Brainstorming

If you’ve ever wished that there were a musical about your favourite topics or random ideas, then this time-filler activity will be right up your alley. You can structure this activity in a variety of ways, depending on how much time you have to fill: as an opening bellwork prompt, as a playwriting starter, as a brainstorming activity, as a full-on assignment, or as an opportunity to make your students laugh! It can be done individually, in pairs or small groups, or as a full-class exercise. The most basic version of this activity is to brainstorm as many ideas as possible to create titles of new musicals. The titles can be funny, dramatic, scary, serious, whatever you like, as long as it’s classroom appropriate. The words/phrases just have to fit into the title [Blank]: The Musical. Here are some ideas to get you started: • Kindergarten: The Musical • My Missing Sock: The Musical • The Year Was 2009, and I Was Just Born: The Musical • Bridgerton in Space: The Musical • Cake (But Not Ice Cream): The Musical • Lionel Messi: The Musical • Folding Chairs and Folding Tables: The Musical • A Million, Billion Squishmallows: The Musical If you’re doing the brainstorming version, be sure to have someone record all the ideas — you never know when someone’s suggestion will trigger a windfall of inspiration! The next step of this activity is to choose one title for your musical from the suggestions, and then come up with a variety of ideas to further develop the musical. Choose as many as you wish your students to complete or as time permits: • Three different possible storylines (for an added challenge, make all three storylines completely different) • Three different possible secondary storylines (or “B-plots”) • Three to five original song titles (for example, the opening introductory song, the “I want” song, a ballad, a comedic number, the villain song, an up-tempo dance number…) or a playlist of existing songs that could be used as numbers in a jukebox musical (remember that a jukebox musical uses well-known, previously-existing songs instead of original songs to further the action of the story) • A list of scenes that create an overview of the action of the play • A list of characters — names and a brief description of their role within the show • A list of unique moments or special effects that could be included in the script (for example, in Bridgerton in Space: The Musical, perhaps the actors will be suspended above the stage on wires to evoke a “Queen’s ball in zero gravity” effect) The third step of this activity is to choose one suggestion from the previous step (one storyline, one song title, one character, etc.) and further develop that. For example, take the storyline and write a show synopsis; take the song title, decide what character would sing it and why, and write lyrics for the song; or write a character analysis and/or a monologue for the character. You could also have students create a new technical aspect for the show, such as a set, costume, or prop design. For a full-class collaboration challenge, assign various students different aspects of the musical to develop, and see how they all fit together.

Here is a brainstorming exercise that you can use with your students when they have selected a broad topic and are trying to narrow it down or flesh out their ideas. For example, they may have selected a topic for a scene they’re writing together, but they need to delve deeper. The following brainstorming activity, “Add Three,” can be helpful for expanding students’ ideas and helping them to think of creative details. If you are familiar with mind mapping, this activity uses that method of organization. Here’s how to do it: 1. Divide the class into groups of three. 2. Give each group a large piece of paper, or use a mind-mapping computer application (there are lots available for free online, such as Lucidchart, MindMup, or Canva). Students will write their broad topic in the centre of the page and draw a small circle or rectangle around the word(s). • If students need help coming up with their first topic, have them go back and try this brainstorming activity first. 3. From the centre circle, students will draw six lines out (three on each side). On the left, the lines will lead to WHO, WHAT, and WHERE. On the right, the lines will lead to WHEN, WHY, and HOW. Draw a circle around each word. 4. From each point, add three new details. For example: • For the WHO section, students might list three new characters. • For WHAT, they might list three problems or plot points that occur during the scene. • For WHERE, they might list three different locations that the character references, or that they travel to during the scene. • For WHEN, they might list three different options for when the show could take place. • The categories WHY and HOW are a bit broader. Why does the character make the choices they do? Why do certain things happen in the scene? Why should the scene be performed in rhyme rather than tableau? How does the scene start or end? How do various problems occur or get solved? How should a character move, think, speak? How should the scene be presented – mime, radio play, as a comedy? These details can be listed underneath each topic circle, or students can add more lines and circles going out (your mind map will start to look like a satellite!). As with most brainstorming exercises, this is not the time to edit or eliminate ideas. Write them down as they come. Editing can come later. 5. From there, students can add on three more precise details to as many of the previous details as they can. For example, for each of the three characters listed in the WHO section, students can list three personality traits, or three details as to the character’s objective. If students brainstormed different methods of presenting their scene in the HOW section, they can include details as to WHY each method would be the most effective. Students are challenged to focus on three details each time because it’s a less intimidating number to try to brainstorm for, and it challenges students to look beyond yes-or-no and this-or-that answers. For example, for WHEN, students can’t just write “night” and “day” as their options – they have to be a bit more specific. Of course, students are welcome to include more than three details for each section, but the minimum is three. 6. Once the groups’ page is starting to get full, students should stop and take a break. (This doesn’t mean students should just write in big letters to try and fill up the page more quickly!) 7. After a set amount of time (perhaps even at the following class), have students re-visit their mind maps and see if there are any connections that can be made between the details they listed. Using a differently coloured pen or pencil, join those connections with a line. As well, if students want to add more details to any of the points or already know that they wish to eliminate or alter a detail, have them cross it out with a small X (don’t erase, and keep the cross-out small so they can still see what was changed) and write the amendment near the previous detail. I like to switch the colours each time I take a new pass at my mind map so I can see how my ideas have grown and evolved. The “Add Three” exercise helps students to keep those options focused rather than haphazard. Your students have created lots of options about where they can take their ideas. Now they can delve into their first drafts!

