Introduction

As educators, we understand the importance of teaching our students valuable social-emotional skills that will help them navigate their interactions with others. One such skill is turn-taking in conversations. By learning to take turns in a conversation, students can develop stronger relationships, show empathy, and improve their communication abilities. In this blog post, we’ll explore an activity for teaching turn-taking in conversations, discuss related skills, and provide additional resources to reinforce this important skill.

No-Prep Activity: The Conversation Relay

The Conversation Relay is a simple, no-prep activity that helps teach students the concept of taking turns in a conversation. This activity can be done in a classroom setting or during small group sessions.

1. Divide the students into pairs.
2. Explain to the students that they will be practicing taking turns in a conversation, just like Josh and Matt did in the example provided.
3. Ask the pairs to pick a topic to discuss. This could be a favorite hobby, a recent event, or even a hypothetical situation.
4. Once the pairs have chosen their topic, instruct them to begin their conversation. Remind them to focus on taking turns, allowing their partner to respond before speaking again.
5. After a few minutes, ask the pairs to switch topics and continue practicing turn-taking in their conversations.
6. As the students are conversating, walk around and provide feedback on their turn-taking skills, offering encouragement and guidance as needed.

This activity helps students practice the important skill of turn-taking, while also giving them the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with their peers.

Discussion Questions

After completing the Conversation Relay activity, use these discussion questions to further explore the concept of turn-taking in conversations:

1. How did it feel to practice taking turns in your conversation? Did you find it easy or challenging?
2. Why is it important to take turns when talking with others? How does it show respect and empathy?
3. Can you think of a time when someone didn’t take turns in a conversation? How did it make you feel?
4. How can practicing turn-taking help improve your communication skills?
5. What are some strategies you can use to remember to take turns in conversations?

Related Skills

Turn-taking in conversations is just one of many essential social-emotional skills that students can benefit from learning. Other related skills include:

• Active listening: Paying attention to the speaker, making eye contact, and providing feedback through nods and verbal cues.
• Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others, which can help create stronger connections in conversations.
• Self-awareness: Recognizing one’s own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses, leading to better understanding and control in social situations.
• Conflict resolution: Learning how to address disagreements and find solutions in a respectful and constructive manner.

Next Steps

Teaching turn-taking in conversations is an important step in helping students develop strong social-emotional skills. To further support your students’ learning, we encourage you to sign up for free sample materials from Everyday Speech. These resources provide a variety of engaging activities and lessons to help students practice and reinforce essential social-emotional skills.