The following are descriptions of the exercises and activities referred to throughout the unit.
A. PASS THE HANDSHAKE:
Participants sit in a circle. You (as the leader) will offer your hand to the person sitting beside you saying This is a handshake’. They then shake your hand and ask you,” A what?” You Reply,” A handshake!”—Oh! they exclaim, and turn to the next person, offering their hand and saying, “This is a handshake”. “A what?”, that person asks them. The person beside you turns to you again, asking, “A what?” And you reply, “ A handshake! “ They then turn to the person beside them repeating, “A handshake!” “Oh!” the other person exclaims. They then turn to the next person and have the same exchange. You will shortly hear “A what? A what? A what?” being passed along the as the handshake travels around the circle.
B. PART OF A WHOLE:
Discuss the idea of group activities with your class. Have them suggest tasks and projects that people can do together. Some ideas could include; a kitchen of a restaurant, a doctor’s office, a courtroom, a sports event or a exercise class. At this point, have one student enter the playing area ( ie. the front of the class ) and begin acting out their part in an activity of their choice. One by one, as the other students silently figure out the scenario, they enter the playing area and become a part of the activity until, ideally, the entire group is involved. I generally conduct this exercise non-verbally. I encourage students to focus on making their task ‘real’. Its always interesting to find out if the group’s interpretation of the activity is what the initial person had in mind!
C. NAME GAMES:
1) NERVOUS NELLIE:
Each person in the circle says their own name with an alliterative adjective and gesture/movement to go with it, such as Rowdy Raymond or Dancing Donna. Everyone in the circle repeats the name and gesture. Each person repeats all those which have gone before and adds his/her own to the list. Everyone in the circle repeats the last name and gesture given and then repeats the others given before that.
2) NAME PLUS TWO:
Students sit in a circle and as a group, choose two things to say about themselves. (ie. favorite color, snack or activity, birthplace, etc.) One student will say their name as well as the two bits of information previously agreed upon. The person beside them offers their own name and ‘information and then repeats the name, etc. given by the previous person. This pattern continues with each person first offering their name and the two things and then repeating what has been said by previous students. They always start with the person beside them and work their way back to the beginning. I have used this challenging game successfully with groups numbering twenty-five or less. It does require a lot of patience and it’s success depends on the group.
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
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1) A day in the life”
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-He Lion was scaring all animals. Have students imagine that they are various forest animals trying to cope with He Lion’s antics. In small groups have students act out things their chosen animals might try to do, even though they are frightened of the lion, such as eating, gathering food, sleeping, playing, etc..
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2) A Different Point of View:
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-Students tell parts of the story from the Man’s point of view and from He Lion’s view point. It might make an interesting topic for a debate.
