Storytelling Starters ~ BASE Awards
This evening I’m off to the BASE Awards event in Wolverton. And if you don’t know where Wolverton is, it’s right next to Milton Keynes.
Ancient Egypt and Us
Milton Keynes is a resonant place-name for me. I once worked with a brilliant class of 10-year olds there. One of the topics in their class at the time was Ancient Egyptians. The other was Ourselves. Their teacher wanted a project to bring the two topics together.
Of course, it’s possible to tell stories from Ancient Egypt. I did – and the children loved them. But how is it possible to imagine the length of time that has passed since the Ancient Egyptians existed? These children certainly couldn’t. Like most children of their age, they had little sense at all of time passing. So I came up with the idea of a Memory Chart on which each child would use hieroglyphs of their own design to notate one memory for each year of their lives so far. We made an exception for their first four years: most people have few recollections from that period. So those years, we decided, could be lumped together and occupy just one box in each person’s chart.
Memory work
The children were brilliant. When we did the initial memory work, there was a lot of jotting down, telling and retelling of what had happened. Then came the making of the memory charts. Each person creating their own, the hieroglyphs designed by the children were fun and inventive. Last came the bit of the project when, working in small-ish groups, the children worked out clever creative ways to tell their small stories as a group. One group, I recall, created a fascinating audio-spiral of their stories where each different year in their memories was signalled by the sound of a gong.
Milton Keynes again
So Milton Keynes it will be tonight. The BASE awards organisers have worked very hard. I hope their Awards event proves a lovely, sociable success. What’s more, I hope it helps to promote and encourage all aspects of the art of storytelling.
Tags: Ancient Egyptians, BASE Awards, gong, Milton Keynes, Ourselves, Wolverton
October 13th, 2013 at 11:37 pm
Aha!
And this year (in fact, last night), in Milton Keynes (or Wolverton, whichever it is), dear Mary, you won the Lifetime Achievement Award for your huge contribution to the world of storytelling.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Many congratulations for this well-earned accolade in recognition of all you have done and continue to do for storytellers and storytelling… what hieroglyphs of your own design will you use to record this memory ?
October 14th, 2013 at 7:05 pm
Fiona, thanks for your gorgeous message. You and I share so much in our storytelling values and approach to our work and by now we go back a very long way. Your message brings cheer to my heart!