The Well Making Workshops

This is the foundational GRUMPUS workshop.

Children and young people engage with artists to create artefacts - song, sculpture, stories etc - that are placed in The Well for others to draw and expand upon. This process will be developed by Thom Browning.

As part of this workshop process, each creator will be engaged to produce a description in their own words of the story behind their artefact, and give context and narrative richness to accompany their creation. These creator's stories may be captured using digital text (either contributed directly, or scribed for them) and short verbal responses captured as a digital recording. This information. (scrubbed of personal identifiers), will provide the content of a page of unique digital content, linked by QR code to any physical product present in the exhibition.

This workshop plan is a work-in-progress.

It has been designed with all stakeholders of the Grumpus project in mind, to achieve the goals of this stage of the project.

Once the workshop is delivered in schools over the coming months, it will evolve and grow. Updates and learning will be logged throughout that process.

• Engage children aged 6-10 in a workshop in which they are respected and valued as participants and collaborators.
• Work to build a positive relationship with teachers & parents of participants, building interest and positivity around the Grumpus project.
• Introduce to participants the practice of collecting, documenting and sharing items as something core to library business.
• Facilitate a rich creative experience where participants use their imagination to dream up amazing ideas.
• Facilitate an active making experience where participants are invited manifest one of their ideas as an artefact.
• Scaffold the description of each participant's artefact, inviting them to write or record the narrative behind their work.
• Facilitate the documentation of all outputs, through text, images and audio recording.

Additionally:

• Ensure that guardians of participants receive a Creative Commons licensing form to return and sign, and that where no consent is given, that participants IP is not collected or shared.
• Ensure that relevant adults (teachers, parents) are provided with an information sheet on the Grumpus project as an invitation to build longer term engagement.

This workshop is designed for children in a primary school age range, from 6-10.

The workshop can be fine tuned by facilitators to respond to the age range of the participants in their workshops.

The 'Making' component of the workshop is a module, meaning it can be swapped out and replaced with another activity depending on the age range of the participants.

The workshop could also be delivered to group of families, with children of various ages working with a parent or carer.

COVID Safe Kit: Required at every workshop.

Standard Kit Required for every workshop.

Making Modules Kit One kit required per workshop, depending on your choice of module.

Prior to each workshop, there is some preparation to do to ensure a smooth delivery achieves all desired objectives.

Communication

As the foundational workshop for the Grumpus project, this is the beginning of a potentially long-term relationship with the communities we are working with, and should be used as an opportunity for relationship building just as much as it is for content collection.

With in-schools workshops, apart from the students themselves, there are three other groups within the community that we are aiming to connect with:

School Leadership: When engaging with school management to make contact and offer the workshop to their school, be sure to provide them with information on the bigger picture of the project, as well as the. specifics of how their school can be involved. Let them know that the project allows students to explore creativity, design, and writing that connects it to Art, STEM and English subjects. Be specific about what you're suggesting in terms of logistics, dates, times, and which students you're interested in engaging with.

If you'd like, you can access this “Invitation To Participate” template we used.

Teachers: Having a positive connection with teachers when delivering workshops will make a big impact on how they engage with the project in the future. When you confirm your delivery in a school, send your school leadership contact the Teacher Information Pack that contains all the information they need to know before your arrival. If possible and appropriate, engage with the teacher in the delivery of the workshop to make them part of the experience. Alternatively, if the teacher uses the workshop as an opportunity to take a back seat, respect that decision.

Parents: We're keen to make sure that participants who go home excited about their experience have their best chance at telling a parent/carer that knows what they are talking about! Provide schools with an Information Pack for Parents (along with a consent & release form, described below), with a simple and clear explanation of the project and how their children can be involved. Crucially, we ask for parents to opt-in to email communications for the project. This allows us to follow up their child's experiences, including receiving notification emails alerting them that their child's submission to the project has been used to inspire a design or fabrication.

Consent & Release: All participants contributing content to the project will need to have their guardian complete a Creative Commons Licensing Agreement form, passed on to them directly or through a teacher ideally 1 week prior to the workshop date. Students who do not have permission can still participate in the workshop, but cannot submit their content to the project for future use.

Acknowledgement of Country: This is an important moment to share with participants. It can be personalised by each individual based on their location and context.

