Stop/ Start/ Jump/ Name

AIMS :

• To energise the students
• To focus the students and encourage active listening
• To create a fun atmosphere
• To adapt the exercise to the specific STEM subject learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Ask the group to move around the space = Start! Instruct them to keep changing direction. Then direct them to Stop! Repeat the Start/Stop! sequence at intervals. Then introduce (once all students have stopped) a Jump! into the sequence. Students jump on the spot once. Repeat the sequence calling Start/Stop/Jump! Add Name! allowing the participants to shout their own name confidently. Continue to call Start/Stop/Jump/Name! randomly.

Opposites- To further encourage the fun element and challenge the group, make the instructions mean the opposite. Start = Stop and Stop = Start. Once established add Jump = Name and Name = Jump. Continue to play the game rapidly until the teacher brings it to a natural end.

Progression: Either then or in a future class, further instructions can be added e.g. Fast/ Slow, Big steps/ Small steps, High/ Low etc.

Adaptation:  Adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning i.e. keywords from the lesson can be called out and the students can physicalize them/ move around as them in the space e.g. as water, fire, gas, electricity, earth etc.

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Jump – HA!

AIMS :

• To energise and focus the students
• To enourage teamwork
• To encourage leadership & spontaneity skills

INSTRUCTIONS:

The students and teacher form a large circle. The teacher demonstrates that s/he will jump, raise their arms and loudly say “HA!”. Next time the students will work as a team to all do it at the same time as the teacher. (You can do a practice a jump counting down from 3.) Repeat a few times.

Ask for a volunteer to be the new Jump – HA! Leader. Encourage the new leader to be loud and not to do it quickly so the rest of the group have a chance to join in. (If the leader is making false starts- remind the students that a good leader doesn’t trick, they lead.)

For the final turn(s), tell the group that nobody knows who the leader will be but someone will take the initiative to Jump – HA! and everyone will follow.

Ball Exercise

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the students
• To encourage teamwork
• To show how working in mini-groups aids the functioning of the whole group effort
• To demonstrate communication skills – body language, eye-contact, voice projection are all important
• To adapt the exercise to the specific STEM subject learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Standing.

Note: Build the levels and variations of this game up gradually. Progression of the game can happen over a few classes as the students become more confident.

• The teacher has juggling balls and starts the game with throwing a ball (under arm) to a student saying their own name and the student’s e.g. “George to Katie”. Katie catches the ball and continues the game throwing to another student e.g. “Katie to Jasmine”.
• Each student only sends and receives the ball once. (For the first round students can fold their arms after they send the ball so other students know who still needs to receive the ball. )
• The last person to receive the ball will be the teacher.
• Everyone needs to remember the order in which they threw/ received the ball. Check everyone is sure of the order after the first round.
• Repeat the exact same ball-throwing sequence and ensure everyone is sure of the order and names.
• As the group get more confident, the teacher can gradually start adding in new balls so there will be a few/ several being thrown at the same time.
• It may get a bit more chaotic as more balls are introduced so stop and ask the group: How do we improve the game? Possible/ good answers are:
  Eye contact is important! Don’t panic. Don’t throw the ball until your partner is ready. If the ball falls- no problem! Just pick it up and calmly carry on.
  

Progression: Reverse! When the teacher calls “Reverse!”, the throwing order is reversed i.e. students now throw the ball to the person they previously received it from and vice versa.
The teacher can then call “Reverse!” again to return to the normal order.
Reverse! can be called at intervals.

Names only
Students just say the name of the person they are throwing to i.e. no need to say “Katie to…”

No names
Students play the game silently- Eye contact and body language is very important here.

Move around the Space

The students move around the space, in different directions playing the same game with or without the variations above.

NB: Have a group discussion during or after the game about what the group is learning and experiencing during the game i.e. teamwork, focus, it’s ok to drop the ball/ make mistakes, communication skills, the importance of eye-contact etc. Also, reference knowing your part within a system – i.e. each student is constantly working with 2 other students to receive and send the balls. They are like small cogs or units which make the larger machine or game work.

