This may not be a unit but it WORKS

THIS MAY NOT BE A DIDACTIC UNIT BUT IT WORKS….

(Inspiration for these activities was drawn from Kerry Smith´s books “Mess”, “Wreck this journal” and “This is not a book”)

Plagiarism, Copying or “intertextuality”- whatever the name you prefer is absolutely harmless in a profession where we need the creativity of our fellow human beings to guide us. Remember that the best method is the one which best suits both your students and your own changing personalities.

I´ve embarked on my teaching adventures with new ideas every time I face the class .I´ve treated the classroom as a place to experiment so we have to trust in our students´ imaginations. Imagination is the real source of all true journeys as nearly anything can happen in your mind´s eye.

1)    DOODLE on Just start drawing a landscape, a house, a tree, the sun, a car , a snake, geometrical figures (Projective psychology interpretations)( Sai is a wonderful artist)

2)    Add some imagery to your blank page. Just take a break anywhere. We´ll guess where you are…

3)    Do not try to make something beautiful. Draw a real UGLY monster to frighten us.

4)    FIRST PAGE TO BE WRITTEN IN LETTERS AS BIG AS POSSIBLE

In the opposite page write in as small characters as possible

5)    Plant your ideas and see how they develop and grow.

6)    Write a brief insult in Spanish and then find an English equivalent. Be original. Never take it to heart

7)    This is a disappearance act: Draw or write something in pencil. Erase it and let the others try to guess what was there.

8)    Draw Nothing. Think of Nothing. How many examples of “nothing” can you think of?

9)    Your secret identity: Who would you like to be? Invent a name, place and date of birth, a profession, hobbies, etc..

10)                     You have to find five items: a palindrome, a secret code, the definition of a word you don´t know, something with a circle on it, a piece of thread.

11)                     Express a thought or a comment, write it on a piece of paper and leave it in a public place.

12)                     Draw the moon and the sun. Which one is male or female?

13)                     Disclose a secret you once had/ still have.

14)                     Describe your very own imaginary planet.

15)                     An ethnographic study. Pretend you are an alien visiting your school and take notes about human customs and behavior as if you´ve never seen them before.

16)                     Wear an article of clothing inside out, back to front or upside down. See how long it takes your colleagues to notice.

17)                     Create  a detailed treasure map

18)                     A research project. Find out more about any random subject. Write down any facts you find on Wikipedia and become an expert overnight.Exs: vexilology,enology, phrenology,etc..

19)                     This page is a guest registry. Your comments are most welcome.

 20)                     Write the script for your own TV show.

 21)                     Your very personal bucket list: Write TEN things you would like to try in your lifetime.

22)                     Write three wishes.

 23)                     Write a map of your own hands. Learn the basics of hand reading and interpreting.

24)                     Your current predominant MOOD is one of:………

25)                     Your predominant PERSONALITY traits are………..

 26)                     Where do you see yourself in 5/10/15/20 years?

 27)                     Leave something personal (of yours) in a secret location either at home or in the classroom. We´ll have to guess where it is

 28)                     What one believes is entirely up to oneself  create your own belief system

 29)         The seven wonder of You Tube videos,in your opinion 

30)     Create a series of chance names or words. By using a dictionary try combining different words together to create new ones.Ex. gavilancejo,.

31) See who can last the longest without their mobile phones: for two hours/days/ weeks/ months/even years?

32) Nulla die sine linea. This day will never happen again.Document its passing in ten sentences, just this very moment in time.

33) Your mission this time is to learn the rudiments of papiroflexia: see if you can make a paper boat, a little bird, a hat, etc.. 

34) If you could be anywhere you want right now, where would it be?

35) Your personal inventory: Make a list of all the items you own.

36)Your  themed birthday celebration We create a homemade celebration using whatever we have around us: a festive meal, dish or dessert. We play the music we like, invite friends and decorate the venue(our classroom)

37)  You are the world leader. If I could rule the world I would make the following changes:   

38) Make up a very long sentence.See who can come up with the longest

39) THIS IS A RANDOM ADVENTURE. Go outside. Walk until you see another human being/ something plastic/.. TAKE FIVE STEPS BACK Report back what you have seen in as much detail as possible.

40) Become a dream catcher.Write down a dream immediately after waking up. 

41) This is YOUR SCHOOL .Describe your ideal field trips, alternative curricula, guest speakers, activities, etc.. 

42) This is a sensory Stimulation Unit. Collect five objects, one for each sense: Hearing Sight Taste Smell Touch. 

43) This is an outlet, an opportunity to let off steam. Vent about the things that are bothering you right now, scribble them uncontrollably.

44) You are a sculptor. Create a three- dimensional object, give it a name and exhibit it somewhere famous. 

45) Create your own currency to start your own economy and barter system. Draw your own version of money. Official currency of Mr...This note may not be legal tender but it is still valuable nonetheless. 

46) A special kit for attending boring events. Draw a funny face. Make a word soup which includes: Boring, uneventful, dull, banal, lifeless, unexciting, dry, stale, mundane, tired, lackluster, stupid, absurd. 

47)A mirror creates a self portrait. Document the things that define you. Write about them(clothing, food, hobbies,etc..)

48) Your magic collection.Write about your unusual collection. 

49) You visit a fortune teller who will only answer YES/NO/MAYBE 

50) How do you imagine a parallel universe in which everything was the opposite of what it is now? 

51) This is your stream of consciousness: What are you thinking about right now?.......   ..........   ..........   ..........    ..........   ...

52) Record an overheard conversation as if you were a journalist 

53) Transform and recycle some garbage from the wastepaperbasket or the bin.

