Learning to Listen
Have students sit in a group and say their favorite color at the same time. Explain how when everyone speaks at the same time we can’t actually hear anything. Therefore, it is important to take turns speaking.
This activity is a modified version of the telephone game. In groups of 4-5, Student 1 tells something to Student 2. Student 2 must then paraphrase it for Student 3. Student 1 has to evaluate if Student 2 was correct in their paraphrase. Student 2 then tells something to Student 3 and evaluates if Student 3's paraphrase was correct, and so on. This activity will support student paraphrasing skills.
Elaboration
The teacher provides a dilemma, such as, “Should a parent be able to tell a kid to clean up his or her room?” or “Should the voting age be lowered to 16?”
Students will then sit in small groups of 4-6 people. Student 1 will express a point of view, and Student 2 will extend or elaborate the argument. Student 3 will then extend or elaborate the arguments from Student 2, and so on.
Rebuttal
Similar to the elaboration game except students provide a paraphrase and rebuttal to the argument.
Integrative Resolution (High School)
Similar to the above activities but involves creating an integrative solution to a dilemma. For example, Student 1 presents a position and Student 2 paraphrases and refutes it. Then, Student 3 paraphrases both positions and presents an argument that resolves the differences between players. This process is repeated until everyone in the group offers a solution.