Procedure:

  • The teacher reads a story to the class. This can involve the entire class, if a story is appropriate for all age-levels, otherwise it requires different age-specific stories.
  • The class as a whole (or in different age and competence levels) summarizes the content, and questions about understanding are clarified. With complex texts, a copy may be provided beforehand so that students can recap the content once more for themselves.
  • With their eyes closed, the students have to imagine an important place of action in this story, as if it were a film. Questions like the following (in this case involving a room in a story that was read to them) may help in this imagination process:
    • Are there windows?
    • Where is the door located?
    • What kind of furniture is there?
    • Is the room dark, is the light on, or is there daylight in the room?
    • Are there pictures on the walls?
    • How do you feel when you’re in this room; why?
  • After a few minutes when all students should have completed their internal pictures, the students draw a plan of the room or describe in writing how they imagine this room, or how they would feel being in this room.
  • The students then seek out a partner to discuss their results and receive additional time to review their assignments and clarify ambiguities, if needed.
  • Finally, the texts and drawings are compared and discussed by the class as a whole.

Variants:

  • The exercise should be repeated various times.
  • It can also be adapted and modified in terms of moods and emotions or the persons involved (instead of just the room).