Henry VIII

ENGLISH

Speaking and Listening
The performance gives students the opportunity to listen to the story, respond appropriately and then to feed back the points that interested them to the class. They can also identify and respond to sound patterns in language such as rhyme and word play, i.e., during the Green Sleeves song. Students can evaluate the overall effectiveness of the performance and look at language variation and dialect forms of the different characters.

DRAMA
The production allows students to discuss the versatility of the actors i.e. using different body language and voices to portray a variety of characters. They can also see how light, sound, costumes and set contribute to the overall performance.

PSHE & CITIZENSHIP
For all key stages the production raises issues such as bullying, human emotion, status, wealth and equal opportunities.

HISTORY
The production allows children of all ages to explore the Tudor times by seeing the characters in costumes of that era and seeing how people lived. The performance is full of facts about the Tudor times and famous people in Tudor history.

KS1
Explore the Tudor period and find out what toys they played with. Make a poster of the different toys and games children would play in that era.

Ask the children to walk around the room like different characters from the performance. When you say ‘freeze’ they stand still like statues. If they move then they are out of the game. Continue until there is a winner.

KS1 & 2
The whole class could take part in some group role play. Divide the class in half and re-enact the war of the roses. Discuss why this battle took place and get them to make flags showing the Tudor rose and the white rose symbols.

Make a poster advertising a wife for King Henry VIII. Get them to focus on one of the six wives and write up a profile on their good and bad points.

As a group become Tudor singing minstrels and learn and perform King Henry’s Green Sleeves. They could even dress up in costumes for the lesson.

KS2
Ask children to form a circle and encourage them to pretend to be different characters from the play. In turn, get them to sit in the middle of the circle while the other students ask questions about their character. The other children have to guess who they are.

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