tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30596571840408921782023-11-16T06:09:26.424-05:00Unscripted Learning<em>Unscripted Learning: Using Improv Across the K-8 Curriculum</em> is a book by Carrie Lobman and Matthew Lundquist from Teachers College Press. It also serves as a location for information and dialogue related to the use of improvisation and performance in education and teaching.Matt Lundquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01804702473565345825noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-24390364353441376992017-08-09T01:16:00.001-05:002017-08-09T01:16:33.389-05:00Road 2 Recovery empowerment employment enterprise<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wzi0akxyvyk" width="480"></iframe>Ishita Sanyalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16091826809038171697noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-82720954868460798502008-04-28T14:40:00.004-05:002008-04-28T15:51:12.690-05:00Games around and about comunication in Mexico<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Currently I’m a member of the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/tryout2.htm">International Class 2007-2008</a> and had the privilege to learn and play with Carrie and teachers in the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/DevelopingTeachersBios.htm">Developing Teachers Fellowship program</a> during two trips to NY this past year. I came back to <st1:country-region st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region> where I work at an organization in <st1:place st="on"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez"><st1:city st="on">Juarez</st1:city></a>, <st1:country-region st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place>, called <a href="http://casacentroeducativo.blogspot.com/">Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Juvenil</a> where we do a lot of community work including our work with after school programs and work with teachers. We been incorporating some improve to many of our activities and hope to share some of them in this space. I’ll start with a recent talk I gave at a local school.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">A few days ago I was invited by the principle to give a talk to parents about the importance of communication in a school called 22 de Septiembre. In the past I’ve given talks before where I would prepare materials, a power point presentation, hand outs, and would basically go through the different topics and have conversation with parents. Introducing improved dramatically transformed this format.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">While planning the talk I made an important decision, I did prepare by reading some materials regarding effective communication with young and older children, I reread some material about family therapy, and so on. Instead of writing a presentation full of information based on what I read I stayed open to see what games could illustrate similar points made by the texts. For example in one book it stressed the importance of non-verbal communication, so one of the games I though we could play was having a conversation in the language of Bla-bla-bla. At the end I ended up with a bunch of games and no formal talk.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">When I arrived to the school's library there was a group of around 35 moms (no dads unfortunatly) who where sitting ready to receive a talk all facing forwards to a blackboard. It took as a few minutes to rearrange tables and seats to create a circle. We began with people getting in to pairs with someone they don’t know. They took turns for 3 minutes each to talk as much as they could about themselves. In the version I know of this activity people are then supposed to tell the group about their partner but given how large the group was that would take the whole session so I only asked for five volunteers. Not only did they shared what their partners said about themselves they said how wonderful it was to meet someone they see everyday when they pick up their children but never get a chance to chat. Next we continued with the Bla-bla-bla game in groups of five and had a nice conversation about non-verbal communication afterwards and how important it was with children who are in the process of learning language.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Out of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unscripted-Learning-Improv-Activities-Curriculum/dp/0807747971/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209413868&sr=8-2">Unscripted Learning</a> I picked Silly Debate where the audience picks a silly topic for two volunteers to debate. The topic chosen was canola oil vs. corn oil for cooking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchilada">enchiladas</a>, then two moms volunteered and started debating. It so much fun hearing them debate, after a few minutes I stopped the scene and suggested they continue the debate but this time one of them playing the role of a wife and the other of her mother in law. In principle it was the same debate but it totally morphed into a debate with in a debate, on regarding cooking oil and the other who can please the husband-son better. It was hilarious. We then had another conversation about the very game of having a discussion and how sometimes it does not have to do with the