Emoji Emotion II: Interactive Storytelling Game

L'effroi
Jean-Baptise Greuze
1725-1805

I’ve been teaching storytelling for 20 years, so I am always looking for new games and activities to keep it fresh, both for me and my students. A few years ago, I purchased some emoji stress balls at my local dollar store, thinking I might be able to use them in my class one day. Finally, last week inspiration struck.

Initially, I only had six of the emoji balls. I immediately knew this game was a success and I would need more for a larger group. I found them on Amazon. 

I tried the game three times with smaller groups until all nineteen of my students came together. They were eager to play the game again. It was controlled chaos, lots of laughter and the students loved playing with their stories, changing up the emotions, adding facial expressions, and gestures.

Below are the instructions for Emoji Emotion II.

• Students stand in a circle.
• Each one is given an emoji ball. 
  
• Teacher assigns a number to each student one through six since there are six numbers on the die.
• If there are more than six students the count begins at one again with the seventh student. Example: If you have a class of eighteen you would assign the numbers one through six three times.
• Teacher plays music as the students pass the balls. Note: I queued up music via YouTube on my phone.
• Teacher stops the music at their discretion. When the music stops the students keep whatever emoji ball is in their hand.
• Teacher throws the die. Whatever number is rolled, the student who has that number chooses a line of dialogue from their story and tells it with the emotion on the emoji ball, even if it is not the correct tone for the story.
• If you have more than six students then each student with the rolled number takes a turn.
• Repeat the process as time allows, playing the music each time as the students pass the emoji balls.
  
  

This is a terrific game to use after the students are comfortable with their stories but I can easily envision using it as an ice breaker game. For example, the teacher assignes one sentence to be used by all but with a different emotion, to teach them how vocal intonation/expression will change the meaning of a sentence. Another way would be to have the students share one sentence about something from their lives using the emotion on the emoji ball. For example:

• My favorite sport is baseball.
• I have a big, brown dog. 
• I went to the beach last summer.

Last year I created a different emoji-based game that also worked well. It was very successful but this new game is definitely more interactive. That game may be viewed at the link below.

Emoji Emotions: Interactive Storytelling Game
https://karenchace.blogspot.com/2022/04/emoji-emotions-interactive-storytelling.html.

This game is definitely a keeper! If you decide to try this out with your students, please let me know how it turned out for you and for your students. I would love to hear what you think about it. Please leave a blog comment if you have time.

Permission for private use is granted but I do ask that you maintain the copyright information and offer proper attribution. Publication is prohibited without my expressed written permission. 

There are many more original games I have created in my book, Story by Story, along with worksheets to help your students step into their story. 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2023 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Sensory Swish: An Interactive Storytelling Game

Last week I made my annual run for Easter basket goodies and found some delightfully different ‘baskets,’ pictured below, at my local Dollar Tree.  Rather than the traditional woven straw they were made to look like basketballs and I began to wonder, “How could I use these with my storytelling students?” 

Although my Storytelling Troupe classes have ended for the year, my colleague Andrea Lovett and I are currently working with students on an intergenerational project.  While we have many resources at our disposal we are always eager to add new games/movement to our classes.  I placed the baskets in my cart and continued walking through the store, and lo and behold, I found small, rubber basketballs. Now I knew this was too much of a coincidence and the Sensory Swish game was born!

  

SENSORY SWISH

 * Swish: A shot that goes through the basket without touching the backboard or rim.

Items Needed

• 5 Basketball ‘baskets’
• 10 small rubber basketballs (10 so you will have additional balls to hand the children if they miss.)

Easy Prep

• Cut off the basket straps so they will not be in the way when throwing the ball.
• Type up the five senses on the computer in large letters: Taste, Touch, See, Smell, Hear
• Paste one each on front of the baskets. Cover with clear postal tape to secure.

Directions

• Place five chairs in a straight row across.
• Place one basket on each chair.
• Place something heavy inside so they will not fall over when the ball is thrown.
• Students take turns throwing the ball at the basket of their choice.
• They have three turns at the throw line. If they miss they take one step closer.
• When the ball lands in one basket (it might not be one they were aiming for) they choose any part of their story and share one or two sentences describing something in the story using that ‘sense.’

Example: One student yesterday chose ‘smell’ and made the basket. She shared, “When I walked downstairs in the morning I could smell the delicious, crisp bacon sizzling on the stove.”

The students really enjoyed the game and cheered each other on. It was particularly fun because two of the girls actually completed the ‘swish’ on the first try while the boys did not, resulting in lots of laughter and good natured ribbing.

This game is a keeper and I actually purchased an additional set of ‘baskets.’ In the next school year when I begin working with a larger storytelling troupe I will turn this into a team relay game.

SENSORY SWISH RELAY

• There will be two sections of senses, one for each team.
• Students will line up in two teams.
• When the first makes the basket they will share a sentence from their story, run back and tag the next team member.
• Repeat until everyone on one team has completed the activity.
• First team to finish is the winning team.

* Note: I plan to have 10 additional small basketballs for a total of 20 when using this in the relay form of the game. This will make it easier to keep the game moving along.

I can also see this game being used in other ways, labeling the baskets differently. You can even use the same baskets, just tape new labels on the opposite side. Some suggestions:

• Exaggerated Gesture
• Small Gesture
• Character Description
• Dialogue
• Facial Expression
• First Sentence
• Last Sentence
• Etc.

This is a very easy game to set up and play. I offer it here for you to use in your personal storytelling work. It is not to be published in any form without permission although you may share the blog link with your colleagues. I ask that you respect copyright and offer attribution whenever you use it.

Here is another interactive game I created last year using the favorite American pastime, baseball! 

Step Up to the Plate: An Interactive Storytelling Game http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2016/03/step-up-to-story-plate-interactive.html

I would love to know what you think of this game, and if you use it, tell me how it worked out for you!

If you are interested in more original, interactive games, as well as story worksheets, please consider my award-winning book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe. I am also offering a workshop, Story Play, based on my book, at the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference in Colorado next week and at the National Storytelling Conference in Kansas City, Missouri in June. You will learn additional activities not found in my book, to help both you and your students.

If you would like to learn a bit more about the workshop head over to my NSN blog piece at
https://storynet.org/play-with-a-purpose/ .

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and web links may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2017 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.