Languages in motion

Improv theater strategies for tomorrow’s communicators

*Presentation created with the support of AI.

The artist

The inquirer

The teacher

The language lover

Why am I here…

From my glory times…

LO: explore how simple, low-stakes improv activities can enhance communication, empathy, and confidence in the language classroom while reinforcing IB learner profile attributes.

Warm-up/Energizers

01

Connection & Regulation

02

Association & Flow

03

Co-creation & Reflection

04

Categories of games/activities

Warm-up/Energizer

01

Activity: "Zip Zap Zop" → BALANCED

Time: 5 minutes

How it works:

• Circle formation
• Pass energy: Point + "Zip" → next person "Zap" → next "Zop"
• Pattern repeats continuously
• Speed increases gradually

Language Adaptation: Replace Zip-Zap-Zop with:

• Verb conjugations: "I go / You go / She goes"
• Question words: "Who / What / Where"
• Vocabulary set: "Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday"

Activity debrief (2 min):

• How did this feel physically and mentally?
• What language patterns could you practice this way?

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Connection & Regulation

02

Activity: "Walking in the space" → OPEN-MINDED

Time: 5 minutes

How it works:

• Move silently in space; respond to teacher prompts(e.g., “Walk slowly… stop… greet someone…”)

Language adaptation/target:

• Imperatives, greetings, emotional states.
• Location set-ups (a house, a school)
• Imperatives with obstacles (e.g. “Jump, run, go under”)

Activity debrief (2 min):

• How did this feel physically and mentally?
• What language patterns could you practice this way?

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Activity: "Presents" → OPEN-MINDED & CARING

Time: 5 minutes

How it works:

• Mime giving an imaginary gift; receiver reacts and names it. (“Tiens, c’est pour toi!” / “Oh merci, j’adore ça!”)

Language adaptation/target:

• Expressing gratitude, surprise, preferences.
• Justifying unexpected gifts(I love this [name it], because…./I needed this [name it], because)
• Preload with phrase bank

Activity debrief (2 min):

• How did accepting any gift feel?
• How does this build classroom community?

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Association & Flow

03

Activity: "Free association" → INQUIRER & THINKER

Time: 5 minutes

How it works:

• Circle formation
• Teacher says a starting word (e.g., "summer")
• Next person says the FIRST word that comes to mind (no thinking, pure spontaneity). Next person responds to THAT word, not the original
• Continue around circle—speed increases

Language adaptation/target:

• Vocabulary activation
• Semantic associations: making word connections and relationships
• Listening: tracking only the most recent word
• Comprehensible input: high-frequency vocabulary in natural associations
• Add constraints (e.g. : only adjectives/verbs or reverse)

Activity debrief (2 min)

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Activity: "Mind Melt" → THINKER & BALANCED

Time: 5 minutes

How it works:

• Circle formation
• Teacher says a starting word (e.g., "summer")
• Two players say a word simultaneously finding a connecting word, by first raising their hand to announce they have a connection. On 1, 2, 3 they say the word together.
• The chain of connections continue until two player say the same word.

Language adaptation/target:

• Vocabulary activation
• Semantic associations
• Listening: tracking only the most recent word
• Comprehensible input: high-frequency vocabulary in natural associations

Activity debrief (2 min)

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Activity: "I am a tree" → PRINCIPLED & COMMUNICATOR

Time: 5 minutes

How it works:

• Player A steps to center, strikes a pose, and says their identity (e.g., "I am a tree")
• Player B enters, takes position connected to A, and states their role (e.g., "I am the wind")
• Player C enters, completes the scene, and declares their identity (e.g., "I am roots")
• Player A exits, taking one other player with them. The remaining player (C) repeats their exact line and holds their pose
• Two new players enter and build a completely NEW scene around C
• The cycle continues—same words, different meanings each time

Language adaptation/target:

• Identity statements: “I am”
• Contextual vocabulary associations: making connections
• Listening through gestures
• Communicate authentically
• Provide sentence frames for advanced learners: I am…and I am taking with me the…., because……

Activity debrief (2 min)

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Co-creation & Reflection

04

Activity: "Story spine" → KNOWLEDGEABLE & REFLECTIVE

Time: 10 minutes

How it works:

• Teacher provides the story spine framework
• Players stand in line and follow the spine structure, taking turns to fill in the blanks
• Story Spine structure : "Once upon a time, there was..."/"Every day, [character] would..."/"But one day..."/"Because of that..."/"Because of that..."/"Until finally..."/"And ever since that day..."/"The moral of the story is..."
• Each player takes one line and completes it
• Story naturally unfolds through the structure

Language adaptation/target:

• Narrative structure: understanding beginning, middle, end, and resolution
• Temporal language: sequencing with "every day," "one day," "finally," "since that day"
• Causal relationships: connecting events with "because of that"
• Vocabulary: rich language within a predictable frame
• Comprehensible input: content revision/stories read in class

Activity debrief (2 min)

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Activity: "One word at a time" → COMMUNICATORS & RISK-TAKERS

Time: 7 minutes

How it works:

• Circle formation
• Teacher give the title of the story and one player starts with first word (e.g., "Once")
• Next person adds exactly ONE word
• Continue around circle, each person adding one word
• Build complete sentences this way
• Say "period" to end a sentence, or continue building

Language adaptation/target:

• Grammar: sentence structure and syntax
• Listening: track entire sentence to add appropriately
• Vocabulary: collaborative word choice in real-time
• Cohesion: creating logical narrative flow

Activity debrief (2 min)

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Recommendations

• https://improvencyclopedia.org/
• https://improwiki.com/en
• Viola Spolin, Improvisation for the Theater, 1963
• Viola Spolin, Theater games for the classroom, 1986

Thanks!

constandachea@verdala.org

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