Learning discussion skills through games download

All three claim that the fact is theirs, and the class then proceeds to question them in an attempt to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying. Each student is allowed to ask one question to one of the three students. After a round of questioning, the students guess who is telling the truth. Variations on the game Taboo: For variation 1, create a PowerPoint presentation with a noun on each slide. Have one student come to the front of the room and sit with their back to the PowerPoint.

The rest of the students take turns describing the words on the slides, and the student at the front has to guess them. For variation 2, separate the students into groups of four or five. Place a pile of cards with random nouns in the center of each group. Have students take turns describing a noun for their group members to guess. Variation 3 is for advanced speakers.

Separate the class into two teams. Students are given a word to describe to their teammates, in addition to a list of words that they cannot use in their description. Each student should have two to three minutes to see how many words their teammates can guess. They must describe the picture for their partner to draw. Comic strip descriptions: Give each student a portion of a comic strip.

Without showing their pictures to one another, the students should attempt to describe their image, and put the comic strip into the correct order. In both cases, there are a number of specific skills that we can help our students develop to become better able to contribute effectively to group discussions.

Why teach group discussion skills? Developing group discussion skills is useful for everyday life as we regularly find ourselves having discussions amongst friends, family and colleagues. These may vary from very informal chats about day-to-day things, to more serious topics, for example a discussion about a recent news story or a problem that needs to be solved. Types of discussion There are a variety of different types of discussions that occur naturally and which we can recreate in the classroom.

These include discussions where the participants have to:. Some discussion topics may fall into more than one of these categories, but it is useful to consider a variety of formats to which the students can apply the skills they are learning.

Useful sub-skills for students There are a number of different sub-skills which students will need to be able to successfully and effectively participate in a group discussion. Students need to develop the ability to: Analyse This skill can be developed by giving students the topic individually and asking them to brainstorm or mind-map all of the possible sub-topics they could speak about.

The students can then swap their notes and assess or analyse the relevance of each of the sub-topics their partner has included. Together, the students then draw up a fresh list or mind-map and discuss how the sub-topics might be linked together, along with examples or reasons for any arguments they might have. Persuade This skill comes in useful when students need to make decisions on how to do something e. A fun activity to develop this skill is to give groups of students this topic and ask them to decide on the profile of the perfect candidate, creating a list of 7 adjectives.

The students are then re-grouped and asked to persuade the other members of the group that their selection is the best while compiling a second, negotiated list. The group members who retain the most from their original lists are the winners. Note down useful phrases that you hear the students using while doing this task and discuss these at the end for future reference. Divide the students into groups ensuring that there is a mix of views within each group. Explain that for this discussion, the aim is to keep their voices low and try to control their emotions as far as possible.

Good social skills will help kids successfully interact in social situations, build positive relationships and have a better self-image. Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. There may also be other affiliate links in this post.

A life skills card game for social-emotional learning developed by Harvard Educators. Topics are sequenced from childhood to adulthood by social and emotional learning competencies and mastery levels. Social and emotional learning focus on several areas:. Why I like it:. It is also a great tool to work in a therapeutic environment with kids with social skills difficulties, as rolling the die and reading the question somehow removes social interaction pressure.

This social skills game is an excellent tool to develop conversation skills and deepen communication within the family by asking various questions to get to know everyone better. This hilariously fun card game empowers kids to take control of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. You pick up three cards and act out the funny situations.