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education scarlet KS2 Teachers’ Resource A cross-curricular selection of teaching ideas and materials labyrinth
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KS2 Teachers’ Resource
A cross-curricular selection of teaching ideas and materials
labyrinth
ContentsAbout Scarlet Theatre
About the Labyrinth Project
Section 1: Introduction to the labyrinth
Section 2: Choice and the labyrinth
Section 3: Trust and the labyrinth
Section 4: The labyrinth and the senses
Section 5: The story of the labyrinth
Section 6: A labyrinthine journey
Section 7: How to make a labyrinth
Section 8: Appendix
- Internet resources
- Keywords
- National Curriculum links
- Acknowledgements
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KS2 Teachers’ Pack - Labyrinth
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About Scarlet Theatre
The Chairwomen, 2007
Scarlet has produced a canon of highly artistic imaginative work, which has toured nationally and internationally. The Company is constantly evolving in response to the creativity that new and established artists bring to projects. Over the past five years Scarlet has collaborated with companies from Barcelona, Dublin and Krakow and has become a key partner with Creative Partnerships London North. In addition to theatre Scarlet creates site-specific performances in a variety of non-theatre spaces including schools (Highgate Wood 2008) galleries (National Portrait Gallery, Tate, Whitechapel Gallery) and public buildings such as Alexandra Palace and Artsdepot.
Scarlet leads workshops for professional and non-professional groups and offers a range of workshops and discussions around each production.
Scarlet aims to: • Explore new ways of ensemble working;
• Forge dynamic collaborations with artists;
• Contribute to the wider debate on contemporary theatre through achieving a distinctive style of theatre and through attracting academic interest in our work.
For further information about the project and Scarlet Theatreplease contact:
Gráinne Byrne,Director,Scarlet Theatre,Studio 4,The Bull,68 High StreetBarnet,EN5 5SJ.
Tel: 020 8441 9779Fax: 020 8447 0075e-mail: [email protected]
KS2 Teachers’ Pack - Labyrinth
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About the Labyrinth Project Teachers’ notesAbout the Labyrinth
The labyrinth is an ancient geometric pattern that has a powerful symbolic significance in many different cultures. The labyrinth shape is usually laid onto the ground and walked through, but a smaller version can also be traced with the fingers. There is only one way in and out of the labyrinth, and after walking it you reach one central point. The path winds around in a mysterious manner and eventually reaches the centre, whereupon you retrace your steps to leave the labyrinth along the same path you originally took. Once inside a labyrinth, you cannot get lost; unlike a maze, which presents choices at every turn, and is filled with dead ends, the labyrinth has only one path leading in and leading out.
Labyrinths are typically used as tools of meditation and self-discovery. By surrendering yourself to its twists and turns, you open up space in your mind for contemplation. The sensation of walking a labyrinth is bizarre because you constantly feel that you are getting further away from the centre, instead of closer towards it.
The journey through the labyrinth can be seen as a metaphor for the journey of life. Despite all its twists and turns, which might seem to divert you from your goal to reach the centre, the labyrinth eventually leads you to the place you set out for. Life itself might be viewed in a similar way. The labyrinth also represents the journey of learning or discovery. It may be hard to follow the path and trust that it will lead in the right direction, but eventually all your effort and patience is paid off when you reach the centre.
About the Project
Scarlet’s Theatre project uses the magical labyrinth experience as a starting point for a creative journey into the unexpected, where your senses are challenged and your ideas about how things should be are overturned. Director Gràinne Byrne leads pupils and teachers through a series of multi-sensory, thought provoking drama sessions, which build up throughout the project to the creation of the group’s very own labyrinth.
About this Pack
This resource pack accompanies the project as an aid for teachers in the classroom. It is presented as a series of different teaching materials covering a range of curriculum areas. The scheme of work can be taught as a whole if required, or individual ideas can be taken out and adapted to suit teachers’ requirements. Each section contains activities that can be used as starters, plenaries and methods of assessment. Curriculum links for each section are also included in the Appendix. Some of the pages of the booklet can be reproduced as handouts or displayed using an interactive whiteboard.
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KS2 Teachers’ Pack - Labyrinth
Introduction to the
labyrinth
Section 1
Subject area suggestion: Art and Design
This section sets out to introduce pupils to the creative and imaginative possibilities of the labyrinth. One of the labyrinth’s most interesting qualities is that it can be used in more or less any way you like, so it is a perfect tool to bring out pupils’ imaginative interpretations of an image. In this activity, pupils can look at an image of a labyrinth, use their imaginations to interpret it, draw their own labyrinth and comment on their experience of ‘walking’ the labyrinth.
