76 Ideas for Group Work in English

All of these ideas were taken from a course hand-out.
Thanks to the long-forgotten group who suggested them!
No mention of the net or multi-media so must have been a while ago . . .

Sections
Books	Plays	Poems	Narrative	Role-play

Books

Tape a phone-in programme with "calls" to the author or characters in the book about their intentions / attitudes / actions.
Write (part of) the scenario for a radio adaptation of the book in three or more parts.
Draw a "family tree" of the characters in the book.
Make a map of the book including landscape, landmarks, itineraries etc.
Write a set of "opening out" questions (not merely factual) for another group.
Draw a strip cartoon of the book / chapter.
"Junior bookshelf" - three "critics" and a chairperson discuss a (new) book they have read recently and say if they recommend it to other readers. (Tape).
Group members in role as characters in the book conduct a post-mortem on what they did / felt at various points in the book.
Make a sound-track of a very short extract of a film version of the book.
Role-play a reader and a librarian talking about a book (plot, characters, setting, theme, treatment) in order to help the reader decide whether to take the book out.
Present a major incident / some connected events as a newspaper item in a local / national paper.
Would the book make a good film? With or without changes? What sort of box-office appeal?
Each member reads a short extract from his current book. Questions and discussion.
Make a poster for the film-of-the-book.
At various stages in reading the book, predict the outcome.
Change the ending. Any better?
Write to the author expressing enjoyment / raising questions / making suggestions about his / her next book.
Retell an extract with puppets.
Represent the book diagrammatically with links to show the connections between characters / events / places / themes.
Write five examination questions (to send to the Examining Board?)

Plays

You are the production team for a radio / TV presentation. Cast the play from among the school staff.

You are the production team for a radio / TV presentation. Cast the play from famous actors (past / present).

Make a poster for your production.

Tape a news bulletin on the latest events at Verona / Elsinore / a wood near Athens etc.

Make a family tree of the characters in the play.

Set some questions on the whole play / selected scenes / speeches / characters.

Design the sets and costumes for a "shoe-string" school production / open budget professional production.

Make a board game of the play.

Represent the play diagrammatically showing links between characters / events / themes.

Witness Stand. ("Why did you do it, Mr Iago?" "What happened when you saw the dagger, Mr Macbeth?")

How should the silent character act in this / those scenes?

How should a particular speech be spoken?

Make a comic strip cartoon of the play.

Give an actor instructions on / Ask the director how to play a character / scene.

Tape sound effects (for a radio production) for the beginning of the play / particular scene / selected moments.

Make a "shoe box" theatre with set and costumes for a school production of the play.

Write director's notes on how the first / last scene should look / be played.

Listen to / tape five ways of speaking a speech. Which is the most / least effective?

Make yourself a specialist consultant on a (main) character. Brief the other members of your group, including 5 - 10 useful quotations, and answer any questions.

Before reading the play, improvise a parallel (modern) pre-curtain situation.

Poems

Desert Island Poems. 5 favourite poems, with readings and reasons for selection.

Write questions to be asked of the poet / teacher / other groups.

Tape poem to exchange with other groups.

Tape / listen to different readings of a poem. Which do you prefer?

Annotate a poem for inclusion in an anthology for students from other countries.

Write a parody or imitation of (part of) a poem.

Devise movement to accompany readings of a poem / poems.

Make a frieze / wall posters for classroom display depicting the story / capturing the essence of the poem.

Group cloze with selected (not random) deletions.

Give titles to poems (presented without titles). Check against author's title.

Choose four poems (from six ) for inclusions in an anthology (limited space). Arrange the order. Illustrate.

Group sequencing. Check against author's version.

Some "wrong" words are included in a version of a poem. Decide which they are; suggest alternatives; check with original version.

Compile a group anthology.

Invent the story behind the poem. What happened before? Is happening "off-stage"? Will happen later?

Make an anthology of best-liked / most loathed TV "jingles".

Narrative

Have you ever been in a fight / accident / submarine / predicament? Tell me about it.

That reminds me of the time when . . .

Have you ever been to . . .?

Have you ever been frightened / lost / embarrassed / angry?

Have you ever won anything / failed in anything / sold anything / discovered anything / invented anything?

Have you ever accepted a dare?

Have you ever protested / felt like protesting about something?

Story-relay.

Picture stories (action, character, find the beginning, change the order).

Alibi.

Role-play

Door-to-door salesman and a gullible / sensible / forthright occupant.
Two characters (actor / dog trainer; warden / dress designer) in a railway carriage feel obliged to talk but are only interested in talking about themselves.
A doctor-patient interview.
You have a lucky escape, and are interviewed by a BBC reporter.
Question the applicant / persuade the personnel manager to appoint you. Trainee post with a firm of supermarkets / engineers / accountants / fashion retail shops / sweet manufacturers / travel agents / agricultural supplies.
"Do you remember when we were in junior / lower / upper school, twenty years ago . .?
You have borrowed / lent a dress / jacket / book / bike / LP / cassette radio and it is crumpled / torn / stained / tattered / dented / scratched / broken . . . .
"We welcome you to the studio tonight. Good evening Mr. / Mrs. / Ms ----. How does it feel to be the winner of an Oscar / premium bond / Lottery / Mr Universe / Brain of Britain competition / Olympic gold medal / the Booker prize / Nobel prize for Physics?"
"Why did you expel my son / daughter?"
Partners each think of a fictional / historical / legendary real character, then improvise a conversation between them.

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