information it self but about wining a debate and how this can get us into trouble with others including their children. We also talked about how people sometimes fight over something superficial in order to fight about some deeper issue (e.g. a mom said they were arguing about cooking oil as opposed to dealing with the mother-in-law distrust of the wife). In other words we addressed all the mayor themes from the texts I read with out actually talking about the concepts directly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">If this had been a talked in our centers I would not worry so much that the games did addressed specific topics but since the school wanted me to address them I chose games that suggested the topic of communication. The two hour talk was fun, full of participation and laughter but also deep conversations. <span style=""> </span>A day later I heard many mothers had really liked the activity and felt the understood communication better and appreciated that I did not lecture. They said I had done a terrific job, but I can’t take all the credit since we all created the talk.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p>MiguEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00999267610377033044noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-2564466766027016752008-04-18T12:53:00.003-05:002008-04-18T13:11:01.660-05:00Improvised IntroductionsEvery year I attend the conference of the <a href="http://www.aera.net/">American Educaitonal Research Association</a>, which has over 20,000 members (that is an awful lot of educational researchers). This year I also presented a pre-conference event titled CULTURAL HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON PLAY, IMAGINATION, CREATIVITY IN DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING sponsored by the Cultural Historical Special Interest Group of AERA and organized by <a href="http://www.loisholzman.net/">Lois Holzman </a>and Ana Shane. In addition to my presentation on the Developing <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/DevelopingTeachersBios.htm">Teachers Fellowship Program </a>that I direct at the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/index.html">Eastside Institute </a>in New York City, my colleague Tony Perone and I also led the group in an improvised warm-up/introduction game. This was interesting to plan since this was not a performance conference or workshop. People came expecting something resembling a normal conference enviornment where the presenters present (usually with the aid of a powerpoint) and the audience listens and then asks questions. Tony and I wanted to get the group playing, imagining and creating together. <br /><br />Here is what we did. We started with a game of Sound Ball (from Unscripted Learning). In Sound Ball everyone stands in a circle and one person starts by connecting to someone across the circle (through eye contact mostly) and passing them a ball of energy that has a sound and a movement connected to it. So, I might pass Joe a bouncy ball that says, "budump, badump, badump). He "catches" the ball by looking me in the eye and imitating my sound and catching my ball. He then transforms it into a new sound and ball and passes it elsewhere. <br /><br />We did that for a few minutes and then we advanced it. Now, instead of passing the energy, the person who has it and the new person share the energy for a few moments in the middle of the circle. So, I might walk towards Tabitha shile tossing a very light ball of energy in the air and saying "woooo, woooo, woooo." Tabitha joins me in the middle and we both toss the light ball and say "wooo, wooo, wooo" while looking into each others eyes. Eventually I leave her and go to her spot in the circle and she transforms the sound and energy and goes towards someone else.<br /><br />Finally, after had done that a while. We had people do the same activity except the sound and movement now said something about you (the person with the energy). For example, when it was my turn I made the sound of a computer keyboard and walked into the middle saying, "Carrie...writer, Carrie...writer, Carrie...writer). Mary then joined me in the middle and shared my "Carrie...writer" refrain for a while until I went back to my spot and she made a new offer.<br /><br />It was a really fun and intimate way to begin to get to know each other before we began a day of conversation on play and creativity. Interestingly, after we had talked for several hours people spontaneously begin introducing themselves in a more traditional way, but by then we were old playmates.Carrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-46882268159714215782008-01-06T22:35:00.001-05:002008-01-06T22:59:35.568-05:00Improvisational LearningI have been doing improv activities with my classes for the past two years. It has served as a great tool to develop a sense of team among my students. My school (Primary K-2) also has an<br />Aesthetics Program, in which students chose or are enrolled in an elective course once a week for the semester. Using the games from Unscripted Learning, I have developed an "Improvisational Learning" Aesthetic for this year. <br /><br />In the way the description was written up in the school handbook, teachers enrolled students in the course who they identified as students who would benefit from relationship building. After 7 course meetings, I