“I pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land we are on today, and to their continuing connection to country and as custodians of their stories. I also want to share my respects with all First Nations people, especially any who are here with me today.”

Facilitator introduces themselves, who they are and what they do.

“I'm here to ask you to work on a project with me called The Great & Grand Rumpus. It's a project where incredible ideas by children like you are, collected, shared and perhaps even brought to life.”

It's important that the context of the project isn't given in its totality at the beginning of the workshop, but rather scaffolded in stages throughout as the information is most pertinent to the process.

“What are we going to do together today? We're going to use our imaginations, we're going to come up with incredible ideas, and we're going to draw up/make/explore some of those ideas.”

“Who has an incredible imagination? Let's warm those imaginations up now.”

Activity: Brain massage: Rub the forehead, face, neck. Ask students to make the noise of how their brain massage feels. Everyone copies.

Elapsed time: 5:00

“Let's get started.”

“I'm from State Library of Queensland and one of the things libraries do is collect things. All sorts of things! What sort of things do we collect?”

“Yes, books etc. (responding to the answers received). But we also collect stories, object, and ideas.”

“Why do you think it's important to collect things like this, and be able to share them with others”

“You know some of my favourite things in our collection are the weird and wonderful items. The strange and fantastical items. All the things that have come from the amazing imaginations like yours.”

“Can I share a few of my favourite items - things collected from Queenslanders with amazing imaginations?”

Tennis ball by Linda Newbown.

Tourist Attraction, The Big Mango, Bowen Queensland

Colorful dream by Jinchuang Zhang

Facilitate a brief discussion about each item, with key questions aimed at inventing a story for each item.

Elapsed time: 15:00

“As you can see, the imagination is a powerful tool for coming up with wonderful ideas”

Engage in a brief conversation exploring the following questions:

• Why are imaginations important?
• When do we use our imaginations?
• What does it feel like to use your imagination?
• What does it feel like when you have a great idea?

Task: “I'd like to use our imaginations today, to dream up some incredible ideas, to make/draw and write about those ideas, and to collect some of those ideas.”

“That's right, we'd like to collect some of your ideas for our collection as part of The Great & Grand Rumpus”

Elapsed time: 20:00

The following is a script for how this visualisation might be run, but of course can be edited.

“Let's start off by going on an adventure into our imaginations. Exploring our inner world. Seeing what amazing things we can find there.”

“One of the incredible things about going on a journey in your imagination is that it can be however you want. The rules of the real world don't apply! You might find the most strange and wonderful things there unlike anything you've ever seen. So as we delve into our imagination, let yourself be free to imagine all the incredible things that you want”.

“Everyone lie down in a spot that you're comfortable / Everyone put your hands down on your table, and rest your head on your hands. Now close your eyes”.

“Focus on your breathe, breathe in for 4, and out for 4. Again.”

“Now bring your attention to how you feel. Are you excited? Calm? Tired? Full of energy”

“Now take your focus to your body and imagine that you are standing in a room full of bright white light. There is nothing in the room except you, surrounded by white light. It's almost like you're floating. What does it feel like to be completely still, floating in white light”

“Now look around that room, there's nothing there, except….a door appearing. The door is getting clearer and clearer until there it is, a real door, closed. In the handle there is a key.”

“Imagine that you use that key and turn it in the lock. As you do, the door opens. You pull it open and walk in to another room - your dream room - what you see? What do you see?”

“Look down at your feet on the floor. What colour is the floor? What is it made of? Is it something regular, like tiles. Or is it something fantastical?”

“What about the walls? What colour are they? What texture are they? Is there anything special or amazing about them?

“What's in the room? Are there any objects? Are they regular objects, or are they strange objects”

“Imagine another door appearing. Walk towards it an open it. When you walk through the door, you find yourself outside. But what kind of environment are you in? Are you in a forest? A desert? Perhaps you're even underwater”

“How do you move through this environment? Imagine yourself moving now as you look around and see all of the incredible things this environment has? What colour is the sky? The ground? Is it hot or cold?

“Take a deep breathe through your nose and smell this place. What does it smell like?”

“Look around you and observe this incredible environment. What do you see? Do you see trees? Plants? What are they like? Are they different to regular plants?

