Say What?!

Yes, it's Friday. I should be thinking about anything BUT school, but I had a great first week, so I thought that I'd share another idea of mine.

Ok, before I explain, another fact you should know about me is that I'm a tiny bit of a theatre geek. Not a huge one; I've never wanted it as a career, I've never been to NY Broadway (although I will someday), and I don't know all the shows and names and stuff. However, I like acting, and it was my "thing" in high school...the drama club, that is.

Therefore, I got pretty familiar with Improvisation...ya know, the kind of acting when you are given a situation and just go with it? Shows like "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" have made it pretty famous.

Well, I'm no Wayne Brady, but I love improv, and I like integrating it with teaching.

Teaching English can often be a drag, especially when teaching diagramming, grammar, classification, and so on. So I use improv to teach the first lesson in our English curriculum: identifying types of sentences. After we study them, I challenge my kids to play a game called, "Say What?!" A group of students are called to the front (my stage) and are given a funny situation, like driving a car and then crashing it. However, they are limited to certain types of sentences to use. I switch it up every round. For example, sometimes they can use every type of sentences except exclamatory. Other times, they can ONLY use declarative sentences. If a student uses a sentence he/she is not supposed to, the entire audience (who is supposed to catch it) shouts out, "Say WHAT?!" and the team loses their round. If they can make a scene work for a couple of minutes without messing up, they win their round.

It is a great way to engrave the sentences in their heads. I've done this 2 years in a row, now, and my students always beg me to let them play it, even during their "free time" (last 15 minutes of the day). It is the favorite game so far.

I encourage you to use this if you can, or just incorporating improv into your lessons. The students love it, whether they're participating in the acting, or just watching (laughing uncontrollably) in their seats.

Happy Friday everybody!!!