← Speeches & Workshops

Compiled by Ken Bradbury

Knox County Institute 2006 ωωThe Energizerωω Elevator.. two people in elevator… audience decides what the third person will be carrying when he enters. They make only indirect reference to the object and the 3rd person must guess. Yes, Let’s! Teaches agreement, cooperation. Someone begins by saying, “Hey! Let’s mow the yard!” Entire group repeats “Yes! Let’s mow the yard!” and they all mow the yard until someone comes up with a new idea. Channel Surfing Pair up kids in groups of two. Point to one group and shout out a channel. Immediately they become a program on that channel. The call out another and they begin as the first group stops. Food Channel, Travel Channel, ESPN, CNN, Disney, etc. Evil Twin Two people in a scene. On your signal, a third (the evil twin) enters and replaces his counterpart. Great Idea! Agreement, cooperation. Any scene will do, but a good technique is to make a committee to sell something…designing an ad campaign. Give them an actual object to be selling. No matter what idea anyone in the group comes up with, the others shout “Great Idea!” and take the scene in that direction. Remember, all ideas are great ideas. Cliché Send one person out then have the audience come up with a cliché. They then act it out for the first person and he must guess it. This also works well for periods in history, math concepts, social studies topics, parts of speech, etc. Anything you wish to review from a previous session is easily adaptable to this Energizer. Sportz Center Participants are in the Olympics of common everyday activities… The Tooth Brushing Olympics, the International Flossing Games, shoe tying, etc. This Energizer works well to reinforce (humorously) some skill they may have just learned in class. Tell Me a Story… Ask a question to your narrator. As he begins to tell it, the others in his group act out the story. Ex: What did you do this weekend that was fun? What was your funniest day in grade school? ETC… Emotion Tap Two people begin a scene (from audience…get the who, where, and what problem are they having?) During the scene you tap them on the shoulder and say an emotion. They keep the scene going smoothly but immediately jump to that emotion. Story 3 Ways Ask the audience for someone to tell about something that’s happened to them on that particular day. Make sure it involves several characters. Then have a group act out that scene. Keep it short and make it have a definite ending. Then have the group do the same scene in a different genre. Ex: soap opera, as a sporting event, opera, a western, a kids’ show, etc. Bing...Switcheroo Start a scene, then on your signal (a whistle, a bell) the two characters switch parts seamlessly. That darned Whistle (one of my favorites) Begin a scene between two people. When you blow the whistle, the person who just spoke suddenly changes his/her mind about what he/she just said. Movie Critics Two movie critics begin doing a review of a movie… or a book they’ve read…good for book reports. At one point, one of the critics will say, “Hey, let’s take a look at that scene!” and your Improvers will act it out. Then cut back to the critics and continue. I Remember it Well! Two people in a nursing home talk about their past, mentioning specific incidents. Whenever one character says, “Ah yes, I remember it well,” the actors take over and act out that scene. Famous Person Café One person enters the café where three others are sitting. These are all famous people or people whom you’ve studied in class. They cannot reveal their actual names, but through questioning the first person must discover who they are. Word Tennis… Fast game. Good, quick warm-up. Divide group into two lines. First person in each line faces the first in the next line. You call out a category and they must “volley” the words from that category back and forth. If they hesitate or repeat a word or are plumb out of the ballpark, you blow your whistle and that person goes to the end of his/her team’s line as the next person steps up and continues. Categories: blue things, famous Americans, parts of speech, nouns, things you can’t buy at WalMart, things that you can fit into your mouth, PE games, etc. The Brain 3 people. One stands, one sits in a chair in front of him/her, and the third sits on the floor in front of the other two. This is the world’s smartest brain. Get questions from the audience. Ex: “Why is there air?” The “brain” will bring their hands over their heads slowly, then bring them down, while making a machine sound. (Actually, this just gives them a moment to think.) Then they answer the question with each of the three people saying only one word at a time. When someone figures they’re done, that person says, “Period!” Mr. Mumble 2 kids face each other. Teach them this script: 1: Hello 2: Hello 1: What’s your name? 2: My names’ Mr. Mumble. 1: Huh? 2: My name’s Mr. Mumble! 