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Teacher Resource Pack - Polka ...
Teacher Resource Pack

Page 1
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Near the foothills of the Himalayas, three orphans open a magical book
under a Banyan tree. They were told the book wouldn’t give them answers
but they’d learn from it, so they stir a pot of milk and watch as three stories
of the forest rise from the pages. Stories of headstrong crows, a mongoose
who wants a family, and a brave lion come vibrantly to life, with masks,
movement and music.

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Teacher Resource Pack - Polka ...
Dear Teacher,
Polka's production of Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree was written by Shamser
Sinha and co-produced by Tara Arts. The exercises in this pack have been devised
to support pupil’s engagement in the play before and after seeing the
performance. The activities are suitable for Years 3 – 6 with extensions to modify
the activity for the age and ability of the group.
How to use this pack:
Part 1: Pre-Show Activities
Older pupils will enjoy reading our interview with writer, Shamser Sinha who
shares his experiences of how he first became a playwright. Use the pre-show
activities on pages 6 and 7 to help familiarize your pupils with the characters and
world of the stories. The discussion activity on page 7 can introduce pupils to
fables and anticipate the morals and learning they can take away from the stories
in the play.
Part 2: Post-Show Activities
The activities on pages 8-11 encourage pupils to research other stories from the
Panchatantra to adapt into a performance or to consider how the morals from the
stories in Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree could apply to life today.
The practical drama exercises on pages 12 - 19 include warm-ups to enable pupils
to engage imaginatively with the characters from the story and reflective
exercises to explore the themes. Finally, there are suggested activities to develop
pupil’s ideas and performance skills into small group performances that can be
shared in the class or in an assembly.
Part 3: Shadow Puppetry
In the last part of our activity pack we have included instructions for pupils to
make their own shadow puppets inspired by the play or to create their own
stories.

                                            Enjoy the show!

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An Interview with the Writer: Shamser Sinha

1.        When did you first become interested in writing plays?
I never had drama lessons at school. And we never read any plays either. After
leaving primary school, I didn’t have an English lesson for 2 years because of a
teacher’s strike and a staff shortage. So, the world of theatre didn’t enter my
universe until one day about 8 years ago when my friend decided she didn’t fancy
watching Transformers in the cinema and dragged me to a play about teenagers in
Hackney – not far from Leytonstone where I grew up. It connected with me and
my experience working with young people in Hackney and so it was then I became
interested in writing a play and so I did. I was lucky as it won an award and was put
on at The Finborough Theatre. Looking back to primary school though, I did love
writing stories. I could make things up without having to worry about rules and
grammar. But I probably learnt grammar by having fun making stories. So, without
George Tomlinson Primary School I probably wouldn’t be a playwright.
2.        What topics do you like to write about?
I like writing about children, young people, anyone really who is at the wrong end
of money, fortune and the wars we fight.
3.        Did you read the Panchatantra tales as a child?
I read different stories from India some of which were from The Panchatantra
even though I didn’t know that then. They were often from a set of Amar Chitra
Katha comic books, which illuminated with words and pictures, a story that I
could imagine even further in my head.
4.      Why did you choose a mixture of humans and animals as your characters?
Some of the stories in the Panchatantra just have animals, others have animals
and humans.
5.        Why did you choose the crow, mongoose and tiger stories?
I wanted to tell a set of stories that had characters at the centre of them who
were young and vulnerable and had to figure things out for themselves. Adults
don’t always act the way they should and they certainly don’t always know
everything. This resonates with my experience of working with vulnerable
children and teenagers, who had to figure what to do, why and when. Some were
child refugees, many were orphans, and others had been treated badly by schools,
the police or the immigration authorities. When I thought of that and the
Panchatantra, I thought of what happens to the Crow, Mongoose and Tiger.