am so happy to report that is what we are developing. <br /><br />I have been so blown away with how this course has impacted the relations of 8 first and second grade students who, other than in this course, do not know each other. The relationships that are being built seem quite genuine as we play games such as "The Clapping Game', "Woosh", "Yes, and" and many more. Even more in the debriefing discussions we have! <br /><br />It is a completely different experience for me from how we use improvisation with my class of students. While this "team" does not see each other everyday or are involved in each others' academic growth, I see that they are very much a part of each others' social development. They are learning from each other, and through these games, ways to develop social skills to develop relationships with students in their own classes (exactly what their teachers hoped they would gain). <br /><br />It is incredible how each of the individual personalities in the class have contributed to and benefited from each other. The excitement from the girl who always enters the class angry, the intent look on the face of another girl who loves to talk as she listens to her teammate share, the smile on the face of the excruciatingly shy boy after he "takes a turn." Improvisatonal learning brings creates this for these students.J McLaughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03673592557648418769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-34964385699675244422008-01-02T11:06:00.000-05:002008-01-02T11:07:45.561-05:00I am a SEIT teacher (Special Education Itinerant Teacher) and an EI (Early Intervention Teacher) and work with children ages 0 -5 in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Most of the time, I work with one child either in their home or their day care center. I work primarily to work with the child within the context of their day and classroom. Therefore, I am usually involved with the entire classroom; not just "my" student.<br /><br />So...all that to say, I am currently working in a day care center with a little girl...let's call her Alicia. I spend at least two hours each morning with Alicia and the class...mostly following and assisting Alicia in her regular routines. On this particular day, the class had been going though some major reorganization. Their teacher was having a difficult time and also having a difficult time managing the activity of the class. She asked me for some help.<br /><br />At that moment, the children were to sit on the rug and listen to a story...She was trying to accomplish this organizing activity; and was not being successful. They were having a great time reading books, hitting each other, and otherwise not listening to their teacher. I suggested that perhaps we could all play a game...and they all, including the teacher, eagerly said YES !!!!!!!<br /><br />I asked them to all make a circle by holding hands...the class consists of 18 four and five year olds..They made a circle.....<br /><br />I then introduced the "Whoosh" Game and gave a demonstration "whooshing" to another teacher who imitated me. It was so lovely to watch how quickly they picked up the "whoosh" as we went around the circle so all could have the opportunity to experience the sound, activity, and fun of "whooshing". Before I knew it, we were "whooshing" each other with almost no teacher intervention. Even the kids who usually can't even stand still in a circle were eagerly waiting their turn to "whoose" with little intervention from either teachers or kids.<br /><br />I got excited mostly as they were so involved in this game and activity...I introduced the "Zip, Zap, Zop" Game. We began by going around in the circle and having the "zip,zap,zop" refrain correctly by learning it together. This was a bit challenging and we did complete the circle of children completing it collectively.<br /><br />However, once we started playing it...it proved to be a bit too complicaterd...however, in later days...could be easily taught. The children were happy to go back to playing the "Whoosh Game". <br /><br />Oh...the "behavior" that the teacher was reacting to before we began playing....well, it vanished as the children were engaged and being part of an activity that they were building...be it Whoosh! or Zip Zap Zop ....development is happening!<br /><br />(Will keep you posted as I continue to experiment in different environments and class rooms with Improv games...)<br /><br />Gayle Weintraub, M.S. Ed.<br />Special EducatorCarrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-88740062395139020722007-12-27T08:00:00.001-05:002010-03-15T22:21:14.359-05:00Carrie Lobman and Unscripted Learning in the News!Happy Holidays Everyone,<br /><br />I had a very exciting December. On Friday December 14th the New York affiliate of WABC Eyewitness News aired a <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/channel?section=news/education&id=5755291">segment on Improv and Teaching </a>featuring Unscripted Learning and the work of Allison Addison, one of the current Fellows in the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/DevelopingTeachersAnnouncement.htm">Developing Teachers Fellowship Program </a>at the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/">East Side Institute</a>.