The previous activity concerned Hercules’ arrival at the strange
place where curious things will happen to him. In this fourth activity, the
students are prepared for these curious things through tasks designed to help
them engage deeper with what is going on in the right hand side of the
landscape in which the hero finds himself. Here Hercules comes to notice something
else about the place where he has paused for rest and reflection.
Part 2
Part 1
Firstly, the facilitator points out that, on the right side of the
scene, in the lush landscape, there are two baskets:
On closer inspection, it
turns out that these are full of fruit. In fact they are packed full of fruit –
filled to the brim. And so full is one of the baskets that some of the pieces
of fruit look like they are going to fall out. One of the baskets is so full
that the lid won’t fit on it. The other basket is so packed full that it has
fallen over.
Where appropriate, the facilitator might ask the children to say
the names of the colours – and to say words that are suitable to the fruit,
e.g. ‘pretty,’ ‘red,’ ‘green,’ ‘apple.’ Again if appropriate the children can
be encouraged to say words that are evoked by the fruit, such as ‘hungry’ and ‘eat.’
To help the students engage with the scene, the activity could be
accompanied with pictures
of fruit, or models of fruit, which could be piled up in the baskets like they
are on the panel. The fruit could be touched; the children could, again, be
encouraged to say the best words to describe them – again, perhaps, ‘hungry,’
or ‘pretty’ – and they could reach out and touch the fruit or perhaps pretend
to eat it.
Part 2
Secondly,
the facilitator points out that there is a jug in the scene:
The group members
could be encouraged to think about what it might contain. Again the children
could be encouraged to say the words that come to mind in associating with it
(e.g. ‘cup, ’‘drink,’ ‘thirsty’). As with the fruit, the activity could be
accompanied with pictures of drinking vessels, including – potentially – ancient
Greek ones. For those users of the materials who are interested in ancient culture,
I am considering developing an information sheet /worksheet about food and
drink in the classical world. This will include information on some of the
drinking vessels and their decoration, including with mythical scenes, and
including scenes depicting Hercules.
Another
possibility would be that the facilitator could provide actual cups or jugs,
from which the children could pretend to drink.[1]
Part 3
Thirdly,
the facilitator points out that there is a fruit and foliage to the top right
of the scene – as well as a large covering, perhaps to provide shade for
visitor to the scene:
The facilitator provides the same colouring equipment that has
been used previously. The children pick colours suitable various items of
fruit, the drinking vessel and the flowers and the hanging. Then they colour them
in. This could be a group
activity, where each participant takes one aspect of the food, drink and foliage
and colours them in.[2]
A supplementary activity could be create models of the fruit or to do drawings
of flowers or foliage. To help the children, the facilitator could supply
actual flowers, or pictures of flowers. These might include examples of fruit
on ancient artworks – which commonly include such things are wreaths and
flowers. I am currently compiling some examples of these – as a possible
inspiration for this activity.
For
those who find regular patterns comforting, some of the repetitive designs on ancient
vases or sculpture might be particularly appealing. For now, here again (see also the 'scholarly note' close to the end of the previous activity), is one of the
scenes from the reconstructed temple of Athena Nike which includes a patterns
of flowers/foliage. I shall supply further examples later on.
In the next activity, the focus will shift away from the abundant fruit and foliage on one side of the scene to the objects in the harsher terrain on the other side.
[1] On
the role of play in group activities for autistic children, see Rita Jordan and Sarah
Libby, "Developing and using play in the curriculum," in in Rita
Jordan and Stuart Powell, eds., Autism and Learning: A Guide to Good
Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2012; updated edition, originally
published 1997),
25-39. On putting meaning on ‘stimuli’ in activities for autistic
children, see Ami Klin, "Attributing Social Meaning to Ambiguous Visual
Stimuli in Higher-Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The social
Attribution Task," Journal
of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 41.7 (2000):
831-846.
[2] On the role of group work to help in
the development of communication skills, see Margaret M. Golding, "Beyond Compliance: the Importance of Group
Work in the Education of Children and Young People with Autism," in Rita Jordan and Stuart Powell, eds., Autism and
Learning: A Guide to Good Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2012;
updated edition, originally published 1997), 40-53.
No comments:
Post a Comment