Originally created as a Year 7 Spring Term unit leading into an introduction to devising, this 9-lesson scheme of work creates a structured and insightful journey through Improvisation techniques looking at spontaneity, narration and status, inspired by Keith Johnstone’s 1979 book “Impro”. Although the priority when creating this scheme in coming out of lockdown 2.0 in 2021 was to give the students real fun, confidence and an experience of the enjoyment of drama, the scheme also has clear targets and was brilliant for skill development and the understanding of foundation techniques that would be useful in the future. This scheme would also work well for Year 8 and 9 to encourage them to free their growing inhibitions! An example lesson can be downloaded for free here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/example-improv-lesson-ks3-12626429 This scheme follows an initial very basic introduction to what improvisation is (spontaneity, listening, responding to offers). I would recommend an initial workshop-style lesson using games and warm ups such as The Bucket of Possibilities, The 1-Minute Topic Challenge, Opposing Objectives, or other games from Whose Line Is It Anyway? Do get in touch if you want more ideas!

Do your students struggle to learn lines? Do they give up easily? Have you got stuck with your own ideas to help them? Here you will find two vibrant posters with a total of 12 easy steps (6 on each poster) guiding you through a number of different ideas and exercises for line learning. One rule doesn’t work for every learner!

Example lesson from a full scheme on Improvisation for KS3 Drama. Inspired by Keith Johnstone’s book “Impro” looking at spontaneity, narration and status. Full 9-lesson scheme available here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/fail-again-fail-better-improvisation-ks3-drama-scheme-12625036 25 downloads in the last week! - I would so appreciate if you could review this resource if you download it :)