The Weirdest Dream Game Show!

DAY 1 & 2
DISCUSS PUBLIC SPEAKING:  Who uses it?   When?  Is it always for a big group or sometimes smaller groups?  In what situations? Do speakers want to be effective at it?    Is speaking in front of a classroom an example of public speaking?  How about the School News Show?  A principal speaking in front of the students? If you were a contestant on a GAME SHOW...would that be "public speaking?"   [ all answers  are YES, & teacher can explain WHY, if necessary.]

WHAT IS A MONOLOGUE?  a  "speech" in which an actor directly addresses an audience and speaks his/her thoughts. 
"Later in this unit, you will be writing and performing a short MONOLOGUE."

[Watch videos about facial expressions, gestures, & public speaking]

PRACTICE TONGUE TWISTERS SLOWLY AS A CLASS, then a little faster.  Practice speaking a little louder than normal.  

NOW!   A CLASS DISCUSSION ABOUT GAMESHOWS:
-how to keep the audience's attention with interesting actions, speech, music, etc.
-what kinds of colorful costumes, or set decorations? 
-what types of prizes can be offered?
-how is the studio audience involved, besides clapping? 

WE ARE GOING TO WRITE AND PERFORM OUR OWN GAME SHOW!   Since it's our first one, it'll just be for us, but it's going to be fun, and we'll learn a LOT about public speaking and how to write  TANTALIZING stories!!

THE WEIRDEST DREAM GAMESHOW is what our show will be called.  
Haven't we all had WEIRD  dreams?  [short snippet examples from students, ALWAYS APPROPRIATE] In our dreams, we might see, hear, even smell or taste things that DON'T MAKE SENSE, and wouldn't happen in real life.     Scientists have many ideas about what the brain is doing while we're asleep, & why these dream images seem so strange and nonsensical.   
BEFORE WE ACTUALLY WRITE OUR GAME SHOW, we have to do some actor/writer/ speaker preparation.   This will be several "sensory experiments."

DAY 3:

SENSORY EXPLORATION  (as preparation for imaginative thinking & creative writing): 

 Name things people SEE, HEAR, TOUCH, TASTE, SMELL...These are THE 5 SENSES... and 
SENSORY INPUT is the only way humans animals, receive information about their surroundings.
Today, as "contestants in training" for the game show,  we will begin by experiencing lots of SENSORY INPUT.  

[turn off lights]
1. We're going to have a HEARING sensory experiment. Close your eyes.  DO NOT SAY WHAT IS MAKING THE SOUNDS, EVEN IF YOU KNOW!  [Stand behind students to make sounds,5 different ones, with some quiet space in between.] 
[turn on lights]  Open your eyes.   What did I use to make sound # 1? [etc., 1-5]  write the sound on the smartboard.   "Let's take it a step further...If we were making a movie, what could # 1 remind you of, & maybe be used as a sound effect about something  happening in the movie?"  [Use this process for # 1-5]

2. We're going to have a TOUCH sensory experiment.  DO NOT OPEN YOUR EYES!
 Be sure to use lots of different textured items: soft, furry, spikey [like pine cone], hard/flat,[dried sponge] squishy [like play dough], MIX IT UP! [ Gather  things around your house or classroom ahead of time]
                                                                
-Seat a group around a table, ask them to close their eyes ...
-Of course, they'll REACT to the touch test with giggles or sounds, but they  MAY NOT SAY  WHAT THEY THINK THEY'RE TOUCHING !! [Spoils the fun!]
- Pass around the different items and let each student have time to touch them, enjoy, and react!
- When the TOUCH TEST IS OVER,  hold up each item; write multiple adjectives for each item, on a chart 

3.  REPEAT BASIC PROCESS WITH SMELL TEST.  smells vinegar, cinnamon, lavender, a stalk of the rosemary bush, etc. ... do not let smells touch a student's nose or skin. If someone has allergies, make sure you know!  Ask students before starting!

4. TASTE DISCUSSION: We can't do taste tests because of possible allergies, but name some of your favorite tastes... let's go in "taste groups..."   BITTER? SALTY? SWEET? SAVORY?[ Students name FAVORITE   &   NON-FAVORITE FOODS foods as answers  [Remember:   Don't YUK on someone else's YUM!! In other words, don't make rude comments about someone else's favorite foods. Be polite.  We all like a variety of things, & our families eat lots of different foods from different countries.]

5.SIGHT ACTIVITY:  [ Stand in a  big circle for this or else have small groups take turns in front of the rest of the class.]     This is an activity for actors, and it will help us with our GAMESHOW.  We have to pretend that we are seeing/hearing/ smelling/ touching/tasting different things...& then react with your facial expressions, also hand and body gestures...but your acting will be SILENT! .Without moving out of your place in the circle or touching someone else, pretend you are seeing:  *your best friend coming to the finish line of the Olympics mile run in 1st place...* YOUR NEW PUPPY COMING UP TO YOU AND LICKING YOUR FACE AS YOU PET HIM...*you've just stepped off an airplane in the middle of a moon-like crater desert....& it's freezing cold!" ...*ETC  [ make up  your own, and  ask students for ideas!]  

