Telephone

Telephone

This age-old game can be used to teach attentiveness. Divide the class into two teams. The same phrase is given to the first student on each team. Have each team race to see how fast the phrase can be whispered from student to student. See how different the ending phrase is from the beginning phrase. Play a second time, but this time add the rule that the team who gets the correct phrase to the end is the winner. Identify that the second time, there was additional attention on accuracy as well as speed.

 To process this activity, ask these questions:

• Was it fun to race against the other team?
• Was it funny to see how the phrase may have changed as it was passed?
• Have you ever seen this happen, in real life, when somebody says something, but it is misunderstood? What kind of distractions can cause this to happen?
• In the future, will you pay more attention to instructions to prevent this from happening?