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#3630. Getting to Know You

Social Studies, level: Kindergarten
Posted Mon Jan 30 18:46:07 PST 2006 by Michelle Conley (conleymf@pickens.k12.sc.us).
Clemson Elementary School, Clemson, USA
Materials Required: Venn Diagram on a worksheet, hula hoops, colored pencils
Activity Time: 30 minutes
Concepts Taught: Socialization, Categorization, Graphing, Public Speaking

Objective - The student will be able to discuss with a partner both individual and shared interests and graph these interests in a Venn diagram.

Procedure - 1) Teacher will assign pairs of students to work together. Teacher will ask students to talk to each other long enough to find out what the other likes to do and find some common interests. Teacher will explain what a Venn diagram is and how to properly record their individual interests and their shared interests. (Length of time - 10 minutes.)
2) Students discuss their personal interests. Using colored pencils, Student A writes or draws pictures of his interests alone in his side of the circle. Student B writes or draws pictures of his interests alone in his side of the circle. Each student takes turns writing or drawing common interests where the two circles intersect. (Length of time - 15 minutes.)
3) Teacher will invite pairs of students to come to the front of the class to share their discoveries. Each student will hold a hula hoop and stand apart from one another. Student A will share one thing he likes to do that Student B does not like to do. Student B will then share one thing he likes to do that Student A does not like to do. Then they will step together, overlapping the two circles of the hula hoops and on the count of three share one thing (speaking in unison) they both like to do.
(Length of time - 10 minutes.)

Evaluation - Did the students discover and tell about one individual and one new shared interest with their partner? Did the students accurately record their interests in the Venn diagram?

Reflection - Look to see how this activity changes the dynamics of your classroom. After doing this with my class (and they grumbled at being assigned a partner), I saw new friendships form as children whom I had never seen play together before this activity link arms and head out to recess. They loved the movement with hula hoops and using a graphic organizer. I will adapt this activity to include it in my seasonal units, such as "What I like to do in winter".