Starter activity - teaching communication

The topic of communication at both GCSE and A level lends itself to a fantastic range of activities. Here are a couple I recently tried and they went down an absolute storm.

After a general introduction into what communication is etc, I launched straight into ‘back to back’, an activity done in pairs. This needs a bit of preparation before hand but its well worth it. I pre-prepared some A4 sheets that basically had random shapes on there. Triangles, squares, circles etc etc. Filled the page I did. Make it complex. I prepared two different sheets of A4 per pair. Then, I split the kids into pairs, putting them ‘back to back’ (sitting down works best). Then, they take it in turns to describe to their ‘partner’ the shapes/ picture on the paper whilst the other one attempts to draw it (I use mini-whiteboards for this). Some kids managed to get exact replicas, others were hopeless. I then used this to draw out the importance of good communication in achieving corporate objectives.

I then followed it up with a classic clip from the Two Ronnie’s. What a belter. I used to use the tried and tested ‘communication problems’ scene from Fawlty Towers but I think that’s best left for customer service. The clip lasts about 6 minutes and covers lot’s of discussion points relating to poor communication, for example, duplication of work. Four candles? Enjoy!