Activity One:
Look at the picture of the labyrinth (worksheet 1).
Questions for discussion:What do you think the purpose of this is?How could you use it?What kinds of people might use it?What does it remind you of?
Activity Two:
This is a labyrinth. A labyrinth is a special kind of maze with one path in and one path out. It has been used in many different cultures as a very special object. Here are some ways in which a labyrinth has been used before in real life and in stories:
• A trap for an evil spirit or monster to keep them under control;• A path to walk when feeling angry or confused;• A place to pray as you walk;• A way of solving a puzzle in your mind;• A design for jewellery and coins;• A design for a garden.
See if you can add some more uses of your own in.
Activity Three:
The labyrinth looks difficult to draw but in fact it is quite easy if you stick to the guidelines. Using worksheet 2, have a go yourself at drawing the classical labyrinth shape. Activity Four:
Trace the path of the labyrinth with your fingers. Discuss the following questions in pairs or as a whole class:How did you find the experience of following the path? What did you notice about the shape of the path?Imagine that you had been walking along it. How might your feelings have been different?
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Section 1 - Introduction to the labyrinth
Worksheet 1: labyrinth
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Section 1 - Introduction to the labyrinth
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Section 1 - Introduction to the labyrinth
Worksheet 2: how to draw a labyrinth
Choice and the labyrinth
Section 2
Subject area suggestion: English EN1 and Citizenship
This section explores the fundamental differences between the labyrinth and the maze. It builds on the idea that the maze is an experience with many choices to be made, none of which have a clear consequence. Once pupils have explored the differences between the labyrinth and the maze, they can then go on to explore the issues involved in making choices in real life.
Activity One:
1. Using worksheet 3, trace your path along the labyrinth and again along the conventional maze. What differences can you spot about the experience?
2. Imagine that you are really walking in the maze and the labyrinth. Discuss with your partner the different feelings you experience. See how many feelings you can suggest together.
Activity Two:
When you walk a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made; whether or not to enter, but when you walk a maze, there is a choice to be made at every turn.
The choices you have to make in the maze are unusual because you can’t use any logic or common sense to decide which path to take.
Sometimes in life you can plan to make a good
choice. At other times, it is difficult to know what the outcome will be.
In the following exercise, you should discuss each situation. How important is each choice?What possible outcomes could there be? Is it easy or difficult to guess what the outcome will be?
• John decides to pick 20, 39 and 4 as his lottery numbers for the week. • Zoe picks cornflakes for her breakfast.• Alice doesn’t do her homework.• Baskaran decides to take the children to school in the car instead of on the bus. • Frank runs away from home.• Tamara agrees to smoke a cigarette with her older sister. • Anita offers to help an elderly lady carry her shopping.• The O’Connelly family decide move to West London. • Bella’s parents ask her whom she would prefer to live with, and she chooses her father.
Activity Three:
1. See if you can think of five choices you have made this week. Pick two, and think about what the different outcomes might have been.
2. Have you ever made an important choice in your life? Discuss with your partner what it felt like, how you decided what to do and whether you think it was a good choice.
3. Have you ever felt like you had no choice when you wanted one? Discuss with your partner what this felt like.
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Section 2 - Choice and the labyrinth
Worksheet 3: maze and labyrinth
LabyrinthMaze
1. What differences can you spot in the ways the labyrinth and the maze work?
2. Can you solve the maze puzzle?
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Section 2 - Choice and the labyrinth
Section 3
Trust and the labyrinth
Subject area suggestion: English (Drama) and PSHE
This section builds on the idea that a labyrinth will always lead you safely to the centre and back out again. Drama exercises that build trust are combined with discussion and activities based on images of situations in which trust is needed.
Activity One:
When you are in a maze, you reach a turning, but you cannot trust that it will lead you in the right direction. In a labyrinth however, whenever you reach a turning, you know it is the right one, and that it is leading you towards the centre. So you can have trust in the labyrinth that you will not get lost. Sometimes it is hard to trust the labyrinth though, as you often seem to be getting further and further from the centre, instead of closer to it.