Adaptation: Adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning i.e. keywords from the class lesson can be used instead of students’ names as they throw the balls in the aleady established sequence eg. Saturn, Pluto, Mars…

Also, students can play the same sequence but change their topic words every time they throw the ball. (They will be influenced by words they hear other students call out.)

After using lesson words, the teacher could choose to focus on certain words/themes or the students could research a word alone or in groups.

Relate the “small cogs” mentioned above to the lesson – e.g. one cog might be like the heart and is just one organ which is a working part of a bigger machine i.e. the body.

Another adaptation is a small group is chosen to play the game in the class. The rest of the class observe and listen to the small group playing the game and naming STEM topic words.

Pass the Clap/ Energy

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To encourage imagination and creativity
• To energise and focus sthe students
• To adapt the exercise to the specific STEM subject learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Standing

Receive and send a clap. The teacher sends a clap to a student who then receives the clap and then passes it to another student and so on. Eye contact is important as it is done silently.

When the “receive and send” technique is mastered, encourage the participants to “play” with how they send and receive the clap. Have fun with it. Experiment with movement – fast, slow, high, low etc. Encourage the receiver to receive the clap based on how it was sent e.g. if it was sent very fast, they will receive it as so.

Pass the Energy – Tell the group that the clap is now invisible energy which can change shape, weight, texture etc. in your hands. Demonstrate this. Play the game as above and encourage the fun and imaginative element.

Progression : Break the group up into pairs A and B.

A and B of each pair now find a space in the room away from each other. There is no longer a circle. A has the energy and will send it to B and then it will go back and forth. They will experiment and negotiate the space with the other pairs doing likewise. Encourage them to move around the space.

Note: As with all pair exercises; if there is an odd number in the group, there can be one group of 3.

Adaptation: The sending of the energy or the clap can be related to the STEM subject learning eg. it can be sent like electricity, neurotransmitters, or as if through different weather types or states of matter etc.

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Splat!

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the students
• To create a fun and focused atmosphere
• To encourage competition – it raises the concentration and performance level of the students
• To adapt the game to the specific STEM subject learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Standing.

Teacher stands in the middle.The teacher “shoots” at one person in the circle. (or throws an imaginary pie) and says “Splat!”

That person must duck and the two people on either side shoot /throw an imaginary pie at each other and shout “Splat!”.

If the first person doesn’t duck, s/he is out. If s/he does duck in time, the last person to shoot/ throw their pie on either side is out.

Continue until only 2 students remain.

The Duel: The two remaining players stand back to back in the middle of the room. Each time the teacher calls out a fruit, the players take one step forward. When a vegetable is called out, both players must turn around and shoot/ throw their pie. The first to throw/ shoot is the winner! The other students will be the judges.

Adaptation: Adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning i.e. Keywords from the class lesson can be substituted for the word “Splat!” as the students shoot/ throw and/or as the fruits/ vegetables at the end.

 Zip/ Zap/ Zoom/ Boom!

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the students
• To encourage competition – it raises the concentration and performance level of the students
• To adapt the game to the specific STEM subject learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Standing.

Beginning with the teacher, send an energetic Zip! with palms together from student to student around the circle in one direction. Practice this a few times. Then practice Zap! in the other direction. Be definite about the moves eg. Zip = to the left, Zap = to the right. Students must make eye contact with the person they are sending the zip or zap to or receiving it from.

When they have mastered the Zip and Zap technique and directions, introduce Zoom!

Zoom! = Both arms and palms together, pointing at a person across the circle. A student can choose to Zoom! after a Zip! or Zap! A student can only Zip or Zap after receiving a Zoom!

Practice the 3 moves above and then introduce Boom!

Boom! = A Student raises arms up in the air and calls Boom! and all the students change places in the circle. Boom! can only be sent after a Zip or Zap is received.

The person who initiates the Boom! must continue the game with a Zip/ Zap after the new circle has been formed properly.

Progression: Play “Knockout”- Students are eliminated if they delay in sending a move, if they zoom a zoom or send a move in the wrong direction.

Continue until only 2 students remain.