This improv game is inspired by The “What If” Game but takes it to a bigger, more ridiculous scale. This version of the game combines brainstorming, improvisation, risk-taking, thinking on your feet, and really going big! It can also help students to address potential fears and concerns they may have about something going wrong during a performance, and to shift their mindset from one of panic or worry to coming up with a creative solution. Instruction• As a full class, brainstorm a list of ideas for scenario prompts on the topic “What are all the things that could possibly go wrong in a show?” Big, small, ridiculous, catastrophic, this brainstorming session is no holds barred – write it all down. (Use our “Brainstorming: Coming Up With More Ideas Than You Need” post for some great brainstorming tips!) • Divide the class into groups of four. One group at a time will perform. • Select a scenario for each group to perform as an improv. Here are some examples: • The auditorium catches fire mid-show • Every single student gets the flu the morning of the show • The set falls apart mid-show • The two lead actors, who have been secretly dating during the rehearsal process, break up during dress rehearsal • One shoe from each pair of costume shoes mysteriously disappears • One student starts the improv scenario, then a second student joins in, followed by the third and fourth. • Remember the principles of improv: Each student must have a character, and the scene needs to have a beginning and end. • Each time another student joins the scene, they bring with them a new idea, character, or situation that builds upon the scenario. For example, with the scenario where the auditorium catches fire mid-show: • Student 1 (playing a student actor) starts the scene “onstage in the show.” • Student 2 (playing a member of the tech crew) runs on yelling that the auditorium has caught fire. • Student 3 (playing another student actor) limps in, having literally broken their leg running from the fire. • Student 4 (playing a firefighter) enters to put out the fire, only to have no water in their hose. • The students have to work together to come up with an ending for the scene. How they end the scene is entirely up to them. Continuing on with the fire scenario: Perhaps the characters escape the fire (or maybe some escape and some don’t); perhaps they band together and somehow put the fire out (magically blowing out the fire together, throwing water from the bathroom on the fire, or creating a choreographed fire-extinguisher dance); or perhaps they decide to finish the show despite the fire. • The rest of the groups will then get a chance to perform in whatever order you choose. You may wish to give each group the same scenario but require them to come up with different ideas/characters/situations within the scenario, or give each group a different scenario to improvise. Be aware that throughout the process of this game, students may share their own “horror stories” of shows gone wrong from the past (which can freak out less experienced classmates), or express their true fears about an upcoming production or performance. As much as possible, give your students the chance to share their concerns, whether that be through class discussion, individual reflections, performance, or another method of expression. Encourage them to pause, take a step back, and think about how these fears can be addressed. Focus on coming up with practical ideas (even small ones!) to help alleviate the issue, rather than just concentrating on the fear and worry.