<br /><br />Reporter Art McFarland visited Addison’s classroom in P.S. 399 in East Flatbush Brooklyn and observed her third-graders playing improv games – a new twist to classroom teaching that is ”giving kids a sense of what’s possible.” The segment introduced my work as a teacher educator and co-author with Matt Lundquist of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unscripted-Learning-Improv-Activities-Curriculum/dp/0807747971/ref=sr_%5D%20">Unscripted Learning: Using Improv Activities Across the K-8 Curriculum</a>, and the Developing Teachers Fellowship Program that has brought improv into 30 schools across the tri-state area.<br /><br />My favorite quote was when I said, “Improv supports children to grow and develop. And when you’re excited about that, you can learn anything!"<br /><br />I hope you'll check out the clip at this link: <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/channel?section=news/education&id=5755291">Improv and Teaching on WABC</a> You will have to scroll through several of WABC's recent education stories.<br /><br />Have a Happy and Improvisational New Year.<br /><br />CarrieCarrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-85343032373148441992007-12-02T08:09:00.001-05:002007-12-02T08:52:06.215-05:00Using Performance as a Catalyst for Writing*I did this activity for teaching a writing technique, but I was thinking that it could be used for any content piece that involves something structured or formulaic (math, anyone)?!<br /><br />Game: Let's Be Clear, Dear!<br /><br />Level: Intermediate<br />Grade Level: 7th Grade and Up<br />Time Needed: 20 minutes and up<br />Materials: Colorful Sheets of paper (labeled, see below*)<br /><br />It is important to allow students to use their creativity and ingenuity to learn. I strongly believe that students can use these natural gifts to master content and learn important skills. <br /><br />Recently, I came up with an improvisational game based on the Yes-and game. The improvisational objective is to show students how to listen closely to others and to accept and build upon offers. The skill objective is to orally build a strong developmental paragraph. I wanted students to understand that every idea should link to the next in writing and speaking. <br /><br />The paragraph structure we have been working on is: Topic sentence ("TS), General Example ("GE"), Specific Detail ("SD"), Transition word/phrase ("TW"), General Example ("GE"), Specific Detail ("SD"), Transition word/phrase ("TW"), General Example ("GE"), Specific Detail ("SD"), ("Clincher Statement").<br /><br />Rules:<br /><br />First, a group of students should model how to play the game. The teacher hands out colorful sheets of construction paper to ten students. Each of the sheets should be labeled with one of the following elements of a strong paragraph (TS, GE, SD, TW, GE, SD, TW, GE, SD, CS).<br /><br />Students stand in front of the room and figure out the correct order of a developmental paragraph (TS, GE, SD, TW, GE, SD, TW, GE, SD, CS). Students stand in that order, holding their labeled sheets in front of them. The rest of the class offers help and feedback.<br /><br />Once in the correct order, students begin to create an improvisational paragraph. If a student makes a mistake or is having difficulty, he/she can ask for feedback. When the paragraph has been completed, students re-state each of their sentences. Students can ask questions, defend their position, etc. <br /><br />Once the activity has been modeled, all students can participate. I have tried circular formations and having students sit in their seats. The circle works better for groups that are just beginning to learn the game, and sitting in their seats is more of a challenge! I always recommend use of the labeled sheets (to help visual learners connect the offer to the type of sentence).<br /><br />Other writing instruction applications for this game: teaching elements of narrative, expository, persuasive, and DBQ essay writingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-61968823363778647152007-09-14T11:14:00.000-05:002007-09-14T11:29:53.057-05:00Performing the World Only One Month Away!Matthew and I will be presenting at a fabulous international conference called <a href="http://www.performingtheworld.org">Performing the World </a>on October 12-14 in Tarrytown, New York. Performing the World is a bi-annual three-day international gathering sponsored by the East Side Institute. It’s dedicated to advancing the global performance movement for social change. Presenters showcase projects using theatre, improv, music, storytelling and ritual – that are directed at issues of poverty, disease, and ethnic violence. They take back to their communities an international network of support, along with new tools and understandings that help them build, train, and go on. This year, the event will include dozens of wonderful presenters from Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, the US and Canada – including a group of police officers from Bahia, Brazil, who create dance performances as a way of opening up dialogue with a community fearful of the police. The co-conveners of the event are <a href="http://www.loisholzman.net/">Lois Holzman</a>, Dan Friedman, <a href="http://pubpages.unh.edu/~smcnamee/">Sheila McNamee</a>, and <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/frednewman.html">Fred Newman</a>. <br /><br />Building off of the success of Unscripted Learning, Matthew and I are doing a