Random runes

These are from my work with the Jorvik centre in York. They paid me to be a Viking so I read it up and learnt all about them!

Best research

The best way to find out about any topic is to go in the library; the children’s library and get their books out. They are to the point: they are picturesque and exciting: they cover the stuff that kids need to know and they can sometimes surprise you. Get that information in you fast!

I wrote a children’s drama series for them called Road to Ragnarok about the end of the world. By the time I had entertained kids a few times with the drama poems I realised I could remember all of it, well the basic story any way.

If you read the history you can remember it and tell it as a story. You can do that with any subject. Subjects your children cover.

The Random Runes are bits of the sagas chopped up and when you pick a few runes I fit them together into a new story based on the old. This can be done with other subjects too.

Traditional stories

You are supposed to tell them the same way as you heard them. You are supposed to change them a little and tell them fresh and new. They got carried down from teller to teller. Find traditional stories form memory, from other tellers, from books and even movies and tell them a fresh. Challenge your friend on a topic and see what they know.

Tales in books

The way the blank got its blank or folk stories and mythology.

Find out about books and stories children hear and know (and often want to know of again) and find out more about them. You can then retell them with lots more background information.

Learn which books and topics

Letters to children, careers, schools asking about favourite books will help get the right topics and stories. But can you ask on your CD you make? “Goodnight from Dad let me know what stories you are doing at school or the ones you like. Or something like that eh.

Curriculum

We have all come across the aunty that sends a Christmas present every year but thinks you are still 3. We need to make sure we are on the nickel. One sure way is feedback if you can get it; so you know first-hand what they are doing at school; what they are capable of; what they do for homework; what they read or are interested in.

There is another way:

What does the curriculum tells us? Teachers are teachers all over the country. We can look at what is being studied and what abilities and levels are. We can even expect a printed reported to be posted so we can learn where our kids are at.

Research ways

Find traditional stories or background to tales they know.

Or gather interesting bits of history.

Or gather reminiscences ie I told old George about the Silver Sword and he said …

Or - Trenches used to be so full of mud that worms crept…..

Test your ground

Do all the above suggestions as a group and try out the results on each other. We get it right. We are right on the nickel.

 

New York church

I told this story in a library to a community group and they looked bored sick. Turns out one old lady gets the same cranky weird magazine as me and the month before had brought a copy of this story for every group member and they all had a copy on the wall at home.

This proves that what we say is important. The old lady had seen what I saw. We all recall interesting experiences. If we value them and pass them on. They get passed on. They get passed back. You are valued.

Vestkust

People cry when they hear this story – then they thank me. We need to explore our feelings. There are so many of them. I put happy, sad and scared (The ones that kids always say when you ask them about feelings) into the synonyms checker on WORD and ended up with the list you see here. Hundreds.

Find a feeling and discuss it. Imagine a child coping with it or experiencing it and create stories with a child in.

Can you tell stories about your own experiences which cover one of these feelings? A feeling a month from memory.

 

 Cats are come at us

Also Trolls

The Cats poem is very very old; Celtic. Who were the cat people? They were feared and talked about so much that the poem survives today. Tell the story of this.

There are some good stories in old poems especially classic ones for children. Research.

Essence of story

Think of all the parts of story. Make lists. Go through old stories. Ask questions: what it reminds you of, why, what is the

Message, bits you like, twists, what you could have learnt, how might we be different? Always ask questions, sometime odd ones. Your story will be richer.

 

 My chord organ

Music and it’s influences: especially songs that are rereeased or known now that had an effect on you at an earlier release.

“I always loved that line blah blah blah it used to make us think about holidays” One holiday I had was…

Other songs known now are children’s songs

and play ground rhymes games and songs

you could tell a great story about them

especially if you teamed up

“one friend of mine told me how the girls at his school were once chanting……”

They will know some of them

They will learn some of them from you

 

 When I am old I will remember

  and this is how my memories will be

Look back at life from now to then and list all the good things

Repeat the title lines

Or use slightly different ones after every few things you remember

IE things about you children growing and what they experienced. Bring all your wishes and hopes out and turn them into truths.

 

 I am a falling moon

    Beautiful stream of consciousness

 

 I know someone who

See printed sheet

Great to send home and get an answer

 

 These the things

    Chant for the child

They can add lines to come back to you

 

Giz a Moy

My daughter once said, “This gadgi sez giz a moy so I nashed off mallin”

Think of the ways we speak

Little stories about when you were a child

Debate; is it wrong and should we all speak ‘correctly’ - is there a place for us all being different?

Can we be culturally-sound and business-like in different environments?

(Also Robin and Luca – Lucy Dinosaurs – Luke Black and white)

Children love the idea of reminiscing about being smaller and imagining they are small. They might be able to remember by listening to your experiences and simple little childlike stories. Go back in time.

(Anything not so good that comes up might help you with the lists of wishes and dreams or the looking back when we are old.)

 

 My Gypsy Bill

 

 Amazing things

We have all seen them

Crisps 20p angels and moonlight

Lost mobile

Being Jesus

 

 Path of the gods

If you feel like saying that’s a corker (or something) then you are admitting that you take part in storytelling – we all do.

 

 Let the world surprise us

Just when you think you have it all sewn up. Just when you have it all worked out. The world turns round and is different. Collect evidence of this. It doesn’t have to have a moral exactly, just make us think all over again. The trouble with the stories with a moral; they are trying to prove something they already believe in.

 

 Ten wishes I have in my heart

 A list

Try to make each bit sound different

And try to make the sounds of the words work well together

These are to share so we are looking at things as they really could be for us and even more so for those we know and love.

Ten secrets I only tell you

Being a child isn’t always all that good. They carry a lot of things inside – So do you – So did you, so you still do deep in there – bring them out as secrets then they will think, “I am just like my Dad” instead of “I daren’t tell anyone this”.

Put some fun ones in too! And the idea of you imagining being little and telling us your fears and doubts, if not fun, will certainly be sweet.

 

 Camera haiku

A Japanese haiku looks at nature

It has three lines and no rhymes

It tells us what it sees right now

It never tells us what to think

That is up to us the reader as we think about it afterwards

 

 A camera haiku looks with three lenses:

Line one  - wide angle

Line two – normal

Line three – zoom

 

 Pick a scene or a place

 

 Wide dry heat expanse

A crusty ancient cacti

One bead of dew

 

 (that’s a dessert)

 

 (New York Ground Zero might be:)

 

 Dust blows across this bleak expanse

Rubble covers darker holes

Falling wind drops a dandelion seed

 

 Think about these

Mention also a zen master’s one from long ago