Introduction

Developing good conversation skills is essential for kindergarten students as they learn to interact with their peers and adults. One way to teach these skills is through the concept of Conversation Drivers and Stoppers. Conversation Drivers are strategies that help start a conversation or keep it moving in the right direction, while Conversation Stoppers are actions or words that can end a conversation prematurely. In this blog post, we’ll introduce a fun and engaging activity called Conversation Drivers and Stoppers Bingo, designed to help kindergarten students practice these skills and improve their social interactions.

No-Prep Activity: Conversation Drivers and Stoppers Bingo

This activity requires no preparation or materials from the educator. All you need is a group of kindergarten students and a little imagination. Here’s how to play:

1. Divide the students into small groups or pairs.
2. Explain the concept of Conversation Drivers and Stoppers, providing examples of each.
3. Give each student an imaginary bingo card with a mix of Conversation Drivers and Stoppers in the squares. You can also encourage students to create their own bingo cards by drawing a grid on a piece of paper and writing down various conversation strategies.
4. Have the students take turns acting out scenarios using Conversation Drivers and Stoppers. The rest of the group will listen and identify which strategies are being used.
5. When a student identifies a Conversation Driver or Stopper used in the scenario, they can mark it on their imaginary bingo card or cross it off on their paper version.
6. The first student to get four Conversation Drivers or Stoppers in a row (up, down, across, or diagonal) says “Bingo!” and wins the game.

Throughout the game, pause occasionally to discuss how each student is feeling and how their conversation strategies are impacting the interactions. This helps reinforce the importance of using Conversation Drivers and avoiding Conversation Stoppers.

Discussion Questions

After playing Conversation Drivers and Stoppers Bingo, facilitate a group discussion with the following questions:

1. Why is it important to use Conversation Drivers during a conversation?
2. How do Conversation Stoppers affect a conversation? How do they make the other person feel?
3. Can you think of a time when you used a Conversation Driver or Stopper in a real-life conversation? How did it impact the interaction?
4. What can you do to improve your conversation skills and use more Conversation Drivers in your daily interactions?

Related Skills

Teaching conversation skills through Conversation Drivers and Stoppers Bingo can also help students develop other important social-emotional skills, such as:

• Active listening
• Empathy and understanding others’ feelings
• Assertiveness and expressing one’s own feelings
• Conflict resolution

Next Steps

Now that you’ve learned about Conversation Drivers and Stoppers Bingo, it’s time to put these skills into practice with your kindergarten students. To access more engaging activities and resources to teach conversation skills and other social-emotional learning concepts, sign up for free samples at Everyday Speech. These materials will provide you with the tools you need to help your students develop strong conversation skills and foster meaningful connections with others.