Page 9 - 22061_Spreads

101 WAYS TO TEACH CHILDREN SOCIAL SKILLS 2
Learning Objective: To learn more about each group member; to recognize
that although people have different interests, they are
alike in many ways
Skill: Social communication, social awareness
Ask the children to look around at the other group members, noticing ways
they are different and ways they are alike.
Tell them:
Most groups have something in common. For example, in this class
you are all approximately the same age, and you are all learning the
same things as the other children in your grade. Members of a sports
team share an interest in their sport. In a computer club, the
members are all interested in computers. At the same time, the
individual members of these groups have their own interests and
traits. Each one of us is totally unique, even though we have things in
common with the other people in the group.
Distribute paper and writing materials. Ask the children to write a few
sentences focusing on something they think is either special or unique
about themselves—perhaps a talent, a favorite hobby, or a special
experience they have had. At the bottom of their paper, have them write
two or three of their physical traits (e.g., long hair, brown eyes) to make it
easier for the others to guess whose paper is being read.
Put the papers into a basket or shoebox, and have children take turns
choosing a paper to read aloud. As each paper is read, the others try to guess
whose it is. When someone guesses correctly, the “special person” talks
more about what he has written. The other children are given an
opportunity to add to the conversation, relating their own experiences or
interests to whatever the “special person” has focused on.
The person who guessed correctly is the next to choose a paper, and the
activity continues until all the papers have been shared.
Something Special About Me ACTIVITY 1