Communication Skills Unit: Assertive, Life, Learning Skills For 2023 (6Cs)

FUN COMMUNICATION SKILLS and ACTIVITIES (12 lessons). 

Help students COMMUNICATE MORE EFFECTIVELY and BE MORE ASSERTIVE!

Teach important life skills: Communication is key during difficult situations with friends, classmates, romantic relationships, family, and colleagues!

Want to see exactly what you get before you buy this bundle?

• Watch the BUNDLE PREVIEW VIDEO.

• Look at the BUNDLE PREVIEW PDF.
  (It is a watermarked version of the entire PDF resource.)

Want to see what the handouts and lesson plans look like?

• Section A. Communication Activities and Games
  (PREVIEW VIDEO and PREVIEW PDF)

• Section B. Metaphors and Memes
  (PREVIEW VIDEO and PREVIEW PDF)

• Section C. Assertive Communication
  (PREVIEW VIDEO and PREVIEW PDF)

• Section D. Video Analysis + E. Consolidation
  (PREVIEW VIDEO and PREVIEW PDF)

Use this life-long tool over and over again!

• Reboot your class. Make it to the END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!

• Kick start your classroom community when conflicts arise during the school year.

• Use it as part of a health class, homeroom / advisory class, or oral communication unit for ELA

• Use this at the start of a new unit, semester, or school year. Provide your class with a way to reflect on how they communicate: Are they assertive? aggressive? passive-aggressive? passive?

• Leave detailed lesson plans for a substitute teacher to use.

⭐ The best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago. The second best time is now.

Show your students HOW to communicate more effectively by thinking about processes and strategies.

2023 is still full of challenges.

Communication is key to help students navigate through controversial and highly charged issues.

(And that's just in the classroom! There's a whole world of craziness out there!)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ TEACHER FEEDBACK ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• "This really helped me organize my communication unit."
  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extremely satisfied - Heidi S, Sep 24, 2020)

• "This was wonderfully laid out to help support the teaching of this skill!"
  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extremely satisfied - Elizabeth A, April 5, 2020)

• "Good way to teach communication skills."
  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extremely satisfied - Dana M, March 26, 2021)

• Note: This product had a major organization update in Sep 2020 to make it easier for teachers to find what they need.

Learning in the classroom can be tough:

• Online learning can be even tougher because you don't have the nonverbal clues to help you understand.

• Communicating when you disagree with someone about a topic you both care about... well, that's really tough.

Oral Communication is more than public speaking. Show students HOW to be more effective in group work (and their personal lives.)

Being assertive means communicating in difficult situations and trying to work with the other person so that everyone wins, while still maintaining and protecting our personal boundaries and limits. It's not easy.

The school year always brings new challenges and if we give our students strategies to be more assertive, then hopefully they will be able to persevere through difficult conversations, text messages and learning moments.

Want to teach your students HOW to communicate more clearly - whether it's oral communication, written communication, non-verbal communication, or digital?

Want to teach your students HOW to be more ASSERTIVE, and not just be aggressive, or passive-aggressive, or passive? (Group work doesn't always mean people are communicating clearly or effectively. Find out why.)

Need a mark for ORAL COMMUNICATION in your English Language Arts class, and want to do something more meaningful than another presentation?

Do you teach HEALTH, LIFE SKILLS, or HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS?

We get so caught up in the idea of love and the stereotypes of what relationships look like (Hello Hollywood, Netflix, and Spotify!) that sometimes we forget that solid relationships are built on solid communication skills.

It doesn't matter if we're talking about romantic relationships, friendships, business relationships, or how we relate with our parental units... we're human and we interact with people every day.

If we keep a growth mindset and take a step back, we might see some patterns in how we communicate with different people or in different situations.

Teach your students strategies to communicate more clearly - whether we're communicating with family, friends, people we like, or people we Like with a capital "L."

REMEMBER: This lesson package is timeless. The slideshow does not include any specific language about the start of the school year, the new year, Valentine's Day or any other day. Good communication skills are always in style.

✅ The NO PREP slideshow lesson teaches the concepts.

✅ You can EDIT THE FILES to fit your classroom needs.

The slideshow lesson is comprehensive and teaches the concepts:

• DISTANCE LEARNING in Google Classroom

• BLENDED LEARNING or 1:1 LEARNING in Google Classroom

• IN-PERSON LEARNING in your real classroom

SPECIAL NOTE: Adapting the Communication Activities (SECTION A) for Online Learning

Most of the Section A Communication Activities work best in person. It's difficult to do in an exclusively online distance learning format.

If you have the opportunity to do a blended learning situation where students are physically together for part of the time, then students could do these activities in class, and do the review lesson at home to reflect on the lesson. 

If Covid-19 has completely prevented your students for in-person learning, here are some suggestions: 

SECTION A - Option #1: Google Classroom only.

• Students go through the slideshow and imagine what playing the game would be like. Then answer the reflection questions. 
• Not ideal, but everyone with access to Google Classroom could do this. 

