Session 9

Focus objectives

• To use hotseating to explore a character's story
• To think about the ways that drama helps you think about complex ideas
• To understand a character's point of view and infer their motivation

Key teaching approaches

• Hotseating
• Writing in role
• Shared and guided writing

Read Chapter 10 'Lame Betsy' and Chapter 11 'The Spitting Crow'. Talk with the children about Rosie's story: what might have happened after the night Jim's mother arrived? Why did Rosie and Judd lose their jobs? Is Rosie telling the truth about what happened to Emily and Lizzie? Why might she lie?

Model thinking and composing questions that they might want to ask Rosie about that night and then ask the children to work with a partner to compose questions. With one child in the 'hotseat' as Rosie, ask individuals to pose their questions. After this, give each child a small paper-folded book to represent Rosie's diary, and use shared and guided writing to support children to write an entry in role as Rosie, describing what happened to her after Jim's family arrived at the Big House: why she lost her job, what happened to Jim's sisters and how she feels about seeing Jim again.

End the session by discussing with the class the ways that the activity helped them to write in role.