, or a new one if they would prefer. Once the children have had a moment to think, ask them to walk around the room as this character. Call out questions as pupils walk about: What is your character’s name? How old are they? Where do they live? Do they have a job, and/ or a passion? Ask the children to really imagine they are that person, and picture how their character walks and holds themselves. Encourage them to show with their bodies how this looks. Prompt them with more questions: Does your character walk slowly, delivering one sentence to the group is a big achievement. I find that it’s best to ask people to volunteer for this exercise rather than going around the circle. Try to encourage those who haven’t had a turn, but never force anyone. Hopefully you’ll have plenty of volunteers, and lots of story ideas will bloom in your circle. • To go further with character development, you can ask the children to answer some trickier questions about their characters. These are questions that the character may not know the answers to, but the writer does: What does this character want subconsciously? What’s stopping them from getting it? What flaws does your character have that they don’t know about? What scares your character most of all? • Explain to the children that the more developed a character is in, the stronger their voice will be. If the writer can really get into the character’s shoes, head, and heart, it will shine through on the page. • The children could create artworks of their characters, or scenes from their writing. Can they point out, orally, significant features in the depictions they’ve made of their characters or stories? EXTENDING THE LESSON quickly, or at a medium pace? Where do they hold tension in their body? What is your character wearing? Continue with more questions such as: What’s your bedroom like, if you have one? Have you had any life-changing events? If so, what happened, and how did it change you? Who do you have significant relationships with? If you had three wishes, what would you wish for? What is your biggest secret? You might need to remind the children to answer these questions inside their heads. Next, ask everyone to come out of character—I often say shake them off— and ask the class to sit down facing a single empty chair. This chair is the hot seat. Ask a volunteer to sit in the hot seat in character. The audience will ask them questions, and they will answer these questions in character. The audience can ask questions you just called out, or new ones. Explain to the person being hot-seated that if they don’t know the answer, they can make something up on the spot or say “I don’t know”, but it’s important that they stay in character. 3 | WRITING ABOUT THE NEW CHARACTERS Once pupils have created an idea for a story with the first part of this exercise, and a character with the second part, you can also ask the children to write down a short story inspired by the ideas from this activity. SamMarsden has taught drama for fifteen years in a variety of settings. She’s the author of 100 Acting Exercises for 8–18 Year Olds, Acting Games for Improv, Drama Games for Early Years, and Acting Exercises for Creative Writing . “Charles Dickens is said to have acted out his characters as he wrote” USEFUL QUESTIONS www.teachwire.net | 89