It’s vital for students to understand the importance of communication skills. Many of the activities contained in the ECO-Effect™ program are group-learning opportunities. In these activities, students will be expected to work as part of a team and contribute equally to the end result of the project(s).
AMAZING! A Communication Evaluation will allow your students to explore the art of communication, a skill that will benefit them in any career that they aspire to have, especially in STEM Careers.
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 Students will demonstrate improved communication skills as measured by the effectiveness of their oral directions.
 Students will increase their cooperation with partners and the whole group in order to complete the given tasks.
Career: a profession, work, or an occupation that you are trained for. A person has a career for much of their life, and it is usually something that they are interested in.
Communication Skills : Learned skills that help us work with people. Communication skills can be either verbal , such as when we talk, read, or write, or non-verbal , such as body language. We need to use communication skills in almost anything that we do such as being in school, working in teams, and having a job.
STEM : an acronym for study in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics. STEM careers are all around us, from the doctor who we visit when we get sick to the engineers who design our bridges to our science teachers who we learn from every day.
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 AMAZING! Mazes (see attached)
 Pencil and eraser
 Colored pencils
 Blindfolds (cotton cloth works best)
1.
If a smart board is available, open the “Maze” document so all students can see it on the smart board (Document available at http://eco-effect.net/eco-lessons/ ). If an overhead projector is available, choose one of the mazes attached and copy it onto a transparency. Project the transparency so all students can see it. Finally, if preferred, you may choose to draw the maze on the blackboard/whiteboard or on chart paper.
See the “Simple Maze Example” attached for reference.
2.
Select a volunteer to go up to the board.
3.
Blindfold the volunteer and explain that he/she will have to navigate the maze based on their classmates’ instructions.
4.
Have students call out directions to the blindfolded student at the board, trying to navigate him/her to the end of the maze.
NOTE: The class will likely get loud which is normal for this activity.
Set a time limit of one minute. Once students have completed the whole-class exercise
(either successfully or unsuccessfully – typically the whole-class exercise is unsuccessful because multiple communicators speaking without order can lead to miscommunication), have them pair up and try the activity again.
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1.
Pair up students. Each pair will work together toward the common goal of guiding their partner through a maze ( see attached ).
2.
In each pair, one student will be blindfolded ( as long as they agree to it ).
3.
The other student will act as the “Navigator” in order to guide their partner through the maze ( see attached mazes ).
4.
The Navigator will have to place the maze on the desk of their “Blindfolded” partner and place a pencil with an eraser in his/her hand.
5.
The Navigator will provide detailed, verbal directions to his/her Blindfolded partner.
6.
The Blindfolded partner will have to follow the directions that the Navigator provides them and try to complete the maze. NOTE: The first round will not be timed as a means of making sure that both team members understand all of the directions.
7.
The Blindfolded partner should make his/her way through the maze if the directions are communicated in a clear, efficient manner.
8.
Each round should last no more than five minutes. The teacher can keep the time or set a timer.
9.
When the first round is complete, partners switch roles.
10.
A different maze should be used this time.
After the AMAZING! Whole-Group Activity and Activity in Pairs , begin a discussion about the skill of communication and how important it is. Discuss the outcomes of both versions of both the “Whole-Class Activity” and the “Activity in Pairs”. Which was more successful?
What was the hardest part of both activities? Make sure that your students understand how communication relates to their lives inside and outside of school and to their future career aspirations.
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Source: http://www.mathmaniacs.org
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Source: www.printactivities.com
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Source: www. kidspot.com.au
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