DAY 4:

1. Fill out the SENSORY WORKSHEET
1.  Hold up & explain the worksheet, or DRAW LARGE COPY on the board.
2.  "We're NOT making up the dream yet; just randomly fill in the blanks on the worksheet."
3.  BEFORE WE START:   Let's make a list of BORING adjectives [write students' offerings on board].... these MAY NOT BE USED...such as BIG, GREAT, COOL, etc.    If you want to say how big something is, compare it to something else ..not just BIG, but THE SIZE OF AN ARMY TANK, or a MOUNTAIN, or as wide as THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.  
Be specific with colors, smells, tastes, sights, sounds....just like we were in the sensory tests.
4.  FILL IN ALL SENSORY BLANKS FIRST....do NOT fill in the NOUN blank in the middle yet...and don't try to make all the sensory answers relate to each other, such as the sight, sound, smell, etc....all being from a basketball game.    They may not all be connected....think RANDOM! 
5.  [Students fill in blanks.]
6.   Now, choose a NOUN to place in the center blank.    It SHOULD NOT RELATE to anything in your sensory blanks. [This will help make a "weird" dream, once we start writing.]1.  Hold up & explain the explain the worksheet, or DRAW LARGE COPY on the board.

[continuing on day 4]  FILL OUT YOUR WEIRDEST DREAM "STORY-SPEECH".  [All dream writings must be appropriate for group readings! No "bathroom humor", or violence of any kind,  is allowed.]

Begin with the "starter sentence" on the DREAM SHEET. Then, choose ONE SENSORY BLANK , and make a "dream sentence" about what is happening with that "smell" or taste"!

[As you write, try to close your eyes after each sentence, and imagine what that looks like.   Then let your dream keep going, as you include each sensory blank in a different sentence or situation.  We all know how strange the actions or settings are in dreams, and sometimes they shift around, in the same dream.
 
2. Keep writing until you have used all of your sensory info.  Try NOT TO MAKE THE DREAM "make sense."   It shouldn't be ALL about sports or singing, or a desert...MIX AND MATCH EVERYTHING!  

3. Think of a way to end the dream, and your essay....something unexpected happens, and you wake up to a sound?  a cold foot out of the bedspread?   Or a SHOCK from something you see in the dream?   

Day 3:  SOLO rehearsal for the game show: Read aloud 3 times aloud, slowly and softly,  by yourself.
1.  Just getting familiar with your essay on the first reading: with your DREAM SHEET ON on your lap or desk, read through your dream slowly and softly, aloud to yourself.
2.   FOCUS ON VOICE on your 2nd reading.  CHANGE YOUR VOICE to sound SHOCKED! HAPPILY SURPRISED!  SCARED! etc.  
3.  Add some FACIAL EXPRESSIONS & GESTURES on your 3rd reading :

Group rehearsal for the game show:
-Gather in groups of 2 or 3  [no large groups]   
-  Rehearse SEATED the first time. Each contestant reads their essay.   Prop your sheet/clipboard up against something, so you can use your hands for gestures. 
-Next reading, STAND UP with your clipboard leaned so you can see it, but you're NOT HOLDING IT.   You need your hands for gestures. 
-After EACH speaker rehearses, group members give  1 compliment each, and 1 positive suggestion on the SPEAKING, not the WRITING.  

REMEMBER:    Good posture, speak slowly &  loudly enough.....use facial expressions & gestures!    

DAY 5 & 6:  GAMESHOW TIME!  [This may have to happen on consecutive days if time is pinched.]
-Teacher: Display  the rubric for presentation and the one for creative writing.   Contestants will evaluate others SILENTLY after each presentation.  Also, each student will evaluate their OWN performance and writing on a rubric sheet after the gameshow is finished, and turn it into you.   Using the rubric sheet, the teacher will also evaluate each student during the presentation, and discuss language arts and public speaking skills in a private conference as a follow-up to the GAME SHOW.  

WEIRDEST DREAM GAME SHOW
-Each day, all students,  [audience AND contestants], will stand and  "warm-up" with 3 tongue twisters,  demonstrating good speaking posture.  
-All will be seated.  
- 2 contestants come up at a time.

-have 2  desks set up facing an "audience area", and have some way to "prop up" each contestant's clipboard so they can glance at it while delivering their "speech". 

-Teacher :" We will clap after each contestant's performance".  Both contestants will stand in front until BOTH have finished.  [TEACHER: Have the class "INVENT" a special "clap-pattern", not too long, not too short, that will be used after  EVERY contestant. ] 

Tell students: " If you see a contestant that is effective and interesting, ANALYZE SILENTLY... What is so effective... Is it their great writing?   Facial expressions & gestures? Do they use their voices in different ways?  Learn by watching others.... we ALL do that, students and adults. "

-"Show politeness to ALL CONTESTANTS, we are beginners and are here to LEARN  about writing and public speaking!"

TEACHER: You will decide if there will be any "treats" after the entire class has finished the GAMESHOW project.  It may be fun, similar to  a "cast party", like theatre companies hold once a play has finished its "run."

body

1. Each student should complete the RUBRIC for CREATIVE WRITING, and the RUBRIC for PUBLIC SPEAKING for their own "weirdest dream" essay and performance.
2.  The teacher will have a personal appointment with each student to compare "teacher's ratings" with the student's, and discuss why, and where STUDENT IMPROVEMENTS can be made.
3.  Student should submit a color drawing [printer paper-size], that contains one or more elements of student's WEIRDEST DREAM monologue.  
4.   These drawings may be used to accompany student  writings on a class / hall bulletin board, as an example of this creative writing/ public speaking project.