Workshop 2

Download the handbook

CHAPTER 1 

Workshop’s duration// 45-50 min.
Location// indoor, in the classroom
Equipment needed// printed design of a bridge (attached), chairs for all the participants 

Learning objectives 

  1. Explore the difference between acting for my own benefit and acting for the common benefit

  2. Explore the unique ability of different bodies to change shapes and forms

  3. Use the body responsibly and carefully, both for my own safety and the safety of others around me

  4. Share responsibilities and be open to suggestions from others when a common solution is needed


    core competencies//     self improvement (imagination and body activation), participation, self-control, cooperation, trust
    keywords// imagination, collaboration, body, transformation, limited action time 

Energizer (5 min.) 

The special statues 

Ask your students about what statues do: Do they move, talk? Do they touch each other?
Explain to them that they will become statues in a yard.
But these statues are special as they come alive and move for only 5 min. per year!
At the same time, the yard has a guard who must not catch them moving and discover their special ability. 

Please follow the steps: 

  1. Find a volunteer to be the guard. 
  2. Invite the students to take a pose with their bodies and create their statues. 
  3. Encourage them to be sneaky when they’re moving around as statues. They move really slowly (slow motion), they do not want the guard to hear them. Remind students to control their bodies and be aware of where the other statues are around them
  4. The guard will move carefully around the room, pointing to one statue at a time with his/her finger. This statue should pause, not moving/laughing/etc. until the guard turns to another statue. Ιf the statue moves, it swap roles with the guard and becomes the new guard. 

Tips: -This game is quite fast. So, we propose you to try 2-3 rounds.

Preparation activity (10 min.) 

Olympic village: Under construction 

The students as builders will construct the Olympic village, the place where the athletes stay during the Games.
But they will do it just with their bodies and their imagination.
The activity is developed in 2 levels: 

#1st level 

Call your students to find their own place in the room. Each one will create independently, by using only his/her body the following still images: 

a)  the showers, where athletes will bathe
b)  the beds, where athletes will sleep

Give them a specific time for their transformation, counting slowly to 5 for each image. 

#2nd level 

In this round, call your students to collaborate. They should create all together, by using only their bodies, still images of the following: 

a)  only one house, where the athletes stay
b)  only one tree, from the park inside the Village
c)  only one bench, where athletes rest

Again, give them a specific time for their transformation, counting slowly to 8 for each image. 

Tips: –  It is important to give them limited time so that players can react quickly with their bodies.
–  If your team is more advanced, you can try a level up: have them all together create the room where the athletes live. This means that the students can improvise as they like, e.g. some can be the beds, others the lamps, etc.

Main activity (25 min.) 

The bridge
The Olympic Village is ready! But, the bridge connecting the Village with the rest of the city has collapsed. So, athletes cannot approach and the Games are under a risk of being canceled. Your team, using their previous experience will create the bridge in limited time by using only their own bodies.

The following steps will guide you: 

1. Show to your students the bridge design, it will help them visualize the shape. (The design is attached. Otherwise you can create on the blackboard your DIY design of a 2 bases arched bridge, like a rainbow.) 
2. Divide your students into 3 sub-groups, each representing a part of the bridge (base A, base B, the arch). Create teams with an equal number of players, including all genders and body types.
3. Each sub-group will quickly select a representative. Point out to your students that representatives are not leaders, they just share their group’s ideas to the other groups in order to communicate faster.
4. Each sub-group will practice how players can place their bodies to be stable and connected to the other parts of the bridge.

Keep in mind the below:
– It’s not allowed to step on someone else, they should have both feets on the ground.
– If a player quits, the whole attempt is canceled.
They have 6 minutes to practice. If all players do not follow the above rules, the bridge collapses.

5. Call the 3 representatives to meet you separately from their groups and give them secret instructions: They will become secret saboteurs, that means that they will not respect the rules on purpose.
E.x: When the parts are ready to connect they will  move their legs (make the bridge unstable) or even leave their group. 
6. First try! All the parts are trying to create the bridge. But due to the secret saboteurs it’s not working. Give each subgroup 3 min. meeting to discuss and make improvements. 
7. Before the second try, call again the 3 representatives to meet them separately. This time you ask them to respect the rules and help build the bridge. 
8. Second try! Again all the parts are trying to connect.
9. To check if the bridge is stable, you should place a book or similar object on top of it.
10. If the bridge can hold it (until you count to 5) then the students have succeeded.

Reflection time (10 min.) 

Create a circle with chairs and ask your students to take a seat. Τhe following questions will help you stimulate discussion:

  1. How did your actions affect the achievement of the whole construction?
  2. Why do you think the 1st attempt didn’t work?
  3. Ιn your first attempt to build the bridge there were 3 saboteurs, who deliberately did not follow the rules.
    They were following secret instructions I had given them.
  4. a) How did you feel about their behavior? What did you think
  5. b) How did the 3 saboteurs feel?
  6. Are all bodies the same? Do they have the same abilities?
  7. In real life, have you ever worked in a team to achieve a common goal, but someone didn’t cooperate? Have you found a solution?

  8. Have you ever been a saboteur? Can you explain the reason why?

Conclusion ritual
Hands together in the center of the circle. Then all together scream “1,2,3 Olympic power team” by shaking hands.