1: Oh But here’s the kicker. They must say all these lines with their lips covering their teeth as if they had no teeth. The object is to try to get the other person to crack up. The Invention Of… A group acts out the invention of a common object, the more ridiculous the better. Ex: Spam, spaghetti, the horse, toothpaste, toe jam, belly button lint. Cow, Rabbit…Good general warm-up for the entire group. (I’ll probably demo this.) Point to someone in your big circle and he must become this object with the help of the person on each side of him. If any of the three are too slow or do the wrong thing, the middle actor comes to the center of the circle and calls on others. Object: rabbit, cow, cowboy, tickle tree, sandwich, grape, jello. Foot soldiers…You call out the body parts and the kids walk around the area or in a circle as if they are being lead by that part of their body. Sound Circle (another one of my favorites) Sit or stand in a circle. Sitting helps the focus, however. Name a place and have them close their eyes. As you tap them on the head or shoulder, they begin to make a noise that would be appropriate to that place. Keep tapping and let the sounds become a wonderful Burgoo of sound. Places: airport terminal, emergency room of a hospital, a race. The Stare. A good “settling” energizer since it requires complete silence. Group circle. One person starts walking toward the center and suddenly stares at another. The second person enters the circle and repeats the process while person one takes person two’s place. Several can be moving at one time. 3-Some “I’m a piece of cheese!” Relationships. Big circle. One person steps to center and says “I’m a piece of cheese!” A 2nd person must step in and announce their relationship, e.g. “I’m the bun!” and then a third. “I’m ketchup!” The first two then step out and the third person becomes the initiating relationship. “I’m ketchup!” might be followed by “I’m a tomato!” and “I’m a picnic!” What are You Doing? 1st person enters area and begins miming an action, for example, cutting wood. 2nd person enters and says, “What are you doing?” The first person lies and says “I’m taking a bath.” The 2nd person then must mime taking a bath as a 3rd person walks up to them and the process is repeated. Meanwhile, all actors continue their initial mime until the whole group is doing various things. Going for a Ride You whisper a mode of transportation to two kids. They mime riding on that thing and the others try to guess. Dogsled, rocket ship, elephant, snake, etc. Rainstorm A good “settler.” Sit in circle and all follow your actions. Tell them they are walking across a meadow when a rainstorm comes up. You all run to a tin shed. Then be quiet and listen to the sound of the approaching rain. First rub your hands together, then gently pat your knees, then pat them more vigorously, then stomp your feet as you pat your knees. Vary these back and forth as the storm increases and diminishes in intensity. Imagination Trip… bit hard to explain, but it’s great. This is a LONG energizer. All lie on their backs, close eyes. You guide them through this. First, have them relax their body one part at a time on a count of five to tighten the muscle then five to relax. Then take them on an Imagination Trip.. floating up out of their body.. traveling to lie on their backs on hot desert sand, in snow, on a grassy hillside, float and dive through the air in their imaginations. Have them imagine colors. Have them try to blank their mind completely. This is also great for kids who have trouble going to sleep at night. Do the relaxation exercise then the mind blanking. Walk on, sit, walk off Showing and reading emotions: Put a chair at center. Whisper an emotion to a child. He cannot speak, but he must walk on, sit as long as he likes, then walk off. When he’s done, the group tries to guess the emotion he’s displaying. Line Talk 8-10 kids form a line facing the audience (one behind the other) Give the first person an opening line. For example, “You won’t believe what happened to me yesterday!” then that person continues, non-stop. At some point shout “Switch!” and the first child goes to the end of the line while child 2 continues right where #1 left off. To Tell the Truth A variation on the old TV show. I use this in writing to show the importance of convincing your reader by using details. Send three kids out of the room and ask that one of them tell about something really embarrassing that once happened to them. The three then enter the room and each tells their variation of this story. At the end the audience can ask questions. Finally, the audience votes for the person whom they deem to be telling the truth. It’s usually details that sell the story. I’m Falling! Kids mill about the area. At some point one of them shouts “I’m falling!” and that child begins falling backwards. It’s the job of everyone else to catch them before they hit the ground. If they do hit the ground, then you might consider a new job in real estate. My Fault! Simple but effective, especially for younger children. Two lines of kids tossing objects back and forth. If anyone drops an object, both the thrower and the throwee shout “My fault!” I’m always surprised how many kids don’t have this phrase in their vocabulary. Groupings Easy and quick way to get a group into action…non-threatening. Simply shout out, “Get in groups according to the month you were born!” and they do. Then “wearing the same color of underwear,” “favorite sport,” favorite pizza topping, ice cream, hair color, number of family in your home tonight, etc. Zip Zap Zoom Circle. You point at a student and say “Zip!” He must then quickly point to another and say “Zap!” who then points to a third and says “Zoom!” who then points to another and begins again with “Zip!”