Effective communication is a crucial skill for students to develop. One essential aspect of communication is providing sufficient background information to avoid confusion. In this blog post, we will introduce a fun and engaging activity called Background Brief, which helps students understand the importance of sharing background information when telling stories or having conversations. Let’s dive in!
Introduction
Background Brief is a game designed to teach students the importance of providing complete background information when telling stories or having conversations. The activity aims to improve students’ communication skills by helping them understand the need to share the Who, What, Where, and When of a story to avoid confusion. By participating in this activity, students learn to be mindful of the information they share, ensuring their stories are clear, engaging, and easily understood by others.
No-Prep Activity
Background Brief is an easy-to-implement, no-prep activity that requires no additional materials from the educator. Here’s how it works:
- Divide students into small groups or pairs.
- Ask each student to think of a short story or recent event they would like to share with their partner or group.
- Have the students take turns sharing their stories, making sure to provide all the background information (Who, What, Where, and When).
- After each story, the listener(s) should identify if any background information is missing. If something is missing, the speaker should revise their story to include the missing information.
- Repeat the process with each student in the group or pair, allowing them to practice both their listening and storytelling skills.
Discussion Questions
After completing the activity, engage students in a discussion to further explore the importance of providing background information. Here are some questions to get the conversation started:
- Why is it important to include all background information when telling a story or having a conversation?
- How did it feel when you had to revise your story to include missing information? How did it impact your listener(s)?
- What strategies can you use to ensure you always provide complete background information when communicating with others?
- How can providing clear and complete background information help build stronger relationships and improve our interactions with others?
- Can you think of a time when someone else’s story or conversation was confusing due to a lack of background information? How did it make you feel?
Related Skills
Besides providing complete background information, there are other essential communication skills that students should develop. Some related skills include:
- Active listening
- Empathy and understanding
- Nonverbal communication
- Asking open-ended questions
- Clarifying and summarizing information
Next Steps
If you found Background Brief helpful and would like to explore more engaging activities to improve students’ communication skills and other areas of social-emotional learning, we encourage you to sign up for free samples of our resources at EveryDay Speech. Our platform offers a wide range of materials designed to support educators in teaching valuable life skills to their students.