Questions for discussion:1. When you walk the labyrinth, do you feel confident that it will lead you safely to the centre and back again?2. What do you think trust is? 3. Why is trust important? 4. Why should you think carefully about who or what to trust in life?
Activity Two:
This is a trust building exercise which can be done with a partner. A pencil is held between each of you, balanced on your index (pointing) fingers. How long can you keep the pencil safe before it drops? You must both work together.
Activity Three:
In pairs, one of you is blindfolded. The other becomes the guide. First they can lead you around the room by holding your shoulders. Once you feel confident with this, the guide can try leading just by touching your fingers. Finally, if you really trust each other, the guide can lead just by describing where you should to move to.
Activity Four:
Look at the pictures in worksheet 4. Each of these situations involves trust. What kind of trust do you think is in each picture? Look for as many different types of trust as you can find.
Activity Five:
Use worksheet 5 to create your own circle of trust image. You can include people, objects, religious figures or even weather. It is entirely up to you. Of course there are many places and people you should not trust, but for now just focus on people, places and objects that you do feel confident in.
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Section 3 - Trust and the labyrinth
Worksheet 4: images of trust
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Section 3 - Trust and the labyrinth
Worksheet 5: circle of trust
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Section 3 - Trust and the labyrinth
My circle of trust
The labyrinthand the senses
Section 4
Subject area suggestion: English (Drama)
This section is closely linked to the activities that Scarlet will do in the workshops. Drawing on the sensation that is felt when walking the labyrinth, Scarlet will explore ideas of confusion of the senses, and encourage the pupils to make creative leaps of the imagination as a result. Included here are drama activities which explore the senses being overturned or challenged, and some exercises based on the concept of synesthesia; a literary technique as well as a neurological condition.
Activity One:
In the labyrinth, you often feel unsure about where you are, and how far you have to go. Your senses are being tricked by the shape of the labyrinth.
Try out some of these exercises to release the creativity in your senses:
1. Your sense of smell:
Pick up your pen, close your eyes, and smell it. What does it smell of? Does it smell similar to anything else? Now try with another object that you would not normally sniff! What do you notice? Try this with a partner blinfolded and offer them objects to smell. Can they recognise what the objects are?
2. Your sense of taste:
At lunch or at home, try some food with your eyes closed. Eat it very slowly, and concentrate on all the different flavours you can spot. Does it taste of anything unusual, like sand, or car seats? You will surprised what you notice when you really concentrate.
3. Your sense of touch:
Work with a partner. One of you will be blindfolded. The other person should carefully present everyday objects for the blindfolded partner to feel. Using only one finger, they should explore the object carefully, explaining exactly what temperatures, textures and shapes the object has. Which of the objects feels the most interesting to you?
4. Your sense of sight:
You will need a hand held mirror. Walk around the room with a partner. Your partner will guide you, whilst you will hold the mirror flat in front of you (at the angle of a table) and look down. How does the world look and feel from this angle?
5. Your sense of hearing:
Close your eyes and listen. How many sounds can you hear? Listen even more carefully, are there any sounds that you hadn’t noticed before? Pick a journey you do often such as from your kitchen to your bedroom, or from your desk to the playground. Next time you go on the journey, concentrate very carefully on the sounds that you hear. Now describe the journey to your partner using only sounds. You are not allowed to refer to anything that you can see- only sounds. How easy do you find this?
6. All your senses.
Take a stone, or a similarly simple object, then look up at the sky. What can you see in the sky that is also in the stone? Now look back at the stone, what can else can you see in it that is like the sky. Keep looking back and forth. After a while, your stone will seem so similar to the sky that it will be your ‘photograph’ of the sky. Do this with any object of your choice.
Activity Two:
Some people have an interesting condition called synesthesia. People who have this condition mix up their senses in ways that most people are unable to do. For example, they might taste foods when they hear certain words, or they might associate particular sounds with colours, so that every time they see the colour red, they hear a drum beat.
Poets often use the idea of synesthesia to make their writing more interesting. Let your imagination do all the work in the following exercises.
1. Look at worksheet 6. Look carefully at each of the colours for 20 seconds. What sounds do you think of? For each of the colours, write down the sounds that you think match the colour best. Now compare notes with your partner or group.
2. Worksheet 7 contains a series of sounds. When your teacher presses the link to the sound, listen carefully. What do you think the sound tastes of? Write down the taste of each sound. Listen to the sounds again, and after each one, compare notes with your partner.
