Mrs Xerri's class The Dell - The Cowardly Knight

Mrs Xerri's class created a story with lots of fairytale characters - dragon, wizard, princess, ogre, knight, king. They also injected flashes of humour. A good story, well told:

There was once a knight who looked brave and tough, but on the inside he was just a big coward who was afraid of everything. The knight lived by a castle, inside the castle was a princess. The princess was very beautiful, every knight wanted to marry her.

“Oh, I love the princess so much,” thought the knight. “ If looks could kill, I'd be dead!”

The princess was so pretty with crystal blue eyes, long blonde hair falling past her shoulders. The problem was that she lived with a very evil king, who was her uncle. She was in his care because her parents had died when she was young and the throne had been passed on to the king. The king wore a black coat with red shimmering jewels on it, along with a gold crown which shone in the sun. Just along from the castle was a swamp and in that swamp, was an ogre. The ogre was warty, green, slimy and very, very, very ugly.

One day the knight decided to ask the king for his niece's hand in marriage. As the brave looking, but cowardly knight on his white horse galloped towards the ancient towering castle, he hoped desperately that the king would say yes to his request for the princesses hand in marriage. The knight came across a bubbling, brown swamp. Next to the swamp he saw the ogre being tormented by three children. The cowardly knight dismounted from his horse, then strode towards the three dirty children. The three ragged children took one look at the towering knight and the children fled away with the look of terror on their faces. “ Thank you, I will never forget your kindness” smiled the ogre. The knight remounted his plain white horse and continued his journey towards the castle. As he arrived, at the huge turret filled castle walls, he was lead straight to the thrown room where he met face to face with the king. “ Your majesty, I wish for your nieces hand in Marriage” asked the knight hopefully. The king narrowed his eyes and then he spoke

“Yes, of course but on one condition. You must slay the ice dragon in the deep dark cave on top of that mountain. explained the king, pointing.

“Kill the nice dragon that is well behaved? That will be easy!” grinned the knight, boastfully.

“No, you fool! The ice dragon that lives in the cave!” screamed the king.

“Oh...” muttered the knight, trembling as he began to realise this was not going to be as easy as he thought.

The knight set off for the cave. On the way, he passed the swamp where the ogre lived. He decided to stop for a while and think.

The knight was in love with the princess, but he was scared of the dragon. He didn't know what to do, so he sat there all confused. He was so cowardly he didn't even have a sword.

The ogre came striding along over to the knight. “What's the problem?” asked the ogre.

“Well I'm actually not very brave, I need help, I've got to fight the Ice Dragon. What shall I do, if I don't then I can't marry the Princess.” explained the knight

“I can help you fight the Ice Dragon” offered the ogre.

Together, they went to the cave of the Ice Dragon. “I will go in first, you stay outside” said the ogre. Then, a terrifying battle began.

The ogre clutched a big spiked club. He held it, then looked at his enemy and started with a left swipe aiming to hit the dragon's side then the dragon swished his tail and sent the ogre flying out of the cave.

The dragon breathed his ice at the ogre but the ogre dodged it .

The ogre came flying out of the dark scary cave, badly wounded, lying helplessly sprawled across the floor, dying. Suddenly he began to transform into a king with a red cloak, blue robes and a crown encrusted with jewels. He was now holding a sword.

“Take my sword, it's magic”, as the king pulled out a big sword that shined in the light, "you can defeat anything with it."

“I was once a mighty king, but an old wrinkly evil wizard turned me into a horrible ogre, and he took over my castle and kingdom. He now lives in my castle with the princess my niece. It's a great sorrow that she never knew me.

The king then explained that the evil wizard didn't want the knight and the princess to marry because they would inherit the throne. This would mean that he would also lose the castle.

“One last thing - the dragon is the key to the wizard's power.” Mumbled the ogre with his last breath. The king then crossed his hands over his heart and fell gently backwards. It was as if things were happening in slow motion. The knight watched helplessly as the king died.

