Session 1 Lesson Plan – Communication encourageME Program

Discussion Questions for Video One (Part 1 – Meeting New People)

• What was your first impression of your best friend? Was that impression correct now that you know them well?

• What are some questions you can ask people to get to know them better? • Are there any other strategies you can think of to get to know people better that

weren’t mentioned in the video? • Are there any specific people you can think of that you want to get to know

better? What would your plan of action be? Discussion Questions for Video Two (Part 2 – Talking Things Through)

• What are some common problems you and your friends have? • What do you normally do if you have an issue with your friend? Do you think

talking it through would work better? • Who are some adults you can turn to?

Activities Never Have I Ever Supplies:

• Chairs

Version One – Better for open spaces 1. Create a circle of chairs, including enough for every person playing minus one

(just like musical chairs) 2. Choose one person to stand in the middle, while everyone else sits in the chairs 3. The person in the middle introduces themselves (if this is being used as an

icebreaker) and then says “Never have I ever…” followed by an activity they have never done (examples below)

4. If anybody in the chairs has done what the person in the middle says, they stand up and find a different seat – but they can’t move to the seat directly next to them

5. During this time, the person in the middle also finds a seat 6. After everyone is seated, there will be a new person in the middle, and they will

share their own “Never have I ever…” statement and the seat-hopping will continue

7. The game continues until everyone has gone or the leader decides to stop

Version Two – Better for smaller, more crowded spaces 1. Have every student hold up ten fingers 2. Start one one side of the room and have the first student say their name (if this is

being used as an icebreaker) and then “Never have I ever…” followed by an activity they have never done (examples below)

3. If any of the other students have done whatever the person has said, they put down a finger

4. Continue around the room until every student has had the chance to speak 5. The person at the end with the most fingers wins

• If everyone is out and has no more fingers left before everyone has had the chance to speak, the winner is whoever got out last

Statement examples: • “Hi, I’m Maggie, and never have I ever been to Texas” • “My name is Drew and never have I ever roller skated” • “Hello everybody, I’m Hannah, and never have I ever had blonde hair”

This game can serve as a get to know you game and a way to loosen up the atmosphere. Telephone No supplies needed 1. Have the players sit down in a circle 2. The leader or one of the students should choose a phrase (examples listed below)

and whisper it in the ear of the person chosen to go first 3. The first person passes it onto the the person on their right, who passes it to the

person on their right, and so on and so forth • The phrase can only be said once to each person

4. Once it reaches the last person, they repeat the phrase they heard out loud to the group and compare it to the original phrase

Phrase Examples: • Don’t wear pink slippers • My mom hates pickles • Monkeys like climbing for coconuts

This game is an example of bad communication. By allowing the truth to be passed from person to person, it gets changed. If you had instead directly talked to the first person, you would have known the truth instead of what other people changed and made up. When you have a problem with your friend, instead of telling all your other friends what is going on, it’s best if you sit down and try to talk it out with your friend first.

Drawing Game Supplies:

• Pens • Paper (notebook paper works, but preferably printer paper) • Timer

1. Have students pair up and give each person (not team!) a pen and a piece of paper 2. Each team should turn and sit back to back so they can not see the other person 3. Each team should choose one person to be the “Drawer” and one person to be the “Listener”

4. Give the Drawer about two to three minutes to draw a simple picture on their paper – but there should be no communication between the teammates

5. Now the Drawer has to give instructions to the Listener to try and have them replicate the exact same drawing on their piece of paper

• However, the Drawer is not allowed to tell the Listener the name of the image that they drew or any details that would give it away

• They also are not allowed to see the Listener’s paper at all 6. Once time is up, have them compare drawings and see which team was most successful

7. If time allows, they can now switch roles and try again

Example: If they drew a face, they can tell their partner to “Draw a large circle in the middle of the page, then two more circles at the same height right above the middle of the circle” and so on. However, they cannot tell them to draw a nose, eyes, ears, face, etc. This game serves to help show how specific you sometimes have to be to communicate your point of view to someone else, and the importance of listening carefully.