Lesson video

Hello everybody, it's Molly here, nice to see you again.

Welcome to a living history through drama, the Great Fire of London, part two.

So lots of things happened before we were born that are very important.

Some people wrote these in books, some people wrote diaries about them, some people made songs about them, some people made poems, some people painted pictures about them but some people act them out, and that is what we are going to do today.

So, are you ready? In this lesson today, you are going to need quite a bit of space, so make sure that you can move your arms around without touching anything.

Make sure that there's nothing on the floor that you're going to stand on.

Make sure that there's enough room above your head so you're not going to bump it.

And also you're going to need a spoon, teaspoon, dessert spoon, soup spoon, it doesn't matter as long as it's a spoon.

Here's how today's lesson is going to look.

We will start off with a warm up to get ourselves really ready for our session today.

Then we're going to have a quick recap on what we looked at in our last lesson, just cause that links to our lesson today.

We're going to look at emotions and how someone might have been feeling during the Great Fire of London.

Then we are going to perform these short pieces that we have created.

And then we've got a little bit at the end to think it out.

Maybe give you a question or two.

Okay.

So we've got a great lesson ahead, let's get stuck in.

Here are our star words for today.

Emotions, something that we feel inside our bodies.

Acting, this is something that you do when we pretend to be someone or something else.

And lastly, prop, it's an object or a thing that an actor uses.

Prop is a short way or short word for saying the word property.

An actor might use a wand in a spell.

When they're casting a spell on someone they might use a prop and that would be the wand.

Now's your chance to make sure that you have got lots of space in your room, okay? Maybe you might need to push a couple of things back or clear up the Lego on the floor.

Please pause the video now, whilst you do this.

Okay, brilliant, I think it's now time to warm up.

So, if you remember from our last lesson, I love talking about food for our warm up.

So today, instead of breakfast we are going to talk about tea time or dinner time.

Firstly, I would like you to have a think about your favourite meal ever.

Mine is sausage and mash, gravy and peas.

Oh, when I think of it, it makes me very happy.

If my mommy used to say to me, when I got back from school, "Molly, we're having sausage and mash tonight." I used to feel so excited.

What meal makes you feel happy and excited? Please pause the video, so that you can have a think.

So now I would like you to imagine that you are just about to enter a very fancy restaurant.

You've got your smartest clothes on, it's the poshest restaurant in the country.

And in this restaurant you are going to try all sorts of things.

This is when you're going to need your spoon.

This is your prop.

A prop is an object an actor uses to perform with.

So this is your prop for today.

And I'm going to be your waitress this evening.

I would bring over a plate of food.

You will eat some of the food with your spoon.

I would like you to show one of the emotions that are in the bubbles when you receive your food.

Remembering that emotions are something that we show in our faces and with our bodies as well.

This is what the emotions are in the bubbles.

We have happy.

We have confused.

We have angry.

We have excited.

We have scared.

And we have brave.

For your first dish today, here we have a lasagna and garlic bread.

But please be aware that there is a spider hiding underneath the lasagna.

How do you think you would feel if a waiter told you that? Remember to show your emotions in your face and your body.

Oh, don't forget to use that spoon.

Please pause the video, while you have a go.

For your second dish today, you will be having ice cream.

And here I have bowls of toppings that you can add.

You can add as many as you like.

Don't forget to eat your ice cream with your spoon.

How do you think you would feel if a waiter brought that to your table? All of those bowls of toppings, anything you want for your ice cream.

Pause the video, so that you can have a go.

And for your third course today, it's one of our specials actually.

It's freshly caught octopus with peas.

I have never tried octopus before but maybe you'd like to have a try.

Don't forget to use that spoon.

How do you think you would feel if someone brought you a plate of octopus with peas? Please pause the video, while you have a go.

Brilliant work, I'm feeling full just for thinking of all those foods that you've been eating.

Next, we are going to revisit our objects that we gave voices to in the last lesson.

We're going to think about who they might have belonged to.

I'm going to put the images up on the next page, so that you can have a moment to think about the work that we did in the last lesson.

Here are three images that'll help us recap what we did last session.

So we have a metal frying pan.

We have a small metal tin, the child's.

And we have a firefighter's helmet.

So what can you think those three pictures what did we do at the last lesson? Please pause the video, whilst you have a think.

So to help us with our recap from last lesson, I've put a couple of questions out there.

So, how did the fire start? Well, the fire started on Pudding Lane because of a very small little spark that came out of the oven at nighttime that hadn't been put out properly and it set fire to the bakery.

So what we did, is we gave a frying pan in the bakery that would have survived the fire because it was metal, a voice, so they can tell us what did they see.

Did they see the little spark of the fire jump out of the oven? Did they see the bakery catch fire? How did they feel? Please pause the video, while you have a go.

You are now going to be playing the role of the baker.

The baker who owned the bakery and who also owned the frying pan.

So the fire started in your bakery because we think the fire in the bread oven wasn't put out properly.

So, I've written a little script for you here.

It goes like this.

