Activity
Warm up activities

Two by Three by Bradford

Sarita Shukla

Sarita Shukla

This is a great warm-up exercise which involves pairs of students creating movements and sounds to replace counting numbers 1-3, encouraging creativity and collaboration.

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ACTIVITY PURPOSE

To get students focused and in sync with each other, concentrating on what their colleagues are doing.

USEFUL FOR

Warming up at the beginning of class or re-focusing after a break in a longer class. Also helpful for getting students to feel connected with each other. Encouraging use of the body, refresh students’ bodies and minds.

PREPARATION

None.

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Invite students to make a pair facing each other, or online.
  • Assign one person as A and the other as B.
  • Introduce the activity: In your pair, count from 1-3, with each person saying one number.
  • Participant A says ‘One’, B says ‘Two,’ A says ‘Three,’ B says ‘One,’ A says ‘Two,’ B says ‘Three’ and so on.
  • Invite students to try this sequence.
  • Instead of saying ‘One,’ A will make up a movement and sound that both players can easily do to replace ‘One.’
  • Invite students to make up their own gestures/sounds and try this sequence.
  • Instead of saying ‘Two,’ B will make up a movement and sound that both players can easily do to replace ‘Two.’
  • Students will have a sound/gesture for ‘One’ and ‘Two’ and the number ‘Three.’
  • Invite students to try this sequence.
  • Finally, instead of saying ‘Three,’ A and B will work together to make up a movement and sound that both players can easily do to replace ‘Three.’
  • Invite students to try the full sequence.

DURATION

Depends on class size and how much sharing out you do. If working in pairs and using 1, 2, 3, it could take about 5 minutes. If groups of four, you would use 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and it could take about 10 minutes, depending on how in-sync the group is.

ADAPTATIONS AND EXAMPLES

If students cannot turn cameras on, perhaps the teacher could ask them to make sounds on their turn, or to type something in the chat on their turn instead of the action/speech.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Video conferencing platform.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Watch Video

ABOUT

  • Educator prep: None
  • Student prep: None
  • No tech needed
  • Duration: 5-30 mins

This activity is one of a series of activities from Equity Unbound, focused on equitable online community building. 

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