.. It must move quickly. If they get confused or tongue-tied, they’re out of the circle and condemned to three years working barge traffic on the river…or something. Three noses Another grouping energizer. Simply tell them to get into groups putting three noses together, then five right elbows, four butts, etc. In Order Of… Groupings. Ask two groups to quickly get in order according to height, age, intelligence, sense of humor, etc. The winning team gets a free trip to the basement or something. 1,2,3 look up Big circle. All stare at ground. Tell them you’re going to count to three. On the count of three, all should look up directly into the eyes of another person in the group. If they find that the other person is looking directly into their eyes, both kids should shout, scream, stomp, wet their drawers and get out of the circle. Michelangelo A quiet energizer.. good for reviewing concepts or just for fun. One person is Michelangelo, the sculptor. He or she chooses 4-5 kids to be his “clay.” You whisper a scene to Mike and he moves the clay to form a scene. Ex: Washington crossing the Delaware, lunch hour at our school, the Gettysburg address, a volleyball game, etc. School Bus. An old reliable energizer. Put one student on the floor as the driver of the bus. Then have students get on one at a time. Each student enters the bus with a new emotion. All riders on the bus adopt this new emotion. Least feet on floor… Simple but effective and sometimes dangerous. Have a group of 3 or 4 students arrange themselves with the least number of feet on the floor. (A hand counts as a foot.) Walk the Line. Put down two lines of tape on the floor…or perhaps use the boundaries of floor tile…about 12 inches apart (two parallel lines). Put five students inside those lines (helps to take shoes off). Their task: rearrange their group in exactly the opposite order without anyone stepping over the line. This demands cooperation. Here comes Charlie Three or two people talk about their friend named Charlie. They give him endowments? Remember how he used to giggle a lot? Remember how he always wiggled when he walked? etc. Then Charlie enters. Endowments I like this one. Put a real ham in the middle. Then, one by one, students enter the circle and begin talking to him. He “becomes” the person we’ve endowed upon him. For example, “Grandma! I haven’t seen you in ages!” and he becomes grandma and they play a short scene …until another student steps in and says, “President Bush! What are you doing here?”… or… “Doctor, I have a broken leg!” or “Here Rover! Here boy!” Doo Wacka Doo. Simple but fun. Good for teaching kids about each other. Put four students in a line facing you...or five or six or twelve. Have them each say their …let’s say.. mother’s name. Then point at a student and say, “Right, Doo-Wacka-Doo!” The student must say the name of the mother of the person on their right (or left) before you finish saying “Doo Wacka Doo.” Sounds simple and it’s nearly impossible. With slower groups or if you have administrators in the line you might want to make it “Doo-Wacka-Doo-Wacka-Doo!) Twist and Untangle Simple and fun. Have four student hold hands facing inward. Have a fifth student turn his back to the action. The four then twist themselves up (without dropping hands). When they’re completely twisted, have the fifth student turn around and untangle them. Partner non-stop talk. Good for loosening up a group and prying shy students loose. Have the kids sit on the floor facing one other person. Then assign one person each group as number one. When you say “go,” have number one talk non-stop about themselves. When you shout, “Switch!” number two takes over. Attitude Line. Good for reviewing material. Put 4-5 students in a line facing the audience. They are to tell a story.. this might be a fairy tell or a story they’ve read in class, or a concept they’ve studied. Endow each student with a different attitude or persona. One might be a shy little girl, a truck driver, Barney, a football coach, etc. They tell the story one person at a time, with you saying, “Switch” to assign a new speaker. Dubbing Two people are speaking in a foreign language (gibberish) as to others stand behind them and translate what they’re speaking. Good for review of previously covered material. Inner thoughts Two people onstage play an improv scene. Two others behind them tell the audience what they’re thinking. Blind Freeze Two actors begin a scene. At some point, you say “Freeze!” and two other actors (whose backs have been turned), turn, tap an actor on the shoulder, assume their exact position, and begin a whole new scene based on those positions. Slide Show Good for reviewing previously-taught concepts. Put a group in front of the class. Tell them you are going to do a slide show on…say… American History. Then you announce, “The Civil War!” and count 1-2-3-4-5! By the count of five, they have formed a “slide”.. frozen in position, depicting the scene you’ve called. Or this can also be slides of your family vacation, etc. A talented student could easily play your role here. Questions that History forgot to answer Good for reading review, creative writing, or social studies. Give small groups questions that history (or the author) forgot to answer. For example, “What did Washington do the night after he crossed the Delaware?” “What did Mary’s little lamb tell her family when she returned from school that day?” “Were the three little pigs arrested after killing the wolf?”

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