Social Skills Activities in the classroom
1. Names (10 min.) : Halfsircle of chairs. Sit down as quickly as possible – in an alfabetical order without speaking, using your first name. You are aloud to write in the air, or mime letters... Purpose: To get to know eachother, to communicate, to cooperate and solve the task together.
2. Walking about (10-15 min.) : Walk in straight lines. When you meet an obsticle, or when the teacher clap her/his hands, you change the direction. Pretend that you are alone in the room, and that you know where you are going. The teacher varies the pace. Everyone walk around in the classroom. Suddenly any stop, and the rest of the group must stop as quicly as possible. When everyone have stopped – any starts to walk again, and the the rest of the group do the same at once! This continue, until the teacher ends it. Purpose: To be more sensitive to people around you.
3. Miming objects (10-15 min.) Devide the group into units of 3-5 pupils. Let them cooperate and make different objects as fast as possible. They are aloud to speak and everyone in the group must participate in each task. When the teacher says freeze, they are not aloud to move or speak. The results will vary, and there are no right answers! The teacher gives one task at the time: • a hat with a feather • sun glasses • an old man with a stick • stairs • a bunch of flowers • a table and chairsPurpose: To cooperate, and communicate under pressure. To tolerate other opinions and close contact, and accept everyone in the group. The pupils are creative together.
4.Making things better... (20-25 min) Devide the group into units of 3-5 pupils. They are going to make a still picture of an unpleasent situation in a break at school (or somewhere else). Someone are beeing badly treated, bullied or supressed. Some partisipate only because they are afraid to say something. (Remember the picture until it is time to show it to the other groups.) The teacher calls up one group at the time, and ask them to show their picture. The others watch, and are then asked to go foreward and place themselves behind a person in the picture, and say something that can fit into the situation. The picture is shown again, and this time the audience are aloud to go up and change one person at the time. This time to get a new and positiv situation. The result shall be that everyone are included, and they are nice to eachother! This activity can vary in many different ways! Purpose: To cooperate and be aware of bodylanguage and groupdynamics. Knowledge of how to communicate and how to change a situation, How many people in the picture must change before it gets positive?
5. Inquiry: Social Skills in the class room
1. What do you like and dislike at school? 2. Are you scared of someone? Whom are you scared of? 3. What do you want to happen to those whom you are scared of? 4. Do you have argues with someone? 5. How do you want to punish those whom you are scared of? 6. What do you actually do? 7. Do you like reading or watching sad stories? Do you have favorite one? 8. Are you punished at home? 9. How do you want to treat those who annoys and disturb you? 10. How do you actually treat them? 11. Do you like studying? Which are your favourite subjects? 12. Would you like to study with students from other nationalities or cultures in your class? 13. How would you treat them? 14. What kind of games do you like playing? 15. What suit would you chose if you dress up for a carnival? 16. Would you tell your teacher, if some of your classmates do something wrong? Why? 17. Do you think that everyone who is guilty must be punished? Why? 18. Are you able to forgive? 19. Are you able to be a friend with someone who offended to you? 20. Do you easily forget when someone has done something wrong or has offended you? 21. What do you like to happen to you today?
6. Circle The students stand in a circle - the teacher asks to know who did what today - the students go into the middle of the circle if they did that stuff. Example: Who has eaten breakfast today?
7. Role playing The teacher divides the students into two groups. A group who have something in common for example, "blue eyes" and the remaining studens in a second group. The teacher bothers students who do not have blue eyes - an example could be that the teacher gives specific benefits to one group or speak differently to the groups. This exercise can be performed over a shorter or longer time. Subsequently made a talk in class about how it felt to be in the different groups.
8. Two students in conflict. The teacher can pick up a conflict from a break. The studens in the conflict can tell their side of the conflict. Then the teacher will place two chairs in the middle of class. Each chair represents the individual in conflict. The other students can now take an empty chair and assume the roles in conflict - say what the person will or should say. Others will now have the option of asking the person in the chairs about feelings and choices or come up with good ideas for solving the conflict.
9. Positive sheet Each student writes his name on top of a sheet of paper. The sheet is now in rotation among the other pupils, who all write a positive statement about the individual student. Once a student has written a sentence, she fold the paper so that the next student can not see what has been written. When all students have written on the sheet, it will be handed over to the teacher. Prepare sheets for all students. When all sheets are filled out, put the students in the middle of a circle one at the time. The teacher then reads the sheet up to the student. The students gain subsequent sheet. Teachers may advantageously select 4-6 students at a time. This makes the result better.
10. Presentation play off Students are divided into groups of 3 students. 2 and 2, students will find a way to present the third pupil in the group for the rest of the class. They can make plays, they can sing, etc.
11. Bingo Each student gets the hand out below. First they fill in the column 'Me'. Then they are asked to stand up and talk to everyone in the class and collect signatures of those who share characteristics / hobbies with them. In the end they count the signatures, the teacher points out the person who has collected the most signatures in a certain category. There's a discussion about how (un) important a certain characteristic is.
See Annex A
12. Speed dating Students talk together 2 and 2 for 2 minutes and will tour all of the class. Students can obtain an assignment
Example - find two things they have in common with one another, find out how many family members, other students have together, etc.
13. Class Rules The class works in small groups that agree on 3 rules for class. Each member of a group takes the 3 rules into a new group.