How can I help you?
The purpose of this activity is to have students think about ways that they can make themselves better understood.
Take time to watch the video clip in advance and think about what you can ask the students in order to have them think about how they communicate, in particular how they communicate their needs.
This activity can be used to help students know that there are many ways to communicate with each other, and sometimes people can be misunderstood.
Briefly explain to students that there are various ways to communicate:
Spoken/Verbal: face-to-face, telephone, radio, television or other media.
Non-Verbal: body language, gestures, how we dress or act - even our scent.
Written: letters, e-mails, books, magazines, the Internet or via other media.
Visualizations: graphs, charts, maps, logos, pictures and other visualizations.
Ask students to think about how they like to communicate.
Introduce the clip.
Suggested pauses and discussions:
Other questions to lead discussion:
What are some strategies we can use to not get frustrated when we are misunderstood by or misunderstand someone?
What other ways are there for expressing ourselves?
If time permits, have students play telephone charades (A student acts out a charade only for the next person in the line, who in turn acts out for the next person. The last person standing in line attempts to guess what the original clue was).
This activity can be used to help students know that there are many ways to communicate with each other, and sometimes people can be misunderstood.
Briefly explain to students that there are various ways to communicate:
Spoken/Verbal: face-to-face, telephone, radio, television or other media.
Non-Verbal: body language, gestures, how we dress or act - even our scent.
Written: letters, e-mails, books, magazines, the Internet or via other media.
Visualizations: graphs, charts, maps, logos, pictures and other visualizations.
Ask students to think about how they like to communicate.
Introduce the clip.
Suggested pauses and discussions:
- 0:40 - Have you ever been misunderstood by someone who misheard you?
- 1:40 - Have you ever been misunderstood because there was a variety of words that mean the same thing?
- 3:30 - Have you ever been misunderstood because of a word that sounds the same?
Other questions to lead discussion:
What are some strategies we can use to not get frustrated when we are misunderstood by or misunderstand someone?
What other ways are there for expressing ourselves?
If time permits, have students play telephone charades (A student acts out a charade only for the next person in the line, who in turn acts out for the next person. The last person standing in line attempts to guess what the original clue was).
Patricia A. Sanchez