The Duel: The two remaining players stand back to back in the middle of the room. Each time the teacher calls out a fruit, the players take one step forward. When a vegetable is called out, both players must turn around and shoot/ throw their pie at each other. The first to throw/ shoot is the winner! The other students will be the judges.

Adaptation: The game can be adapted to highlight STEM topic learning such as comparing it to current flow, energy being transmitted, reflexes, neurotransmitters etc.

Group Count 1-20

AIMS:

• To encourage concentration and calm amongst the students
• To encourage teamwork
• To adapt the game to the specific STEM subject learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Ask the students to close their eyes. The students must count to 20 as a group with only one person saying one number at any time. If  two or a few students say a number at the same time, the group must begin at 0 again. In the beginning, begin with a count of 1-10 or 1-15.

Adaptation: Adapt the game to the STEM subject learning by replacing numbers with numbers and keywords from the lesson eg. ” One – Current”  ” 2- Conduct ” etc.

Shake Out!

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the group
• To encourage teamwork

INSTRUCTIONS:

Teacher shakes out their legs and arms as follows and all the students copy the moves and count at the same time:

Shaking L arm – Calling loudly “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8”

Shaking R arm – as above

Shaking L leg – as above

Shaking R leg – as above

Keep repeating physical moves above but now with:

1 2 3 4 x each limb

1 2 x each limb

then 1 1 1 1 x each limb

and 1 1 1 1  x each limb again (make the last “1” much longer and louder as the students stretch out)

X0

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the students
• To encourage fun and humour
• To demonstrate that not everything is easy, we all get things wrong but with practice we can get better

INSTRUCTIONS:

Teacher draws a large imaginary X in the air with their right hand. Ask the students to copy. They practice this over and over.

Teacher now draws an imaginary large circle in the air with their left hand. Ask the students to copy. Do this over and over.

Teacher now asks the group to do both X and O at the same time.

Most students will be unable to do this but hopefully they will laugh at themselves and realise it’s ok to be unable to achieve this. Teacher might explain that this is the most difficult thing they will do today!

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Who’s the Leader?

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To encourage concentration and calmness in students
• To encourage leadership skills
• To promote problem solving skills and strategic thinking

INSTRUCTIONS :

Group circle – Standing.

The teacher demonstrates by being the leader first. The leader makes easy movements with their arms, legs or head so the rest of the group can follow at the same time. They can also choose to do faster repetitive movements instead. This is all done silently. Send a volunteer student out of the room and pick a new leader. Start the movements and invite the volunteer in who must now guess who the new leader is. They can observe the group from any place in the room.

After the volunteer has guessed wrongly or rightly, discuss how well the group did in moving as one group together. Was it easy to see who was the leader? Why/ why not?

Pick a new volunteer and before they enter, the group can discuss different tactics on how they may disguise the leader from the guessing student i.e. all students might be looking at different students instead of the leader only. They may eventually do the movements moving around the space.

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                                                                                                                                         Mirror Pairs                                                                                                                                      

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the students
• To encourage teamwork and communication skills eg. body language, eye contact etc
• To encourage leadership skills

INSTRUCTIONS:

Standing in pairs, students A and B face one another. A copies the very slow movements of their partner, B. The teacher can demonstrate with a student first, showing how slow the movement needs to be. After a few minutes, the partners swap over and the other leads/follows . Once they have established a good technique, encourage the pairs to move around the space.

A and B can then alternate who is leading themselves. Sometimes it may not be clear who is the leader as they work in sync together.

Progression: Pairs can join up and one pair follows another pair.

Also, All students can join together and follow one leader in the space. The teacher can suggest new leaders at any time.

Action and Sound

AIMS:

• To encourage quick-thinking and spontaneity
• To improve improvisation skills
• To encourage teamwork
• To encourage leadership skills
• To energise and focus the students
• To adapt the exercise to the specific STEM learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Standing

The teacher can demonstrate first. One student makes an action and a sound. All students copy it at the same time immediately after. Each student does an action and sound and the group follows. Encourage energy and “not-thinking”- the action and sound doesn’t need to make sense; it just needs to have lots of energy whether it is loud or quiet.

