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2. Improv games and activities
First letter - Last letter word association
Bibbidy Bibbidy Bop
Word Ball
Word ball is another simple game but with higher pressure. It works by gathering the students into a circles and 'throwing' words around. It is a good idea to join in this game yourself and to be the first person to offer a word.
1. Choose any word to begin with (e.g. cat) and hold your hands as if you were holding the word in them, then 'throw' the word using both your voice and your hands to a member of the group.
2. The member of the group must 'catch' the word, and then throw the first word that comes to mind (e.g. cuddly) to the next member of the group.
3. The next member 'catches' this word, and throws the first associated word that pops into their head (e.g. teddy bear) to the next person. The exercise continues like this until everybody has had plenty of chances to throw words around. Try to dissuade students from hesitating and encourage them to simply go with the first thing that comes to mind, reminding them that there is no such thing as wrong or right when it comes to improv.
Seven-sentence story structure
Most stories can be boiled down to seven basic sentences. These sentences begin like this:
Once upon a time....
And every day...
Until one day...
And because of that...
And because of that...
Until finally...
And from that day...
It's good to use examples when explaining this, I will use 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' here:
Once upon a time there was a girl who was secretly a pop-star. And every day she was careful not to let anyone know her secret. Until one day she met a boy, and he discovered her double life. And because of that he was angry and felt betrayed. And because of that Hannah felt awful. Until finally she owned up to her double life. And from that day the people from her home have known and accepted her secret, and she and the boy are very happy.
1. Have the students sit in a circle and ask them to come up with one sentence from the story structure each. If you have more than 7 students you can just begin from the first sentence again once you reach the eight student.
2. Once you've done this you can broaden the exercise and take away the 7-sentence restriction, allowing students to tell the story in as many sentences as they like.