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Section 4 - The labyrinth and the senses
Worksheet 6: colours and sounds
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Section 4 - The labyrinth and the senses
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Worksheet 7: sounds and tastesClick on each box to hear the sounds.
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Section 4 - The labyrinth and the senses
The story of the labyrinth
Section 5
Subject Area Suggestion: English EN2
This section looks at the history of the labyrinth as well as one of the most famous stories featuring a labyrinth; Theseus and the Minotaur. The aim of this section is to encourage pupils to create new ideas from ancient myths and legends.
Activity One:
Exploring labyrinths around the world:
The most well known labyrinth in history is the one in the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. It is thought to have really existed in Crete nearly 3000 years ago. Strangely, at the same time in America, a Native American tribe called the Tonoho O’odham created a very similar structure, which was always shown with a man in the middle. The very first labyrinth pattern is thought to have come from India, though, with evidence of a similar shape being used as long as 4500 years ago as a religious symbol.
1. Can you find Crete, North America and India on a map or globe? How do you think it is possible that labyrinths were invented in all these places at the same time?
2. Labyrinth and maze designs occurred in many different places around the world long ago. The people who designed them would not have been able to contact each other by telephone or internet, or even letter. Why do you think they all came up with similar designs? What do you think this might tell us about the human imagination?
3. Another mythical object that appears in almost all cultures is the dragon. Why do you think humans all over the world invented dragons as creatures in their stories?
4. Using your different cultural and religious backgrounds, see how many traditions, stories and creatures you can find that are the same or similar to those in other cultures.
Activity Two:
Look at the pictures of labyrinths on worksheet 8. Can you design a modern Labyrinth? What could you do to make the design suitable for the modern day?
Activity Three:
Read the story of Theseus and the Minotaur with your class. There are some activities and questions for discussion at the end.
Suggested further activities:
1. Write your own labyrinth story. What can be found in the centre of your labyrinth, if anything?
2. Find out more abour Daedalus, the carpenter who made the labyrinth. Write two paragraphs about Daedalus’ life to add into the story.
3. As a whole class, make suggestions on the board of different ideas and objects that you would include in a labyrinth myth. See if you can write a story as a whole class.
4. Look at the illustration of the Minotaur. How would you draw him? Draw your own illustration for the story.
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Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
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Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
What would a 21st Century English labyrinth look like?
LABYRINTHS
Labyrinths are found in many cultures as far back as 3500 BC. Unlike a maze, the labyrinth is unicursal,having a single path leading to the center with no loops, cul-de-sacs or forks.
This Labyrinth is a scale replica of an ancient labyrinth constructed around 1200 AD in the stone floor ofChartres Cathedral, France.
Medieval Christians visited Chartres (and other cathedrals) and walked the labyrinth as an alternative totaking a hazardous pilgrimage to Jerusalem to walk in the “foot steps of Christ.”
Modern “pilgrims“ walk the labyrinthine path as one of many tools to enhance prayer, contemplation,meditation, and/or personal growth.
WALKING A LABYRINTH
There is not a 'required way' to walk a labyrinth. The beauty of the labyrinth is that people canapproach the experience on their own terms. However, as a guideline, we often break the ‘walk’into three stages.
Entering: (also referred to as shedding or purgation.) During this stage you walk the path towardthe center, and should 'center yourself' by trying to put aside worldly concerns and quiet the mind.
Illumination: The time spent in the center. This is a time of openness and peacefulness; youexperience, learn or receive what this unique moment offers. Take your time. Let your inner spiritdetermine when to leave the center.
Union: The journey outward. You choose when to leave the center, following the same path.This is a time to consider what occurred in the center and how it may be applied in your life.
Sometimes a fourth stage is described representing life outside the labyrinth; the world where yourexperience or illumination will affect your future.
FINGER-WALKING A PERSONAL LABYRINTH
Begin by setting the environment. Find a comfortable chair, location, or position. Removejewelry, watches, bracelets, etc. Set music or background sounds. Adjust the lighting. Acquaintyourself with the labyrinth, pass your hands over the edges, across the center and around the outeredge; examine the details that make this labyrinth unique.
Adapt your breathing, and begin tracing the path from the outside with one or more fingers,following the groove/path toward the center. When you arrive at the center, stay a while.
Complete your experience by retracing the path from the center outward.
