Short Activities The activities I am going to share with you in the next two blogs are ones that I used in my classroom and found successful. Two listed below use large groups. I liked to start with these because it was less threatening and began the all-important theatre ‘must’—teamwork. However, for my more advanced students I used the solo activities. My next blog will include 2 large group activities. Before we started any activity, I insisted my students follow these simple rules: -No breaking character -No saying ”I can’t” but rather “I’ll try” -There is no right or wrong way to create any of the activities as long as you follow the techniques I have explained. Most Deaths In A Minute Select 12 students and have them stand in a line against the chalkboard or in front of the class. Then have them separate into two teams. Chose 2 students from the audience as counters. The teams compete for the greatest number of deaths (be creative) they can act out in one minute. No repeats. Academy Award Game Students come forward one at a time to give a brief acceptance speech. Students must say at least two sentences, thank at least three people, and mention the title of the film/play they received the award for. Name Cheer This is a great homework assignment. The individual student is to create a cheer with their first name. They are to do one motion or action with each letter of their name. If you think this might be too much to do early on in the semester, have them do only one motion or action with their name. You could also add an alliterative adjective with the movement/action such as ‘Sorrowful Sue’ or ‘Chatty Cathy.’ Family Portraits Divide your class into two or three groups, depending on the number of students in the class. One group goes center stage and creates a ‘family portrait’ based on a type of family you announce. Give them 10 seconds to move about, say ‘freeze’ and announce the family. The actors must then freeze in their portrait position. When you call change, the first groups leave the stage and the second group enters and creates their family portrait. You could also put these on a 3X5 card and let the groups work separately and then freeze their picture and have the audience guess what family they are. Examples: -A family of accountants -A family of weightlifters -A family of fish -A family of bears -A family of clowns -A family of dogs/cats -A family of ballet dancers -A family of cooks -A family of football/basketball/soccer/tennis players | 
