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Big Idea: To explore the nonverbal ways of communicating with your classmates.
At the end of this lesson students will be able to:
Discover different ways to communicate and express meaning with each other without words.
Understand the importance of body language, intention and communication.
Drama
A1.3 use role play to explore the possibilities of different scenarios, situations, and characters
B3.2 identify problem-solving techniques they have learned through drama activities, and explain how they can be applied in work and other social contexts
English
1.1 identify the purpose of several different listening tasks and set goals for specific tasks
1.2 identify and use several different active listening strategies when participating in a variety of classroom interactions
2.2 demonstrate an understanding of several different interpersonal speaking strategies and adapt them to suit the purpose, situation, and audience, exhibiting sensitivity to cultural differences
2.6 identify several different non-verbal cues and use them, with sensitivity to audience needs, to help convey their meaning
Write on the board: Actions Speak Louder than Words. Ask your class what is meant by this statement. You can play either of the two links below, that will further explore or solidify themes from your discussion:
This video explores the type of nonverbal communicators we use everyday.
Non Verbal Communication https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWIVoW9jAOs
This Pixar short film explores various ways of communicating nonverbally.
For the Birds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWIVoW9jAOs
Students will walk around the classroom in a neutral, casual pace. You will call out Atom and a number. Students will group together in that number and hide any additional students if there’s an odd number.
Once they are in these groups, call out different letters, shapes or objects where the groups have to work together to create them, for example, the letter W, a hexagon, or a washing machine.
After they have had a few rounds, bring the class together and in complete silence get them to organize themselves from:
Tallest to shortest
Alphabetically by first name
Birthdays in chronological order (by Month and Date)
*Remind students that these need to be done in complete silence.
Lead a discussion with your students about the challenges of working nonverbally. How did they communicate with each other to form meaning verbally during the atom game and then nonverbally? How does nonverbal communication play an important part in our relationships with others?
Extension
Give students a list of sentences and have them come up with a way to nonverbally communicate them.
Examples:
I’m so hungry, do you want to go for food?
I just got an 100% on my science quiz!
You really, really upset me.