Progression: The students can go in random order to do their actions and sounds and the group will copy. It is the group’s responsibility to make sure there is never a time gap in between them.

Adaptation: Action and sounds can be based on the STEM subject learning eg. force and motion moves, heart pumping, sun radiating etc.

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Sports Warm-up

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the students
• To encourage leadership skills
• To encourage teamwork
• To encourage improvisation and spontaneity skills
• To adapt the exercise to the specific STEM subject learning if desired

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Standing

The teacher can demonstrate first. One student does a mime of a sport. All students copy it at the same time immediately after. Going around the circle, each student does a sport mime and the group follows. e.g. playing tennis, basketball etc. This can also be done around the space.

Progression: The students can go in random order to do their mimes and the group will copy. It is the group’s responsibility to make sure there is never a time gap in between mimes.

Adaptation: Mimes can be based on the STEM subject learning eg. force and motion moves, heart pumping, sun radiating etc.

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Guided Narration and Movement

AIMS:

• To instill a mind & body connection with the STEM subject learning
• To encourage improvisation and spontaneity
• To energise and focus the students

INSTRUCTIONS:

Ask the class to move around the space. Warm them up with the Stop/ Start/ Jump/ Name exercise first.

Read out the following text loudly and encourage them to act out/ physicalize the keywords (underlined) that you will emphasise. Students may wish to interact with each other and physicalize movements together.

Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the shockwave of a nearby exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust cloud collapsed, it formed a solar nebula – a spinning, swirling disk of material.

At the centre, gravity pulled more and more material in. Eventually, the pressure in the core was so great that *hydrogen atoms began to combine and form helium, releasing a tremendous amount of energy. With that, our Sun was born, and it eventually amassed more than 99% of the available matter.

Adaptation: Adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning. Guided narration and movement can be used with other lesson topics e.g. the atmosphere, climate changes, photosynthesis, bodily functions – different organs moving and connecting to others etc.

Word – Turn – Freeze

AIMS:

• To encourage quick-thinking and improvisation skills
• To instill a mind & body connection with the STEM subject learning
• To energise and focus the students

INSTRUCTIONS:

Ask the students to stand in a large circle. Ask them to turn around facing the walls and to close their eyes. When the teacher calls a word, they will turn around into the circle, open their eyes and make a freeze of that word. Encourage quick thinking/ instinct. There is no right or wrong. (e.g. Some might become an actual car, some might be driving the car.) Note: Objects and Characters that are good to use – Car, tree, chair, book, eagle, bicycle, witch, dragon, wizard, teacher. Happy, afraid, surprised etc. (Emotions)

Teacher can do a demonstration first e.g. as a Tree.

Progression: On the count of 3, students can “move” their freeze i.e. make a sound and move. (Some students will have been trying this already.) A frozen heart can now be “pumping.”

Adaptation: Adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning e.g. heart, spark, plug for the students to freeze as and then move as.

10 Second Freezes

AIMS:

• To instill a mind & body connection with the STEM subject learning
• To encourage teamwork and quick negotiation skills
• To energise and focus the students
• To improve improvisation and spontaneity skills

INSTRUCTIONS:

Divide students into smaller groups of 4-5. Tell groups that they have 10-15 seconds to build an object using their bodies e.g. The Eiffel Tower. Inspect and comment on the various Eiffel Towers in the room.  Make the exercise competitive by judging the freezes.

Other words : a car, a shoe, a rocket, a bicycle, a castle etc.

Progression: On the count of 3, students can bring their object to life i.e. the car will move/ make sound.

Adaptation: Adapt the exercise to build objects from the STEM topic learning e.g. students become the plant cell, the atom, the heart, the lungs, a battery etc.

“I am the Tree!”

AIMS:

• To instill a mind & body connection with the STEM subject learning
• To encourage teamwork
• To improve improvisation and spontaneity skills
• To energise and focus the students

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Standing

Group discussion – as a group, participants call out the parts of a full tree eg. branch, twig, roots etc.

Part 1 – Physicalize the parts of the tree– Ask a volunteer to jump into the middle of the circle loudly saying, “I AM THE TREE!”, whilst also becoming a frozen image of the tree. (Teacher can demonstrate this first)

Tell the group that, in turns, they can jump into the centre and add to the image of the tree by adding the parts to it (ideally they will say things like “I am the roots/ branch/ leaf/ etc. of/ in the tree.”). They will do a freeze of their image too, attaching themselves to the original tree freeze.

Encourage participants to finish the sentence with “….of/in the tree” (This keeps it about the tree itself and not things beside/ away from the tree.)

Group discussion – what makes a tree thrive or flourish? Name the things that help the tree to survive. It needs the roots, water, sun etc. It cannot radiate life to others (O2) without being sustained itself.

Part 2 –  Physicalize the requirements as above i.e. “I am the sun radiating to the tree! I am the water nourishing the tree. I am the CO2 of the tree! “etc.

The completed tree shows the basic needs the tree requires. Without the roots, soil, water, CO2 etc. the branches will not grow, will not be able to grow leaves to shelter the tree’s birds and animals or provide oxygen for humans.

Group discussion: Name the benefits of the thriving tree. What does it offer? e.g. shelter, oxygen, home for animals.

Part 3 – Physicalize the benefits – As above: “I am the Shelter of the tree” etc.

Adaptation: The exercise can be adapted to the STEM subject learning by using other words/ topics e.g. The Heart, the 3 pin plug, the cell, the atom etc. In the case of the heart, when the students have named the heart parts, the exercise could be expanded to include more of the body that the heart and blood flow affects i.e. other organs, veins, arteries, capillaries, limbs etc.

Progression: On the count of 3, the object/ heart etc could “move” ie. come alive – pumping, blood flowing etc.

Mapping Out

AIMS:

• To enable the students to visualize STEM diagrams in a larger and more creative way
• To instill a mind & body connection with the STEM subject learning
• To encourage teamwork and negotiation skills

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEM related diagrams can be mapped out in larger and more creative ways in the classroom.

Examples:

The heart can be mapped out in the room using tape or can be drawn on a large sheet of paper i.e. the chambers, doors, veins, aortas etc. A student could act as the blood flowing in and out of the heart by going in and out of it. They could hold blue and red symbols to show when and where their blood is oxygenated and deoxygenated.

Venn diagrams can be taped/ drawn out on a much larger scale on the ground, with students being able to step in and out of them, acting as the items in the sets.

The circle could be mapped out on the ground with the students sitting around it in a circle. The radius, diameter etc. is explained to them as they sit around it.

Tape, chalk, sand, large sheets of paper etc. can be used. It could all be done outside too.

Using the students themselves, the students could place themselves appropriately in the room to represent the topic learning e.g create a human body – the head at the top of the room, feet at the bottom etc all embodied by students themselves.

Tableaux / Freeze Frames

AIMS:

• To instill a mind & body connection to the STEM subject learning
• To encourage teamwork and negotiation skills
• To improve improvisation and storytelling skills

INSTRUCTIONS:

Divide students into smaller groups eg. 4/5.

Ask students to create physical frozen images of an event/ situation. Encourage students to decide and rehearse their freeze frames and practice their transitions from one to another. For example the topic might be Charles Darwin and evolution.

Example Freeze Frames:

1. Charles Darwin with his crew on his boat to The Galapagos Islands.
2. Darwin researching flora and fauna on the islands.
3. Some of the species he finds e.g. the different beaked birds.
4. Darwin writing “On the origin of species.”

Freeze frames could also depict the past, present and future of an invention e.g the telephone or how the structure of technological objects have changed e.g. the computer.

Groups can present their freeze frames to the rest of the class and the teacher can clap in between each one to initiate the change from one freeze frame to another.

Progression: Freeze frames can also be developed into scenes as the students bring them to life and add movement and dialogue. See Thought- track exercise as a way to help this.