workshop titled “Hey I have an idea for a game” Creating Improv Activities that Support Learning and development where we will support participants to go beyond being consumers of improv activities and help people create their own activities using the material of their lives and work as the content. <br /><br />This is a not to be missed event for anyone interested in or looking for new and creative ways to address the lack of development around the world and for those who want to network with some of the most creative people in the world. <br /><br />Hope to see you there.Carrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-62390940056886072432007-06-04T17:23:00.001-05:002010-03-15T22:20:48.586-05:00Developmental Learning for All!As both Matthew and I have said before, one of the most important and least talked about educational discoveries in recent years is that much of the achievement gap between rich and poor kids can be attributed to the cultural experiences that middle and upper middle class kids get outside of school. This is clearly not a secret to upper-middle class and wealthy parents, as can be seen in Alison Cowan's article in the New York Times (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/03Rschool.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">Schools Deep Pocketed Partners</a>). This article discusses the role played by wealthy parents in school districts across the country who are forming private foundations to raise money to bring among other things theatre, sports, greenhouses, music, dance, mountain bikes etc into the schools in their towns.<br /><br /><a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807747971.shtml">Unscripted Learning </a>is our attempt to open that secret up to everyone, rich and poor, urban and suburban--real learning, developmental learning, requires that children be involved in and exposed to human creativity and culture. The well-off have always known this, but if we are to do anything about the achievement gap between rich and poor then we need to bring that kind of learning to all children. While the article discussed ways in which these foundations are working to serve all the children in their suburban districts--both the well off and the not quite so well off, our goal is to bring creativity into even the poorest school in the poorest district in the country.Carrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-49850088689303276702007-05-29T18:34:00.000-05:002007-05-30T15:53:04.863-05:00REMINDER Book Launch on June 9thJust a reminder that the launch of <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807747971.shtml">Unscripted Learning </a>is fast approaching! On Saturday June 9th at 11am Matthew and I will host a panel of teachers who have trained and the <a href="www.eastsideinstitute.org">East Side Institute </a>and in the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/DevelopingTeachersAnnouncement.htm">Developing Teachers Fellowship Program</a>. If you have ever felt depressed about schools in our city, come hear these amazing stories of creativity told by NYC public school teachers. Then...it will finally be time to buy your very own copy of the book and of course have it personally autographed by us. We hope to see you there!<br /><br />And then in the evening--come out for a night of truly hilarious improv comedy. Matthew will be joining the cast of <a href="http://www.castillo.org/production_tiyrl_2.html">This is Your Ridiculous Life</a> at the <a href="www.castillo.org">Castillo Theatre </a>at 543 42nd Street at 7pm with a second book signing to follow.Carrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-17964002406216720222007-05-26T13:29:00.001-05:002010-03-15T22:20:27.641-05:00A Playful Antidote to Standardized Test StressIn the past few years the release of New York City's standardized test scores has become a spring ritual for anyone with connections to children, teachers, schools, or politics (pretty much anyone). Each year there seems to be one grade level which everyone hails as a huge success and another whose scores evoke concern. This year, according to the <a href="http://nytimes.com/">New York Times </a>article by <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/david_m_herszenhorn/index.html?inline=nyt-per">David Herzenhorn </a>(<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/education/23schools.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin">New York Eighth Graders Show Gains in Reading</a>), its the Eighth Grade that has made significant gains and the third and fourth grades that showed decline. Last year, if I remember correctly, the opposite was true. One of the more disturbing aspects of this constant shifting of concern and pride is that it leads to an enormous amount of stress among teachers, parents and children.