Finding Shared Interests

Transcript

 Want a simple activity that helps students practice making connections with their classmates? Try this: Finding Shared Interests.

Start by asking your students, "What makes a friendship special?" Then explain that they're gonna spend some time getting to know their classmates and find things they have in common.Give students a partner, something to write with, and about three to five minutes to find as many shared interests as they can. You can give them some ideas to get started: hobbies, sports, music, books, movies, family, maybe even things like strengths, values, or even fears.

And remember, the goal isn't to find the most interesting thing about someone. It's simply to practice listening, communicating, and noticing connections.

After five minutes, give each pair a simple puzzle or activity to complete together. You can do several rounds of this in one class by having them switch partners, or turn this into a quick daily warmup where students get to connect with a different classmate each day.

At the end, bring everyone back together and ask, "What's one thing you learned about your partner?" or, "What's something you had in common?" Then have students reflect on one meaningful connection they made and how they felt during that conversation.

It's a really simple activity, but it gives students practice with communication, cooperation, and building relationships.And if you want the full lesson plan, you can find Finding Shared Interests on the Social Cipher website.

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