An Emotional Journey

Use this activity to introduce your students to the story of The Vanishing Elephant and to prepare students for elements of a story that may evoke strong emotional responses.

Materials Needed: The Vanishing Elephant synopsis (included with pdf download) or other story synopsis you are working on in class, chart paper, markers

1. Gather students in a circle and tell them that they are about to embark on an emotional journey by exploring the synopsis or summary of The Vanishing Elephant.
2. Divide the synopsis of The Vanishing Elephant into bite-sized sections and read each section aloud. After each section, have a brief discussion about the action of the story and ask students what emotions they’re experiencing as they listen.
3. Next, ask students to find their own space in the room. Then, as you re-read the synopsis, invite them to activate their emotions by becoming living statues, striking a pose representative of a unique feeling, emotion or range of emotions inspired by the synopsis. For example, if the story’s tone sounds or feels mysterious, they might strike an inquisitive pose or perhaps cower in fear. Hold space for their imaginations to run free as they become a gallery of emotion-inspired sculptures.
4. Ask volunteers to share their chosen pose or sequence of poses with the group, explaining which part of the synopsis inspired their pose and why.
5. Next, point students to chart paper located in four different parts of the room, each labeled with different emotions (e.g. Sadness, Curiosity, Fear, Amazement).
6. Ask students to walk to the emotion that most accurately matches the pose they created. Note: If students created more than one pose, you might choose to move through this step more than once.
7. Finally, invite them to stand near the chart paper that represents the emotion they expect to feel while watching The Vanishing Elephant. As before, if students feel pulled to more than one emotion, hold space for them to move within that spectrum and facilitate a conversation about that range of emotions.
8. Gather the students back in a circle and give them a standing ovation for their incredible emotional exploration!

Reflection Questions:

• What were some of your favorite moments from today’s activity?
• What was it like to explore emotions through gestures and poses?
• How do you think the emotions you felt while reading the synopsis might evolve during the actual show?