PAXWORKS - PERSONAL LABYRINTHS
PAXWORKS has utilized modern CAD/CAM technology and a little old-fashioned 'obsession-with-details' to create an extremely accurate 18-inch Chartres- style Personal Labyrinth. It isconstructed of quality hardwoods and hand-finished with a durable satin finish. The naturalmaterials make this labyrinth unique in all creation. Store it in a place of honor, hang it on thewall as a fine piece of artwork, display it as a contemplation piece.
PAXWORKS - Works Of Peace - http://www.paxworks.com
Worksheet 8: labyrinths from around the world
A tattoo of the Native American ‘Man in the Maze’ Labyrinth
The Chartres Labyrinth:a medieval Christian pattern
Idea 1 Idea 2
Theseus and the Minotaurong ago in Ancient Greece, in the days of monsters and miracles, there lived two powerful kings, King Aegeus of Athens and King Minos of Crete.
King Minos was a very unhappy man. Every day he mourned, because he had lost the most precious thing in his life: his son. Not long before, his beloved son had been killed by ruffians on the streets of the great city of Athens. In his grief, Minos looked for a person to blame for his son’s death. So who do you think he chose? None other than King Aegeus, the famed King of Athens, of course. Aegeus ruled Athens fairly and kindly, but nonetheless, Minos felt that Aegeus owed him a payment in return for the death of his son. So night after night, as the sun slept, King Minos plotted a cunning plan to fill King Aegeus with sorrow, a sorrow as deep as his own.
Minos also had another problem. The Gods had been weaving their magic again, and his wife had given birth to a weird creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. This evil being was terrifying the people of Crete, who called him Minotaur, which meant ‘half man, half bull’. Day after day they fled to the smallest corners of their houses when they heard his lonely tread in the street. So Minos decided to kill two birds with one stone. The Minotaur had to be taken off the streets of Crete, so he commissioned a famous carpenter called Daedalus to fashion a labyrinth. The beast would be hidden away in the very centre of this spiralling structure. But a beast needs to eat, and more often than not, the flesh of man is the only thing that will do. So clever Minos sent a message to Aegeus saying that he must provide seven of the youngest and most beautiful Athenians every year to keep the Minotaur fat and content. What choice did Aegeus have? His citizens had killed Minos’ son and he was
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Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
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worried that if he disobeyed he would be attacked and the terrible horns of battle would sound in his peaceful palace. So every year he sent seven men and women of Athens to their deaths at the heart of the beast’s lair.
One year, Aegeus’ son, the merciless and proud Theseus, heard that his father was selecting Athenians to send to the Minotaur’s labyrinth. Theseus was outraged that his father had continued to pay this sacrifice to Minos year after year. He begged his father to let him go with the young people, and promised that he would return with them all alive and well.
Fathers are usually reluctant to send their sons into the lair of a monster, and Aegeus was no exception. He grumbled and sighed but eventually Theseus had his way, and his father grudgingly allowed him to join the group of young Athenians headed for Crete.
Down on the shore, just as Theseus was about to set sail, Aegeus made him promise to change the sail of his boat to pure white canvas if all had gone well. If the boat returned clothed in its usual black, Aegeus would know that his son had died.
When Theseus and the troop of young Athenians arrived in Crete, they were greeted by Minos and his young daughter Ariadne. Immediately, there was a bolt of electricity between the handsome young Theseus and Minos’ beautiful, saffron haired daughter. They were unable to tear their eyes from the other’s gaze. All the time Minos was barking out his bitter commands, Theseus’ mind was closed to everything but the wonder of Ariadne.
That night, the Athenians were due to be sent into the labyrinth to meet their grim fate. But Ariadne was not going to relinquish her love on the very same day that it had begun, so she stole into Theseus’ chamber and instructed him carefully: he was to take a ball of string into the labyrinth, and the sharpest of swords. Can you guess what the string was for? To unweave the puzzle that the labyrinth would wind around him and find his way out safely. And the sword? To kill the vicious Minotaur of course.
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Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
So as they all tiptoed into the first cavernous passageway, Theseus told the others to wait at the entrance, and off he went, with his string and his sword. And sure enough, after several shrieks and moans had been heard from within, Theseus reappeared, clutching the thread that led him back to safety. In his other hand hung the head of the Minotaur, heavy with spent fury.
