Active Listening Exercise: ABC-123-COLOR

Listening is an important skill in any classroom, but it’s especially important in the drama classroom. From classroom instruction, to game directions, to focusing on their fellow performers on stage, students are constantly required to listen. Active listening is a skill, and just like any other skill it can be improved with focused activities. Here is a simple activity that challenges students to actively listen in the face of increasing distraction. The game is called ABC-123-COLOR.

Instructions:

• Put the entire class in a circle
• Choose one student to start the activity.
• That first student will make eye contact with another student across the circle, walk across the circle, say “A,” and move into the second student's place in the circle.
• As soon as they hear the letter, the second student will immediately choose a third student in the circle, make eye contact, and start to walk towards them.
• The second student will say the letter “B” to the third student and move into that student’s place in the circle.
• The third student will make eye contact with a fourth student, say “C” and take their place, and so on.
• This will continue until the students have successfully made it all the way through the alphabet.
• When the group has successfully made it through the alphabet, reset the circle and tell the students you will repeat the activity, and this time you will be adding numbers to the game.
• Choose a student to start with “A,” have them make eye contact with another student, and start the alphabet layer of the game.
• Once the alphabet is in play, turn to a different student in the group and say “1.”
• That student will choose a different person in the circle, make eye contact, walk towards them and say “2.”
• Two will make eye contact, move toward a different student, and say “3.”
• Three will continue to four and so on.
• If a student is given both a letter and number at the same time, they will make eye contact with one student and give them the next letter, then turn to a different student and pass them the next number, then take the place of that student.
• The group will simultaneously continue with both letters and numbers until the letter Z is reached.
• Reset the circle and tell the students that you are going to add colors to the game.
• Choose a student to start the alphabet.
• After that student begins, choose a second student to start with numbers.
• After letters and numbers are in play, choose a third student to start with colors following the same sequence: eye contact, move to student, say a color, take their place. Students may repeat colors.
• All three layers — letters, numbers, and colors — will continue simultaneously until students reach the letter Z.

When you add numbers and colors, the game gets much more challenging. Encourage your student to concentrate on the information that is given to them (letter, number, or color), provide strong and deliberate eye contact, and hyper-focus on what is happening in the circle. Active listening includes eyes, ears, and body, and requires concentration.

This game can be repeated on a regular basis throughout the semester. How do students improve their skills?

Discussion Questions

Unpack the exercise:

1. How did your listening change as more layers (numbers and colors) were added to the game?
2. What strategies did you use to stay focused when the activity became more challenging?
3. What role did eye contact and body awareness play in being successful at the game?
4. How might you apply those same skills when working with scene partners or receiving directions in drama class?
5. What caused the game to break down when mistakes happened, and what helped the group recover?