Thought-track

AIMS:

• To add a progression to the freeze frames/ tableaux exercise to further the STEM subject learning
• To improve the students’ improvisation and storytelling skills
• To instill a mind & body connection to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

As students are in their freezes, (see Tableaux/ Freeze Frames exercise),  the teacher can name or tip a student on the shoulder and ask them what they are thinking/ feeling as their character/ object. e.g. a student frozen as Charles Darwin might say “ Hmmm.. interesting.. I notice this finch’s beak is different to the one I saw before..”

Progression: Thought-tracking helps the students to then create scenes/ role-plays of their freezes by adding dialogue, movement etc. See Role-play exercise.

Point at Objects

AIMS:

• To energise and focus the students
• To encourage the students to find the connections between their STEM subject learning and their environment
• To improve the students’ quick-thinking and improvisation skills

INSTRUCTIONS:

Ask students to point at and name objects in the room (linked to lesson topic) e.g. if the lesson is geometry, the students can point at different triangular shaped objects. Students can engage with other students also, indicating their finds. Encourage the students to be as enthusiastic and energetic as possible when calling out the names.

Experts

AIMS:

• To improve students’ improvisation and storytelling skills
• To encourage teamwork
• To improve students’ communication and presentation skills
• To help students “think outside the box.”
• To further specific STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Students point at different objects in the room, calling out their names. See Point at Objects exercise.

You can also ask the students to point at and name things in the room but call them something different e.g. they see a box but call it a plant.

In small groups, each student picks an object and becomes an expert on it. The students take turns to introduce their object e.g. “plant” to the other group members. They will describe the object, its importance and try and sell it to others in the group.

Adaptation: The objects the students choose to be an expert on are related to the STEM subject learning.

Move! Move! Move!

AIMS:

• To improve students’ communication and presentation skills
• To improve students’ improvisation skills
• To help students share specific STEM learning in a fun and interactive way

INSTRUCTIONS:

The students sit in a circle on chairs. Chairs are evenly spaced. The Teacher/ Caller stands in the middle.

When the Caller calls out “Move!”, Students move one place to the left. Practice this a few times.

When the Caller calls out “Move! Move!”, the students all move one place to the right. Practice this a few times.

When the Caller calls “Move! Move! Move!”, the students must all find a seat anywhere in the circle that is not beside them.

After practicing the above, now, after one of the calls, the Teacher/ Caller will take a seat, leaving one student standing in the middle. This student is the new Caller. The element of competition has now been introduced.

NB – During the competitive game, no-one is allowed to sit in the same chair they were just occupying.  Also, no-one is allowed to push anyone to get to a chair or push anyone out of a chair, or to steal it out from under anyone. And there should be no running.

Play the game as such a few times.

Progression: Instruct the students to quickly suggest a topic for the caller in the middle to talk about e.g. schoolbags. The student will talk about the topic until s/he is ready to stop and use a Move! / Move! Move! or Move! Move! Move! call to try and gain a seat again.

Adaptation: Adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning. The caller must talk about something they learnt about in the lesson that day, even if it’s only a word. The teacher can opt to use a hat of written facts and the student can pick one to present to the class. Alternatively, the exercise can be done at the beginning of the class to elicit what the class already know about topic they will be learning that day or to revise the learning from a previous class.

Note: Encourage good presentation skills. The student can use eye-contact, speak clearly, answer questions and turn around in the circle to connect with their audience.

Word Relay

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To use a competitive and fun game to revise/ show STEM knowledge
• To encourage quick-thinking

INSTRUCTIONS:

Divide the group into 2 or 3 relay teams standing in lines, facing a wall. The opposing teams will compete in a speed relay race. Each member of the team will write down a word/ phrase that is associated with the STEM learning topic. This can be done on individual post-its that are then stuck on the wall or the words can be written on a sheet of paper on the wall.

The students have 60 seconds to write down and stick on the wall as many words/phrases as possible and no repetition of words within a team is allowed. The winning team is the one who does this in the fastest time and who has not repeated any words.

Word Association

AIMS:

• To encourage students’ improvisation and quick-thinking skills
• To allow students to share peer learning of STEM subject topic(s)
• To enhance students’ listening and response skills

INSTRUCTIONS:

The teacher demonstrates a basic physical rhythm and says “Ali Baba and the forty thieves” and keeps it going, the class copies.