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer because, truthfully, you can never have enough ideas! While you may not need every idea you’ve ever had at this very moment, the ideas you come up with can definitely be useful in the future. You never know when a past inspiration can become useful going forward. This exercise is inspired by entrepreneur James Altucher’s “idea machine” concept, which is simply to come up with ten ideas every day. The goal is to strengthen your idea-creating muscles so that coming up with new ideas becomes easier and easier. You can then use your ideas for pretty much anything within your drama classroom – ideas for future topics or lessons, ideas for classroom games and activities, ideas for shows you might produce in the future, ideas for a class-devised theatrical piece, ideas for playwriting… The list goes on and on. And if you are ever feeling blocked creatively, you can go back to your lists of ten ideas for inspiration. For at least one week at the beginning of class, write a prompt for students to use as a jumping-off point. For each prompt, each student will individually come up with ten ideas and write them down. At the end of the school week, every student will have generated 50 ideas each! Here are the rules:• Students must force themselves to write ten ideas. More is fine, but ten is the minimum. • If a student misses a class, they still have to complete their list of ten ideas for that day based on the prompt of the day. Consistent practice is the key to success in this exercise. • No self-censorship! Write it all down. Some ideas will be good. Some will be not so good. Some ideas will be downright silly or dumb. The point is not to judge yourself. It’s the practice of forcing yourself to come up with ten ideas daily that will help to strengthen the idea-creating muscles and help you to eventually come up with more good ideas than not-so-good ones. • I strongly encourage teachers to participate in this practice each day as well. Here are ten prompts to get your students started on creating their ten ideas lists:1. Ten ways to communicate onstage without using words. 2. Ten ways to create a scene using little to no technology. 3. Ten ways to costume your show with zero money. 4. Ten ways to get in contact with Lin-Manuel Miranda. 5. Ten ways to fundraise $1,000 for your upcoming production. 6. Ten different topics for a playwriting assignment. 7. Ten plays or musicals you’d like your school to produce. 8. Ten celebrities or well-known people to impersonate in an improv game. 9. Ten drama classroom activities that you’ve particularly enjoyed. 10. Ten more ideas for future “Ten Ideas” brainstorming sessions. You can build on each individual brainstorming session by having students come together into small groups (four to five students) to share their ideas, and come up with their top ten favourite ideas to present to the rest of the class. Have students look for patterns and similar ideas that they came up with individually, as well as ideas that combine well together to create an even more exciting idea. At the end of the week, students will complete and submit a Reflection. Where will your ideas take you and your class? The possibilities are endless!

“How can you get your students to brainstorm effectively?” Brainstorm: a group discussion to come up with ideas and solve problems. Brainstorming is a great idea generation and problem solving technique if it’s used in a focused way. That may seem beside the point – come up with any idea! But only in this way! But the fact of the matter is that to tell students to “brainstorm” is too vague. If you want to hone your students’ group-think skills, then brainstorming needs a structure. Each session is contained and follows the same procedure. (Such as: put as many ideas on the page as you can, reject nothing, and then discuss and decide on ideas to move forward with.) Brainstorming sessions without structure can turn into fights, students can shut down if they feel judged, and the overall result is unsuitable for further exploration. How do you get your students to effectively brainstorm?Example: Brainstorming for a group playwriting projectConsider the example of writing a play as a group. Brainstorming is often the first step in a playwriting project and it would make sense that the first task is brainstorming subject ideas. But to tell students “brainstorm ideas for a play” is a vague suggestion. There are so many possible subjects, this could end up as an exercise in frustration. You want the brainstorming sessions to lead students to come to a consensus, to work together, and to feel comfortable contributing to the process. Implement a step-by-step structure for brainstorming ideas. In this case, work backwards. Have students brainstorm on form first, then topic, and finally theme. Why do we end with theme instead of begin with theme? It certainly feels like the most specific point to start brainstorming. Playwriting often feels like an overwhelming venture. To say “write a play” is daunting for most students. It leads to blank stares and blank pages. By using a brainstorming exercise to identify specific attributes of the play, it gives students tangible steps toward writing instead of starting from scratch. And the brainstorming itself gives students practice working together, negotiating, and participating in the decision making process before the first word. Hopefully this will make the actual group writing a smooth endeavor. FormFirst, have your students think about the type of play they want the finished product to look like. Don’t worry about the content, what skeleton or framework will the content live in? Ask students: what form do you want this play to take? What’s the most important quality? Comedy? Drama? Absurd? What kind of characters do you want the play to have? It’s a great place to start brainstorming because every drama student has an opinion on that – if I could be in any kind of play, what would I want to do? Get students to think about the audience response – if they want to shock the audience, that’s going to determine the form. Comedies don’t often shock an audience. If they want to make an audience laugh, then they’re probably not going to go for an absurd form. Brainstorm Divide students into small groups and have them brainstorm and come to a conclusion as to how they would finish the following sentence starters: • We want to perform the kind of show that…. • The characters in the play should be… • The most important quality in this play is…. • We want the audience to respond with… Instill a procedure that happens with every brainstorming session: All ideas on the page, no judgement, discuss and then a final decision. Instruct groups to take one sentence starter at a time and come up with as many different endings to the sentence as possible. A minimum of ten for each sentence starter. Then groups have to decide on the most important three, and then finally come to a conclusion on the way to end the sentence. TopicThe next phase is to