The jubilant Athenians made their way quickly back to boat to return to their city and tell the wonderful tale of their rescue. There was a new member of the party though. The love-struck Ariadne had made her escape to join her beloved, hurrying her belongings into a parcel before dawn brought news of the night’s adventures to her father.
However, not all stories are meant to end happily. What? You thought that Theseus would remember to change the sail to the white canvas of victory, and his father would greet him happily on the beach, and then embrace his new daughter in law?
No, Theseus was not perfect. Not only did he grow bored of Ariadne on the way home, leaving her on a sunny island to her own fate, he also forgot to change the sail. So it was the black flag of doom that flitted on the waves as the eager father awaited his son’s safe return. Anguished by this sign of his son’s death, Aegeus decided to follow him into the underworld, taking his life with his own battle-weary sword.
Theseus returned to find himself applauded as the new King of Athens. He might have gained a crown, but he had lost his father, through his own absent-mindedness. He had solved the puzzle of the labyrinth and killed the Minotaur, but many years later, Theseus himself lay down to die as a sorry and regretful man.
(Did you notice the deliberate mistake?The Ancient Greek story definitely includes a labyrinth, not a maze. But if it had been a true labyrinth, Theseus would not have needed string to escape. Nobody knows why this is.)
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Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
Worksheet 9: illustration of Theseus and the Minotaur
• What can you see in this picture?• How is it connected to the story of Theseus and the Minotaur?• What do you think the people in the picture are thinking?
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Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
Worksheet 10: questions and activities on the story
1. Which character do you like the most? Why?2. What do you think was the most exciting part of the story? In a group, create a freeze frame of this moment.3. If you could ask the Minotaur three questions, what would you ask?4. Why do you think Theseus forgot to change the sail?5. Ariadne thought of a clever way to help Theseus out of the labyrinth. Can you think of any other ways he could have done this? 6. The Minotaur is a typical Greek monster, because he is half man and half bull. What other combinations of creatures would be scary? What would their characters be like?
7. Can you think of some new describing words (adjectives) to fill these gaps?
Minos also had another problem. The Gods had been weaving their magic again, and his wife had given birth to a .............creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. This ..............being was terrifying the people of Crete, who called him Minotaur, which meant ‘half man, half bull’. Day after day they fled to the ..................corners of their houses when they heard his ......................tread in the street.
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Section 5 - The story of the labyrinth
A labyrinthine journey
Section 6
Suggested subject area: English EN3
This section explores the idea that a labyrinth is similar to a journey through life. It includes two extracts from poems to explore, and guidelines for writing an original poem.
Activity One:
1. Read the two poems on worksheet 11. With your teacher, discuss what you think they might be about.
2. Discuss the following questions:
• Why does Lorca say that life is like a labyrinth? • Why does he think life is not made up of straight roads?• Do you agree with him?• Why does Thompson describe his mind as having ‘labyrinthine waves’ (labyrinthine means like a labyrinth)?• Does your mind ever feel like this?• Who do you think the ‘Him’ that Thompson talks about could be?• Why do you think he describes laughter as ‘running’?• Does your laughter ‘run’ or does it bubble, spurt or clank? • What other verbs could you use to describe your laughter?• How do you think Thompson and Lorca feel?
Activity Two:
1. Listen to your teacher read the poems again. Draw a picture showing your thoughts about Lorca’s view of life and Thompson’s view of his own mind.
2. Thompson thinks his mind is like a labyrinth. Lorca thinks life is like a labyrinth. What do you think your life and your mind are like? Use the following examples to get you thinking.
Life is like... a labyrinth an avocado a pen a sea ................... ...................
My mind is like... a labyrinth a cloud a bowl of pasta a window ....................... .......................
Activity Three:
1. Once you have decided what you think your mind or your life are like, write a short poem describing it in more detail.
If you like, you can use this frame:
My mind is like ......................................It feels ......................................................To other people it seems ..................But to me it is ........................................
2. Look at worksheet 12. Why do you think Thompson’s poem has been shown in the shape of a spiral?Can you create a final version of your poem in a shape that matches its subject?
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Section 6 - A labyrinthine journey
Worksheet 11: poems about labyrinths
‘I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter....’
‘Comprendo que no existe El camino derecho Solo un gran labertino De encrucijadas multiples.’
‘I understand That there are no straight paths,Only a great labyrinthOf many crossroads.’