54) List at least five sounds you can hear right now. 

55) It´s time to say farewel to the time you spent on this planet. Make a list of things you enjoyed while living here/about being here. 

56) A confession. Just mention three sins/ MISTAKES/accidents.

57) While drawing a line have someone bump into you.Try to draw the straight line in a car, on a bus/ train.Register date, time and location 

58) Just break one school rule for one minute.Which one would it be?

59) Do not try to draw a beautiful figure.Do not think too much and continue under all circumstances 

60) How many simultaneous activities can you do? EX.: listen, eat and dream;...

61) Go on an adventurous journey with no money and no matter where. Describe it briefly 

62) The tree of friendship.Draw a huge tree, its branches are your closest friends, the twigs and leaves are some of your acquaintances.

63) This is a short attention span exercise: In a twelve-square grid do something in each square which lasts for only five seconds.  

64) Language awareness Field trip.Go out into the real world. Find examples of written messages in English, German, French, Chinese .

65) Psychological Mess. Get comfortable, make yourself comfy.Make a list of all your current problems.Think about how many of them will be important in two years from now. 

66) Draw an explosion and write the first word you can think of. 

67) How do you make someone smile? A joke, a funny face,an emoticon

68) I ´m standing up for Human  and Animal rights/to save the whales/to reduce plastic/ to say no to Child Labour/..What do you stand for or against? 

69) Test how green you are both at home and at school. Do you recycle? Are you a composter? Are you a critical shopper? Solar power?

70) Let´s be friendly in sign language all the time. 

71) Find out about these parties and festivals: Cheese-rolling in Gloucester, Baby-jumping festival in Castrillo de Murcia, Tomato fight, World pillow-fighting Championships, Alien Festival in Roswell New Mexico, Vesak; Pesach, Raksha Bandhan, Monkey Buffet,etc..

72)Add your WHY question here. 

73)Love where you live. You live in an ideal neighbourhood. Describe it.

74) Teach me to text quickly the way you do it. GR8 KUTGW TYVM LOL

75) We make over 200 choices every day. Try to identify at least ten. 

76) The mistakes I´ve learned from. Remember C.Columbus or J.Pemberton, the pharmacist who created Coca-Cola. 

77) Learn about your carbon footprint and calculate your own contribution so far. 

78) Write a letter to a local politician complaining about a problem you have recently had. 

79) Recycle your toys.Love them and set them free by swapping or giving them for charity. 

80) We are what we do/eat/listen to/ watch/..What else are we? 

81) Involve everyone in the class in choosing the contents of a time capsule 2018. 

82) Add your own action by finishing this sentence: "I´d like one million people to............................................................." 

83) Find out about the Time Bank and the Aldridge Foundation. 

84) Finish the following famous motto in any meaningful way: KEEP CALM and .......Carry on/ Study/ Change/ Love/ Do abs/ Lose weight 

85) Become a market trader and shout out loud your wares.Ex: Strawberries 2 pounds; Come and try . Apples two euros a basket. 

86) You mock/FAKE suicide note after a project reading Macbeth Ex:"I´m really, really sorry.Joy does not exist. I´m haunted by the vivid memories of killings, corpses, anger and pain" 

87) On being LATE/FUL/ AD/ TEN/END: Play with words as in this activity Exs: chocolate,adulate,deflate, desolate,emulate,inflate, insulate, isolate,modulate,regulate, template,violate,ululate,etc..

88) Find everyday metaphors and guess what they mean.Ex: have gone over the rainbow bridge; recharge your batteries; his/her heart is on fire; happy=up; sad=down; his pain/wound has not healed/has left scars, etc..

89) Word Morph/ Worder/ Word order. By changing or omitting one single letter you can change the message beyond recognition: Ex.: Live, Laugh,Love/Lose; Mad in Spain v. Made in Spain;War is Hell v. War is swell;Public affair v.Pubic affair; Smiling faces v. smiling feces.In Spanish Policía local v. Policía loca 

90) What You think you are like  versus what you ARE actually like. In an envelope each one is going to write the most outstanding positive and negative traits of all the ones involved. Good writing and psychological exercise to describe character. 

91) Your top ten (highly addictive) video games. 

92) Laws, Effects and Syndromes Exs:  The Law of Gravity, The Law of Probability, Murphy´s law; The Halo effect, the peacock effect, the Doppler.. Down´ Syndrome, Ret´s , Turner´, Klinefelter´; Hallervorden Spatz´,.Find 5 more 

93) Your knowledge of saucy language and traditional bawdy poems.Ex: When in doubt nipples out; It´s not the size of the boat but the motion in the ocean; A dirty book is rarely dusty ( Benjamin Franklin);...Find one more example. 

94) Become a pathological LIAR for an hour.Exs: I never got your message, The doctors just give me one week to live, The president just got shot, Your daddy is not your biological father, My family have disowned me, I was fired for stealing... 

95) How memorable and fascinating is your everyday conversation? Find out by writing down everything you say and highlight your best exchanges.

96) Try out all major religions and see which is best for you: Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Atheism, Paganism, Christianity, Communism,etc..Find 5 more religious creeds and sects. 

97)One more daily challenge: Send a message in a bottle. Choose the appropriate content which might be revealed decades from now. 

98) Become an organ/ blood donor. What organs can you donate?  Remember one single body can help 100 other people. Exs: Cornea, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver,..

99) Share someone´s pain today as a burden shared is a burden halved. Find a family member or friend in distress and bear some of their grief. Shared joy will double.

100) Become mainstream. Make sure your tastes and actions do not clash with those of 95% of the population as regards to clothes, music, hobbies, politics, sport, TV, dreams,...