“I won't let the ogre's sacrifice be in vain!” The knight yelled confidently.

He then strode bravely into the dark, gloomy cave clutching the glimmering sword in his hand. A ferocious battle began. Neither the knight or dragon showed any sign of giving up. The dragon was a fearsome fighter and soon the knight began to become tired. The dragon saw the knight was weakened and the beast swiped his huge claw towards the knight's head. The knight ducked and in one motion swung at the dragon's scaly neck with the sword. Suddenly, there was a flash of burning white light followed by the crushing of bone. It was like an explosion and it flung the knight backwards against the wall of the cave. A great gust of wind came and blew away the remains leaving only the dragon's head. The dragon was dead.

The knight wraps the disgustingly horrible dragon head in a brown sack and sets off for the castle. He arrives at the castle, suddenly the king appears in the huge doorway. He invites the knight in.

As they arrive inside the king asks.

“Have you completed the task?”

“Yes” replies the knight and shows the king the dragon's head.

The king shouts “No! Never”

There is a flash of blinding light and the king transforms into the evil wizard. He starts to shrivel up. He starts to lose all his hair.

“You will pay for this!” screeches the wizard. Both of his eyes suddenly pop out and his teeth shatter into tiny pieces. With one last breath the wizard turns to dust. The knight asks the princess to marry him.

“Yes of course I will.” She smiles.

The very next day they were married. And the knight and the princess lived in the castle happily ever after.

Mrs Wilson's class Pembroke Primary story

The Wizard's Mistake 

There was a king who was well loved by this people though he did not know it. This king was clumsy and always stumbling over things and knocking stuff off shelves. People loved this king even though they laughed at his clumsiness. 

The king lived in a grand castle that was painted gleaming white all over. The castle was next to a deep wide river. The king had everything a king could wish for and yet was still unhappy. More than anything he wanted to be able to walk gracefully without tripping over!

Down at the bottom of the river there was a forest and in this forest there was a hut. This hut was home to an evil wizard. The wizard wore a cape made of dragon skin, and a tall pointed black hat. His top was midnight black and his belt was mad of the finest brown leather. His shoes were pointy like his hat and shiny black. The wizard was envious of the king because of the king’s power and more than anything he wanted to live in the king’s castle. He was an evil, nasty wizard.

One day the king decided to have a wonderful banquet. The banquet was going perfectly fine until the king did something clumsy and knocked over a goblet full of wine. A moment later a beautiful servant girl came to clean up the mess. The king noticed how elegantly she was walking. He took her to one side and asked her quietly if she would teach him how to walk like that.

“I will teach you how to walk stylishly, my king. I would be honoured!”

The next day she started secretly teaching the king. Very carefully the servant girl placed a couple of books on the king’s head. With the books on his head he walked perfectly. 

A few days later the king had learnt to walk without the books on his head. He could now walk with poise and dignity. It was amazing! 

He was so pleased that in return he gave the servant girl an emerald from his crown. He told her he would never replace it to remind him how she had helped him. What’s more he revealed that the emerald was not an ordinary precious stone.

“This emerald is unlike any other. It is a magic emerald given to me by a good wizard. It has the power to unlock any door in the kingdom!”

Meanwhile the wizard was plotting an evil plan to take over the castle. He searched in the forest and found a rare poisonous blue toad and took it home. The toad had black splodges all over its back.......

His plan was to put this poisonous blue toad in the well to pollute the king’s water supply.  “My plan cannot fail!” He laughed evilly. “Soon I shall be king and live in the castle!”

The poison took effect and all of the people in the castle froze as if in a deep sleep! The wizard then crept into the castle so quietly that nobody would have heard even if they had been awake. He found the sleeping king and dragged his body down a spiral staircase and shoved him into his own dungeon!

“You shall stay here forever and I shall be king!” He screeched. “And here have my toad for company!” He mocked cruelly and threw the poor toad next to the king.

