Quick Guide
- Keywords: Ice breaker, dance
- Learner English level: All levels
- Learner maturity: Junior high school, high school, university
- Preparation time: 20 minutes
- Activity time: 20 minutes
- Materials: Projector, speakers
Students are hesitant to embarrass themselves. Additionally, they prefer doing things in groups rather than standing out. The aim of this activity is for students to do something that might otherwise be embarrassing while still acting as a group. Students enjoy this activity and learn that doing something embarrassing can also be fun. They feel more comfortable making potentially embarrassing mistakes while speaking English in subsequent activities.
Preparation
Step 1: Prepare the classroom for videos and music to be played.
Step 2: Prepare a video with multiple short dances (e.g., Ed People, 2022) and a dance song with a repetitive beat (e.g., Around the World by Daft Punk).
Procedure
Step 1: Introduce the activity explaining that speaking English and presenting in front of others can be embarrassing, and that that is okay. Tell the students that the activity’s goal is to do something that people might find embarrassing: dancing. A joke about traditional Japanese radio exercises fits nicely here.
Step 2: Play a short clip of the video and tell students to carefully watch and remember the dances.
Step 3: Tell the students that everyone will mimic the dances together while the video is playing. Model the activity by playing the video again and mimicking a few of the dances yourself (it is not necessary to practice beforehand). Assure the students that it is okay to not do the dances well, pointing to yourself as an example.
Step 4: Have the students stand up and spread apart. Play the video and have all students try to mimic the dances while it plays. The teacher should also mimic the dances with the students.
Step 5: Next, put the students into pairs. Tell the students that they must come up with an original dance move together. Model some simple dance moves, telling them that the moves do not need to be difficult or complicated. Play the dance song with a repetitive beat on repeat while the students create their dance move.
Step 6: After dance moves have been decided, put students into new groups with at least five students in each group. Students should not be grouped together with their previous partner.
Step 7: Ask students to stand in a circle with their group and decide who will show their dance move first. With the music playing, the first student shows their dance move to the group. The person to their left repeats the first dance move, then does their own dance move. The third person repeats the dance moves they saw, then adds their own. This repeats until the last person in the group does all the dance moves.
Step 8: The students then return to their original partner and show as many of the dance moves that they remember to their partner.
Step 9: Before moving to the next activity in class, remind the students that while the activity was silly and possibly embarrassing, it was not the end of the world, and that quite a few of them even had fun. Reassure them that speaking English after this will seem easy compared to the dancing they just did.
Variation
As an initial ice breaker, students can say their names while they do their dance moves. The following students must repeat their classmates’ names while doing their moves.
Conclusion
This activity works especially well for speech or presentation classes. You may also mention that being able to work through nerves is a valuable skill outside of language learning as well. While there is no direct English practice in the activity, the students are more comfortable with each other after the activity and not as afraid to speak up during following activities.
Reference
Ed People. (2022, August 5). Best of favorite dance moves [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOvmKHtbaUA