SFUSD Restorative Practices
Community building warm up exercises:
*These activities have been adapted from ‘Keep Talking: community fluency activities for language teaching’ by FriederikeKlippel, Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers.
Music Mingle
Participants walk around the room as music is playing. As soon as the music is turned off, the facilitator gives a command, e.g. ‘stand together in groups of five.’ When the students have sorted themselves into groups the music continues and everybody again walks around alone until the next command. Possible commands: ‘shake hands with as many people as possible and introduce yourself’; ‘stand together in groups of four and find something that you all have in common outside of school’; ‘organize yourself by birthday from left to right’; ‘organize yourselves into groups by astrological sign.’
Similar and Different
Participants work together in pairs. Each person writes down three ways in which theyanticipatebeing similar to their partner and three ways they anticipatebeing different. They do not showtheir partner what was written.
Next, both participants take turns sharing their predictions and discuss the waysthat they were right or wrong. As a follow up participants write a short paragraph about what they learned from their partner, and report back to the group as the facilitator sees fit.
Self-directed Interviews
Each participant writes down five to ten questions thatthey would like to be asked. The general context of these questions can be left open, or the questions can be restricted to areas such as personal likes and dislikes, opinions, information about one’s personal life, etc.
Next,each person chooses apartner, exchanges question sheets and take turns interviewing one another using the questions. A variation is to choose topics s/he would like to be asked about, e.g. music, sport, food, computer games. A written extension can be added.
The Name Game
The facilitator prepares three times as many name tags as there are participants. The names should be culturally diverse and known by the participants. The facilitator tapes a name on each person’s back. They have to find out who they are by asking yes/no questions. The facilitator models with a confident student. The students circulate around the room.They are not allowed to ask any person more than three questions. As soon as a participant has figured out who s/he is, they inform the facilitator and get a new name tag.
Lie Detector
The participants are divided into small groups. One member of each group leaves the room. In their absence the groups decide on a set of five to eight questions that they want to ask their excluded team member. The excluded people return to their groups. They have to answer all questions except one, truthfully; in one case they tell a lie. The rest of the group has to decide which answer was a lie. They have to give reasons to justify their opinion. The student who responded to the questions tells them whether or not they were right. Please be sure to ask participants to ask low risk questions.
Find someone who…
The facilitator prepares a handout with roughly as many sentences as there are participants. On the handout are ‘find someone who…’ questions that are culturally, linguistically and age appropriate for the population taking part in the activity, e.g.
Find someone who…..
….knows how to play an instrument Name:
….has been to a state outside of California
….knows how to make pupusas
….has a parent who came from a country outside of the US
….has a been to a SF Giants game
….has met a celebrity
Each name can only be used once on each person’s sheet, and participants can only write down the names of those they question (no listening in!). At the end of the activity participants report back to the group on who they found to meet each of the criteria. An extension of this activity is to have each person write five interview questions for one of their peers based on what they learned. Participants interview each other and write a paragraph based on what they learnedto be shared with the class or placed on a wall display. Please consider the amount of risk involved with each of the questions.
Desert Island Rank
The facilitatordivides the participants into groups of three, sets the scene and task:
‘You are stranded on a desert island in the Pacific. All you have is the swim-suit and sandals you are wearing. There is food and water on the island, but nothing else. Here is a list of things you may find useful. Choose the eight most useful items and rank them in order of usefulness.
A box of matches, a magnifying glass, an axe, a cooking pot, a ball of string, a radio with batteries, a compass, a knife, a blanket, 20 meters of nylon rope, antibacterial ointment for cuts and bruises, a pair of knitting needles, a roll of duct tape, a plate, a water bottle, a mirror, a bar of soap, a hairbrush, a pair of sunglasses, a box of salt, a pair of socks, a roll of toilet paper, a pair of binoculars, a Frisbee.
Participants are given 10 minutes to complete the task and to write up their top eight choices. These are shared with the whole class and their reasoning is explained. The facilitator can tally the most popular items.
Values Ladder
Participants are asked to draw a flight of nine steps on a piece of paper. The lowest step is meant to symbolize the weakest emotional reaction – either positive or negative – the highest step the strongest one.
The facilitatorpresents a series of statements which call for value judgments. Each statement is characterized by a key word. After hearing each statement the participants enter the key word on their values ladder according to the strength of their reaction. The facilitator does not read the next item until everybody has entered the key word on their ladder. The position of key words may be changed when new items have been presented. All nine words can be moved at the end of the activity.
Statements will vary depending upon the facilitator’s purpose, participants’ age, culture, maturity, experience etc. This tool can be used to assess student feelings about important issues relating to the classroom, school, and community at large as well as less ‘risky’ community building topics such as ice cream flavors, musical choices, superheroes etc.
The facilitator can develop the activity beyond assessment to include verbal or written discussionon one of the statements that ranked strongly on the ladders.
A Few of my Favorite Things….
Participants are asked to bring in one of their favorite objects or an object that has a significant story attached to it. The group is divided into smaller groups of fours or fives.In the small groups participants take turns trying to guess the story of their classmates’ objects. After the guessing is complete, the owner of the object tells the real story of the object. Participants can be asked to write the story of their object as a narrative writing practice.
Adverb Charades
In a circle, all participants receive two pieces of paper. On one piece they write down an action, e.g. baking a cake, cleaning windows, or applying make-up. On the second piece of paper participants write down an adverb, e.g. angrily, cautiously, enthusiastically, etc. The papers are shuffled and placed upside down in two piles at the front of the room. Each person is paired with a partner. One pair is asked to the front of the circle. They pick one action paper and one adverb paper, which they then mime for the group. The person who guesses the action and adverb correctly brings their partner to the front of the circle to take the next turn. And so on…
*these next activities were compiled by the Milwaukee Public School System for their Restorative Justice process
“Opposite Directions” Activity:
Participants begin in a circle. All participants are standing. One leader is designated. The leader explains that directions will be given for the participants to “STOP” and to “WALK”; however, the participants must do the opposite of the direction that they are given. When a participant hears a command to stop they must walk. When the leader commands everyone to “Walk”, then the participants must stop and freeze in place. After a series of the participants engaging in the exercise, the leader will add two additional commands: “State your name” and “Jump”. Once again, participants do the opposite. A third set of commands can also be given to “Pat your head” and to “Lift your leg”. Once again, participants must do the opposite of what they are told. When four to six commands are all infused together, the participants must think quickly and adjust their movements to ensure that they are doing the opposite of what they are being commanded to do. If you choose to engage some competitive spirit, then direct students who fail to do the opposite to return to their place in the circle. The winner is the last person who is best at not following directions.
Explanation and Processing:
Two important objectives can be gleaned from this exercise: a) the importance of thinking before we act b) the importance of listening and following directions. The facilitator reconvenes the circle and asks them what was difficult about theactivity. Students pass the talking piece around the circle, address the issues, and discuss the importance of both objectives.
“Snake Introduction” Activity:
All participants standin an inward facing circle.The first individual turns and faces the participant on his/her left, says a greeting, and either gives a handshake or a light fist bump. The first individual then moves around the circle and greets one person after another until returning to his/her place in the circle. The second person follows behind the first person and greets each person in the same manner until reaching his/her place back in the circle. The participants will naturally follow one another and “snake” around the interior of the circle until the entire line is completed.
Typically, this activity is useful to build energy in a room that is depleted. It’s a great group wake-up activity.
Changing Chairs/I love my Neighbor.
