Lithuanian Adventures in Learning: Part II
Playing Zip Zap Zop

7/19/2013

The improvisation Game, Parts of a Whole is effective in building vocabulary.

How to play Zip Zap Zop

Overview: In this fast-paced game of concentration, students pass energy and focus to each other. Skills are developed in listening, following directions, focus, and self-confidence.

Instructions

• Invite anywhere from six students up to the entire class to stand in a circle in the playing area.

• The first time the game is played, ask all of the students to practice an “energy clap,” in which they sweep one hand across the other and end up pointing their whole hand toward another player. Done correctly, this brush-clap will make a clapping sound.

• Once they’ve mastered the energy clap, tell them to accompany each clap by saying “Zip” or “Zap” or “Zop.”

• Tell students that “zip zap zop” is a mutating ball of energy that will change every time it moves to another player, from zip to zap to zop and then back to zip again.

• To begin the game, one student claps at someone and says “Zip.” The receiver claps at someone else and says “Zop,” and so forth.

• A new round begins when someone doesn’t receive or send, or gets “zip zap zop” out of sequence.

Applications that Lithuanian Teachers Identified:

Instead of saying Zip-Zap-Zop, change the sequence to vocabulary lists, or degrees of adjectives (i.e tiny-tinier- tiniest), or prepositional phrases (i.e. in-thehouse). The Lithuanian teachers quickly pointed out that this was an effective pedagogy for learning language as it incorporates visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities. Whenever I teach students or teacher content and literacy skills through improvisation games we undoubtedly begin to laugh and become even more engaged in the activities, another huge element that contributes to the pedagogical effectiveness of using improvisation to develop content knowledge and academic skills.

Thousands of Miles Away but not so Different

On the last day of the teacher institute, I presented information about American education and the Common Core State Standards initiative and the current climate in the United States regarding education and learning. Guess what? The concerns about student performance, the overemphasis on standardized testing and the lack of teacher support and respect is no different in Lithuania than in the United States. Together, we discussed the challenges of public education and how teachers must be supported with resources and relevant professional development.

Another round of Parts of a Whole.

English teachers in Lithuania participate in improvisation game, Space Walk

April 2015 : 2 posts
March 2015 : 0 posts
February 2015 : 0 posts
January 2015 : 0 posts
December 2014 : 1 post
November 2014 : 4 posts
October 2014 : 5 posts
April 2015 : 2 posts
March 2015 : 0 posts
February 2015 : 0 posts
January 2015 : 0 posts
December 2014 : 1 post
November 2014 : 4 posts
April 2015 : 2 posts
March 2015 : 0 posts
February 2015 : 0 posts
January 2015 : 0 posts
December 2014 : 1 post
November 2014 : 4 posts
October 2014 : 5 posts
September 2014 : 7 posts
August 2014 : 3 posts
July 2014 : 0 posts
June 2014 : 2 posts
May 2014 : 0 posts
April 2014 : 1 post
March 2014 : 1 post
February 2014 : 0 posts
January 2014 : 2 posts
December 2013 : 0 posts
November 2013 : 6 posts
October 2013 : 0 posts
September 2013 : 1 post
August 2013 : 0 posts
July 2013 : 5 posts
June 2013 : 5 posts
May 2013 : 6 posts
April 2013 : 2 posts
March 2013 : 9 posts
February 2013 : 4 posts
January 2013 : 8 posts
December 2012 : 2 posts
November 2012 : 12 posts
October 2012 : 6 posts
September 2012 : 3 posts
August 2012 : 0 posts
July 2012 : 4 posts
June 2012 : 3 posts
May 2012 : 3 posts
April 2012 : 8 posts
March 2012 : 4 posts
February 2012 : 3 posts
January 2012 : 8 posts
December 2011 : 0 posts
November 2011 : 7 posts
October 2011 : 5 posts
September 2011 : 2 posts
August 2011 : 1 posts
July 2011 : 15 posts
June 2011 : 16 posts
May 2011 : 0 posts
April 2011 : 2 posts
March 2011 : 8 posts
February 2011 : 3 posts
January 2011 : 7 posts
December 2010 : 3 posts
November 2010 : 12 posts
October 2010 : 10 posts
September 2010 : 10 posts
August 2010 : 0 posts