Inspire confidence, creative expression and trust with excellent new guide: Great Group Skits
50 fun personality development exercises to encourage teamwork and foster the unique imagination of teenagers
MINNEAPOLIS: Adolescence is considered to be a stage of physical awkwardness and social uncertainty, which can sometimes inhibit teenagers from reaching their full potential. Whether in the classroom, on stage in front of peers or relating to friends, developing confident dialogue and social interaction is an essential life skill that will benefit and empower adolescents throughout high school and well into their adult lives.
Great Group Skits: 50 Character-Building Scenarios for Teens (Search Institute Press, September 2009) by Lynn Grasberg and Gina Oldenburg strives to create an inspiring learning environment for teens that will foster lifelong communication skills and integration of practical knowledge.
Designed as a useful interactive resource for teachers and group leaders to energize and refocus their students, Great Group Skits provides a diverse spectrum of improvisational scenarios that guarantee to capture the attention and imagination of today’s teens. In creating characters, plots and building props and figuring out challenges and formulating conflict resolutions, adolescents from all walks of life will learn how to cooperate with their acting partners, collaborate and develop ideas and increase flexible thinking. Covering four major areas of learning—role playing, imagination, humor and active learning—students are encouraged to practice trust and empathy, improve essential memory skills and develop the ability to bring play into areas of serious learning.
Activities in Great Group Skits vary from invigorating two minute warm-ups to more in-depth improvisations. The skits utilize all areas of the body and mind—from voice projection, breathing, stretching and tongue-twisters, to expressing emotions, shaking up group dynamics and acting out different scenarios, such as:
- Ask the Expert—students take turns playing a talk-show host interviewer, an expert interviewee and the studio audience
- Parental Nightmare—students brainstorm family conflict topics with an audience, including teasing, bathroom hogging and invasion of privacy
- Ridiculous Rumors—students participate in rumor-building, with three gossipers and one target
Encouraging imaginative thought and imparting skills invaluable to the development of a healthy, happy and socially confident teenager, Great Group Skits creates a fun, safe and educational environment where every player feels valued and inspired to excel.
Lynn Grasberg is an improvisational theater instructor, a keynote speaker and a comedienne. She is the author of Bounce Back! The New Play Ethic at Work. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. Gina Oldenburg is the executive director of the Creative Expressions Center, a speaker and a playwright. She is the author of Energize! A Daily Guide to High Energy Living, and several plays. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
Also available from Search Institute Press:
Great Group Games (9781574821963)
Great Group Games for Kids (9781574822847)
Book Details:
Title: Great Group Skits: 50 Character-Building Scenarios for Teens
Authors: Lynn Grasberg and Gina Oldenburg
Publisher: Search Institute Press, Distributed by Independent Publishers Group
Publication: September 2009, $16.95 (CAN $18.95), Paper, ISBN: 9781574822656, Education Resource, 192 pages, 6 × 9
Available at bookstores everywhere and through Independent Publishers Group, 814 N. Franklin St., Chicago, IL 60610. Toll-free number for orders only: 1-800-888-4741. Visit online at ipgbook.com.
Publicity Contact
Suzy Winther
612-692-5542
suzyw@search-institute.org
