Many developmentally disabled students struggle with accurately conveying messages and interpreting those of others around them, especially when they are non-verbal. This lesson contains fun activities and exercises, such as talking with...

How can you tell what someone is feeling when they aren't saying a word? Explore non-verbal communication with an activity based on Cynthia Breazeal's work with expressive robots. One learner puts a bag over his or her face and uses body...

Appropriate assertive and non-verbal assertive communication is the focus of this lesson designed for the special education classroom. Using mirrors, class members practice assertive responses to a variety of situations.

Help young learners become active listeners and strong public speakers with a set of activities that range from paraphrasing, to discussions, and self-reflection. Additionally, the lessons address social media skills and non-verbal...

A short video demonstrates the importance of non-verbal communication in the forming of first impressions. Viewers observe the facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, and appearance of job seekers in an interview, then discuss...

It's not just what you say but how you say it! That's the take-away from a lesson plan about verbal and non-verbal communication. An engaging activity has middle schoolers demonstrating how tone of voice and body language can...

Sometimes a picture reflects a thousand descriptive words. To illustrate the importance of sensory words in descriptive writing, scholars listen to a song and craft a painting in response. After sharing their work with the class,...

The Overcoming Obstacles course for middle schoolers continues with a unit module on communication. In the first instructional activity, participants engage in a series of activities that help them recognize nonverbal clues and the...

Especially tricky for language is understanding the line between inappropriate, confrontational, (in)effective, (un)reasonable and diplomatic English. The activities in the resource permit class members to practice...

Students discuss and define communication and identify different ways of communicating with people. Students then practice team building and non-verbal communication skills as they work silently in small teams to put puzzles together.

The two lessons in the fifth unit in this series are designed to help students with disabilities improve their communication skills. The first lesson has class members practice strategies and skills for appropriate communication. They...

Take a look at the topic of violence as seen in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Discuss together the values that Atticus holds and brainstorm ways to combat violence in a similar manner to what he portrays in the novel. Get your...

What is your body saying that maybe your words aren't? Scholars explore the vast world of the subtle, and not-so-subtle, nonverbal communication cues through group and individual work. Lesson seven in a series of peacebuilding exercises...

Life changes may cause stress. Here, scholars identify stressful situations in a peer's life and offer coping skills to make for a better day. A short story, "Stressed Out Sally," provides pupils with a look inside a bad day. After...

Learners develop self-awareness and discuss the importance of cooperation and communication through worksheets and hands-on, collaborative activities. 

Students explore bullying.  In this character development lesson, students discuss verbal and nonverbal bullying. Using the "sticks and stones" adage, students write a sentence describing a hurtful act on a gray piece of paper,...

After defining passive, aggressive, and assertive, class members role-play different scenarios demonstrating these behaviors. Individuals then identify a weakness they wish to improve and, using what they have learned throughout the...

Miscommunication is often the basis of conflict. To improve their communication skills, pupils first review what they learned about assertive (as opposed to aggressive or passive) communication, role-play several scenarios, and...

A lesson instills the importance of how empathy has the ability to aid in stopping bullying behavior. Scholars discuss, in-depth, a series of three questions. Using class input, an anchor chart is made then displayed for reference.

Students interpret canine verbal and non-verbal communication. In this dog communication lesson, students discuss dog communication through bark and body language. Students study the 'reading canine body postures' worksheet and write...

High schoolers comprehend how Dicken's set piece on snobbery. They discuss how Lean uses costume, actors' non-verbal communcication and props to convey Victorian class customs, distinctions, and snobbery. Students are shown "The Jolly...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

What is the true meaning of wealth? Guide your class through this question in a SMART board activity (provided), which addresses a concept development model. The instructional activity could be used before you begin The Pearl by...

Sixth graders discuss The Butterfly. In this literacy activity, 6th graders write two postcards about the issues of the Holocaust from the two different perspectives of the two girls from the text.