Extract from ‘The Floating Bridges’, Federico García Lorca (1898- 1936)
Extract from ‘The Hound of Heaven’, Francis Thompson (1859-1907 )
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Section 6 - A labyrinthine journey
Worksheet 12: Writing a shape poem I f ed Him, down the nights and down th
e day
s; I
f ed
Him
, dow
n th
e labyrinthine ways of my own m
ind; and in the midst of tears I hid from
him
, and
und
er running laughter...I f ed H
im, down the arches o
f the
yea
rs; I f ed Him, dow
n the labyrinth
ine
ways of my ow
n mind...
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Section 6 - A labyrinthine journey
How to make a labyrinth
Section 7
Suggested subject area: Design and Technology
This section is the culmination of all the previous activities, in which the pupils can create their own labyrinth. Three methods of making a labyrinth are explained. If making a labyrinth as a whole group is too difficult, finger labyrinths can also be made individually following the guidelines given below.
Labyrinth One:
As a class, you will create an actual labyrinth pattern on the ground. You can either draw the labyrinth pattern in chalk in the playground or create an indoor one with masking tape.
You will need to plan the space that you use. These proportions should work in a reasonably large room, such as a gym, or in a playground, if you have less space, alter the proportions accordingly.
You should allow eight large paces/metres in either direction for the labyrinth. Mark out the centre point and create your central cross measuring 2x2 paces or metres. If you are using masking tape, you will need at least three rolls of tape.
Once you have marked out the outline of the labyrinth, the class can decorate it. You could:• place important objects along the walls or at the centre;• write useful thoughts and ideas on sheets that can be placed at turnings for walkers to read;• place pens and paper at different points for walkers to write down their thoughts;• create a magical atmosphere using lighting, music and setting rules, for example no talking/shoes once you are in the labyrinth room;• use it to give a school assembly on the work you have done;•invite other classes to walk it;•make a timetable and book walking sessions.
Labyrinth Two:
If you don’t want to create an actual labyrinth structure, you can recreate the experience by making a labyrinthine treasure hunt.
You will use the whole classroom or even school for this activity. Using posters or post it notes, lead walkers on a trail around the school. After many twists and turns they will end up at a centre point, such as the main hall, or it could be a hidden area that is not often visited, like an area under the stairs. In the centre point you can place interesting objects, or a large sheet of paper and a pen for walkers to write their ideas and thoughts.
Labyrinth Three:
With this labyrinth, you can make your classroom into a magical sense defying zone that other classes can come to experience. Some possibilities could be:• assign different groups to the different senses and create sensory zones with a difference, for example, a rose bed filled with shoes and sports equipment for visitors to smell, or an upside down area where everyone must move through looking down into mirrors;• bring the outside inside. Think about how you could, for example, turn your classroom into a rainy day on the beach, or a sunny day on the High Street. What sounds/objects/smells could you use to recreate this experience for your visitors?
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Section 7 - How to make a labyrinth
Labyrinth Four:
How to make your own finger labyrinth:You will need:An A3 piece of cardA dark penA rulerScissorsGlueMaterial of your choice to make the walls of the labyrinthOther pens/crayons to decorate the labyrinth.
1. Copy the labyrinth design onto an A3 piece of card. You can use the side of an old box if you do not have ready-made cardboard. Start with the + in the centre, making it 8cm x 8cm. Once you have completed the labyrinth pattern, cut around the circular edge. It should be roughly the size of a dinner plate.
2. You are going to create the walls of the labyrinth using materials that are interesting to you. You can choose to use just one material, but you can use as many as you like. Make a list of all the materials you could find and would like to use. Some examples might be: tissue, tin foil, grass, sweet wrappers, orange peel, sand, feathers, fabric, sequins. Try to use materials you find interesting.
3. Estimate how much of your material you will need to cover all the walls (the lines) of the labyrinth. Now collect together the materials and cut them into small pieces so that they can be glued along the lines of the picture.
4. Start gluing your wall along a small section of the labyrinth. Keep going in small sections until the walls are completed.
5. Now you can decorate the labyrinth further in any way you like. A common way to do this is to write words or phrases that are important to you inside, but you can use your imagination to do it in any way you like.
6. Your labyrinth is now ready to be ‘walked’ with your fingers. Don’t forget to let your mind relax and focus on something that is interesting or important to you as you make your way to the centre.
