We know most of you already know how to play charades. But this activity is a little bit different.
In this activity, the class will split into groups of two. The facilitator (or one person from each group) will act out different words (see word bank below), and the rest of the team will have to guess which word they are acting out. Both teams will act out the same word, so it’s a race to see which team can guess the word first! But there’s a catch- only one person from each group can raise their hand to guess which word their teammate is acting out. This person, the assigned leader, is the only one who will be allowed to guess the word. And after each round, a new assigned leader will be picked from each group. So get excited to have dynamic shifts in leadership and communication in each round of the game. The first team to 10 points wins!
Word bank (only visible to the facilitator and one actor from each team):
Valentine’s Day is a great time to tell people you are grateful for them. This Valentine’s Day, we want you to celebrate everyone who is special in your life, whether that be your family, friends, teachers, peers, or anyone else important in your life. During this YAS (You are Special) activity, you will create two Valentines- one for someone you know very well, and one for someone you do not know as well. Decorate the Valentine’s in any way you want, and make sure to write, “YAS because…” on the person’s card and say something nice about them!
Do you have a favorite TV show? Did you know that many TV shows actually include many important life lessons in their episodes? And many of these same TV shows also teach us very important lessons about leadership too!
Take 15 minutes to think about a lesson about leadership you learned from a TV show. It could be something obvious (ex. an example of someone being a leader in a workplace or school, someone leading a sports team, etc.) or something less obvious (ex. someone encouraging another person, someone standing up for another person, causing a change or making a difference in their community, etc.). Then, if you are doing this as a public speaking activity, you will come to the front of the class and present your scenario to your peers, answering these questions in your presentation:
What is the name of the TV show?
What happens in the episode where a character uses leadership?
How can this be applied to our own lives?
If you are doing this activity as a team building activity, instead of presenting the scene to the class, you and your group will pick one scene together and act out the scene for the class! You do not have to act it out word for word, so you can feel free to put your own spin on the scene.
One purpose of Leaders UNITE is to help students see that leadership can be fun, and that anyone can step up as a leader in any situation. Think about your own school/a program you are a part of. Now take the time to think about how that school/program could incorporate leadership more into their curriculum. What would you do to provide more opportunities for students to be leaders/feel comfortable speaking out at your school?
This can be done as an activity or a discussion. For the discussion, just answer the question above. For an activity, do the discussion and then create a letter that you would send to your school showing them what they can do to create more opportunities for leadership in the classroom. If you have time, even think of actual changes you would implement and write them out in a detailed plan.
Students will have 25 minutes to do this discussion and activity. Be creative and try to think outside of the box!
*Note: If you are stuck for ideas, here are a few:
Creating more opportunities for small group learning.
Creating more opportunities for students to step up as leaders in the classroom.
Having afterschool leadership programs.
Having a debate or discussion team where you get to discuss important topics in leadership.
Creating opportunities for people to share their culture/identity with the class.
As we are learning through this club, leadership can come about in many different ways, and in many different situations. In this activity, it is your turn to show us what a leader would do in a particular situations. You will be given one of the following scenarios, and you and your team must create a scene to resolve the conflict. You and your group will have to act this out, so make sure your skit really shows what a leader would do in these situations.
Your group will have 15 minutesto create and plan your skit!
Scenarios:
You are working on a group project with a few of your classmates, and you notice that one of the students always comes late to group meetings. When he is there, you notice that he never says anything, and that he is always yawning. What would a leader do?
You see one kid getting picked on at school by some of his classmates. They claim that they are just joking around, but you see that the student actually looks hurt. What would a leader do?
Your friend comes to you and tells you that she is feeling sad. What would a leader do?
You see a girl sitting by herself during lunch time at school. What would a leader do?
Congratulations! You have been selected to create the newest videogame! In this activity (which is similar to The Newest App activity), students will work together to create their own videogame and then will create a commercial pitch to sell their videogame to the “audience”. Students must include the game logo, purpose, rules, and features in their commercial pitch, and every person in the group must speak in their presentation.
For younger age groups or for a fun twist, teachers, start by asking the students to name seven things they like in their games (without telling them that they will be creating a videogame). Then once they list their seven things, tell them that they must combine these seven things together to make a brand new videogame. See how they work together to combine these things!
Groups will have 15 minutesto create their videogame and their commercial pitch!
Students will work together in groups to think of a dance for one of the following songs. Note: The dance must be your own unique creation, not one that already exists (unless you are tweaking it!)
Let it Go (Frozen)
A Whole New World (Aladdin)
Hakuna Matata (Lion King)
Part of Your World (Little Mermaid)
All students will have 15 minutesto think of their dance. All students in the group should perform this dance together after time is up.
YAS (You are Special) is a central component of the Leaders UNITE curriculum because we believe that a good leader encourages his/her teammates and takes the time to learn why each team member is special and unique. Because of the success of the YAS movement, we have decided to add a YAS activity for our elementary school students.
In this activity, students will write cards for their classmates that begin with, “YAS (You Are Special) because…”. The cards will be based on the YAS Valentine’s Day Cards that Leaders UNITE created a few years ago, and students will get to give these to their friends and teachers during this activity!
With Christmas and other December holidays coming up, it is important to return to ideas of teamwork and learning more about the people you work with. A leaders job is not only to “lead,” but also to genuinely take time to learn about all of the members of a team.
In this activity, students will write one thing that they want for Christmas on a piece of paper (without saying the thing out loud). Then, students will sit in a circle and place all of the pieces of paper in the middle of the circle. Students will go around the classroom picking out a piece of paper and guessing which person wanted which gift. Once they find out who wrote which gift, the person who wrote the gift will tell the class a little bit about why they want that gift, or why it is special to them.
If you finish the activity early, go around and do it again, but with Christmas wishes instead!
Thanksgiving is a time to think about what and who we are thankful for. It is also a time to spread positivity towards one another, which is something that the Leaders UNITE YAS movement encourages.
For this activity, students sit in a circle in a random order. Then, they go around the classroom and say why they are thankful for the person sitting next to them. Students say why they are thankful for the person, and also one nice thing the person next to them has done.
Leaders UNITE 