Lesson plan 2 ICEBREAKING

rainboweurope20
Jan 2, 2023
6 min read

Updated: Apr 4, 2023

Target group

Students of secondary school aged 15-18. No previous knowledge on the topic addressed is required

Duration

2 lessons (60 minutes each)

Learning Environment

Indoor - classroom

Expected learning outcomes

increase confidence in oneself and others
Reduce social inhibitions among group members
Creation of a common language
Develop listening skills

Subjects and topics covered

cyberbullying, knowledge, reflection, critical attitude Method description

The methodology used during the meetings is an active one. No ex-cathedra meetings, but engaging activities to provide students with firsthand and hands-on experiences. Dynamic activities will allow attendees to experience the content in a new, different and involving way. Lessons based on sharing personal experiences, emotions, and sensations allow students to understand deeper and focus on concepts and topics covered. The students will be stimulated to produce contents. Tools / Materials / Resources

Computer, videos, printed material, pens, papers and post-it

Detailed description of the step-by-step description of the activity / sequences of the units

In order to be able to deal with sensitive topics such as bullying, it is needed to establish a relationship of trust with the teacher, but above all, create trust and cooperation among the young people through icebreaking activities. The following activities aim to let cooperate young people, to introduce the topic in an informal way and to stimulate reflections. Lesson 1: Ice-breaking games: PULSES: A game to get in tune with each other and find harmony in the group (5min)

In a circle, eyes closed, hands on shoulders of neighbours. The first one starts by releasing an impulse with the hands that must be transmitted throughout the circle until returning to the starting point. The last one who receives the impulse can vocalize the arrival of the impulse. COLOMBIAN HYPNOSIS: It helps to keep the focus on the other by identifying with the other body. (10min)

Divide the group in pairs. Each pair decides who is player A and who is player B. Player A is the hypnotizer who holds his/her hand palm forward, fingers upright, anything between 20 and 40 centimeters away from the face of the other, who is then as if hypnotized and must keep his face constantly the same distance from the hand of the hypnotizer, hairline level with her fingertips, chin more or less level with the base of her palm. The hypnotizer starts a series of movements with her hand, up and down, right and left, backwards and forwards… the partner must contort his body in every way possible to maintain the same distance between face and hand, so that face and hand remain parallel. After a few minutes, the two players change the role. After some more time, both can extend a hypnotizing right hand, becoming leaders and followers at one and the same time.The positions will be increasingly unusual. Always make sure participants are comfortable and feel safe with the exercise. THE WALL OF THOUGHTS - BRAINSTORMING: (10 min)

Teacher writes some words related to social media and cyberbullying on post-it notes and stick them on the wall. The students for each one have to say the things that come to their mind. WHY NOT? (5+10 min)

The exercise leads participants to decide what to share about themselves. They then explain and discuss the criteria each person used to decide what to share about themselves. At the end of the discussion, students try to understand if what thay have said is enough to really show and describe how they are. The focus is on the power of the words used or not used, also online (a question to stimulate this reflection could be: “Looking at your profile on social networks, do I really know you?”)

ALGORITHM (15 min)

Ask the students to draw a 3X3 grid on a paper

Each student writes down 3 personal interests on a post-it note and gives it to the trainer.
The trainer reads all the interests written by the group, without repeating the same ones, and adds other interests himself that hadn’t been written
every time the students recognize themselves in the interest read, they colour a square on the grid
The winner is whoever blackens the grill completely first

Reflection:

The trainer asks the pupils: "what does this activity have to do with the Net?" and collects their answers, inviting them to try, without fear of failure.
Explanation of the trainer to introduce the topic of the social media algorithm:

- this game provides a limited view, it wouldn't be possible otherwise: you are not able to know everything about everyone. It happens the same with the content published online: I’m not able to see all the content of the Net, I only see what I'm interested in. This has also risks... Which ones? (ask the students) - I could be interested in many different things, but if the internet only proposes me things that it is convinced I’m interested in (using the algorithm of our activities online), I’m going to miss them! The result is a “bubble” characterized by little diversity, I become passive in the use of the online content (I enter and scroll through the feed) and my interests risk to become flat. - We delegate to the social media algorithm the choice of the content that we see online; also fashion and trends, today are decided by the algorithm (which proposes to you what it thinks you might like, also based on what the majority of those like you like). CONCLUSION (5 min):

- If we stay on the internet passively, we don't grow! - In order to get out of the bubble you need to communicate well. To communicate is to share → I can also communicate through the photos and videos that I post. Lesson 2:

THE RED LINE (10 min) sharing experiences to get to know each other more and break the ice.

A straight line is marked on the ground. The students are arranged to the right and left of the line. If the question is relevant to them they will approach the line and then return to their seats. The teacher says: "approach the red line who..." and formulates an experience such as: - who has a brother - who does sport - who can swim - who lives in the city - got angry with a partner - has felt verbally attacked by a schoolmate - has felt lonely lately SHARING YOUR STORY: watching a video (5 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f8liieRepk This is an extract from the movie “Freedom Writers”: Through words, students affirm their presence in the world, recover dialogue with themselves and others. EMOJI: (10 min)

Students are divided into groups of 4/5 people. Each student is given a sheet of paper with a printout of whatsapp emoji.

Everyone has a few minutes to choose 5 icons that describe thoughts about themselves. In turn, the other classmates in the group will have to interpret what they see. At the end there will be a comparison. Reflection: - has it ever happened – also using just words - to interpret things different from reality? - in your opinion, what is lost in a chat?

Expression, non-verbal communication..
the situation that the other person is experiencing
what the other person has "inside", his/her state of mind....

so→ choose carefully the words to say, thinking about the person to whom we say them AVATAR OF WORDS:

Identity and relationship building (30 min)

- Each student is asked to think of and write on paper the 5 words that others most often say about him/her (parents, family, friends, teachers, coaches...) and the 3 words that he/she most often says about him/herself. These can be words that relate to qualities or characteristics of the person (lazy, slow, attentive, funny...). - Each student receives a LEGO 4+ kit and on the bricks, they rewrite the words they previously thought of - Each student builds his/her own avatar made of words

Reflection: - the words others say to me are part of me anyway - the words others say about me are still part of me - do you agree? → even if we say we don't care, our brains automatically take them into account and that influences us (you're a failure, you'll never make it! will that be true? maybe I convince myself it is!) - beware of using words at random...they can have consequences on the other person that we don't expect; they can become part of them. We often use words without thinking in consequences, we use insults said out of friendship...but beware! CONCLUSION (5 min):

watching a video (1:30 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CKzzlfzkOc This is the extract from the movie “C’est la vie” and shows the importance of writing a correct message on a chat.