improvisation and imagination notes

Input Lesson #3: Improvisation and Imagination

Why improvise?
•

•

When we improvise we get something from nothing. YATCB is based on this principle –
production, e.g. Obviousness, Sentence Building, PPRR (where the aim is to produce stories
and situations; to get something out of the bare minimum of a few people connected with a
certain topic), Mode 1 text production, etc. When you produce you need to invent and create
from simple prompts, so improvisation skills are useful
So it matches important YATCB principles:
o
o
o
o

•

•
•
•

•
•

Your ideas
You are engaged
Students work together in pairs and groups, not individually. No individual
“brain > content” time

Teacher is a guide. No top-down teaching. Elicit don’t tell

It’s preferable to using a course book in class – we can exercise our imaginations; thinking,
not reading somebody else’s work. In the classroom the teacher can guide; for reading you
don’t need a teacher – you can do this at home. Reading a book requires far less imagination
than producing a text (spoken or written); we learn more by doing
Training in positive useful areas, e.g. using higher-level words instead of basic words (see C,
below)
Exercising your imagination helps you to remember more – cf. memorable lessons from last
year, e.g. Abdulrahman is Prime Minister of the Moon [p.32], and so on
It helps you to develop your English language skills by practising – with the teacher on hand
to guide you. You can increase your fluency – the aim here is to keep talking – production and
fluency. To practise what you know; to speak continuously. To be able to describe basic
things fluently, e.g. what is a table?
Increasing speed in improvisation increases fluency and speeds up our lessons, meaning we
can do more
It’s fun!

How can we improvise?
•
•

Say yes! Be open – accept – don’t block. Take another person’s idea and modify/develop it,
not dismiss it
Practise often; the more you practise something the easier it becomes and the better you get

Activities to try:
•
•
•

What am I? (yes/no answers only)
Group sentence/story: word by word, then sentence by sentence
Let’s… Yes, and then let’s… Good idea, and then let’s… (suggestion-acceptance-suggestion
1
improvisation)

1

Salinsky, Tom, and Frances-White, Deborah. The Improv Handbook. London: Continuum International
Publishing Group, 2008. Paperback. p.59

380


•

•
•
•

•
•

What’s Just Happened? – improvisation game (see cards below and on p.385). Walk into a
room in a particular state and we have to guess what’s happened (present perfect focus) –
then use Y/N only! Improvise the backstory – what happened? SS ask questions of whoever
has just walked into the room. Variation: “I’ve just made an important decision to…” (has
strong objective). Put together pairs (e.g. with opposing objectives) and let them have a
conversation. (See A, below, for more situations.)

won the lottery

damaged my car

fallen in love

been in a fight

met a famous person

eaten too much

passed an important exam

heard some bad news

bought a new book

dropped my phone in the toilet

been on TV

been turned down for a job

seen a UFO

lost one hundred Złoty

had a tattoo

been bitten by a dog

had plastic surgery

had an argument

been to a birthday party

watched a really boring film

You’ve got a secret: one person goes out; we think of a secret for them; when they return,
they have to guess it by asking questions; others give clues
Somebody describes a scene (improvising) – the other draws it (then blindfolded)
Describe the appearance of something in detail from memory, e.g. a place, a room in your
house, your car, a person, etc.; then others can ask questions and introduce fictional details,
which the person has to accept, e.g. “You’ve got a green lamp on the table, haven’t you?”
“Er, yes I have!” Variation: describe an everyday activity in great detail, e.g. tying your
shoelaces, or doing the washing up
Tell a funny story while keeping a straight face. If you laugh, it’s somebody else’s turn.
One person improvises and dictates a story, which the others must act out

381


Also try, if time:
•
•
•
•

•

The original Alien Game (see p.261)
Identities game – post-it notes on foreheads: who am I?
Practise reading a dialogue in different moods, then continue the conversation
Dubbing a film (with the sound turned down) with new dialogue
Story Arc (see B, below)

A: What’s Just Happened?
States (on cut-up pieces of paper): I’ve just…
Positive :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.

20.

Negative:

won the lottery
fallen in love
met a famous person
met a famous person from history
bought something very expensive
bought an exotic pet
passed an important exam
passed my driving test
arrived home after an amazing trip
got back from the seaside
bought some new clothes
seen myself on TV
won an important match
written a song
seen a UFO
been playing sport
had a tattoo
had plastic surgery
been jogging
been to a birthday party

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

crashed my car
been in a fight
got back from a war
eaten too much
heard some bad news
been to a funeral
dropped my phone down the toilet
walked into a lamp post
stolen something
fallen over in public
lost a 100 zł note
been sunbathing for too long
been bitten by a dog
had a row with my partner

upset somebody
been told I’ve got two months to live
watched a really boring film
had a loan application rejected
been turned down for a job
made a fool of myself

B: Story Arc 2:
Students have to complete each line (in turn) to complete the story arc:
-

Once upon a time there was…
And every day…
Until one day…
And because of that… (repeat as necessary)
Until finally…
And ever since then…

C: Basic Words vs. Higher-Level Words:
SS have to match basic and higher-level words in these sets of synonyms (activity for Stage 2.3 Mode
1 and also Mode 3 Sentence Building – Improvements). SS usually tend to reach for basic words in

The Improv Handbook. p.400. See also: McWaters, V (2010). Using the Story Spine. Slideshare.net.
Retrieved May 7th 2013, from />2

382


production, rather than being more ambitious, and this has to be corrected in the Improvements
stage. They should try to be more imaginative from the outset = save time and get through more!

BASIC:

HIGHER-LEVEL:

BASIC:

HIGHER-LEVEL:

house

residence

woman

Mrs Parker

dog

mutt

hello

hiya

red

scarlet

car

Ford Fiesta

bag

rucksack

phone

iPhone

shop

greengrocer’s

restaurant

Tawerna

Now SS have to write a higher-level (more interesting/specific) word or phrase for each of these basic
words:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

ball
mountain
chair

boat
ice-cream

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

383

cup
engineer
forest
spaghetti
friend