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Invite a visitor to the classroom with the aim to work with a small group of children to elicit social discussions. The challenge is for the students to find out as much information as they can about the visitor in a limited time (5 or 10 minutes). You can choose which skills to focus on but the students may need to ask appropriate questions, take turns, listening and memory.
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Think, Pair, Share is a great activity for students to practise skills for listening to each other, taking turns and sharing information. A think, pair, share activity gives individuals a moment quietly to think about a question or topic presented to them for a moment before joining with a partner and sharing their thoughts with the other person and hear what the other person also . |
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Draw up a checklist on an A2 piece of cardboard with each child's name on the top row, and each child's name along the side row (like the multiplication charts). Make an aim for each child to work with every other child in the classroom during first term. When two students work together (either in pairs or small groups) match their names up on the chart and give them a tick, star, dot. This can help you and the students keep a good eye on who has and hasn't worked together in class. Research has shown that the more students are familiar with each other, the better they will get along and the less they will bully or be bullied.
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A fun activity to encourage turn taking and sharing is to split the class into groups of 4 or 5. Each child has a colour by number sheet which requires specific colours for specific numbers but each group has only one set of textas or colouring pencils. They must complete the activity correctly and the only way to do this is to share and take turns appropriately.
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So that children can practise talking to a range of people, let them send messages to the office or to other classrooms. If you send a child to the office to take the attendance folder, have them ask the office staff a question and bring the answer back to class (warn your office staff that this will be happening though).
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