The Evil Wizard dressed up in the King’s clothes. He put on the King’s silky red cloak and his gleaming gold crown, but as he is doing this he notices one of the jewels is missing.

“I can’t be a king if my crown is tatty, the gem must be replaced!” the wizard shrieked.  The wizard replaces the jewel with a sparkling ruby. As he finishes he notices that all the people in the castle have started to move again. They were all carrying on their jobs without realising they had been asleep. 

He quickly does the magic spell which makes him have the face and body of the king;

“Hing Ping, magic bring, let me have the face of the king.”

“I’m so happy my plan is working,” cackled the wizard with an evil laugh.

As he was fixing the crown upon his head the spell started to work. His nose, ears and mouth began to expand along with the rest of his face to look like the king. Afterwards he looked into the mirror and said “It’s amazing! I don’t look evil anymore, I look like the king.”

The next day the banquet took place as the king had previously commanded. During the banquet the wizard mischievously disguised his walk. All the people were fooled and convinced that the evil wizard was the king.  All except for the servant girl. 

The servant girl couldn’t understand how clumsily he was walking even though she had taught him how to walk gracefully. She thought to herself “It can’t be the king, but it looks like the king”.  Then she noticed that the emerald had been replaced with a big fat ruby. 

The king had sworn that he would never replace the gem to show how grateful he was. Now she knew it couldn’t be king. So she secretly left the hall and went looking for him. She looked up and down and all around but he was nowhere to be found. 

She thought of everywhere in the castle he could be. She thought long and hard until suddenly it popped in her head. The dungeon! She ran as fast as she could to the dungeon and to her surprise she found the king pacing back and forth in one of the dungeon cells.

“King!” she cried with relief. She ran towards the cell door.

“Oh thank goodness you have found me” muttered the king through the peephole. She shook the door with all her might but it wouldn’t open.  Then suddenly two long bony hands grabbed her shoulders, opened the dungeon door and shoved her in. She turned around to see the evil wizard with a large grin on his face.  

“Now you are trapped forever. Muwaharha!”  

With that the Wizard locked the cell door.

The king and the girl were on the floor, their knees to their chests, in sadness. The cell was damp, cold and dark and the girl dipped her hands in her pockets for warmth. In astonishment she felt something cold and smooth and pulled out the magic emerald! In shock she jumped up and showed the jewel to the king. The emerald was their ticket out of the dungeon. She shone the magic emerald at the lock on the gate of the dungeon and the door swung open.

Then the king had a plan. They were creeping up the spiral staircase when they heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction. They rushed back, quickly, with hearts thumping, to the dungeon pretending to be locked in. But then they realised it was a servant boy, one of the servant girl’s friends, who had noticed that she was missing. 

They sighed with relief. Immediately the king asked the servant boy to swap clothes with him. He ran quickly up to the buttery. Sneakily, he spiked the wine that was to be sent into the banquet with the poisonous blue toad to put the wizard to sleep. All those who drunk the wine fell instantly under its spell. The king and the servant girl dragged the sleeping wizard to the dungeon and threw him in! The king took back his clothes and soon looked like himself once again.

The people woke and knew nothing about what had happened but when the wizard awoke he began to whimper.  

And even today if you visit Chepstow Castle and listen really carefully you can still hear the whimpering cries of the evil wizard.

Cadw 2010 storytelling and literacy project at Caernarfon castle

We began the 2010 Cadw storytelling and literacy project with a training day for teachers, in Chepstow castle. The second teacher training day took place in Caernarfon castle. Teachers from Ysgol y Gelli, Ysgol yr Hendre and Ysgol Santes Helen took part in the training.

Michael Harvey, storyteller, ran the day's activities, which were delivered in Welsh.

The day began with a very simple exercise, where each participant told a small story from their lived experience. It was interesting to see how the teachers 'relived' their experiences as they told their stories.


Having broken the ice, and with 3 stories told, we listened to Michael telling a marvellous story about Jack, who fell in love with a rather gruesome mermaid. And just when everybody was enthralled by the story, Michael stopped telling it!