brainstorm on a topic. Before that though, there is one very important question to answer: Who is the audience for our play? That is going to determine a baseline for the topic selection. For example, if you’re going to write a play for the middle school students in your area, that means everyone in the audience is 10-12 years old. What kinds of topics resonate with this age group? What topics are off bounds? Brainstorm Once you determine the audience, have students brainstorm possible topics for that audience. The best exercise for this is to automatic write ideas. Automatic writing is a great exercise for getting words on the page without censorship or self-criticism. That is the key component of brainstorming – words on the page. The more topics that groups can put on the page, the better. Instruct students that no idea should be thrown out, rejected, or scorned. Everything goes on the page. It works well to give a time limit (no more than 5 minutes) with this exercise to push students to come up with one idea after another and to not overthink the process. Once groups have a page of ideas, it’s time for students to discuss them and decide on five. What are the five topics that make the most impact? Each group presents their list to the class and then from that list the entire class discusses and decides on five. Those five are then discussed and a final topic is chosen. If students have difficulty choosing a topic, remind them of their audience and their answers to the form sentence starters. If students decided that they wanted to write a comedy, then the topic of depression isn’t going to match their chosen form. This is not to say that the form can’t change, but this is a great way to keep students focused on moving forward with their brainstorming and decision making process. ThemeYou’ve chosen a topic. For example, a comedic play for a middle school audience on the topic “The first year of High School.” The last step in the brainstorming process is to discuss theme. What are the most important themes within their topic? Essentially, this determines the plot for the play. What the characters will worry about, what the scenes are going to focus on. Brainstorm Give students a time limit to gather as many themes on the topic as possible. How do you narrow down the topic? Again, no idea should be scorned, rejected, or criticized. This is when brainstorming can go awry. When a student feels judged for their ideas, they’re going to stop participating. This is the last thing you want in a collaborative endeavor. During each session, your job is to make sure groups stay on each step along the way: All ideas on the page, no judgement, discuss and then a final decision. At the end of these brainstorming sessions, students will have the form, the audience, the audience response, the topic, and possible themes for scenes. That is a lot of “effective” work!

I’m working on a new play in a different way this month. It’s going to be from the ground up with a class. When we had the first meeting a student raised their hand and asked “What’s this play about?” and the answer was “We don’t know yet.” Ground zero, nothing written on paper, the only thing we know is the audience for the play. It’s exciting, it’s of course daunting, and it’s great for adding a new spin to my own writing process. And our first step in this process was to brainstorm on form, topic and theme. Brainstorming is an interesting technique if it’s used in a focused way. That may seem beside the point – come up with any idea! But only in this way! – but my experience has been that brainstorming is sometimes too vague of an exercise. It’s too vast. There is a place for anything goes writing, especially if you’re working on encouraging confidence in someone’s writing ability, but since I’m the one doing the writing this was not the place. For me, it was most important to hone in on what this group was thinking. What they wanted, how they wanted the play to take shape. To that end that’s why we started with form. It would be pretty arrogant of me to write a play for a group and not give them any input on what kind of play it was going to be! What form do you want this play to take? Comedy? Kitchen sink reality, or something non-traditional? What kind of characters do you want to play? It’s a great place to start because it’s an that every drama student has an opinion on – if I could be in any kind of play this is what I would want to do. I divided the students into small groups and had them discuss and decide on how they would finish the following sentence starters: • I want the audience to remember….. • I want to perform the kind of show that…. • My favourite character to perform is… Next we moved to topic. The audience for this play is going to be middle school students so the first question to answer is, “Is the play going to be about Middle School life now, or what can Middle School students expect when they get to high school?” Two different slants which would end up with two different kinds of plays. This was a choice the group had to make, so the students discussed the possibilities and we went with the majority: What can MS students expect. With that topic in mind, I moved to a combo independent writing/group discussion brainstorming. First, the independent brainstorming exercise – automatic writing. Automatic writing is my go to exercise for getting words on the page without censorship or self-criticism. That is the key component of brainstorming – words on the page. With automatic writing you get a topic and a time limit and the goal is to keep writing for the entire time. Don’t let self-criticism of what you’re writing, stop the writing. The Automatic writing prompt was: “In Grade 9 I wish I knew that….” And then to hone their automatic writing into a presentation form, students read aloud their writing (again, in small groups) and within the group chose five things (words, images, sentences) to present to the group. This was a fantastic exercise! So many ideas came to the surface. I had a full page of chart paper. Lastly I had students discuss in their groups what they thought the most important themes were for their topic and why they were important. Essentially, this is determining what the play is going to be about. What the scenes are going to focus on. I gave them four possibilities: • Issues • Relationships • School Life • Self-Image So we could have started here with our brainstorming. We could have started with what do you want the play to be about – isn’t that the most specific starting point? But the possibilities are endless. Play topics are far and wide. The play could be about anything. It is a pretty large topic if you don’t know what your form is, if you don’t know what you want your audience to remember, if you don’t know what your topic is. To ask the question first could lead to blank stares and blank pages. But by moving through this session, step by step, I feel the brainstorming contributions made at each point were thought out, interesting and really helpful for the process.