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To help students learn concentration, cooperation and commitment, we utilize the familiarity of children’s games, such as Red Light/Green Light and Telephone, to create a welcoming, nurturing environment.

 

We add specific criteria to each game, providing structure, and transforming them into performances that inspire students to practice responsible decision making and have ‘fun with control’.

 

Our emphasis on group work allows students to listen and watch one another with effort which gets them ready for the next Section: Collaborative Storytelling.

Having practiced agreement and trust while performing in teams, students now work in pairs to create a story. The goal is to start with a simple ‘object’ that is mimed by using hands, body and facial expressions. Partner 1 needs to demonstrate 3 essential details that bring the object to life. For example, if the object is a baseball bat, Partner 1 might hold it as if in a batting stance, swing it, and tap the mud out of their cleats. Watching carefully, Partner 2 needs to add to the story by doing something different, but it needs to make sense. Perhaps ‘throwing a ball’ towards the Partner 1 would be appropriate. Partner 1 might choose to hit the ball or miss it, and the story evolves from there as a consequence of cause and effect. Selecting essential details embedded in simple objects enables students to practice editing & revising. This story technique forces students to slow down, think clearly and practice creating a story arc together.

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Students practice performing stories that are filled with action and emotion. These ensemble performances pull together all the skills learned and practiced in Sections 1 and 2.

 

The stories are communicated through the whole body: facial expressions, freeze, gesture, action poses and voice. Students are actively interpreting the text, expressing appropriate details and communicating clearly.  And, as always, they are having ‘fun with control’.

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