I am the baker, and I want to tell you what happened that night, and how it made me feel.

I thought maybe you could be talking to an imaginary friend.

So if you want to use this script to start off your improvisation, then that's absolutely fine, but if you'd rather make it up yourself then that is also brilliant.

So how do you think the baker would have felt knowing that everybody blamed you for the Great Fire of London? If you want to improvise more than a few lines then you can do that.

Please pause the video, whilst you act the role as the baker.

So our next question was, what did it burn down? And our next question was, what did it burn down? Now, during the Great Fire of London more than 13,000 houses burned down, St.

Paul's Cathedral and 87 churches.

With all the houses that burnt down, so did everybody's belongings inside.

But some things that were metal, they didn't burn, therefore they survived the fire.

Something similar to this small child's tin would have survived the fire.

But what could have been in that box? It's quite a small metal box with a lid that's very rusty.

What do you think the child kept inside the box? Was it a toy or maybe some food or something very, very secret? I would like you to pretend that you are opening the box, and you find something inside.

How do we use our faces when we open the box? And I would then like you to tell an imaginary friend about what you have found in the box.

Please pause the video, while you have a go.

Brilliant, well done.

So here I have a script for you.

So the script goes like this.

This is my tin.

Inside my tin is.

When I hold it now, it makes me feel.

Okay, so we're just adding a little bit onto the last bit of acting that you have done.

So how does holding that tin and what's inside make you feel? Okay.

Now, remember to use your faces and use your bodies as well.

Now, you don't have to stick to the script, okay? You can make up your own, that's absolutely fine, this is just here as a guide to help you.

Please pause the video, so that you can have a go.

How did they stop the fire? So they tried to put it out with water but the fire was too big.

So they had to explode some buildings that the fire was heading towards, because the fire had become so strong and also it was very, very windy.

So this is called a fire break.

The firefighters would wear helmets on their heads to protect themselves when they were very close to the fire.

We had to think about was it hot or cold against the helmet? What could you hear? I'm going to make it a bit more challenging for you now cause you've done so well so far.

We are now going to play the role of the firefighter.

So in a moment, I am going to ask you to pick up your imaginary helmet and hold it like this.

And whenever you put it on your head, you are able to remember things you saw that happened during the fire.

So here's an example.

I put my helmet on.

I am a firefighter and whenever I wear this helmet, I remember things I saw during this terrible fire.

I saw a mother screaming, carrying her child across the road in her arms. Their house had been burned down.

And this made me feel very sad and worried because I didn't know if they had any way to sleep.

Now, you are going to become the firefighter and put the helmet on your head.

See what you remember seeing what you might have felt.

If you would like to use your own sentences instead of using the script on the page here, that's absolutely fine, it's just here for a guide.

I'll read the script to you.

I am a firefighter and whenever I wear this helmet I remember things that I saw during the terrible fire.

I saw.

And it made me feel.

Like I said, you can use the script if you wish or if you want to make up your own.

So I'd like you to imagine putting on your helmet, telling an audience or possibly an imaginary friend about what you saw when you had that helmet on and how it made you feel, okay? Please pause the video, so that you can have a go.

Really well done everybody becoming all of those characters.

So now, we are going to try and bring all of those characters together to create a performance.

So firstly, I would like you to perform the role of the baker, you are going to be the baker.

Telling us how the baker is feeling and why.

Then, I would like you to walk out of the bakery, down Pudding Lane.

Now being careful there because the whole street is on fire, so you might have to cover yourself with your arms. And there you will find a special small metal box lying on the ground.

As soon as you pick up that box, you will then become somebody else and you will then become the child with the special box.

You are going to tell us what once was inside the box.

Once you're finished, you will place the imaginary box back onto the ground and you will put on your helmet.

As soon as you put on your helmet, you are now a firefighter during the Great Fire of London.

You must then light the important stick of dynamite and throw it as far as you can towards the buildings that the fire hasn't reached yet.

This will then explode some of the buildings in London and stop the fire from spreading any further.

This is called a firebreak.

This will be a huge explosion.

So, how would you act if there was a huge bang and lots of smoke? You will then tell us how the firefighters would be feeling having finally put out the fire.

Please pause the video now and use this picture as a guide.

Brilliant, brilliant work.

Acting out roles really gives you the opportunity to pretend that you were there in that moment of history and help you feel when it might've been like.

Like we said at the beginning of our lessons some people write these in books, some people make poems, some people write songs and some people improvise and play different roles.

When you are playing a role, it means that you really have to think about how the person in history may have felt.

Or what our objects, the objects that we bring to life, what they may have seen and why they are an important part of our history.

I have one final question for you today to see what we have learned.

So, how did the Great Fire of London end? Is it option one, by using hose pipes, option two, by using buckets, options three, by exploding buildings to stop the fire spreading or option four, letting it all burn? Just take a moment now to have a think about what you think the answer might be.

That is correct, by exploding buildings to stop the fire spreading and also the strong easterly wind dropped as well that was really helping the fire spread.

You can now share your work with Oak National.

If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.