Played in a circle or with a partner, students tell a story one word at a time.
Player 1: « Un » / “One”
Player 2: « jour »/ “day”
Player 3: « la » / “the”
Player 4 (needs to think of a feminine noun if playing in French): «grenouille » / “frog”(and so forth)
Great for developing patience, team building, and taking turns.
An engaging way to create unique story / creative writing prompts.
«Que fais-tu? »
In a circle. One person mimes an activity (e.g. cooking), one person comes out and asks «Que fais-tu? » (“What are you doing?” The first player answers, but says an entirely different activity from what they were doing (e.g. « Je saute sur un trampoline» – “I’m jumping on a trampoline.”). The second player mimes jumping on a trampoline and the sequence continues.
What happens next? / «Qu’est-ce qui arrive en prochain ? »
Can be played in partners or one person at a time in front of the class/ group.
One person acts at a time. They get a suggestion for an activity (e.g. playing soccer). They mime that activity. They ask the audience/ their partner «Qu’est-ce qui arrive en prochain? » (“What happens next?”)
Their partner/ an audience member adds on to the activity, with an action, e.g. «En deuxième, tu tombes sur le gazon» (Secondly, you fall on the grass.”) The person on ‘stage’ mimes falling on the grass, then asks, «Qu’est-ce qui arrive en prochain?” (“What happens next?”) The person on stage can ask «Qu’est-ce qui arrive en prochain?” about 4 or 5 times before finally asking, «Qu’est-ce qui arrive en dernier?” “What happens last?”
Teacher begins with a prompt, e.g.: «J’ai acheté quelque chose pour toi…» / “I bought something for you.”
1. Student responds individually by recording a response:
(e.g. “Is it expensive?”)
(e.g. « Est-ce que c’est cher? »)
2. Teacher asks for multiple students to read out their answers. Teacher chooses one of the responses, and announces it to the class, then shares a response, e.g. “Yes, I paid 100 dollars for this gift.” « Oui, j’ai payé 100 dollars pour ce cadeau. »
3. Students respond individually to the teacher’s reply
(e.g. “But it’s not my birthday!)
(e.g. «Mais ce n’est pas ma fête! »)
4. The sequence continues for as long as teacher feels necessary. This can be done on whiteboards (if possible), or on a sheet of paper using empty, numbered boxes. Provides a great tool for formative assessment of independent writing skills and spelling pattern acquisition.
Idea c/o Larry Ferlazzo. Read his original blog post here.
Instructions
Players walk around the space. One person proposes an activity: “Let’s go fishing!” All others respond with, “Yes, let’s!” and mime that activity until someone shouts out another activity.
Improv Your Teaching 