My second year university students want to talk more in class, but they want me to entertain them (this tends to make them hypocritical, little brats who can't be pleased). So I've come up with the idea of getting them to role play. But not the standard "you're going to buy something from the store", or the ever popular "you must decide what you want to do this evening with your friends."

I already have several odd ball ideas to throw at them such as, "You're hiding an alien in your room and you have to convince your parents that they can't come in," and "You're studying with your friends when you notice a tiger has walked in and fallen asleep between you and the door."
I only have so many ideas that don't involve planning to break the law or perverted jokes they wouldn't understand, so I would appreciate it if people could come up with simple, yet interesting ideas that students will be able to create conversations for and act out.
Thanks.

Go to You Tube and watch heaps of Whose line is it anyways. The thing with hiding the alien in your room reminded me of that! BWAHAHAA. I would love to see their faces (the students that is!)

Or maybe search for Thank God You're here... that show had senarios that the guest had to improvise to certain situations.

Or how are you going to tell your friend that you ruined their favorite outfit or Opps! You ran over the neighbours pet! What do you do?

Not sure. Hope it works out and I hope you ask them to act out the alien thing. Sounds comical!

Those are some good ideas DoZ. I used to watch the British version of Who's Line is it Anyways all the time

As for going through with it and making them act it out, I've had my freshmen come up with conversations for things like this:
Ask your partner for advice on:
-How to build a UFO.
-How to take over the world.
-How to become a superhero.
-How to capture Santa Clause (erased it because they didn't know who Santa Claus was)
-How to get a dog to talk.
-How to rob a bank.

And apologize to your friend for:
-Burning down their house.
-Stealing their boy/girlfriend (that was fun).
-Running over their dog.

And today it was, Your friend is going downtown, ask them to do this while they're out:
-Get your shark from the vets.
-Carry your 100/200/400 pound weights from the store. (3 different classes got different numbers)
-Rob a bank. (this was their favourite, some of them got quite elaborate)

These students have begun watching the board very closely when I write anything on it. They're never sure whats going on it next.

no wonder you get headaches.

have the boys describe the how to of changing a diaper.
have the girls describe the how to of pumping gas.
then change them so the boys do the gas and girls the diaper.

they would love this one.

how do we really get the teacher totally frustrated.

Have them investigate possible ways a murderer could have gotten to the victim in a locked room.

Lessa those might be a good idea except that the girls outnumber the boys about 7 or 8 to 1.
Cogito I like that idea. I just have to write down the details in a simple enough form that everyone understands. Should be a nice challenge. Thanks.

have the girls describe the how to of pumping gas.

I'm insulted! Does this mean that girls aren't supposed to pump gas??? :mad:JUUUUUUST kidding! :pI thought it was funny because that's pretty much what I do for a living.....:(

Could be worse - he could be asking the girls to describe how to PASS gas!

They know how to do that already. So I won't be asking for any demonstrations. At least not in the classroom.

Have them right an entire paper about the index finger on their dominant hand, with their secondary hand.

Why should I pump gas if I have a male who will do it for me.
I am not insecure enough that I have to do it just to prove I can.
Besides your hands stink afterwards and the washrooms are dirty and men get upset if they have to wait in line for the pump.
Been married for 31 years and I have never pumped gas in all that time. Actually I have never pumped gas.
But I made sure my sons learned how to cook properly and they know how to clean and my one son is fantastic around children and taught his wife how to change a diaper.
So no women can pump gas as well as men but if the woman is smart enough to get the man to do it I say go for it.
Let them be macho. it does wonders for their ego.

Hey Lessa, sorry if it seemed as though I was grumpy about the comment, I wasn't really! just ammusing! Although It's irritating that when male customer comes along and he basically snatches the pump out of my hand. I take it like, what? Just because I have boobs doesn't mean I can't do it! I'm a tomboy, mostly so I'm willing to give stuff a go. I've fixed irrigation pipes at vinyards, pruned and did canopy training, which some people think that is generally male specific but hey, who cares?!

Anyways, Dom, have you done the gender reversal? Get the guys pretending to be girls and they have to be excited because their favorite pop singer is coming to town, or something similar. And the chicks to be guys.


I know. I suck.... :p

I'm not sure how much they'd enjoy that, DoZ. They're pretty shy and they might not know exactly what to do. But I'll keep it in mind.