Michael told the teachers they had to finish the story by creating their own ending for the story. The ending could be happy, or sad. The group worked on this for some time, discussing the possibilities and whether to bring in new characters and locations. 

We broke for lunch and then took a short tour around parts of the castle, looking especially for litttle clues about the past. We found lots of little patches of medieval paint, and looked at fireplaces and considered how they helped us to understand the use of various rooms within the castle. Finally, we went to the Earl's Chamber and saw the beautiful re-creation of medieval style painted walls and ceiling.

We also looked at and discussed the collection of replica medieval objects now held in the 'education room at the castle, for use by visiting school groups. There are clothes, shoes, hats and bags, a medieval medical kit, crockery and cutlery, sewing and braiding items, reading and writing things, and a few 'mystery objects'.


There are also a number of specially commissioned items, of the sort that would have been used by medieval kings and queens - a crown, a silk cap, a silk head dress, embroidered pouches, and a brooch.

...and a leech in a jar - essential medieval medical kit!


Enough things, in fact, to keep a class busy for half a dozen visits, which is useful for a local school, especially as there is no charge for school visits or the use of the artefacts.

The next part of the day involved going out for a 'treasure' hunt - the teachers went out into the castle grounds and asked to return with a found object of any kind as long as it was just lying on the ground. It's amazing what you can find lying around a castle....

Michael asked each teacher to show their objects to the rest of us, and tell us what the object was, but also what it was REALLY in their imaginations.

The next activity was for the teachers to work together to create stories using their objects as props and inspiration. 

Following the teacher generated stories, there was a discussion about the principles and structures of stories, and some strategies for generating stories in groups. We also discussed how storytelling could engage children, and how stories 'spilled over' into their lived experience, and could positively affect other areas of their school work & lives. Of course, this works both ways, and sometimes children's lives spill over into their stories. I'm sure we will see evidence of children's lived experience in the stories they create as part of this project.

An interesting and enjoyable day was spent by all, and everybody left with ideas about how storytelling could enhance classroom practice in terms of delivering literacy.

Tutshill Church of England Primary school story workshop

After their visit to the castle, Year 6 began the task of creating their own class story. They began by choosing a location - a castle, and a character - Jack.

Working through the afternoon, the children developed a basic storyline, and Michael recorded their story at the end of the day. The children made story maps to help them remember the plot.













On the morning of the second day, Michael played the story back to the children.



Michael then broke the story into 'chunks', which he wrote on the white board as a memory aid. The teachers remembered that there was a dragon in school, and added it to the whiteboard as extra inspiration.  Isn't he fabulous?



Each table of children worked on developing and extending their 'chunk' of the story.








 

At the end of the morning, the story was read out. 

There were some breathtakingly good pieces of prose in the work.

A few small amendments were suggested, to make the story more exciting, and ensure the action was comprehensible to the reader. The children made these changes before finishing for lunch.

The story was typed up over lunch, and projected on to the white board after lunch. Everybody worked together to develop, refine and edit the story, sentence by sentence, throughout the afternoon. 









The children wanted to be sure that whoever read the story would have great 'pictures in their heads'.

The story was finished and read aloud with just a few minutes of the school day left. Phew!

Tutshill Church of England castle visit

The Year 6 children from Tutshill walked down the hill from school, and arrived at the castle just as it opened. Michael and Dylan welcomed them into the castle, and gave them 10 minutes to explore the lower castle bailey. It's amazing how many children can cram into a medieval fireplace!


The next part of the visit involved climbing up to the top floor of the Marten Tower. Lots of spiral stairs! The space is very atmospheric, which helped us to forget the rest of the world when Dylan told stories of Excalibur and Arthur.


Michael also told stories, and he is very good at providing unexpected moments, making people jump, or gasp! The children (and their adult companions) were enthralled...


While we were in the room, we had a look at lots of traces of medieval plaster and paint, including a nice section of pattern near the fireplace.


