Pupils from Bannockburn Primary School took inspiration from one of the paintings in 'Framed', Still Life with Oranges and Walnuts by Luis Meléndez. See the writing and art work that the painting inspired.
Framed: Email to Dad
Transcript
A Year 5/6 pupil from Bannockburn Primary School reads a piece of original work inspired by the novel 'Framed'
Bannockburn pupil:
Hi, Dad, how are you? I am doing alright and so is everyone else in Team Hughes.
We found a superb way to make money! We came up with some idea to make cakes! But not ordinary cakes, artist cakes! We gave them catchy names like Picasso Pie, and Donatello Donuts.
However, we don't make them all at once, we make them after people order them that way we don’t waste ingredients (which is a good way to save money).
Me and Tom went to show the men up in the mountain the menu (which Marie made on the computer with Tom's help). They actually liked them so they ordered some cakes. Now we're really popular with them.
I've got some more great news. Donatello has started to lay eggs! It means we can have (free) eggs for breakfast, and we can sell some too for extra money.
Not everyone is happy at the moment. Mam seems to be depressed. She hardly gets out of bed, and when she does it's only to feed or change Max.
The other day we had Chicken Satay Pot Noodle for breakfast, it was lovely (we didn't like the Sava Packet cornflakes anyway) but it would have been better if you and mam had been there. It may sound a bit corny but those empty seats made me feel empty.
Here's something you won't believe: Tom was actually inspired by something other than Ninja Turtles! Lester showed us a still life in the quarry. He was amazed at how the artist had arranged the objects and the fruit in the painting.
He (Tom) went to the Sava Packet and bought a massive load of stuff like soap powder, raisins, cornflakes and peanuts and made a still life with them in the garage window. Now all the shops in Manod are paying Tom £10 to do their windows. It looks awesome!
Please come back to see them for yourself. Team Hughes is not the same without you.
Dylan
Ade Shokoya, class teacher at Bannockburn Primary School, describes how the project ignited her pupils' interest.
Framed: using drama
Transcript
A narrator discusses how drama can bring a text to life, with comments from a teacher
Narrator: Pupils responded to the richness of the text, bringing episodes of it to life through drama and role-play.
Teacher: When we introduced the book, we started using art, talking, speaking, listening and drama, which has been really powerful.
Things have just changed around so they love it, they understand it, they understand the characters, they love the family and everything like that. So it's just a transformation. So every single week they want to do drama, which is not possible all the time, but it is something I do much more of.
Narrator: The understanding, empathy and engagement that this facilitates is reflected in the children’s subsequent writing. Artwork is also a natural response: here, for example, pupils translated into visual form the picture of Manod that Frank Cottrell Boyce paints in words.