Pat (Thighs with both hands) – “Ali”

Clap – “Baba”

Click (L hand) “and the”

Click (R hand) “40 thieves”

The teacher explains that they are going to play a word association game.

(Once the physical rhythm above has been established, there is no need to say ” Ali baba..”)

One student says a word, the next person in the circle quickly says a word in response to what they have just heard. Go around the circle in one direction, keeping the pat, clap/ click rhythm going also.

Progression: The game can also be competitive. A player is eliminated, or takes a forfeit, if any of the below happen:

1. They take more than three seconds to make a connection.
2. They repeat a word that has already been said in this game.

 Adaptation: The theme of the word association game can be associated with the STEM learning in the class. Use keywords from the lesson. The words don’t necessarily have to connect to the word said before.

Yes and…

AIMS:

• To improve students’ listening and improvisation skills
• To encourage teamwork
• To improve students storytelling skills
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Group circle – Students tell a story as a group, sentence by sentence moving around the circle.

Each student must begin their sentence with “Yes and…”

This means they are agreeing with what they have just heard and are continuing with the story. The story might begin with something like:

Student 1: It was a dark and stormy night as 2 friends went into the forest..

Student 2: Yes and the whistling wind was blowing through the branches..

Student 3: Yes and suddenly they heard a loud scream..

Adaptation: The exercise can be adapted to the STEM subject learning e.g. “There was once a man called Charles Darwin who went to the Galapagos Islands. Yes and Darwin developed the theory of evolution. Yes and…”

The exercise can also be done in pairs/ small groups

The sentences do not necessarily have to connect with the previous sentence, as long as they are facts or storytelling about the STEM topic.

Adverts

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork and negotiation skills
• To promote students’ presentation and communication skills
• To further the students’ improvistion and storytelling skills
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Divide the class into smaller groups. As group they will rehearse and advertise a product.

This can be done in a “Dragon’s Den”, infomercial/shopping channel or regular tv advert style.

The object can have a “magical quality” e.g. the chair is not an ordinary chair but could be a transformer chair. Or the chair might not even be a chair, it could be a pram, a lawn mower etc. The product is also something the audience have not seen before.

The teacher can give points that need to be included in their adverts’ presentations e.g. the dimensions, the manufacturing process, the ingredients etc.

As experts on the product, the group can answer questions from the audience after their presentation. ( See Experts exercise )

Adaptation: The adverts can include the learning from the  STEM class e.g. if they are learning about plane geometry, the groups must advertise the product mentioning the types of angles in the product. If they are learning about the circle, they will mention the diameter, radius etc. If learning about nutrition, they could highlight the nutritional benefits of the food item being advertised.

Speaking Objects

AIMS:

• To encourage the students’ storytelling, communication and improvisation skills
• To help students develop a mind and body connection with the STEM subject learning
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Students can physicalize an object and speak about themselves as that object.  ( See Word – Turn – Freeze exercise – This could be a good prelude to/ warm-up before this exercise. ) The student speaking can also be asked questions by the teacher or other students to help them elaborate:

Student:  So, I am a transformer. I am a device that transfers electric energy from one alternating-current circuit to one or more other circuits. I can  increase (step up) or reduce (step down) the voltage. I…..

It can also be done in a “guess who?” format where the other students can ask questions to figure out what they are e.g. Are you electric? Are you a plant? etc

Adaptation:  The exercise and objects chosen can be based on the STEM subject learning

Chat Show

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To aid students’ communication, presentation, storytelling and improvisation skills
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Divide the students into smaller groups to rehearse their own TV chat show.

Experts will be interviewed on the show. Give students time to write down the questions and hard fact answers that need to be covered in the interview. Tell them to be concise with the information that needs to be addressed. The interviewer has to decide on questions based on what the audience will need to know. They are a representative for the audience.

Tell the students to name their chat show. Tell them to imagine the surroundings, the audience, the cameras etc. to really set the scene.

Give them time to rehearse and perform their chat shows to the other groups.

Adaptation: Experts and their knowledge will be centred around the STEM lesson learning e.g. a team of scientists are being interviewed about climate change.