SECTION A - Option #2: Virtual conferencing in small groups (but only one single Google Classroom class) 

• Split the class into smaller groups of 6 people (i.e. virtual desk groups) and have a virtual classroom meeting at a scheduled time.
• Repeat the same lesson for all of the virtual desk groups at different times.
• Create Google Classroom assignments as recommended in the QUICK START guide. 
• Teacher shares their screen with the group and explains the activity through the Google Slideshow lesson.
• Teacher goes first to demonstrate the game. 
• When it is a student’s turn to do the activity, instead of physically giving them a card (i.e. Taboo), the teacher would send them a private comment in the Google Classroom assignment with the information (i.e. the Taboo phrase, and the banned words list) Psst. Don’t share your screen at this point.
• Students use their microphones to share answers with the group (in the Google Hangout.)
• NOTE: Students won’t be able to use the assignment public comment section to play the game because other students can see this space. 
• You could create a Google Doc and manually share it with the group members. The challenge with this method is that the document is an open slate where anyone can write anywhere whereas the comment thread in Google Classroom goes in chronological order. 

SECTION A - Option #3: Virtual conferencing in small groups (with each group having their own small group Google Classroom “class”)

• Same structure as idea #2 but instead of having one “class” in Google Classroom for everybody and all assignments, also create several smaller “virtual desk group” classes.
• So, a student would belong in the main “class” but also be assigned to a “desk group” class in Google Classroom.
• This allows you to have a separate Google Classroom space where students can type responses in the “public” comment section of the assignment to play the game.
• This works well for students who don’t have microphones or who don’t want to speak. 
• This also works well if you want to disable the ability for students to leave comments in the main “class” but temporarily turn it on for students in the small “desk group” class

Online-only distance learning adaptations (for activities 1-8)

1. Who Am I 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Student could type answers in the assignment comment section if their group has their own private Google Classroom “class” (Option #3) 
• Students could say their answers - requires microphone / speakers (Option #2)

2. Charades 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Require webcam / video turned on for the person who is acting. 
• Student could type answers in the assignment comment section if their group has their own private Google Classroom “class” (Option #3) 
• Students could say their answers - requires microphone / speakers (Option #2)

3. Pictionary 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Could use webcam and draw on clipboard 
• Could also share a Google slides with the group and then the student uses the scribble tool to draw. (Requires desktop or laptop. Scribble lines are not available on the mobile versions of Google Slides.)

4. Taboo 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Student could type answers in the assignment comment section if their group has their own private Google Classroom “class” (Option #3) 
• Students could say their answers - requires microphone / speakers (Option #2)

5. Follow the Leader 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Student who is the detective leaves the virtual conference call when the leader is picked.
• Require webcam / video turned on everyone so that the detective can see everyone.
• This game would be difficult with internet lag.

6. Counting Numbers 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Requires microphone / speakers so everyone can say their number 
• Would be easier with webcams / video so that students have more clues about when they should say their number
• This game would be difficult with internet lag.

7. Twenty Questions 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Student could type answers in the assignment comment section if their group has their own private Google Classroom “class” (Option #3) 
• Students could say their answers - requires microphone / speakers (Option #2)

8. Describe the Drawing 

• Small Google Hangout / Google Meet 
• Instead of doing this in partners, the teacher has the image card and everyone else is drawing based on directions.
• This would be easier with microphone / speakers  
• If students are drawing on paper, they would need a webcam to share their work
• If students are drawing online, use the Easel virtual handout version.
  

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Should ChatGPT be allowed in schools? (or is this cheating?)

• YES

• NO

ARE YOU (or your students) BURNING OUT?

What do your students struggle with the most?

(PS - These are lifelong resources that you can use year after year.)

✅ Option 1: Trying (when they've given up)

• - Try this CHARACTER boost

✅ Option 2: Standing up for others (when things aren't fair)

• - Try this CITIZENSHIP boost

✅ Option 3: Working in groups (not the same as teamwork)

• - Try this COLLABORATION boost

✅ Option 4: Getting their point across (when upset and things matter)

• - Try this COMMUNICATION boost

✅ Option 5: Coming up with ideas (instead of copying others)

• - Try this CREATIVITY Boost

✅ Option 6: Thinking logically (and making informed decisions)

• - Try this CRITICAL THINKING boost

✅ Option 7: ALL OF THE ABOVE 

• - Try this 6C s SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING Mega Bundle

My name is Michael Fuchigami. I'm the teacher behind Educircles. 

• I taught English Language Arts for 13+ years in middle school.

• I want to help you SAVE HOURS of PREP because bathroom breaks are important!

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• Together, we've donated $11,998.08. (donation log.)

✅ SAVE HOURS OF PREP (and money) with a bundle!

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SINGLE PDF update - v2022-07-26

This product now has a Single PDF to print (with File Table of Contents and all handouts)

• I added a digital learning version (Easel by TpT) 

• I added Microsoft versions for all files

• Updated teaching content:
• - Section A: Fixed copy/paste error in the title for Who am I Cards Celebrities
• - Section A: Renamed communication activities printables to GAME CARDS to make it obvious that they are communication games. 
• - Section B: I fixed the sunshine youtube video on slides 58 and 59 
• - Section D: Updated the Handout - Student Self-Evaluation. 

• Other changes
• - Files are now packaged by section (A. Communication Activities, B. Metaphors and Memes, C. Assertive Communication, D/E Video + Consolidation) instead of splitting Google Drive folders by use (i.e. Print and Teach, Edit the documents, Google Classroom), 
• - Simplified file names using descriptive words (handout, slideshow).
• - Minor changes to formatting / layout
• - Combined all handouts into a single PDF for easier printing
• - Removed Google Slides versions of handouts (and replaced with Easel by TpT)

If you have any questions, please ask in the Question section or email me at Mike@educircles.org