DoZ I thought your post was kind of cute.
I have laid bricks for a house foundation, put up gyprock laid hardwood flooring, and put the roof onto houses.
My father sold prefab houses so we learned to do it all. I did it because I was 15 at the time and the contractors were all in their 20's. So I didn't mind the physical stuff.
It helped later when I worked as an aide at the nursing home. Lots of lifting.
When I posted it hit me that the one thing I have never done is pump gas. It could have something to do with the fact that I don't drive but I have changed a tire and helped fix cars. Wow maybe I should next time we need gas... NAH!!!
I will live in ignorance.
have a good day.

Lol!

Heres what I came up with. These are open enough they can do whatever they want with them, and if they need help they can bloody well ask me for a change, instead of just complaining amongst themselves. I'll probably have at most 11 groups so this should be enough and if not I can come up with more on the fly.
Also I'll give them the chance to come up with a scenario for me, and watch me act it out. They should like that and it will make them come up with ideas in English. The only rule will be it can't call for more than 3 characters.
What do you think?

Job Interview: Two people are interviewing a person (or persons if there are more then three group members) for an important job. The interviewers are very drunk. The person being interviewed isn't drunk, and really needs the job.


Space Alien: A kid is hiding a space alien under her bed. Her friends are helping her. Her parents think something strange is going on and want to search the room.


Library: You and your friends are studying on the second floor of a library all alone. One of you notices a large tiger has walked in and fallen asleep in front of the only way out.


Robbing A Bank: Plan a bank robbery. Or commit a bank robbery. Or plan and commit a bank robbery.


Flying High: You and your friends are in a small plane. The pilot dies while you are in the middle of the flight.


Dancing: You and your friends are walking along a busy street. Suddenly everyone around you starts dancing for no reason, and music starts playing.


Doomsday: You are superheroes and you have to convince a super villain not to press a button that will destroy the world.


Monkeys: You are in class when monkeys run in and start throwing peanuts at everyone. They chase you and your friends into a closet and are trying to break down the door.


?: You and your friends have turned into talking mice, you don't know why.


Aliens: Aliens have landed in Europe, and are destroying everything. You and your friends are watching this on tv.


Gold!: Somehow everything you touch with your thumb turns to gold. Your friends try to help you figure out why and what to do about it.


Ghost: A ghost is living in your dorm room. It is bored and likes to talk.


Shopping: You and your friends are trying to buy some groceries. None of the stores have anything you want. All they are selling is old cheese.


Mexico Attacks: Mexico has declared war on China. You and your friends are watching this on the news.

Dom, I like the idea of the monkeys throwing peanuts.
I picture you tossing your candies, at the class.
tell us how that one goes. Please.

For the most part this went well.

The Monkeys! was used in both classes that did it. One involved a girl in high heels chasing two girls, and asking the class where they were hiding, then dragging them out from behind the desk.
The second one had the girl call Superman/woman/girl (the poor girl forgot her line and said all three) who came in and threw the two escaped zoo monkeys away.

The second class was the best. They usually don't like to speak and this went really well. Two students vanished without a trace on the break so I got to help with two of the skits.
In one of them I was pretending to be the tiger. So the girls went and each said "No eat me, spare my friends because..." Without saying a word I waited until they were done, then walked up picked up the nearest girl (who unfortunately was the heaviest) threw her over my shoulder (which no one, including the girl expected), and walked out of the classroom. The class loved it.

The Doomsday one was good as well. In both cases the hero shot the villain. The first time rather with an actual pretend gun. I was impressed.

Don't ask about the third class. I've given up on that bunch of losers.

Aw Dom! Calling your thirs class losers aint nice! Even if they may be!

Its not nice, but I hold a grudge, and they annoyed me.
Now I have to go and talk to my supervisor on Monday to get a preemptive strike in before my supervisor finds out 20 students walked out because they didn't understand what 'role playing', 'make a conversation', or' please come up with ideas on how to deal with these situations' meant and wouldn't explain the problem to me.
These are second year university students.

Well I spose then. They are old enough to know better! LAzy bums!

Thats what I thought.
They may also have walked out because I decided to put my foot down on two girls who were talking a lot about things they shouldn't be, when I was talking.
I literally put my foot down on the girls desk, which accidently shoved it towards them and spilled the girls drink.
But considering the blank stares and lack of talking I was getting before then, I was already having problems.

Well that's not your fault. Personally, I think you should have put your foot through the desk.

You should take them to Thailand and tell them all to go to tea parties...

Adamant ?

Well... it seemed like they needed to replace their drinks. :)

:D I see, I see.

Said the blind man..... :p

As he picked up his hammer and saw.

Dom you would make an awesome drama teacher I think.

As long as its improv.
In one of my freshmen classes one of the students wrote me a question saying "You are a great actor do you think you could work in tv?" When I finally answer that one I'm going to have explain that I can never remember my lines.

lol!