Amelia Wills

Grade 8 Drama January 20, 2019

Improv Lesson
UC: John Paulson

Stage 1: Desired Results

General GLO #2
Learning To develop competency in communication skills through participation in and exploration of various dramatic
Outcome(s) disciplines.
Specific
Learning #13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25
Outcome(s)
Learning 1. Students will be able to accept and offer ideas through an improv scene
Objective(s) 2. Students will begin to develop characters through emotions and attitudes

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence

• Students will successfully be able
to participate in a “Hitchhiker • Observe student participation in activities
Summative Formative
Scene.” (Beginning of character and group/partner discussions
Assessment development and accepting and Assessment
offering ideas) Mastery= 10/10

Stage 3: Learning Experience

Tech
• N/A Resources Chairs
to Do
Time: 45 minutes Content/Description Notes
Introduction
• Group Check-in
• Go over objective and today’s agenda
5 minutes
• Introduce concept of “improv”
• Group discussion on what Improv is

Blocking, Wimping & Accepting

• Talk about concepts of blocking and accepting
• In partners have students try blocking each other (saying no to
each other’s ideas.)
• Have students then discuss why blocking doesn’t work in improv
13 minutes
• Have students try scenes where they wimp on ideas.
• Discuss whether this changed anything from blocking
• Have students then try scenes where they accept each other’s
ideas (say yes)
Discuss in partners how this changes the scene
Yes Let’s!
• Have students start walking around the classroom and call out
6 minutes ideas, and students must say “yes let’s!” and do the activity
• After a couple ideas from the teacher, give each student a chance
to offer up and idea for the class to say, “yes let’s!” to.

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Amelia Wills
Grade 8 Drama January 20, 2019
Improv Lesson
UC: John Paulson

Creating Characters from Colours

• Have students lay on the ground
• The teacher will name a colour such as “Red”
• Prompt students to think about what kind of character they think
of when they hear this color. Such as what kind of emotion does
6 minutes that colour make you feel (red could mean anger romance, etc.).
Have students think about how that colour would walk.
• Have students stand up and try and characterize that colour
• What noise does that colour make?
• How would that colour interact with other people? (Interact with
other students)
Hitchhiker Scenes
• Break students up into groups of 5. Each group needs to grab 4
chairs and set them up to create a “car”
• Before each player comes on stage they have to think of an
“attitude” for their character such as scared, hyper, angry,
depressed
• The first player comes on stage and they are the driver. Once the
10 minutes
scene has begun, each player comes on stage one at a time as a
hitchhiker portraying their chosen attitude.
• When a new hitchhiker enters the vehicle the characters in the
vehicle slowly assume that characters attitude. Once the car is
full, the driver has to find a way/motivation to exit the vehicle
and the first hitchhiker then takes the role of the driver and then
scene goes until everyone has had a turn coming in as a hitchhiker
Closing
• Have students come sit in a circle
• Have students turn to elbow partner and answer questions
5 minutes - How did thinking of a colour help you come up with
character ideas?
- Why was accepting other people’s ideas important in the
hitchhiker exercise?

Differentiation

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