What to include?

[ohiopiper]

In February I am giving a presentation to the Girlscouts about Scotland. I'll be kilted, play a few tunes on the pipes and sharing a few facts about Scotland and its history. That's where I'm hung up. When conveying the history of a nation that goes back several thousand years, what do you leave in, what do you cut out? I have about 30-45 minutes for everything.

I'm not looking for someone to do my research for me, I'm looking for someone (preferably a native Scot) to tell me what they'd rather see in a presentation about your history to American schoolkids, specifically gradeschool girls.

I'm guessing there will be bagpipe questions after I stroll in playing them. Ten minutes. A few kilt questions, another five to ten minutes explaining tartan and the kilt and its accessories. That leaves me about ten to fifteen minutes.

I am in search of some focus here. Just a mention of time periods of events will get me going with some direction. Right now I've got about a thousand different possibilities. I also have limited time and the audience will have limited attention span.

Thanks to all.
Chris

[Piper]

A major determining factor is the age level of the Scouts. My wife has been involved with the Girl Scouts for over 35 years. I've done numerous presentations for school, Scout and other youth groups. I take it this is for their "Thinking Day" event? I played the pipes last year as part of my wife's Troop's presentation. That event brings together girls of all different ages. A good rule of thumb is one minute of attention span per year of age. Regardless of age, I try to keep the information in small, easily absorbed doses, nothing too political, heavy or dark. There's a small book out called "Wha's like us?", unfortunately, the author escapes me, that is kind of a light hearted look at Scottish history. The facts are correct, just presented with a bit of humor.
Several years ago I did a presentation for my oldest granddaughter's preschool class. This was a group of 4 and 5 year olds. I showed and played the practice chanter and the smallpipes in the classroom, then had the teacher take them outside for the a demonstration of the Great Pipes. Following a short tune I handed out kazoos that I had picked up at a dollar store and told the kids we would have a volume contest. Teacher was not terribly happy, the presentation was first thing in the morning, so she was stuck with a classroom full of kazoo tooting kids for the rest of her day.

[artificer]

...then had the teacher take them outside for the a demonstration of the Great Pipes. Following a short tune I handed out kazoos that I had picked up at a dollar store and told the kids we would have a volume contest. Teacher was not terribly happy, the presentation was first thing in the morning, so she was stuck with a classroom full of kazoo tooting kids for the rest of her day.

Oh, Piper! To say that the teacher wasn't terribly happy is probably an understatement.

It does make for a great mental image, and one heck of a laugh to start the day off! Thank you for that.
ith:

[Lallans]

Well now. What do US kids want to know about Scotland (aside from the things you have already mentioned)? They probably weren't born when the Braveheart movie came out, the lucky tykes, but I suspect I would start with a basic explanation of the British Isles and Scotland's location and history in that context, the battles with the English (which will thrill any Irish kids present) and the subsequent Union- you could compare and contrast with the USA in that regard. Throw in that Scots created the modern world, name some famous Scots, like A.G. Bell, punker Shirley Manson, etc, and you're done.

Seriously they're probably going to be too young for Shirley Manson too.

[gary meakin]

I convene a tent at a few highland games in Mass. and Southern NH.
I have a table of famous Scots that the kids seem to really like.
Check out www.rampantscotland.com/famous for a pretty good list

[Graham A. Robieson]

Greetings,

Generally talk about, the WHO, the WHERE, the WHY and then take questions at the end, questions will give them the chance to engage with what you know and for anything you don't know, don't worry about it, I recommend mentioning stuff like the inventors...to capture their attention, like who invented the TV, the Phone etc, and take it from there.

If they ask about the history, the origins etc, just tell them Scotland was never conquered by the Roman Empire, and then jump to the Vikings and then jump to the Wars of Independence with Wallace and Bruce.


Hope this info helps,


Good Luck,


All the best,


Graham

Also, you can say to them..."Scotland is full of stories waiting to be discovered by you...Robert Burns, wrote many love poems...and Ae Fond Kiss is one those...also Auld Lang Syne...read and discover the heart and soul of a nation...The Ancient Kingdom of Scotland awaits you." or something along those lines..LOL

Oh...a final thought...after your talk is finished...pipe your way out to the sound of 'The Black Bear' like the ending of the Tattoo (EMT).

[Pyper]

I do a lot of school presentations.

First I play a tune.

Describe basic operations of bagpipes. Show a chanter reed out of a chanter, a drone reed out of a drone. Demonstrate individual drones.

Describe overall learning process. Show and demonstrate a PC.

Explain dynamics and rests. Demonstrate embellishments.

Play another tune and suggest they try to hear the different parts as you have demonstrated.

Talk about the kilt, play another tune, take a few questions, and your 30 minutes are over.

[Graham A. Robieson]

LOL that's great Pyper...also give them some links to follow up, if they want to learn some more stuff about Scotland.


All the best,


Graham