We thought about how long it would take to chop and gather the wood, carry it back to the castle, lug it up the spiral staircases, and use it to light the fire and keep it lit. We decided it was a lot of hard work, and that life must have been hard for castle servants in medieval times.

After a quick look at the view from the battlements,

We looked at the Romanesque arches, and the carved stone, and thought about the huge task of building a castle, stone by stone, with no modern machinery.


We walked back down to the newly decorated Earl's Chamber - a modern recreation of a medieval painted room. The ceiling and walls are beautiful, and it makes a very grand setting for storytelling.



Dylan and Michael told more traditional stories, and before we knew it, lunchtime was upon us and it was time to go back to school.

Cadw 2010 storytelling and literacy project at Caernarfon & Chepstow

We began the 2010 Cadw storytelling and literacy project with a training day for teachers, in Chepstow castle. Teachers from Tutshill Church of England Primary school, The Dell Primary school and Pembroke Primary school took part in the training.

Michael Harvey, storyteller, and Dylan Adams, sound artist & storyteller, jointly ran the day's activities, which were delivered in English.


The day began with a very simple exercise, where each participant told a small story from their lived experience. It was interesting to see how the teachers 'relived' their experiences as they told their stories, and one participant who had spent some time in France not only told their story but acted it out, to much laughter from the rest of the group.


Having broken the ice, and with 3 stories told, we listened to Michael telling a marvellous story about Jack, who fell in love with a rather gruesome mermaid. And just when everybody was enthralled by the story, Michael stopped telling it!


Michael told the teachers they had to finish the story in their own way. The teachers had to create their own ending for the story. The ending could be happy, or sad. The group worked on this for some time, discussing the possibilities and whether to bring in new characters and locations. The group created a wonderful ending for the story, and told it to the rest of us.

The next part of the day involved going out for a 'treasure' hunt - the teachers went out into the castle grounds and asked to return with a found object of any kind as long as it was just lying on the ground. It's amazing what you can find lying around a castle....


The 4 objects the teachers returned with were a burned piece of wood, a feather, a battered 'dandelion clock', and a rather large and interestingly shaped log!


Michael asked each teacher to show their objects to the rest of us, and tell us what the object was, but also what it was REALLY in their imaginations, so the burnt wood became a deformed bear's paw, the feather became a magic quill, the log became an animal, and the dandelion clock became a magic fairy tree.... Imaginations were running wild!

The next activity was for the teachers to work in pairs to create stories using their objects as props and inspiration. We heard some wonderful stories, with magic, humiliation, happy endings - the stuff of fairy tales, in fact!

We broke for lunch and then took a short tour around parts of the castle, looking especially for litttle clues about the past. We found lots of little patches of medieval paint, and looked at fireplaces and considered how they helped us to understand the use of various rooms within the castle. Finally, we went to the Earl's Chamber and saw the beautiful re-creation of medieval style painted walls and ceiling.

We also looked at and discussed the collection of replica medieval objects now held in the 'treasure chest' at the castle, for use by visiting school groups. There are clothes, shoes, hats and bags, a medieval medical kit, crockery and cutlery, sewing and braiding items, reading and writing things, and a few 'mystery objects'.

...and a leech in a jar - essential medieval medical kit!


Enough things, in fact, to keep a class busy for half a dozen visits, which is useful for a local school, especially as there is no charge for school visits or the use of the artefacts.

Following the teacher generated stories, there was a discussion about the principles and structures of stories, and some strategies for generating stories in groups. We also discussed how storytelling could engage children, and how stories 'spilled over' into their lived experience, and could positively affect other areas of their school work & lives. Of course, this works both ways, and sometimes children's lives spill over into their stories. I'm sure we will see evidence of children's lived experience in the stories they create as part of this project.

An interesting and enjoyable day was spent by all, and everybody left with ideas about how storytelling could enhance classroom practice in terms of delivering literacy.