“Look around now and see a creature, or animal. But this isn't a regular earthly creature - it's an incredible, made-up creature from your imagination”

“Move towards this creature - but not too close that you scare it away. Take a close look. What is this creature? Does it have a name? What does it look like? What kind of skin does it have? Scales? Fur? Smooth? What colour? What other features does it have? Take a close look and remember all those features”

“Is your creature friendly? If it is give it a pat. If not - maybe take a few steps back. Imagine the creature makes a noise. What noise does it make? What is it trying to say to you?

“And just like that, your creature moves away. How does it move? Does it run? Crawl? Fly? Goodbye creature! You say, as you wave goodbye”.

” Turn around and take another long look at this environment. Is there anything else you see? Any details you missed? Take a long look, and then notice that over in the distance. A door is appearing.”

“It's time to leave this wonderful place - you can always come back some time, now you know how. Walk towards the door. Reach towards the handle, and open the door. Take one last look at your environment and then walk through the door.”

“You're back in the white room. Close the door. Stand in the middle of the white room full of light. Take some deep breathes. In-out. In-out. And when you're ready open your eyes, staying still, just reflecting on the feeling of having gone on an incredible journey. When you're ready, sit up.”

Elapsed time: 30:00

Moving back to a classroom format, with children facing the facilitator and a whiteboard, this is an opportunity to share the incredible ideas generated during the visualisation, and model the collaborative practice that is at the heart of the Grumpus project.

Prompt for all participants: “From all the things you imagined in your imaginary world, choose one part of it, something you really liked. It could be a space or room, an object, a plant or tree, a whole environment, a creature. Choose one thing that you think you might want to share or tell a story about.

Up to 10 participants will have time to share 1 idea each.

Questions for each participant:

• What's the thing you've chosen?
• What's it look like?
• Tell us a quick story about it.

All of the answers can be written and drawn on the board by the facilitator. At the end of the sharing session, the participants can hear back about the incredible combined world they have made together.

“Check this out - look at all the amazing things you've imagined. And these are just a few. Can I tell a quick story about the world you've all created?”

“These are incredible - and just a few of the ideas we've got between us. I'm wondering. Can we please collect your ideas to add to THE WELL OF IDEAS, the special place where we are keeping all the incredible ideas for The Great and Grand Rumpus?”

Elapsed time: 40:00

This Making activity is designed to give participants the opportunity to create a version of their chosen idea as imagined in the workshop so far, and materialise it as an artwork that can ben collected as an artefact.

This 30 minute component of the workshop is a module, meaning there are multiple options/modules for an activity that can we swapped in and out of the workshopping depending on the age group of the participants, and the collections requirements of your workshop.

The current guidelines for the creation of artefacts to be collected as part of the Grumpus project are as follows:

• Paper drawings or paintings no greater in size than A3.
• Non perishable sculptures using modelling clay no greater in size than 12cm x 12cm x 12cm.
• Paper sculptures using cardboard, paper and tape no greater in size than 12cm x 12cm x 12cm.
• Non tangible artefacts including movement or song, recorded via video.

Elapsed time: 70:00

The final component of this workshop is a writing activity, where participants are invited to jot down the information they've created around their idea as part of the documentation process.

Supply participants with this Grumpus collection worksheet and a HB pencil, with questions to answer (aligned with those already discussed in the making module.

These questions are all the same as those exisiting in the collection Portal on the Rumpus Land Online WIKI site, which we will use later on to capture answers direct to digital.

This section of the workshop will vary greatly depending on your age group, and the literacy levels of participants. Documentation can take place through audio, as well as written expression, so no pressure should be placed on participants to perform beyond their ability.

Elapsed time: 90:00

Read out 1 or 2 of the stories that have been created, and congratulate the group on the incredible work they've done.

“Now is the time to place a bookmark in our time together today. You've done such an incredible job, I want to work with you all this afternoon in smaller groups to contribute your ideas to our collect. We will type our stories, do some audio interviews where you tell us all about your ideas, and take a photo of your work, so we can share it with others”

“Who knows. Some of these ideas might come to life! Other young people, and adults, people who like to design and build things, are going to be looking through this collection of ideas for inspiration to create an amazing world full of amazing places and giants creatures. Would you like to know more about that in the future? Should I keep in touch with your teacher and principal / parents?

“I'm going to hold onto your artefacts and stories, and see you all later this a

“Great Thankyou! See you later today”

Elapsed time: 90:00

Engage in the COVID Safe Workshop Check-list for post workshop cleaning.

