Introduction
Effective communication is essential for developing and maintaining healthy relationships. As educators, we play a crucial role in teaching middle school students how to engage in meaningful conversations. In this blog post, we will discuss conversation drivers and conversation stoppers, two essential skills for students to learn. Conversation drivers are strategies that help start or keep a conversation moving in the right direction, while conversation stoppers can prematurely end a conversation. By teaching students to use conversation drivers and avoid conversation stoppers, we can help them build strong social connections.
No-Prep Activity: Conversation Drivers and Stoppers Bingo
This engaging activity requires no preparation or materials and is an excellent way for students to practice identifying conversation drivers and stoppers. Here’s how to play:
- Divide the students into pairs or small groups.
- Ask each student to come up with four conversation drivers and four conversation stoppers (either from their own experiences or by brainstorming).
- Have students create a 4×4 bingo board with their conversation drivers and stoppers mixed in.
- Each student takes turns sharing a statement from their board. The other students must identify whether the statement is a driver or a stopper and mark it on their boards.
- The first student to get four drivers or stoppers in a row (up, down, across, or diagonal) calls out “bingo!” and wins the game.
Throughout the activity, encourage students to discuss why each statement is a driver or stopper and how they could improve the conversation.
Discussion Questions
After completing the activity, use these questions to stimulate further discussions:
- Why is it important to use conversation drivers instead of conversation stoppers?
- How do conversation drivers and stoppers affect our relationships with others?
- Can you think of a time when you used a conversation stopper unintentionally? How could you have used a conversation driver instead?
- What strategies can you use to practice using conversation drivers in your daily conversations?
- How can you help others improve their conversation skills by using conversation drivers?
Related Skills
Besides conversation drivers and stoppers, there are other relevant skills that students should learn to develop effective communication and strong social connections:
- Active listening: Paying close attention to what someone is saying and responding appropriately.
- Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others.
- Nonverbal communication: Using body language, facial expressions, and gestures to convey messages.
- Conflict resolution: Addressing disagreements in a constructive manner.
- Assertiveness: Expressing oneself confidently and respectfully.
Next Steps
If you found this activity helpful and would like to explore more resources for teaching social-emotional learning skills, we encourage you to sign up for free samples of our materials at Everyday Speech. You’ll find a wide range of engaging activities, videos, and lesson plans to help your students develop essential communication and relationship-building skills.
