Exploring IMPROV with our students!
First of all, thanks to all of you who read my SocialScales launch emails 📧, participated, and sent supportive comments and congrats! Working in a bit of a silo in private practice, it’s so special to me to receive comments like:
Consistently beautifully thought out and ready for us to adapt. Huge thank you, Anna.
Thank you so very much! I have followed your work since Movie Time and hold you in the highest regard! Your work is evidence-based, truly neurodivergent friendly and so functional!
Think about all that you have provided to the SLP community that helps us work more authentically, flexibly and creatively!
You are my ‘go to girl!!’ When I am feeling out of ideas of what to do next, you always have something to offer.
With my social groups, I’ve clearly been working with lots of SocialScales. So, last week, all of us took a bit of a break in my office, and tried something NEW!
At a conference last month, I listened to a terrific presentation “Unscripted Success: How improv & performing arts can support people who stutter” by Cecelia Goedert and Christine Abasi. I came out of the talk with some great improv activities to try that I'd love 💕to share with you:
7 Sentence Story
First, what is called a 7 Sentence Story. My students took turns adding to the narrative as we went around the group.
Once upon a time....
And every day....
Until one day....
And because of this...
Until finally...
And ever since then....
My kiddos loved this activity!! So creative, so much perspective taking, narrative language, and….fun!
Source: Adapted from Improv Mindset, 2025 seven_line_story_structure.pdf
Switch Interview
They were eager for more, so, next we went to a slightly harder exercise: Switch Interview.
In this activity, one student is the interviewer, another is the interviewee. Based on a relatively random topic (some of the topics we used: bungee jumping, chess ♟️, harmonica playing 🎶 and traffic) students must spontaneously participate in an interview on the topic.
The interviewee is often established as the “expert” in the field, so must legitimize their expertise. The interviewer has to be on their toes to pivot with whatever comes up in the interview, as well as keep things moving forward! When the MC (me) calls “Switch!” students rotate to different positions.
This was quite a bit more difficult for my students than the more structured 7 Sentence Story, and they were very much up to the challenge! We found that part of what was challenging was for the students who weren’t participating in the moment to be the audience, and not call out interview questions or comments.
So many ideas, some wrong turns resulting in raucous laughter, an assortment of accents, and lots of thinking on tippy toes! There are definitely some budding improv stars ✨in my groups!
Video demonstration: ComedySportz LA - Switch Interview
Exploring these activities reminded me of the breadth and depth of our profession.
While the original conference presentation was focused on stuttering, these were perfect activities for my social cognition students! And, because I went to a presentation NOT about my core focus, I came away with new and exciting ideas to use – such a benefit for our students!
Curious to try these activities with your students? Let me know how it goes, and thanks again to Cecelia and Christine for their wonderful presentation!
In the meantime, Happy Spring to all of you!
