Back Art - Topic Area: Communication
Concept: Saying what you mean and hearing what is said are problems that we have in any communication between two people. You can imagine how these problems can escalate when you have more than two people involved. An example would be a comment or set of instructions that passes through a number of people and the interpretation that each person puts on the information. Rumors are certainly a good illustration of this problem; they seem to grow bigger and better with each telling.
Method: Classroom Activity
Time Frame: 15 to 20 minutes plus discussion time
Materials Needed: A pencil, magic marker or crayon for each group of five to six people
Five or six blank pieces of notebook sized paper for each group of five to six people
Activity: Divide your class up into groups of five to six people. Have each group sit in a single file line facing the front of the room. This can be done sitting on the floor (my favorite), sitting in chairs or even standing. The last person in line from each team, meets with the teacher and is shown a picture to draw. All the teams are shown the same picture, at the same time. After seeing the picture, they go back to their team and place themselves at the end of the line.
At the starting command, they use their finger to draw the picture that they saw on the back of the student in front of them. Once they are done drawing, the person in front of them tries to draw the same thing on the back of the person in front of him. This continues until it reaches the first person in line. He draws what he thinks was drawn on his back onto a piece of paper. When he finishes drawing, he raises his hand and puts down his pencil and turns his paper over so no one else can see his drawing. The teacher notes the order that the teams finished.
After all of the teams have finished, each picture should be held up for the team and class to see how well they did. The teacher should hold up the original so the drawings can be compared. The picture of the team that finished first should be checked by the teacher or judge to see how closely it resembles the original picture. If it is close enough in the eyes of the judge, then that team gets a point and the game goes to the next round. If the picture is not good enough, the next place team is judged. For the next round, each person moves up one chair towards the head of the line so everyone will get a chance to play all of the positions. Be sure to have enough pictures that everyone will have a chance to be in all of the positions.
The teams may not ask questions about what is being drawn on their backs. They should also be encouraged not to look at the other teams to see what they are drawing. The pictures you choose to have them draw should be fairly simple. Some suggestions would be a star, house, flower, tree, boat, letter of the alphabet, happy face, sun, light bulb, etc.
Discussion Ideas:
What did you see happening during this activity?
How did you feel when you were the person who started the drawing?
How did you feel when you were in the middle of the line?
How did you feel when you were the person drawing on the paper?
What made this activity hard to accomplish?
Why did the picture look different at the end than it did at the beginning?
What would have made this activity easier to accomplish?
What can this activity tell us about communication?
What are some of the ways that the facts of a story get changed?
What are some of the consequences of information being changed?
Does it make any difference in the end whether the information was changed on purpose or by mistake?
What steps can we take to be sure that information is not heard or told incorrectly?
Whose job is it to be sure that information gets passed along correctly? The person doing the talking or the person doing the listening? Why?
Copyright 1993 by Tom Jackson and Red Rock Publishing
ADD A WORD
TOPIC AREAS: Diversity, Working Together
CONCEPT: When there is a problem to solve or a discussion about a topic, the more people that provide input the better the outcome. People bring a wide variety of experiences to any given situation. These experiences can help to see things in a different light or to provide a different viewpoint. If everyone works alone with only their own experiences to draw upon, then they have a very narrow reservoir of knowledge to draw upon. Even if they work with others who have had the same kinds of experiences and background that they have, the pool of knowledge is still somewhat limited.
METHOD: Classroom activity
TIME NEEDED: 15 minutes and discussion time
MATERIALS NEEDED:
One piece of paper and a pen or pencil for each team of three
A watch with a second hand
ACTIVITY: Divide your group into teams of four. Give each team a piece of paper and a pencil or a pen. Explain that the object of this activity is for each team to create the longest sentence that they can. You will give them the first few words to the sentence. Each person will then take turns adding one word at a time to the sentence. The sentence must make sense and it must come to a logical ending. The paper and pencil must be passed from person to person as they add their word. They may not talk at all during this part of the activity. They will have sixty seconds to complete their sentence. Call out the time so they will know how long they still have to write.
After you have called time, have each group count up the number of words that they used including the words that you gave them to start with. Have them write this number to the side of their sentence. Have each group tell how many words they used. Ask for volunteers to read their sentence aloud. Repeat this process three or four times. Here are some of the sentence starters that I have used.
The cow jumped...
A worm crawled...
A loud crash...
People who are...
The next time...
A woman screamed...
One dark night...
After you have completed three or four rounds, change the rules. This time the paper and pencil must still be passed from one person to another and each person may still only add one word at a time, but the group may talk among themselves to make suggestions on what the sentence will say. Once again only give them sixty seconds to create their sentence. Call out the elapsed time for them to hear. When time has ended, have them read their sentence aloud and tell how many words they used. Repeat this twice. You should notice an increase in the number of words that they were able to write when you compare the very first try where they couldn’t talk with the very last try where they could talk.
DISCUSSION IDEAS:
How well did your team do when you couldn't talk?
How easy was it to figure out which word to use next?
How much pressure did you feel when it was your turn? Explain.
How did the activity change for you when the group could talk?
Was your team able to create longer sentences when they could talk? Why or why not?
How much pressure did you feel when the group could make suggestions? Explain.
When you have a problem to solve how much help is it to have someone else give you suggestions?
Will a greater number of people always make it easier to solve a problem? Why or why not?
How can people with different backgrounds than yours help you solve a problem?
Why would it be important for people of different backgrounds to work together on problem solving?
What could someone from a different culture provide that you couldn't?
How do different viewpoints help solve problems?
Copyright 1993 by Tom Jackson and Red Rock Publishing |