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6.        What is the Banyan Tree, and why did you include this in the title?
Various stories from The Panchatantra have the Banyan Tree in them, and it felt
like I could build a magical world from the tree, its branches and the beat of
animal feet. The Banyan Tree is a massive tree with many twining branches. It
starts out as a seed that grows in a hole or crevice of another tree.
7.     What do you want your audience to experience and what messages from
the play do you want them to think about?
I want the audience to be thrilled because they’re stories that we’re less used to
encountering in the UK. The words, sounds, music and masks are used to tell
stories whose meaning you might want to think about yourself. They do not
propose morals like the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ that we’re used to getting from stories in
the UK. Instead, the story offers up different paths and choices. What do you
think the stories mean? That’s something I’m hoping the children and adults
ponder.
As for a message, that’s a tricky one. I think be skeptical of what you’re told, think
of why it might be true and why it might not be. So, when you decide to believe in
something, it’s something that resonates with you. Very important if you are a
child who is navigating through life and will grow up in the world adults are
messing up.
8.        What advice would you give young writers?
In your stories, make up the world you want to write. Not the world people want
you to write. Don’t get stuck on what people say is great writing if you don’t like it,
or the definitive way of doing something, if you don’t want to do it that way.

strike - to refuse to continue working.
resonate - to produce a positive or powerful personal response.
skeptical - having or showing doubt; questioning.
definitive – considered to be the best of its type.

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Part One: Pre-show Activities

Read the summary of the play below and choose a word from the box to fill in
the gaps.

The title of the play comes from the ____________ tree which is frequently
mentioned in The Panchatantra stories.
The play begins with the Three Shoemakers, Mahendra (12), ____________ (9) and
Jayaben (6) who are hiding from the King and the war. Their father, not their birth
father but a ____________ man who adopted and looked after them was sentenced
to death by the King. The Father worked for the King as a ___________. Sick of
making swords and ______________ he wanted to make shoes, because many in the
Kingdom were shoeless. The father disobeyed the King and was sent to his death.
The children ran away and hid in the __________. Now they have nothing but their
shoemaking skills, the trees and the book the Father gave them, “The
_________________.”
The play is about the 3 ___________ refugee shoe makers exploring the book’s
stories. But it is also about children developing the ability to think for _____________
as they may at one time or another face _____________ and obstacles in their lives.
Rather than “right” or “wrong”, the stories encourage us to think about __________
and consequences and the different _____________ we can choose.

         Panchatantra themselves    kindly   actions
          weapons     Banyan   Maker       barriers
           pathways   orphan     forest    Yasmin

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How can fables teach us morals?
                Look at these common sayings: what is the moral?

                                Don’t judge a book by its cover.

                                     A watched pot never boils.

                       Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

                           Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

                                          Look before you leap.

                             A leopard cannot change its spots.

                             A picture paints a thousand words.

                          An apple a day keeps the doctor away

                                          The Panchatantra

The Panchatantra is an ancient collection of Indian animal fables that were
believed to have been originally written in Sanskrit by Vishnu Sharma more than
2500 years ago. It is believed that the stories were written to educate and
entertain the children of the royal family.

Each of the stories in the Panchatantra uses animal characters to explain a moral
or idea.

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Part Two: Post-show Activities

What do you think are the morals or lessons learnt in the 3
stories in Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree?
Draw a line to match the story to an idea or moral:

Story 1: The crows and owls are                                   Be true to yourself even when
at war. Tarabai, a young crow is                                  others treat you differently.
constantly told by her uncle to
build nests and hide, although
she just wants to play.

Story 2: A woman adopts a                                         Sometimes we need to follow
mongoose as a pet for her                                         our conscience as well as doing
young child. The woman sees                                       our duty.
and treats the mongoose
differently to her child, which
saddens the mongoose.

Story 3: A tiger and jackal are
ordered by the King (the lion) to                                 We can make our own decisions
kill a beast accused of                                           even when our opponents are
disrupting the balance of the                                     bigger than us.
forest.

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Draw a picture to show how one of these moral lessons
could relate to our lives today.

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Stories from the Panchatantra

     1. Using the internet, ask pupils to research and read some of the other
        Panchatantra stories. Choose one to read together as a whole class or
        divide the class into groups and assign each group a different story.

     2. Give the students the template on the next page to create a storyboard of
        the beginning, middle and end of the story / stories you have read.

          Alternatively, pupils can use their drawing on page 9 as the starting point
          to create their own original modern day story with a moral.

     3. Pupils draw a picture to show the sequence of events in the story and write
        sentences to describe what is happening under the picture.