<br /><br />In writing <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807747971.shtml">Unscripted Learning </a>one of Matthew's and my goals was to create a book that could be used by teachers who worked within the real world of high stakes testing and its ever shifting priorities. While I believe that the assumptions behind standardized tests are about as undevelopmental as you can get, I think there are opportunities to create test taking performances that have the potential to be developmental for everyone involved. The best program I've ever seen that does this is called TeamPlay for Test Stress developed by Gwen Lowenheim and Stuart Sears. This program uses improvisation and team-building to help inner-city elementary school students and staff deal more productively with test anxiety and stress. The teachers and kids work together to come up with test taking performances and while obviously each child has to take their own test, the class approaches the test as a team and works hard to help everyone succeed. Its one of the best examples of creative teaching out there.Carrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-27385969178676285052007-05-15T20:15:00.000-05:002008-12-12T20:58:13.885-05:00Did you know there was a National Museum of Play?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHn1hpCish0G18zXvVuhAq-AVWzbfTuuQS6pJzZYAAeAA2AcbTzntr8hXXruoiABBGfz9z4QynOKxJlhnJwj69LVIhFKVQHN6_pQ_SPmsWKnORhzjosQeD-oyxkIgCPXCBIGckGQ1T-Sog/s1600-h/national_museum_of_play.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHn1hpCish0G18zXvVuhAq-AVWzbfTuuQS6pJzZYAAeAA2AcbTzntr8hXXruoiABBGfz9z4QynOKxJlhnJwj69LVIhFKVQHN6_pQ_SPmsWKnORhzjosQeD-oyxkIgCPXCBIGckGQ1T-Sog/s320/national_museum_of_play.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5066140212711282370" /></a><br />Well there is, and its in Rochester, NY. They even have a <a href="http://www.strongmuseum.org/exhibits/nthof.html">Toy Hall of Fame</a>. In it are such toys as the Slinky, Legos, Candyland, Lincoln Logs, and Mr. Potato Head. But, my favorite is that last year they inducted the Cardboard Box into the Hall of Fame. Very cool.<br /><br />I was at the museum because they co-sponsored a conference called "Play Matters", co-sponsored by <a href="http://www.csuchico.edu/kine/tasp/">The Association for the Study of Play </a>and the <a href="http://www.ipausa.org/">International Play Association</a>. Once again I did a presentation on the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/DevelopingTeachersBios.htm">Developing Teachers Fellowship Program</a> and the use of improv in the classroom. The audience was made up of other play researchers, teachers, social workers, and playworkers (apparently a career in the United Kingdom). I had the luxury of having over an hour for my session so in addition to presenting on the methodology of the program and the work of the Fellows in their classrooms, we played several games from Unscripted Learning. We played several rounds of Yes, and and went on an Emotional Bus ride. One of the participants said that she had been feeling a little depressed at the conference until she heard about the work of the teachers. <br /><br />I attended a couple of really interesting sessions. One of them was organized by <a href="http://elgg.net/anamshane/weblog/">Ana Marjanovic Shane</a> and <a href="http://communication.ucsd.edu/people/g_ferholt.html">Beth Ferholt</a>. Beth was discussing the Playworld project that she is studying. I've been a big fan of this program for several years now and try to hear <a href="http://communication.ucsd.edu/people/g_ferholt.html">Beth</a> talk about it whenever I can. Playworlds is an international project for early childhood classrooms where the teachers take books and bring them to life in the classroom. For example, in <a href="http://communication.ucsd.edu/people/g_ferholt.html">Beth's</a> case the teacher and researchers brought the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to life in a first grade classroom on an army base in San Diego. Its amazing work that allows the children to improvise with the script of the books, but also creates an incredibly intimate environment between teachers and children. Ana showed a film from arts based camps for refugee children during the war in the former Yugoslavia. The films are wonderful and I have been encouraging Ana to get the out to more places. Finally, I attended a session led by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-1919806-8535249?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Fraser%20Brown">Fraser Brown</a> who does playwork with Romanian orphans. Again, if you can every get a chance to hear him speak--do so. It is truly inspiring work.Carrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-65843610477988287282007-05-15T17:09:00.000-05:002007-05-26T20:40:10.142-05:00Performing New Classroom Conversations While Creating a PlayIn late March I visited one of the <a href="http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/DevelopingTeachersBios.htm">Developing Teachers Fellows</a> and her 2nd grade class in Brooklyn. This is a very energetic class – many of the students are full of life, song, dance, and humor – and struggle with being able to sit still and do school work for any length of time. As is the often the case, the teacher is required to keep them in their seats doing work for many hours at a time. After a few minutes of doing school work, there can be a lot of bickering, fooling around and sometimes punching over almost anything.<br /><br />We had been working/playing together for a few months when the teacher and I decided to create a play with the class. They love performing, and as I mentioned are quite artistic. So we thought that they’d be motivated to create a play – to do the writing, scenery and music. We decided to organize them into small work groups, each one responsible for a component of the play. We spoke to them about the importance of building those work groups for the success of the play.