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Establish a playing space with clearly-defined borders. Ask students to walk within the space without talking or making any contact with others. Walk as yourself, by yourself for now. Experiment with pace by asking students to speed up (safely) and slow down. Invite students to make eye contact with others as they pass by, but remain silent. Have the group freeze and explain that in a moment you will ask them to organize themselves into groups based on what they have on their feet. This first task is a silent, non-verbal one. Once everyone has found a group with at least one other person, have each group talk about their shoe characteristics and decide on a title for the group. Share out group titles.
Describe: How did we organize ourselves?
Analyze: What types of categories did we use?
Relate: What information did we synthesize to title the groups?
"Remember this is a non-verbal activity, so find other ways to communicate with each other as you form groups."
Play a second round focusing on unseen characteristics of shoes - allow students to talk to one another for this round.
Create connections to research and synthesizing information.
Megan Alrutz