     4. They can include speech and thought bubbles to show what the characters
        are thinking and saying.

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Story Title: __________________________________________

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Part Two: Post-show Drama Activities

Warm Ups

Stop / Go

Begin a game of STOP and GO; ask the children to move about the space on their
own, without walking into or touching another person. When you say STOP, ask
them to stop where they are as still as a statue; comment on those who have focus
and concentration. When you say GO, ask them to move off. Repeat a few times
to build up discipline in the game. Now explain that when you say STOP you are
going to introduce a few of the characters we have met in the play. Ask them to
use facial expressions and body language to embody the character:

Tarabai, the young Crow
Tawny the Tiger (with a tummy ache).
Foe Crusher, the Owl King
Suranga, the ape.

Make Me A…:

Divide the participants into groups of around five or six. Call out, ‘Make me a…’
and then choose an object or scene that relates to the play. For example, ‘Make
me a…
…Banyan Tree.’
…crow’s nest.’
…King Cobra’
…an elephant.’

The groups then have to the count of ten to use their bodies to make that thing.
They should be encouraged to work in silence. When they are ready, they should
freeze in position. Give the groups an opportunity to look at each other.

Extensions: It can be fun to bring the object or scene to life on the count of three,
encouraging the groups to think about appropriate movement and sound.

For older groups, try qualifying the noun with an adjective, for example, ‘a lonely
spider’, ‘an enchanted castle.’ etc.

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Almonds and Walnuts, Frogs and Mice: A variation on Grandmother’s
footsteps.

The group stands at one end of the room. “Crow” (Grandmother) stands at the
other with a ball at her feet. She turns her back and begins to say ‘Almonds and
walnuts, frogs and mice.’ She turns and faces the group of “owls” on the word
‘mice’. When she has her back turned, the group must sneak up on her. When she
is facing the group they must be completely still. If they move they must return to
the back of the room.

When the group reaches Grandmother, they must attempt to steal the ball and,
passing it between them, return it to the back of the room. Every time
Grandmother faces the group, she has one guess at who has the ball. If she gets it
right, the ball is returned to her and the game begins again. If she gets it wrong,
the game continues.

The group wins by taking the ball all the way to their end of the room.

Rhythm Detectives

Ask the children to stand in a circle. Choose one volunteer to be the detective.
The detective must stand in a corner of the room facing the wall or covering their
eyes whilst you choose the leader by tapping them gently on the shoulder. The
leader will wave to the whole group so everyone knows who they are following.
This is all done silently so the detective cannot hear. Explain to the class that they
should focus their eyes on the person standing opposite them in the circle and use
this focus as well as their peripheral vision to follow the leader's movements – if
they all stare directly at the leader the detective will guess the leader's identity
straight away. Ask the detective to re-join the group and stand in the centre of the
circle. The detective has three chances to guess who the leader is. Each member
of the class should be following the movements of the person standing opposite
them. The leader should try to use their hands and feet to create a rhythm such as
clicking fingers, tapping or clapping for the circle to follow. In the play, the actors
use different rhythms to suggest different emotions and the characteristics of the
animals.

Forest Soundscapes

First, ask everyone in the group to close their eyes and imagine the forest where
the three children are hiding. In particular, ask them to think about what sounds
they might hear there.

Tell them that, in a moment, you would like them to make one of these sounds;
this could be vocal, or made using the body or the floor. When you give the cue,
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ask everyone to make their sound and to keep repeating it until you tell them to
stop.

When you have finished, discuss the impact of the soundscape with the group.
Was it effective? Did anyone have a particular picture in their mind when you
heard the sounds?

Conducted Soundscapes

As above, but using a conductor. The conductor will point to people when it’s time
for them to start making their sound and will agree a signal for ‘stop’. Other
signals can be built in along the way if appropriate, for example raising and
lowering volume, speeding up or slowing down.

In this version, it is easier to hear contributions from individuals before building
up into a whole group soundscape.
Once signals have been agreed, you can pass the responsibility (and power!) of
conducting to members of the group.

Small Group Soundscapes:

After the initial whole group soundscape, split into smaller groups of around 5.
Ask each group to consider the emotion or atmosphere they would like to evoke.
Encourage them to play with where they place the audience. How close will they
come to the audience? Do they perform behind the audience members’ backs?
Could the audience be enclosed by performers? There should be time to play with
lots of different ways to make sounds, perhaps introducing simple instruments
too.

Once the audience is seated each time, ask them to close their eyes and listen
carefully to each group’s performance. Ask for feedback on what was successful,
what images or feelings came to mind etc.