One chair per participant is formed into an inward facing circle. One chair is removed, and the person who doesn’t have a chair stands in the middle of the circle. This person will begin the game by using a stem sentence such as “I love my neighbor who……” or “What’s true about me is…”or “I wonder if any of my neighbors…” and completing it with something that is appropriate for them, e.g. likes going on bike rides, loves cats, supports the San Francisco Giants. All participants in the circle for whom the statement is true get up and switch chairs. The person in the middle dashes to an empty chair as participants are switching and a new person is left in the middle. The process is then repeated. This game can be adapted to practice specific language items in classes of English learners or for other students who need language reinforcement.
Follow the leader.
All participants are sitting in a circle. One participant leaves the room. The rest of the participants remain in the room and decide on a leader.The leader starts an activity such as clapping a certain beat, snapping fingers or blinking their eyes. The group copies the leader. The participant who has left the room then returns and observes the actions of the rest of the group. The leader subtly changes the activity and the returning student attempts to guess which participant is the leader.
Community Juggling.
*this activity can be adapted as an outside activity by using tennis balls instead of bean bags
All participants are standing in a circle facing inward. The facilitator presents a single bean bag, stuffed animal or another suitably safe item. The facilitator starts by tossing the item underhand to another person in the group, who then repeats the process until everybody has caught the item once and it’s returned to the facilitator. Participants must remember the order in which they threw the object around the group, as the process will repeat itself in exactly the same fashion again. However, as the group’s confidence builds, more items are added to the circle until a total of five items (if the group is REALLY good!) are added and being tossed consecutively. If the group is ready for an additional challenge the facilitator can make a call and reverse the direction in which the objects are being tossed. This is a great team building or morning warm up activity, and the class can challenge themselves to improve over time.
Cooperative Story Chain.
All participants are sitting in a circle. The facilitator explains that the circle will create a story together. Each person will provide a line of the story and the story must be continuous and as succinct as possible. While it does not necessarily make perfect sense, the story lines should relate to one another to form a cohesive story.
The facilitator asks for a volunteer to begin. The volunteer stands two to three feet in front of his/her chair. S/he begins a story with, “once upon a time….” A volunteer then states the first line of the story. Whoever chooses to continue the story must then stand up, walk up to the left side of the previous person, interlocking arms at the elbows to form a chain, and provide the next line of the story. The story will evolve until each participant has had an opportunity to add to it. At the end the participants will have locked arms with one another standing in a complete circle.
A variation of this activity is to have the facilitator randomly allow each participant to continue the story until the facilitator rings a bell or claps their hands. At that point, the next participant picks up where the last person left off. This version of the activity would only be recommended for more confident or dramatic groups.
Name Game Alliteration Introduction Activity.
All participants are sitting in a circle. One participant volunteers to go first. That participant has to say his or her first name and pair it with an animal or an adjective that begins with the same letter of the participant’s name. The next participant must do the same; however, before saying his or her name, the participant must recite all of the previous names. For example, with adjectives the names might be something like Mysterious Mary, Mighty Marv, Dazzling DeAndre, Indecisive Isabel, Patient Patricia, etc. This is a fun way to learn everybody’s name quickly.
Duck Game Activity.
All participants are standing in a circle facing inward. One participant is at the center of the circle. S/he points at one participant around the circle and exclaims: “Duck!” That person then ducks down and the two participants on either side must state each other’s name, trying to state the other person’s name before his or her name gets stated. The person who says it last then goes into the middle of the circle. This is an excellent light-hearted activity that builds community amongst the circle participants.
Bippety, Boppety, Boo Name Game.
All participants are sitting in a circle, with one person in the middle. This person picks one person in the circle and points at him/her and says either “Me” or “You” followed by “Bippety,Boppety, Boo”. If the person in the center said “You”, then the identified person must say their name before center person says “Bippety,Boppety, Boo”. If “Me” was stated then the participant must state the other person’s name before the center person gets finished saying “Bippety,Boppety, Boo”.The center person must continue pointing at different participants in the outer circle until someone fails. At that point, the two individuals switch positions with the new participant in the center of the circle.
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