As educators, we understand the importance of teaching our elementary students strong communication skills. Social-Emotional Learning plays a crucial role in helping children develop these abilities. In this blog post, we’ll introduce you to an engaging activity called “Repair the Conversation” that will help students improve their conversation skills and build stronger relationships with their peers.

Introduction

Repair the Conversation is a game that teaches students how to recognize when a conversation has gone off track and how to bring it back on track. The activity helps students understand the importance of clear communication and empathy in their interactions with others. By participating in this activity, students will learn to:

• Identify signs that a conversation is not going smoothly
• Pinpoint where the conversation went off track
• Develop strategies to get the conversation back on track
• Reflect on their feelings and emotions during the conversation

No-Prep Activity

Here’s a simple, no-prep activity that you can use to introduce Repair the Conversation to your students:

1. Divide the students into pairs.
2. Ask each pair to come up with a topic for a conversation (e.g., a recent event, a shared hobby, or a favorite movie).
3. Have the pairs engage in a conversation about their chosen topic for a few minutes.
4. After a few minutes, ask one student in each pair to intentionally steer the conversation off track by introducing a confusing or unrelated statement.
5. The other student should recognize that the conversation has gone off track, identify the issue, and attempt to get the conversation back on track.
6. After the activity, discuss as a class how the students felt during the off-track moments and what strategies they used to repair the conversation.

Discussion Questions

Use these discussion questions to stimulate further conversations about the activity:

1. How did you feel when the conversation went off track? How did you know it was off track?
2. What strategies did you use to get the conversation back on track? Were they effective?
3. How do you think effective communication can help build stronger relationships with others?
4. What are some challenges you might face when trying to repair a conversation in real life?
5. How can you apply the skills you learned in this activity to improve your communication in other areas of your life?

Related Skills

Repair the Conversation is just one of many activities that can help students develop essential social-emotional skills. Other related skills that can benefit students include:

• Active listening
• Empathy and understanding
• Nonverbal communication
• Conflict resolution
• Assertiveness

Next Steps

If you’re interested in trying Repair the Conversation and other social-emotional learning activities with your students, we encourage you to sign up for free samples of our skill-building materials at Everyday Speech. Our resources are designed to help you create engaging and effective lessons that will support your students’ growth and development in all areas of their lives.