Preparation
/ Playing the Game / Variations
The
Lion King's Court
This lesson was written to accompany an Indian Folktale called The King's
Choice, which my Kindergarten students had read, but it is really only
peripherally connected to the story, and works perfectly well without it.
(I assume the book is out of print, although or course it may be a familiar
story in India.) I have since used it with first graders and preschoolers,
who were studying Africa and Rainforests, respectively. Obviously it need
not tie in with curriculum-that's just something I like to do when I can.
Preparation
I introduce the activity like this: "Everyone knows the Lion is King of
the Jungle. But every good King needs a court. A King needs to have people
around him who are his friends, whom he can trust and upon whom he can
rely. These people are called courtiers. What qualities should courtiers
possess?"
We discuss this question. Students usually come up with "strong," and
"brave," and "helpful." With a little coaching they are usually able to
add "kind," and "loyal," and "clever." After the group accepts each new
adjective, I ask them to think about which animals exemplify each quality.
(For example, elephants are strong and helpful, dogs are helpful and brave,
cats are clever and brave, horses are loyal and helpful, etc.) We discuss
the sort of animals who would make good courtiers until a fairly sizeable
list has been generated.
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Playing
the Game
Next, I tell my students that we will now act out the selection of the
King's court. Each student chooses an animal to portray. (It need not necessarily
be one that was mentioned earlier, although of course most will be.) The
teacher, in role as the King, calls each "animal" forward. "You, animal.
Come forward into the presence of the King." The animal moves forward.
"What sort of animal are you?" The student announces what animal he or
she is portraying. With older students I usually want them to use an appropriate
animal voice. "Why should I have a (blank) in my court?"
The student then describes the qualities of her/his animal that make
that animal good courtier material. The King responds, "Wonderful! You
may join my court."
I usually have an area defined, around myself, for the "court," so that
the students can physically enter my court.
Obviously everyone must be invited to join-even snakes.
I usually end this session by having a parade of the King's court, with
each animal moving according to its way. Then the whole group (if the walls
are sufficiently thick) "roars"-each according to species-to announce the
presence of the greatest Royal court in the land.
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Variations
When my second-graders were studying the oceans, I did a version of this
game called "The Sea King's Court." Each student became a sea animal. You
could try it with older kids using real historical figures-from any era-and
a mythical human King-or Queen.
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Matt Buchanan
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© 1998 matt_buchanan_88@post.harvard.edu