Post-show activities
Emotion Orchestra
The teacher takes up position first as the 'orchestra conductor'. The class should sit or stand in rows, as though they were musicians in an orchestra. However, instead of having a string section or a brass section, the conductor will create 'emotion sections' (eg sad, joy, fear, guilt, confusion).
Each time the conductor points or gestures to a particular section, the performers will make emotional noises (try to avoid words - make sounds that conveys the feelings). When the conductor raises his hands high, the volume of the performers corresponds by increasing. Alternatively; hands low and the volume decreases.
Just as a maestro performs during an impassioned symphony, the conductor of the emotion orchestra warms the students up, pointing to them one at a time at first, and then to more sections at once. Eventually building to a climactic frenzy.
Students must make certain that they pay attention to the conductor and become silent as soon as the conductor points to another group.
To give the students a chance to feel the same control over the sounds as Ivy, give them an opportunity to conduct the ‘orchestra’ themselves.
Emotion Orchestra is a fun, quick activity that’s great for warming up the children and letting them experience the intense emotions created by sounds.
Soundtracking
Involves the use of realistic or stylised sounds to accompany action or describe an environment/scenario.
The class is divided into four groups. The coordinator provides each group a situation and allots a short amount of time for the groups to discuss how they wish to execute the piece and to rehearse before presenting their piece to the other groups. The coordinator moves between each group offering suggestions and advice. The participants tell a story through sound and improvised dialogue. The audience tries to guess what the scenario is.
Suggested scenarios:
- The crew of a Royal Navy Research Vessel set out to explore the seven seas and sail right into a storm before crashing.
- A group of aliens arrive on planet earth, only to be greeted by the unlikeliest of ambassadors.
- The Long-Thought-Lost Nikki-Nikki tribe are feeling the effects of a nasty drought and participate in a rain-dance.
- It’s visiting time at the old folks home, and one lively senior citizen attempts an escape.
Students will learn how to use sound – matched with action- poetically and expressively to convey mood and to create a sense of place, further exploring the relationship between soundtrack and image as well as encouraging confidence in voice as a wide-ranging instrument.
Leading by Sound
Having no eyes, Ivy had to learn to rely on her other senses, especially hearing, This activity allows students to experience a similar situation.
The class is put into pairs with two pairs performing the activity at a time while the others form an audience. One player is blind, while their partner acts as a guide, who must help them navigate through the space, avoiding furniture and the other players. The challenge is that the guide is not allowed to speak and may communicate using only affirmative or negative sounds (such as clapping for the former or growling for the latter) while the blind player alters their course accordingly. The coordinator may wish to set up a short obstacle course that both teams can navigate in their own time. Blind players must listen to discern both the affirmative and negative sounds as well as which sounds are made by their own partner and which ones are from the other pair.
Listening and Response play an important role in this activity as the players need to hear the instructions given by their partner and respond to the instructions to avoid colliding with obstructions in their path. By distinguishing the difference between the affirmative and negative noises This can also branch into trust-building exercises, with the 'blind' players relying on their partners to guide them safely around the space. This activity also allows participants to experience using their auditory senses to navigate and encourages players to experiment and find alternative methods of communication other than spoken word.
Following the Leader
The students of the class play follow the leader but it is based on the characters of Apronwood. One student is picked to be the leader and has to choose a character of Apronwood to mimic and the rest of the class has to copy the leader. After a while the class gets to guess which character the leader was trying to be and if they guess right they are the next leader.
The whole proposal centres around the fact that in Ivy Shambitt and the Sound Machine there are so many people who are carbon copies of each other ie. Patience, Prudence and Penelope and Eloise, Elisia and Estella or are merely following the actions of other people ie. The people of Apronwood going along with the idea to murder Ivy’s parents and abandon Ivy in the garbage dump. Beyond this the students get to physically portray characters from the play and depict to the class how that character made them feel and what kind of person they believe that character to be, portraying to the class their own perceptions about the particular person they are trying to imitate.
Workshop
Another option as a class would be to participate in a workshop type lesson based on the emotions experienced by a bully victim.
Ask the students what kind of emotions a bully victim might experience. The three main emotions that you want to focus on are; fear of the person who is bullying them, anger that these things are happening to them and relief when they have finally sought help.
The class is to walk around the room and as you tell the story, they are to react to your words.
“One day you were walking to school (walk to school) (Is your backpack heavy? Are you excited? Are you trudging along because you don’t want to get there?). As you get to the gate, you see someone (it shocks you) (Do you jump back afraid? Do you look down trying to make yourself invisible?). They approach you and start teasing you, this has been happening for a year now (jump down and curl into a ball to protect yourself from their insults, wrap yourself in tight). They walk away and leave you there (you get up). Now you start to feel some emotions. First fear (walk around as if you are scared of something). Now anger (walk around angry that you are being treated in this way) You ask someone for help (say help) (walk around as if a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders). Your bullying problems are over, you have sought help and now the issue has been resolved.”
Anticipatory Set
This is a version of the game paper, scissors and rock but with the added element of using emotions. The class is to line up in groups opposite one another. There are three emotions; fear, anger, and relief. As a team each side are to choose what emotion they are going to portray. They will then walk back into position and then on the count of three they will adopt a position and shout their emotion:
Fear – curled into a ball
Anger – growling bear
Relief – star jump stance
Anger beats relief, fear beats anger, and relief beats fear. The side with the higher emotion wins.
Responding to Stimuli
This is a fun game called landmines. It draws attention to the loneliness bully victims feel/experience. One person starts off by being blindfolded. The others are to lie on the floor, taking up as much space as possible and lay there frozen. The blindfolded person who in this circumstance is the bully victim has to walk from one end of the classroom to the other without stepping on the people who are acting as obstacles. When they step close to one of the obstacles, that person is to beep, getting quicker as the blindfolded victim nears their physical space. Bully victims often feel as if they are helpless (hence the blindfold) and as if they are stuck in a maze full of traps (being the obstacles) and can’t find their way out. Once that person has found their way to the other end of the classroom they are free from the bullying and can remove their blindfold.
Transforming Stimuli
This time the people who are obstacles are to choose one of the emotions experienced by a bully victim; fear, anger, or relief. In choosing that emotion, they are then to stand in their place (once again frozen) and take up a position that to them portrays that emotion. For example; fear could be curled up in a ball, anger could be stretched with aggressive arm gestures, and relief could be lying down or spread out in a star shape. As the blindfolded victim comes closer to them, they are to instead of beep, repeatedly say their emotion. Once again, getting quicker and louder as they get closer to their physical space. One person at the other end of the classroom may aid the victim by telling them to duck or step in another direction. Acting as the help that the blindfolded victim is going to seek to end their bullying. The task is complete once the person has grabbed hold of their aiding person’s hands.
Reflection
This is a quick team building activity called the run through. This activity depicts the relief a bully victim would feel once they have sought the aid of another person which helps solve their problem. The class are to pair off and stand with their arms stretched out in front of them. One person is to sprint from one end of the line to the other as the class drop their arms just in time to allow them to pass.