The Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom Using Improvisation to Teach Skills and Boost Learning

by McKnight, Katherine S.; Scruggs, Mary

• ISBN13: 9780787996505
• ISBN10: 0787996505
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-09
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

Most people know The Second City as an innovative school for improvisation that has turned out leading talents such as Alan Arkin, Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert, and Tina Fey. This groundbreaking company has also trained thousands of educators and students through its Improvisation for Creative Pedagogy program, which uses improv exercises to teach a wide variety of content areas, and boost skills that are crucial for student learning: listening, teamwork, communication, idea-generation, vocabulary, and more.

Author Biography

Katherine S. McKnight, Ph.D., associate professor at National-Louis University and an onsite consultant for the National Council of Teachers of English, is coauthor of Teaching Writing in the Inclusive Classroom and Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom.

Mary Scruggs is an actress, director, playwright, and educator. She is currently the head of writing and education programs for The Second City Training Center in Chicago.

Table of Contents

About This Book	p. v
About The Authors	p. vi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
It Begins with Play	p. 1
Montessori's Connection Between Play and Learning	p. 2
Spolin's Connection Between Play and Learning	p. 2
What Has Happened to Play?	p. 4
Why Improvisation Works in the Classroom	p. 5
The Second City Connection	p. 6
Overview of the Book	p. 7
Improvisation as a Pedagogical Tool for Engaged Learning	p. 11
Connections Between Improvisation and Authentic, Engaging Teaching and Learning Experiences	p. 12
Teaching and Learning Experiences	p. 15
Improvisation for Engaged Teaching and Learning in the Diverse and Inclusive Classroom	p. 17
The Brain Connection	p. 19
Building a Community for Engaged Teaching and Learning	p. 22
Literacy Learning and Improvisation	p. 27
Potential Impact on Literacy Skill Development	p. 28
Improvisation and Reading Links	p. 28
Improvisation and Writing Links	p. 33
Improvisation Links to Speaking and Listening	p. 36
Some Concluding Thoughts	p. 38
Explanation of Improvisation Exercises	p. 41
Getting Started	p. 41
Time for Improvisation	p. 42
Classroom Management	p. 44
Sidecoaching and Reflection	p. 46
Improvisation Games	p. 48
Ad Game	p. 48
Alphabet	p. 50
Beginning, Middle, End	p. 53
Bippity, Bippity, Bop	p. 56
Bus Trip	p. 58
Conducted Story	p. 61
Deck of Cards	p. 63
Dr. Know-It-All	p. 64
Gibberish	p. 67
Give and Take	p. 70
Half-Life	p. 73
Mirror	p. 74
Object Work	p. 76
One-Word Story	p. 79
Panel of Experts	p. 82
Parts of a Whole	p. 84
Pass the Clap	p. 87
Slide Show	p. 89
Space Walk	p. 91
String of Pearls	p. 94
Take That Back	p. 98
Throwing Light	p. 100
Who Started the Motion?	p. 102
Zip Zap Zop	p. 103
Skills and Teaching	p. 105
Lesson: Lights, Camera ... Re-Action!	p. 106
Alphabet Book	p. 111
Story Generation Using Beginning, Middle, and End	p. 114
Conducting an American Revolution Review	p. 118
Speaking in Songs	p. 121
Becoming Characters	p. 129
Math Gibberish Translator	p. 131
Building a Relationship	p. 133
Geometric Object Work	p. 136
One-Word Story, a Many-Word Story	p. 139
Physicalizing Cell Structure	p. 142
"Ten Days in a Madhouse" Human Slide Show	p. 144
Geometry Walk	p. 151
Painting Visualization	p. 154
String of Ideas	p. 157
Tableau Activity for Analytic Geometry	p. 160
Picture Book Tableau	p. 165
In-Class Field Trip-Using Tableaux to Explore the Role of Perception in Communication	p. 167
Throwing Math Light	p. 170
Engaging Students in Learning	p. 173
Authentic and Engaged Learning	p. 174
The Literacy Connection	p. 175
Some Final Thoughts	p. 175
Index	p. 177
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