<br /><br />In the last few visits we led a variety of improv games (Yes/And stories, spectrum games, the Emotional Bus) in which students got to perform themselves. So prior to this session, we looked at all of the material we got from them and came up with an overall framework. The name of our play is “The Amazing Changing Child.” Children will travel in the Emotional Bus from scene to scene – scenes they’d previously performed for us, like: cleaning their room, being yelled at by a parent, someone calling them a name. Each time the bus travels to a new scene, a different student will play “the amazing changing child” (s/he will always have the same name, wear the same costume). The child is amazing because s/he can change emotions on the spot – and s/he rehearses and tries on whatever emotion is needed for the next scene as s/he is traveling on the bus.<br /><br />On that day in late March we broke the class up into small groups with the Jig Saw framework in mind:<br />Writers Group: At first we asked the writers to write dialogue for some of the scenes, but that was too difficult for them, and they began fighting amongst themselves. So we came up with something we thought they could be successful at: making up superpowers for each new emotion the Amazing Changing Child will perform. With this task they began busily writing and illustrating a superpower for each scene. For example, one superpower is the ability to freeze people and make them forget what they were doing. We’re going to use that for a scene where a family is fighting and the Amazing Changing Child wants them to stop.<br /><br />Theme Song Group: Two girls and one boy are writing a theme rap for the show. Their first time together they did a great job and performed a rap about friendship for the class.<br /><br />Scenery Group: Children drew pictures of various scenes on their own. A few of them drew pictures of a girl cleaning her room. The teacher and I spoke after the class about wanting to see if they could also draw one picture together, and then we realized we needed them to create the Emotional Bus. A prop! A couple of kids can draw the front of the bus on very big paper; a couple draw the middle, and so on. We’ll create a conversation with them about how to accomplish this artistic feat.<br /><br /><BIG>Interesting conversations</BIG><br /><br />One girl, T, is always complaining about things. She pouts, pushes people, instigates conflicts. Does it seemingly indiscriminately. At one point, the teacher and I were sitting next to each other, right near T, and T was angry, pushing, etc. The teacher began telling her to stop, but instead broke with the old script and said, “Wow! I just saw you in such a different way. You are great at this pouter performance! You are a great pouter! Unbelievable. We should see if we can use this! Maybe you can play a pouter in the play! (T is looking at her, stunned). Let me see you do your pouting performance.” T starts smiling, looking embarrassed and kind of joyful. She makes the pouting face, can’t do it, starts smiling and laughing a little, tries pouting again, and does it really well.<br />“Excellent,” said the theacher. We’ve got to figure out how to use that!<br />The Developing Teacher was excited about both T’s new performance, as well as her own: the performance of seeing performance!<br /><br />One boy in the Scenery Group, JQ, kept getting into fights with other kids. He loves drawing and he’s good at it, but also loves fighting (which he does often in the class). I was speaking to another child when he approached me and insisted that we speak right then. I performed as a director and told him I was working with a script writer at the time. He whined, kicked at things and insisted we speak. I exaggeratedly told him that directors were important people, that people wait in line for days to see the director and suggested he have a seat. He did! I got into a few other conversations before I got back to him, and there he was, patiently waiting.<br />He said that kids in the group were making fun of him and he wanted to move to another group. He didn’t want to try to do anything about what was going on there. He wanted to go into the Song Writing Group. I told him that being in that group would place a lot of demands on him, they’re working hard on writing the song and he’d need to help them do that. What did he think about that? He said he wanted to do it. I said I thought he could do it, but it would be hard work. Did he want to take on that hard work? He said yes. I said, let’s try it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-85207015748129237882007-05-07T15:06:00.000-05:002007-05-17T22:08:41.342-05:00Team Building in a Brownsville, Brooklyn ClassroomOne of the classes I work with is a self-contained Special Education class that has second and third grade students. The teacher, paraprofessionals, students and I have used Improv and Performance activities to create a community of acceptance, collaboration, and productivity throughout this school year. This has been a challenging process since all of the students in this classroom were placed in Special Education classes since they were five years old. They have experienced failure, low expectations and a continued acceptance of their negative and anti-social behaviors.