Place all 2D artefacts in a storage folder to keep them flat.

Place all 3D artefacts in a 12×12 storage box for transportation.

Pack up all materials & equipment, and prepare for Part 2.

The documentation of the artefacts and stories produced in this workshop is paramount to the Grumpus project. To prioritise this process, documentation is allocated significant time and space, run as a seperate process to the making workshops outlined above in Part A.

In a school, this is designed to fit standard lesson times and structure, to be able to complete one class from start to finish in one go. In other contexts, it can be restructured to suit any context.

A key strategy for this part of the workshop is to document direct to digital. Having participants input their own artefacts and stories into 'THE WELL' maintains their agency, allows them to write in their own words and style, as well as cutting out the significant work in involved in transcribing the potentially hundreds of submissions that we will be collecting as part of the project.

We can achieve this using the custom online space created for the project Rumpus Land Land, hosted on the State Library WIKI. This space will feature THE PORTAL, online forms designed as a tool to submit contributions into 'THE WELL', the place in which all community contributions to the project are stored. What's very cool about this, is that the SLQ WIKI is a part of the State Library collection, which means that all the contributions to this project by the communities we work with will become part of the collection, forever!

The number of participants that are able to take part in the workshop at any one time will vary depending on the age range of the group (younger children will need more support to in put their stories)

A space should be setup with the number of iPads or Computers you require. In a school, you may be able to utilise an existing computer lab.

Each participant should have their Story Collection Form with them, to use as the basis of their submission.

You should have all of the artefacts with you, ready to show and document.

Make sure you check with teachers/parents that only students who have a completed consent & release form participate in Part 2.

Framing: “A big part of what State Library does when they are collecting new items, is work to make sure we have as much information about those objects as possible. That's what we want to do today. Record you telling you stories, take some photographs of your artwork, and collect all that info into our project Portal.”

Participants are then to make an audio recording - either reading their story, or ideally and if comfortable, to talk to their artefact in free form in response to the questions prompted on the their written work.

Recording should ideally be done on the iPad that participants are using to document their work. Whilst the quality is not the highest, the file size is upload friendly, especially when using mobile internet.

Recordings should be no longer than 1-2 minutes, and ideally should only feature the voice of the participants involved in the creation of that artefact.

Each recording should feature a label at the start, identifying the name of the artefact.

Elapsed time: 8:00

The final task of this process is to take a series of high quality photographs capturing the artefact itself.

For 2D artefacts, scanning may be a better option, done offsite.

For 3D artefacts, they should ideally be photographed from the front, sides and back, but with no more 4 images total. If possible, photographing the item in a portable light box makes for consistent documentation in a variety of lit environments.

Again, using the iPad that the participant is using to document their work is best. That way the image and audio recording are on the device ready for upload during the next step.

Elapsed time: 12:00

Type up all your information into a Form on these iPads.

Task: Start typing each response into the form. If you've got any questions about a part of the form, just ask.

Questions in form include:

There are then two UPLOAD buttons for both audio and video, ideally located on the same iPad in use from the steps above.

Upon submission, a new Imagined Thing (the name we are assigning these artefacts) in THE WELL will be generated. The form creates a new page with the content submitted, and gives it a unique page name.

Each thing THING will feature a QR Code that points to the Imagined Thing's URL.

Connect the sticker printer and wirelessly to the iPad to print 2 copies of the QR code.

1. For the tangible artefact. On the back of the drawing. On the box housing the sculpture.
2. For the participant. Use a pre-stamped Great & Grand Rumpus business card, sticking the QR code to the back.
3. Write the number of the Imagined Thing on the card and the artefact, based on the unique pagename number it has been given in The Well. eg Imagined Thing 10.

Elapsed time: 22:00

Once this process complete, ask participants to make a few reflections on their experience.

• What was something the enjoyed?
• What was something that was a challenge?
• What was your favourite idea you heard?

Thank participants for their contribution. Give them a sticker/card with the QR code for their idea.

Let participants know that their teacher/parent has a link to the PORTAL where their idea now lives.

Let participants know what will happen to their artefact - it will be collected at the State Library so we can share the ideas with others.

Elapsed time: 25:00

Created by Thom Browning on 2021/03/18 13:40.

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