News Reports

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To promote students’ communication, presentation, storytelling and improvisation skills
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Divide the students into smaller groups to rehearse a news report.

The reports can incorporate guest experts, reporters, witnesses and news anchors who will present the facts of the story. Students can act out roles in the TV studio and on location e.g. at a disaster site.

Adaptation: The news reports can incorporate STEM subject learning e.g. the news story is about a new technological advancement.

Radio/ TV/ YouTube Channels

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To promote students’ communication, presentation, storytelling and improvisation skills
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pick a few students who will be speaking on different channels. Place them in different locations in the room.

The teacher can point at and change channels and each time a different student will speak. The topics they choose to talk about can be something they feel passionate about or are an expert on. The teacher keeps changing channels and the student on the new turned-on channel speaks aloud again.

Progression: The teacher can turn on a few channels at the same time.  i.e a few students will then be speaking at the same time.

Adaptation: The topics being spoken about on the channels can include learning from the STEM lesson and the people speaking can be experts on the topic.

Role-plays

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To promote students’ communication, storytelling and improvisation skills
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning
• To relate the STEM learning to imaginary and relevant real life situations

INSTRUCTIONS:

Students are given scenarios that they must act out/ role-play and they improvise these in pairs or small groups. Examples might be:

1. Students act as 2 people using the first telephone.
2. Students act out a shop scenario where the customer queries the added tax on a sales receipt.
3. Students act out a doctor and patient scenario where a health matter is being explained to the patient or they are being given nutritional advice.
4. Students act out a gym scenario where the personal trainer is explaining various muscle contractions to the client, the effect exercise has on their heart etc

Scenes can be rehearsed first and then shown to the rest of the class.

Remote Control

AIMS:

• To encourage teamwork
• To promote students’ communication, presentation, storytelling and improvisation skills
• To adapt the exercise to the STEM subject learning

INSTRUCTIONS:

The teacher has a remote control (imaginary or real) and can play/ pause any role-play scenes individually in the space, by pointing it at the individual pairs or groups. (See Role-play exercise)  This is quick way of seeing a lot of scenes without formally staging them in the classroom.

Storytelling

AIMS:

• To encourage a shared experience between students and teacher by telling stories
• To promote teachers’ and students’ communication, presentation, storytelling and improvisation skills
• To make a connection between the story, the STEM subject learning and everyday life
• to create an environment where both teacher and students feel comfortable to share anecdotes

INSTRUCTIONS:

Tell your relevant stories!

People love stories, a tradition that goes way back to our ancient ancestors. In a classroom setting, they are a powerful way of making a connection to the lesson learning and a helpful way for the students to remember the material. They can also help form a greater relationship between student and teacher.

Whether your story is a spontaneous one or a planned one, a factual one or a personal one, here are some tips:

– Commit to the story and its telling

– Open with a hook, an interesting attention grabber. It could be a question, a prop, an invite to the class to imagine the scene with you.

– Know where your story is going; its beginning, middle and end.  Keep it simple and avoid unnecessary tangents.

– Set the scene – enable the students to really imagine the story.

– Appeal to the senses – activate the students’ senses as much as possible – the story will be more memorable.

– Be creative with sound effects, music, props, and costumes.

– Ask the students questions to include them in your storytelling narrative.

– Have a “takeaway” at the end. What is the key message from the story the students need to get?

As with all good presenting and communication:

Maintain good, open body language.

Project your voice well.

Vary your tone and pitch.

Make eye contact with your students.

Articulate well.

Breathe and pause.

Be confident. Own the story. Practice makes a more confident storyteller.

Use previous creative technique exercises to also encourage students to incorporate storytelling methods into the classroom.

Unison Clap

AIMS:

• To end the class on a high/ celebratory note
• To acknowlege the good work done in class in a fun and inclusive manner

INSTRUCTIONS:

To end the class, all students stand in a circle. The teacher asks the group to raise their hands shoulder high with palms facing each other. They are instructed to watch the teacher’s hands and clap in unison when s/he claps. The teacher speeds up the claps and the students are then encouraged to give each other and themselves a round of applause.