Favorite Action Strategies!

Here are a list of my favorite action strategies, that I see as most useful in deepening reading comprehension through kinesthetic learning.

• Trigger Letter Role Play
• Give students teacher-produced letter with situation from book. Students recieve letter and must decide what actions to take.
• Good Angel/Bad Angel
• A character is presented with a sticky situation, and two other students stand on either side, offering good/bad advice on what to do.
• Focus on character motives and intentions
• Step by Step (or Freeze and Go)
• Teacher reads loud 7-8 phrases. Students stand up,with eyes closed. Each student visualizes the phrase, what it means to them, and then takes a step.
• The students are traveling through (experiencing) situation along with character.
• Helps students understand character motives (especially those they might place blame on)
• Round-Robin Monologues
• A prompt is given to all students (ex. Love is...). Students think of a response statement. In ripple fashion, students recite answers and spin to face inner circle. Ripple of responses mirrors an interior monologue.
• Demonstrates confliction in text
• Introduces/analyzes theme of text
• Character Interviews
• Character to character
• Author to character
• Reader to author
• Reader to character
• Character to reader
• Living Statues
• Talking statue or portrait
• Scene, theme, situation, relationship
• Inside/Outside Circle Game
• Students form two circles. Those on the inside on in the "hotseat". Students in outside circle play other roles, conversing, then posing questions to those in the inner circle.
• Variation: outer circle participants are former/future self of the character
• Tableaux
• What If? Endings
• Most desirable outcome for certain character
• Compromise Ending
• Most/least desirable from student perspective
• Helpful in creating opinion/evaluating complexity of text
• Curtains/Hidden Scenes
• Human curtain, revealing suprise scene
• Helps with reflection and comprehension of text
• Spurs further engagment
• Snapshots
• Short scene tableaux
• A Day in the Life
• For individual character (s)
• Helps with characterization and identfying purpose