KS1:1 How does Olaudah Equiano deserve to be remembered?

Enquiry question

2.What happened when Olaudah Equiano married Susannah Cullen?

The Scheme of Work now shifts into a role play of the wedding in 1792, to introduce Olaudah Equiano (Gustavas Vassa) and his wife, while exploring the difference between modern and antiquated speech to emphasise the historical distance between wedding ceremonies then and now.

Combined History and Literacy Learning Objective

To participate in a teacher directed interpretation/ reconstruction of an historical event (which draws on original source material), comparing two versions of a non-fiction text.

Links with renewed Framework for Literacy,
Year 2 strands

1. Speaking;

Speak with clarity and use appropriate intonation when reading and reciting texts.

2. Listening and responding;

Listen to others in class, ask relevant questions and follow instructions.

8. Engaging with and responding to texts;

Explain their reactions to texts, commenting on important aspects.

 

Activities

Prepare copies of the wedding ceremony texts
(Resource C) and (Resource D). You will also need a video camera, tripod and projector, and various props.

Display the colour wedding photograph used in the previous activity (Resource A) so the whole class can see. Explain that the people in the photograph are modern teenagers pretending to be two real people who got married at the church in Soham in 1792. Explain that the original groom was a famous African author, Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavus Vassa) and the original bride was an English woman from Suffolk, Susanah Cullen.

Tell pupils that they are going to act out part of the wedding ceremony that took place in the church and make a film. Make sure that the pupils understand the purpose and key words involved in a wedding ceremony e.g. bride, groom, priest, vows etc. At this point mention any previous coverage of weddings and marriage taught about or enacted in R.E.

Set up the classroom or a larger space like the interior of a church, with an aisle separating several rows of chairs like pews. At the top of the aisle and facing the chairs set up a table with two tall candlesticks and a cross like an altar.

Cast some good readers (G&T pupils or perhaps older pupils) as the priest, the groom Gustavas Vassa, the bride Susanah Cullen and Mr. Cullen, the bride’s father. This will work more effectively if the readers are cast in advance of the role play and given an opportunity to rehearse beforehand. Cast the rest of the class as wedding guests sitting in the pews. If possible improvise some costumes for the four main participants (e.g. an ankle length dress for the bride, an adult male jacket for the groom with trousers tucked into long socks etc.) Set up the film camera.

Use (Resource C) for the participants to read from. It is divided into two parts. If the whole script is too long for the readers to manage, just use Part 1. This is a modernised version of the original Book of Common Prayer marriage ceremony but don’t tell pupils this at this stage.

Direct the action carefully and ensure one pupil films it. Afterwards discuss with the class what they thought was happening, who the people were and what they were promising.

Repeat the role play process but this time use (Resource D) This is the original version of the Book of Common Prayer marriage ceremony. Again, the resource is divided into two parts. Use whichever version is consistent with your use of the first script. If the reader playing the priest is struggling with the language level, an older pupil or adult may need to take the role.

Tell the class that the second version of the ceremony used the words the real people said in 1792.

Play back the film recording of the ceremony using (Resource C).

Ask pupils in talking pairs to think of as many ways that the two role plays are different and also the same. Take suggestions in a wholeclass discussion and place them on the board. Invite suggestions as to why the class performed the wedding using the modern version first. A pupil may recognise that it helps to make the original text more easily understood.

Outcomes

• To have participated in two teacher-directed role plays of the wedding of Olaudah Equiano and Susanah Cullen.
  
  
• To have participated in a discussion comparing the two scripts, speaking clearly on their own and also listening to others in class.

Resources

Ankle length dress, jacket,
candle sticks etc.

Resource C

The wedding ceremony (Version 1)

Resource D

The wedding ceremony (Version 2)