On The Walk Activities
These activity notes are here to offer supporting information and activities to help you make the most of the storytelling walk. At each stop we have provided questions to promote reflection and enquiry plus 2-3 tasks to actively engage children with the stories and places they visit on the walk. We have also collated a bank of images relating to each of the stops (on the homepage) . They include photographs of the people you hear from on the walk and other images to provide visual support to help children to understand the stories and history they are hearing about. Everything is here as a pick and mix; you can gobble them all up or just choose the ones you like the most.
Most of the active questions are asked throughout the walk by your guide and friend, Loidis. They are set out for you here as a reminder and can be referred back to after the walk for further exploration and deeper discussion, or they can be used as prompts for engaging conversation whilst walking between stops.
The suggested activities are designed with two processes in mind. Firstly, actively engaging with the space and buildings around you; they are a way of stepping into the moments of history you are hearing about and creating a physical memory at each stop that young people can use as markers for recalling what they have learnt at a later date. Secondly, they are about observation and focusing in on some of the smaller details of the buildings, streets and people that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Many of the activities involve children responding to the storytelling walk in a physical way. It may be useful for adults to take a camera on the walk in order to capture these moments of active engagement!
In order to participate in ALL the tasks suggested there is one stop where you will require a few simple resources. The list below details everything you need for Stop 6: Kirkgate/Briggate Junction:
Paper and a crayon for children to make a rubbing.
Paper and pen, or Ipad, for adults/ children to write suggestions for a collective acrostic poem.
We hope you have a go and have some fun!
Stop 1: Mill Hill Chapel
Active Questions:
Can you see the stone angel the Genius Loci is inhabiting on the left hand side of the door?
Can you see the statue of Dr Joseph Priestly through the archway?
What names can you find on the stones either side of the chapel door?
Take a note of a name - maybe you can find out what they looked like and what kind of lives they led later?
Read the names of the shiny roll of honour. What stories would they tell if they could speak? Write down one name you see, maybe you could research who they were and what their story was later.
Can you find Jogendra’s name on the memorial? Pte Sen, J. Nath, West Yorkshire Regiment
How do you think he would want to be remembered?
Make a collective list – if you want to develop this idea in the classroom or at home, then see activity in the Teacher Notes - Post Walk
Activities:
The Genius Loci inhabits parts of the building. If you were the Loci what part of the building would you become? Look carefully at all the shapes and faces on the chapel; can you change your body and face into one of the other characters on the building?
Dr Joseph Priestly was one of the first people to work out how to split the air into different parts; he was able to separate oxygen. Can you think of something we do/have today that uses oxygen? Can you create a still picture showing you using oxygen? E.g. wearing an oxygen mask in an aeroplane, scuba diving, firefighters etc.
Imagine what all those rows of soldiers would have looked like marching through the city. Can you create a formation, in rows of 4 or 5? Can you march together in time - on the spot at first, then across the yard. How do you think these young soldiers might have felt going off to war? Can you make a still image to show one of the emotions they might have been feeling?
Stop 2: The Philosophical Hall
Active Questions:
Look at the map of the city. Can you find where you are? What names would you choose to give the streets?
What would ancient people who knew Leeds as a muddy jungle think of what they see now?
How might Nesyamun feel about his coffin being dug up and sold? How might he feel about being unwrapped and put on display? How would you feel if it was you?
Activities:
Look at how people move around the city now. Are some people walking briskly, others dawdling, chatting? Everyone is moving quite easily on the flat paved street. Imagine you have been transported back in time and are standing on this very spot when it was a jungle and swamp. Create a still image showing how you might have to move through a jungle - tip toe, swinging on vines, squelching through mud? How do you feel in this environment?
Imagine you are the mummy Nesyamun and on display in a museum! What would you say to the people staring at you through the glass? Would you tell them to go away, ask them for help, smile and wave?
Where the museum building was, we now see HSBC. Compare this building in front of you with the image of The Philosophical Hall (this can be found in the image bank under Stop 2) which used to stand here. Compare the similarities and differences between the two buildings. What changes can you see in the architecture , the style of the windows and doors, and the materials used to make the building?
Stop 3: Pablo Fanque’s Circus
Active Questions:
What does the phrase ‘roll up, roll up’ mean?
Billy Branham was known to circus audiences as Young Pablo. Pablo himself was called William Derby until he started performing at the circus? Why do you think people change their names? Do you know of anyone famous now who has a ‘stage name’?
What do you think the differences might be between being a “national celebrity” in the 1800’s and being one now, in the 21st century?
Activities:
Right here, on this spot all those years ago there was a circus and Pablo Fanque was the Master of the Circus ring. When we first met him he said “Roll up, roll up ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!” What sort of voice did Pablo use to attract people's attention? Why don’t you see if you can have a go now?