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Reflecting on the Play:

Opinion Lines:
Place two signs ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ at opposite sides of the room. Tell your
group to think of this as a line; it is a sliding scale. Explain to your group that when
you say a statement, for example, Tawny was wrong to not follow the King’s
orders, they should find a place to stand on the line to show how much they agree
or disagree with what you’ve said.

Choose a few people to explain why they’ve chosen to stand where they have.
Encourage them to give as many reasons as they can.

You are likely to find that the children’s reasons spark new statements to try.

Extension: Instead of asking participants to explain their own position on the line,
ask them to justify somebody else’s position. For example, if child A strongly
agrees ask them to give you reasons on behalf of child B, who strongly disagrees.
This is an excellent way to encourage your group to look at all sides of an
argument and to try to understand other people’s ideas. They will probably find
this difficult but it’s worth persevering!

Performing the Script

In pairs, read through the script extract on the following pages from the story
Tawny the Tiger. Ask students to act out the script thinking about how they can
add tension to the scene. Consider:
     Pauses
     Changes in volume
     Contrasts between slow and sudden movements.

Ask pairs to show their scene or moments from their scene with the class.

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(There is a loud noise)
Tawny:
          You heard that?
Veer:
          Thunder? But there’s no clouds
Tawny:
          That’s not thunder. I see eyes
Veer:
          Yeah, yeah so do I.
(Suddenly, there is another booming sound)
          Where is it?
Tawny:
          Who could move like that?
(Another boom)
Veer:
          The grass is swaying. But there’s no one there. A demon?
          What do you think Tawny?
Tawny:
          Maybe an elephant?
Veer:
          A demon elephant!
Tawny:
          Could be…
Veer:
          It’s not come out
Tawny:
          Maybe there’s two of them, or even three

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Veer:
          Where is it then? It’s scared
Tawny:
          It sounds fierce

Veer:
          Fierce but scared, that’s why it’s not come out
Tawny:
          An animal in fear attacks.
(Another louder boom. Veer starts skulking)
          W hat are you doing?

Veer:
          One thing I can do is creep. And creep silently. I’ll spy on it.
          You stay here. (Veer goes to look.) O, o. (Gathers courage) I am
          fierce. A fierce Jackal!
(Boom)
          (Veer returns) I’m scared
(Boom)
          And it’s coming
(Boom)
          I can-n-n-n. I c-c-c- can’t step out and face it. It’s coming to eat
          us
(Boom)
          It’s your job. Your duty. The King said so.

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Hot Seating

Ask two children to sit on chairs in front of the group. Explain that they are friends
Tawny the Tiger and Veer the Jackal who have now met the “beast” that the King
instructed Tawny to kill. Facilitate the group in asking the two characters
questions to uncover their thoughts and feelings. Reinforce that the two children
being Hot Seated must stay in character but they can choose not to answer a
question if they don’t want to.

As a variation, the Hot Seating can be done in small groups or in pairs with each
person taking turns to be either Tawny or Veer while their partner interviews
them.

Conscience Alley

Through this technique, the class can further explore Tawny’s dilemma. Ask the
class to stand in two lines facing each other. Ask one student, to symbolically be
Tawny and walk slowly between the two lines. As Tawny passes each pair they
say aloud the thoughts that he might be thinking. This can be done with the
students holding arms up and holding hands with the person opposite them to
create an arch and a tunnel effect.

Extension: Experiment with one line saying aloud the opinions Tawny would hear
from Veer and the other expressing Surunga’s.

Creating a Performance:
Beginning, Middle, End

Working in groups of 4 or 5, ask the children to come up with three key moments
in one of the stories in Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree or one of the other
Panchatantra stories they have read or their own story. If you have made
storyboards of the stories (see page 11), students can look at these for support.

Each group must come up with a freeze frame for each of these important
moments. Encourage them to use exaggerated facial expressions and body
language and use different levels to create an interesting image.

Extension 1: Bring the freeze frames to life by thought tracking each of the
characters. Explain that when you tap them on the shoulder, they must say
exactly what their character is feeling at that moment.

Extension 2: Ask each group to come up with movements that they can use as
transitions between the three freeze frames. Give groups a count down from 10
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to move between the freeze frames. Explore using music or rhythmic sounds to
support the transitions.

Creating a Short Performance

Use the previous exercise to create the main structure of the performance and
allocate students to add narration to each of the freeze frames. The narrator can
stand apart from the freeze frame or one of the characters can “step out” of the
picture to narrate the action and then return to their place in the image.

