I’ve been working through a genre study on Fantasy with my Year Seven class over the past term. We’ve looked at a lot of different texts, and some strong definitions of the category, and yesterday I spent a double period with the kids doing a very light treatment of the dragon’s death in Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf.
After we’d drawn dragons, talked about dragons, written similes about dragons, come up with adjectives for dragons, etc. I set the students to task create a pamphlet that was either pro-dragon, or anti-dragon. To me, this seemed an interesting task that required the students to use the visual literacy skills we'd been working on in combination with the language skills we'd just developed, with the added bonus of exercising the students' ability to write with purpose.
To my students, it seemed like a good idea to talk about the probability of dragons.
I don't mind discussion, provided that it's productive, and doesn't halt the completion of classwork. The discussion that took place in my classroom was actually neither of these. Enter the three students who provided today's masterpiece theatre (left to right, Lulu, Susie and Jack):
After we’d drawn dragons, talked about dragons, written similes about dragons, come up with adjectives for dragons, etc. I set the students to task create a pamphlet that was either pro-dragon, or anti-dragon. To me, this seemed an interesting task that required the students to use the visual literacy skills we'd been working on in combination with the language skills we'd just developed, with the added bonus of exercising the students' ability to write with purpose.
To my students, it seemed like a good idea to talk about the probability of dragons.
I don't mind discussion, provided that it's productive, and doesn't halt the completion of classwork. The discussion that took place in my classroom was actually neither of these. Enter the three students who provided today's masterpiece theatre (left to right, Lulu, Susie and Jack):
Young Susie, suddenly perplexed by what she deems to be an 'emergency question', raises her hand quickly and waves it at me with a confused look on her face.
"Miss, do you BELIEVE in dragons?" She accentuates the 'believe' with such force and genuineness, that even though I want to giggle, I hold it in, and instead explain the concept that we've been studying for the past eight weeks to her clearly.
"No, Susie. This is fantasy remember? Fantasy is everything that is imaginary and pretend. Dragons are pretend."
Susie pauses, and tilts her head a little so that the information can settle. She's not satisfied with my answer though, and ignores it. "Hmm.. Well – I think they’re real."
Jack overhears this, and while he's no Einstein, he's not emotionally four. He throws his hands in the air and glares at Susie with a look that could kill a small rodent (though Jack's a nice kid and would never do that). "Are you serious?!"
Susie of course, replies with an adamant 'yes'. Jack is unsure whether to laugh or to scream, and I'm unsure whether to step in, or watch the discussion play out. I mean, they were attempting to have about as close to an intellectual debate as we ever have in that class. He thinks for a minute, and opts for raising his voice:
"Miss, do you BELIEVE in dragons?" She accentuates the 'believe' with such force and genuineness, that even though I want to giggle, I hold it in, and instead explain the concept that we've been studying for the past eight weeks to her clearly.
"No, Susie. This is fantasy remember? Fantasy is everything that is imaginary and pretend. Dragons are pretend."
Susie pauses, and tilts her head a little so that the information can settle. She's not satisfied with my answer though, and ignores it. "Hmm.. Well – I think they’re real."
Jack overhears this, and while he's no Einstein, he's not emotionally four. He throws his hands in the air and glares at Susie with a look that could kill a small rodent (though Jack's a nice kid and would never do that). "Are you serious?!"
Susie of course, replies with an adamant 'yes'. Jack is unsure whether to laugh or to scream, and I'm unsure whether to step in, or watch the discussion play out. I mean, they were attempting to have about as close to an intellectual debate as we ever have in that class. He thinks for a minute, and opts for raising his voice:
Susie's lost of bit of confidence now, and looks to her friends for support. Lulu jumps in, to the rescue!
and her response causes the real me to almost double over laughing, but the teacher in me to jump in and stop the discussion, but not until Lulu finished her point... "So yeah! Maybe there’s not like..dragons now. But there were before, and you don’t even know! How do you think we got dinosaur bones?"
FINALLY - I manage to end the argument, with much coercion (largely to Jack, basically by reminding him that not everyone is as clever as he). The class settles, the kids relax, and begin colouring their pamphlets. Silence ensues, temporarily, and the world is at peace. Until, out of the corner of my eye, I see Susie's hand raise slowly in the air.
I'm not sure, but I think that a small part of my brain exploded.
True Story.
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