Papers & Dragons

DESCRIPTION:

In this activity, a short Dungeon & Dragons campaign will be recreated, adapted in a simple way to linguistic and decision-making themes and risks. An initial story with a specific objective will be presented, and the students themselves will improvise the development and conclusion of the story.

OUTCOMES:

• Creation of a completely improvised group story.
• Confidence in making decisions with their respective consequences.
• Encouragement of storytelling and creativity.

DURATION: 1 hour.

MATERIALS:

• Paper.
• Cardboard box.
• Whiteboard and chalk.
• Dices for randomly making decisions.

SKILLS RELATED:

• Abstraction and creativity.
• Improvisation and mental agility.
• Patience and decision-making.
• Ability to put oneself in fictional and foreing situations.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Step 1: Each student will write a word on a piece of paper, which could be a place, an object, an emotion, or any other word. These papers will be folded and placed inside a small box.
• Step 2: The teacher will introduce a story in which 4 adventurers set out to rescue a companion who has been kidnapped by a dragon. The development of the story will depend on the improvisation of the students.
• Step 3: In turns, a student will approach, pick a random piece of paper from the box, read the word, and continue the story by improvising a brief segment that includes that word.
• Step 4: The story will progress with each student and their improvisation, creating more complex situations in which they have to adapt all the previous variations to the word that has been picked and the progression of the story.
• Step 5: The story will conclude with the last student who picks a piece of paper, ensuring they manage the story well so that it can end successfully at that point.

Tips:

• If students are not taking risks in their improvised stories, the teacher could intervene as a narrator and introduce events that prompt their adventurers to take risks.
• Remember that there are no "correct" answers in this activity; the story can lead to any situation, and that's the point of interest.
• Encourage students to immerse themselves in the story using ambient music or engaging descriptive narrations.

REFLECTION:

• What difficulties did you encounter when making decisions?
• Do you think the risks presented could only be overcome in one way?
• What strategies do you use in your daily life to make difficult decisions?