Imagine being a member of the audience watching the acts, what sounds might you have made whilst being amazed by the performers, maybe laugh, clap, gasp, cheer, ooooh, aaahhh! Can you think of actions to go with them?
Stop 4: The Leeds Library
Active questions:
Would you be willing to travel around the world like Thomas Harvey, to try and make things better for others? Could you find the courage to speak out about injustice, like James Williams, even if it might put your life at risk?
Mary said she loved to stand at the top of the staircase and listen to the conversations being had in the library below. What sort of things do you think people were talking about?
Activities:
Listen again to the voices of the books reading from their pages. Can you identify the books from the quotes? Maybe you can make your own quiz based on your favourite books later?
The library was known as the secret library and most people walk past it without even realising it is there. Nowadays you have to put a code in to open the door. If this was your secret library what would you have to do to open the door? Say particular words, push bricks in a certain pattern, find a ‘key’. Can you act this out in front of the library?
Stop 5: Leonora Cohen
Active Questions:
If you lived in the early 1900’s when women couldn’t vote, couldn’t run for parliament and didn’t have a say in running the country, how do you think you would feel? Would you want to change things? Can you explain your reasons why?
How far would you be willing to go in order to make sure your voice was heard?
Activities:
Imagine this street full of jewellery shops in Victorian times. What sort of people do you think would have enough money to buy from these shops? How would they stand? Can you make a statue of what they might look like? What might they be saying as they look through the window?
Leonora was an activist and attended lots of protests. What might a protester be doing? What might they be holding? What expression would they have on their faces? Can you show what you think protesters look like?
Stop 6: Kirkgate/Briggate Junction - poetry in the stone slabs
Active Questions:
How long do you think these names will last (Kirkgate and Briggate)?
Will they sound the same in another thousand years?
Activities:
The words in the stones are being worn away by the weather and time. Can you take a rubbing of the words to help you decipher them? How can knowing the words are there, having it in your memory and maybe telling other people about them, help to preserve them for the future? What else can we do to make sure the story of Leeds stays alive?
Can you create a poem to leave your mark on Leeds? You are moving towards the end of your walk, what have you learnt about Leeds? How do you feel about Leeds? Try creating a quick acrostic poem together, for example:
Living, breathing,
Ever changing.
Everyone is welcome,
Dreams are made here,
Step into your city.
Stop 7: Kirkgate/Vicar Lane Junction
Active Questions:
Take a look at the Cousin’s map of Leeds (This can be found in the image bank) drawn in approximately 1725. Can you find Vicar’s Croft? Can you see the ‘open field’ which was described to you? What do you think you would have been able to see, hear and smell in Leeds then? What can you see, hear and smell in Leeds today as you stand in the city? Which version of Leeds do you prefer? Can you tell us more about how you made your choice?
Activities:
Before the market was built, the area where the market now stands was just an open field. It was full of farmers selling pigs, cows and other livestock and people selling fruit and vegetables, pies and cakes. Imagine how it must have smelt. Ask each member of the class/group to share one thing they think they would be able to smell, the rest of the group then imagine they can smell that item and react using their faces to show whether it is a smell they like or not!
Have you ever really looked at the market before? Watch people passing by, do many people take much notice of the building? When Kirkgate market opened it was THE biggest in Europe and was designed by architect Joseph Paxton who was the man who designed Crystal Palace in London - he is very famous! Transport yourself back to 1857 when the market first opened. Look at all the details and grandeur of the building. What do you think the people of Leeds thought of this new addition to their city? Can you think of one sentence which might have been said on the streets, just as you are now, by the people of the time?
Stop 8: The Penny Bazaar
Active Questions:
What would you do in that situation (Michael Marks arriving in Leeds with no money, no work and little English)? How would you survive?
How do you judge a person? By what they say? Or by their actions?
What could you achieve if you really put your mind to it?
Activities:
Imagine you are Michael Marks at this very stall? What might you be saying to a customer? What might you be shouting to get people's attention? (you can use the market traders calls you heard at stop 7 for inspiration and think about what Agnes said Michael was selling).
Stand underneath the clock. Imagine the hands of the clock begin to turn anti-clockwise and wind back time! How would it feel spinning back through the years? What do you imagine you can see travelling through time? Is everything speeded up and in reverse? Or are colours and shapes blurring?
What marks will you leave upon this city? What stories will you leave behind?
Now we’re at the end of the walk, if you could turn back the hands of time, what time and place in Leeds would you like to go back? Who would you most like to meet? What would you ask them? What would you like to learn more about?
