Name Mischief?
| Nutshell | To explore hidden emotions connected with one’s biography from a new
angle. To become aware of the emotional change that names hold for for the kids and us well. To understand that I choose to either attach positive or negative emotions to a situation, and its in my powers to change it at any given point of time. |
| Duration | 30 mins |
| People | 2 – 5 |
| Requirement | Papers and pencils |
| Instructions | Parents and kids find a place in the room to sit comfortable on their own, and bring writing material.
Each person makes a list of all the names they can recall that they were given or called in school or in the family. Include maiden names, nicknames, role names (like “teacher” or “mammy”), special names given to them by a particular person, etc. Then each person add a sign (+) or (-) to those names that have a positive or negative connotation for them. Choose one to focus on today, knowing that it’s meaning will be hidden and that you will not be asked to disclose anything about the real story of that Name. On the other side of the page, write the name you chose backwards. Imagine this name is a word in another language. What language would it be? It doesn’t have to be a language you know; it can even be an ancient tongue or an invented one – like ancient Swahili or Martian. What does this word mean? Think intuitively, by its sound. Write a dictionary explanation of the word. Write a sentence that includes the word. (For example, “all the isus come home regularly in the evening.”) Imagine that this sentence is a part of a paragraph. The sentence could be at the beginning, middle or end of the paragraph. Write the whole Paragraph. Where does this paragraph come from? Is it from a book? The internet? A newspaper? Write briefly about the source where this paragraph appears. Divide in groups of 3 – 4. Share your materials with your small group. – Choose one to develop as a scene to present to the whole group. – Present scenes. |
| Images | [List Image files details, if any, explaining the activity] |
| Debriefing | Is the story that emerged from the name’s reversal connected to the
name’s meaning in any way? What feelings come up for me as I played with the new word created from the name? Anything I want to share about the process of choosing the name? Anything I want to share about the process of choosing one of the paragraphs to present? What happened for the participants whose stories were chosen, in the translation from text to drama, from individual work to collaborative work? |