<br /><br />When I started working with this class, I introduced myself as their teacher’s coach and asked them if they would be willing to work as a team to help their teacher learn some new and different ways of working with them. The class enthusiastically agreed to assist me. We engaged in Improv activities and theatrical performances that allowed them to create a space where they can experience new ways of being a team.<br /><br />During our April session, a parent came to the classroom to observe her son who had been newly admitted. When she arrived, her son was being coached by the other students in our warm-up game of Whoosh. The other students helped him learn the game and encouraged him to “keep playing” whenever he made a mistake. They told him that “his job as a team member is to keep going so that their teacher can learn how to work with them better”. We started to act out some Improv scenes when the parent entered the room. The setting of one of the scenes was in the school playground where one student helps another student find their way home. The teacher, paraprofessionals, and I all took parts in the scenes with the students while the parent observed. The parent then asked if she could join in one of the scenes with one of the students. I cautiously said yes, because I was concerned that she would try to take over the scene. What occurred next was impressive and encouraging. The student took the parent’s hand and instructed her where to stand off stage and how to wait until they were announced to come on stage. The parent followed the student’s lead throughout the scene and they created a beautiful “Yes, And” story together which included the parent giving a convincing performance of crying because she was lost and the student telling her that she would be her friend and help her get home. We all clapped enthusiastically at the end of the scene.<br /><br />The parent stayed for the entire class and joined the other activities that we played during that period. She then stated that she had never seen her son so engaged in class work and thanked me for letting her join us. According to this parent our work should be a mandated part of all school curriculums.<br /><br />I believe that the students and teachers in this school would agree with her. I know that I do!D. Nursehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02679209979016761844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-6708341629776566862007-05-07T14:27:00.000-05:002007-05-17T22:09:43.771-05:00"Riding the Bus" Improv GameI had not planned to introduce the improve game “The Emotional Bus” game on the day or at the time that I did, but after a discussion about feelings during morning meeting one day, it seemed like the perfect time to introduce it in my first grade class! In “The Emotional Bus” game, several students perform different emotions as they enter a bus and interact with a bus driver who also performs an emotion. The tricky part is that each person who is on the bus must take on the emotion of the person entering the bus. For example, if the bus driver is happy and then someone sad gets on, the bus driver and the person entering the bus both perform the emotion of sadness and so forth. <br /><br />What I had anticipated, or rather feared, was that the students would all want a turn on the bus and we might never get to play the game. A short reminder discussion about the importance of both the performers and audience, with a promise that all children would have a turn to “ride the bus” at some point, enabled us to play,. The children had a blast. Performers were so fun acting out their emotion. They also did really well remembering to perform each other’s emotions. The audience was spectacular, giving emotion ideas and listening and watching attentively. This game is such a great hit with our class and is a new favorite!J McLaughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03673592557648418769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059657184040892178.post-30693798572152672782007-04-19T16:15:00.000-05:002007-05-08T14:02:01.324-05:00Presentation at American Educational Research AssociationI just returned from attending and presenting at the Annual Meeting of the <a href="http://www.aera.net/">American Educational Research Association</a> in Chicago. There were over 12,000 people in attendance. I atttended some wonderful sessions organized by the Arts and Learning group--all of which were a refreshing addition to a conference that is overly focused on seeing learning as purely the acquisition of knowledge and skills.<br /><br />My presentation was part of a symposium organized by <a href="http://www.uic.edu/educ/college/faculty/biopages/GONCU.HTM">Artin Goncu</a> on <em>The Role of Pretend and Improvisation in the Development of Children and Adults</em>. The other two presentations were by Tony Perone a Chicago based scholar, ESL teacher, and improv comedian, and <a href="http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~ksawyer/">Keith Sawyer</a>, author of several books on improvisation and creativity. Sawyer has also written a wonderful forward to Unscripted Learning.<br /><br />Together the three of us engaged the audience around the importance of play and playfulness for all people--whether they be professional performers, young children, or teachers!Carrie Lobmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02180831812406136476noreply@blogger.com0