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AppendixSection 8
Internet resourcesLabyrinth websites
www.labyrinthsociety.orgwww.labyrinthos.net www.labyrinthuk.org
Interactive Labyrinths
www.yfc.co.uk/labyrinth/online.html# This Christian labyrinth encourages you to think about the meaning of life as you pass from stage to stage.
www.labyrinthsociety.org/flash/labyrinth.htm Use your mouse to walk the labyrinth and choose what you would like to find at the centre.
www.labyrinthonline.com/flash/cretan.swf This labyrinth walk takes about fifteen minutes. You should use this time to think about something important to you and concentrate on it.
Ideas about Labyrinths
www.lessons4living.com/drawing.htm www.labyrinth-enterprises.com/IdeaBookXP.pdf
Optical illusions
www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/OpticalIllusions/illusions.htm
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Section 8 - Appendix
Key WordsInternet resourcesConsequence
Choice
Crete
Egypt
Greece
Labyrinth
Labyrinthine
Maze
Minotaur
Sacred
Senses
Spiritual
Synesthesia
Trust
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a. make contributions relevant to the topic and take turns in discussion;c. qualify or justify what they think after listening to others’ questions or accounts.
PSHE-Developing good relationships and respecting the differences between people4 c. To be aware of different types of relationship, including marriage and those between friends and families, and to develop the skills to be effective in relationships.
Section 4: English EN1- Drama4. To participate in a wide range of drama activities and to evaluate their own and others’ contributions, pupils should be taught to:c. use dramatic techniques to explore characters and issues [for example, hot seating, flashback].
Section 5: English EN2 Literature4. To develop understanding and appreciation of literary texts, pupils should be taught to:h. respond imaginatively, drawing on the whole text and other reading;i. read stories, poems and plays aloud.
Section 6: English EN2 Understanding texts2. Pupils should be taught to:a. use inference and deduction;b. look for meaning beyond the literal.
Section 7: Design and technology Working with tools, equipment, materials and components to make quality products2. Pupils should be taught to:a. select appropriate tools and techniques for making their product;b. suggest alternative ways of making their product, if first attempts fail;c. explore the sensory qualities of materials and how to use materials and processes;d. measure, mark out, cut and shape a range of materials, and assemble, join and combine components and materials accurately.
National Curriculum linksSection 1: Art and Design- Investigating and making art, craft and design2. Pupils should be taught to:a. investigate the possibilities of a range of materials and processes;b. try out tools and techniques and apply these to materials and processes, including drawingrepresent observations, ideas and feelings, and design and make images and artefactsinvestigating different kinds of art, craft and design [for example, in the locality, in original and reproduction form, during visits to museums, galleries and sites, on the internet.
Section 2: English EN1- Group discussion and interaction 3. To join in as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:a. take turns in speaking;b relate their contributions to what has gone on before;c. take different views into account;d. extend their ideas in the light of discussiongive reasons for opinions and actions.
Citizenship- Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities1. Pupils should be taught:a. to recognise what they like and dislike, what is fair and unfair, and what is right and wrong;b. to share their opinions on things that matter to them and explain their views;c. to recognise, name and deal with their feelings in a positive way;d. to think about themselves, learn from their experiences and recognise what they are good at.
Section 3: English EN1-Group discussion and interaction3. To talk effectively as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:
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AcknowledgmentsFor further information about the project and Scarlet Theatreplease contact:
Gráinne Byrne,Director,Scarlet Theatre,Studio 4,The Bull,68 High Street,Barnet,EN5 5SJ.
Tel: 020 8441 9779Fax: 020 8447 0075e-mail: [email protected]
This pack is written and designed by Isobel Simons.
For further information please contact:
Isobel Simons,Educational Resource Design
Tel: 07813201560 email: [email protected]
Images of the classical labyrinth and the Chartes medieval labyrinth reproduced with kind permission of the The Labyrinth Society, P.O. Box 736, Trumansburg, NY 14886.
Extracts from the National Curriculum reproduced with the permission of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority,3 Piccadilly, London W1J 8QA .
Extract from ‘Floating Bridges’ has been reproduced with the kind permission of La Fundación Federico García Lorca.
All other images used have been acquired as royalty free images from istockphoto, Morguefile and Wikipedia.
The story of Theseus and the Minotaur has been retold by Isobel Simons.
All other content is the copyright of Scarlet Theatre. All rights reserved.
This resource pack has been generously funded by the Milly Apthorp Charitable Trust.
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