Depending on the ability of each group, more freeze frames, lines of dialogue and
movement can be added. The story can continue to be a sequence of freeze
frames or can be acted out. Ask the groups to begin and end with a freeze frame
that they hold for 3 seconds to maintain a clear beginning and end to their
performance.

These can then be shared with the rest of the class or in an assembly inspired by
the visit to see Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree.

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Part Three: Shadow Puppets

                         How to Make a Shadow Puppet (A)

What you will need:

    - Coloured card
    - Scissors
    - Masking tape
    - Lollipop sticks
Instructions:

     1) Draw an outline of your animal on an A4 piece of
        coloured card.

     2) Cut out the outline of your animal using scissors.

     3) Draw on/ decorate, or cut holes in your animal in the places where the
        eyes, nose and mouth are.

     4) Tear off a small piece of masking tape and
        attach a lollipop stick to the back of your
        animal.

     5) Your shadow puppet is ready to use!

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Here are a few templates to give you some ideas!

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How to Make a Shadow Puppet (B)

What you will need:

     -    Coloured card
     -    Scissors
     -    Brass paper fasteners
     -    Sharp pencils
     -    Masking tape
     -    Glue
     -    Wooden skewers/ straws

Instructions:

     1) Lay the card flat, and
        draw individual body
        parts of the animal

     2) Using scissors, cut out each body part separately.

     3) Poke holes into the card at
        the points where the limbs
        connect to each other,
        using a sharp pencil.

     4) Secure the limbs using brass paper fasteners,
        by putting fasteners through the front of the
        puppet, then turning the puppet over, and
        securing the fasteners at the back

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5) Attach skewers or straws to each limb at the back with masking tape and
        glue, so that you can hold the animal and move the limbs.

     6) You puppet is ready to use!
        Experiment by moving the
        limbs around with the
        wooden skewers.

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How to Make a Shadow Puppet Theatre

What you will need:

     -    1 big cardboard box
     -    1 sheet of tissue paper, tracing paper, or white fabric
          (large enough to cover one side of the cardboard box)

     -    Scissors
     -    Sticky tape/ masking tape
     -    Lamp/ large torch

Alternatively, if you have an overhead projector to project the puppets onto the
screen you can use this as your theatre.

Instructions

     1) Using scissors, cut out the back panel of your box.
     2) Cut out the front flaps ( ) of the cardboard box, leaving
        the side flaps attached to rest the theatre on the table.
     3) Cut out a smaller square from the front panel of the
        cardboard box.

     4) On the inside of the box, using tape, attach a sheet of tissue/ tracing paper
        or white material to cover the opening you have just cut out.

     5) Position the theatre on the edge of a table

     6) Place a torch/ lamp behind, lighting up the tissue paper

     7) Your theatre is ready to use! Place your puppets in between the light
        source and the screen, and put on a shadow puppet show!

Page 24
Polka Theatre
240 Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1SB
+44 (0)20 8543 4888 www.polkatheatre.com
Polka is a registered charity no. 256979, company no. 938592, VAT no. 238 9709 18
Thank you!

We hope you have enjoyed Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree and your visit to
Polka Theatre.

We can also provide plenty of opportunities for follow-up activities. Polka’s
experienced team of actors, directors, storytellers and puppeteers are on hand to
deliver a range of workshops in your school. We can create a bespoke workshop
for you and your pupils based on the play you have seen or to introduce your
pupils to your next curriculum topic.

Whether it’s a puppet-making session exploring your favourite pets, a storytelling
masterclass to celebrate World Book Day, a drama workshop discovering the
wonderful women who have changed the course of history or a chance to develop
your poetry skills – we will create a tailor-made workshop for you and your pupils.

For more information, please visit our website:

https://polkatheatre.com/home/schools/

Or contact Abigail, Polka’s Schools Relationship Officer to request a workshop
enquiry form:

abigail@polkatheatre.com

            We will look forward to seeing you at Polka Theatre again soon!

                                                   Best wishes,

                                       The Creative Learning Team

Page 25
Polka Theatre
240 Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1SB
+44 (0)20 8543 4888 www.polkatheatre.com
Polka is a registered charity no. 256979, company no. 938592, VAT no. 238 9709 18
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