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What is Communication? | Young Explorers

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What is Communication? | Young Explorers

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What is Communication? | Young Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

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Exploring our world is fun! Abby Brown loves to help kids have fun while learning! In this segment, kids learn about a variety of verbal and nonverbal ways to send and receive messages, including American Sign Language, Braille and many more.

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15 Communication Etiquette Rules Every Professional Needs To Know

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How you communicate greatly impacts the way you're perceived. Here are 15 communication etiquette rules you need to know.

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Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation

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Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation

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Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation

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I was recently in a third grade classroom and was struck by the presence of rules that were posted for how to have a conversation. Having visited many middle and high schools, I think these same rules could -- and probably should -- be posted there as well.

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3 Great Discussion Models for High School English

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3 Great Discussion Models for High School English

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These models move beyond Socratic seminars to provide students with authentic, engaging class discussions.

Socratic seminars are often used in upper elementary through high school classrooms in any subject level to promote inquiry, discussions, and connections. As a high school English teacher, I've found them to be a very effective classroom discussion strategy; however, students began to react negatively to the planned discussions.

My students candidly expressed how Socratic seminars felt like a forced, fake discussion. They felt like they had to talk over one another and contribute even if it wasn't on topic, and they even shut down with the pressure of speaking. I was determined to make my discussions more authentic in the classroom.

Facilitating any type of discussion takes time and detailed planning. My first step is to identify the standard I want to assess and create clear learning targets. When planning a discussion, consider your end goal. Is your discussion around a certain standard? Do you want students to compare and contrast different texts? Is this serving as a summative assessment? How will you have total student participation? Envisioning the result is the first step in planning an authentic discussion.

In my English class, students have been looking at the impact that characters have on the plot and theme of novels. Our discussion revolves around that specific standard, and I have students prepare with that focus in mind to create questions and gather evidence. This provides students with a clear focus and expectation. When you identify the standard and focus, you can plan what you want your students to know by the end of the discussion.

Students need time, practice, and a model to move toward achieving a more authentic discussion. In planning and creating questions, I provide students with the Bloom's Taxonomy question chart, which provides students with a structure for planning higher-level questions. Finally, I prepare roles for students during discussions. These roles include facilitator, recorder, researcher, participation checker, and questioner.

Discussion Models

1. Thoughts, Questions, and Epiphanies: This is best completed after introductory information. Originally published by Cult of Pedagogy, this strategy provides a deeper lens into what the students are thinking. On the board, I write the words "thoughts," "questions," and "epiphanies," and students brainstorm and contribute to the list on the board. I have students brainstorm in their groups first before adding their ideas to the board. This helps create stronger contributions and deeper thinking about the objective. It allows students to practice their questioning skills, build off one another, and make connections.

For example, when my students and I discuss Frankenstein, my students will write thoughts like "Victor Frankenstein was wrong for this action," questions like "Who is responsible for the monster Victor created?" and epiphanies like "this relates to our current topic in biology about cloning." These contributions by students serve as a foundation for the discussion. This method allows students to think critically, participate without fear, and make deeper connections. As a teacher, you are able to gain insight on how students are thinking and their level of understanding.

I usually use this discussion method after reading a chapter in a book, an informational text, or a video. You can also have students analyze the trends and themes on the board and have groups brainstorm answers to and evidence about the thoughts, questions, or epiphanies.

2. Mind mapping: In introducing a concept or striving to have students make connections, this method allows students to visually think and discuss. Students can be provided with one central idea and be asked to extend it. The teacher can also provide the different concepts, ideas, and topics, and students then discuss how the connections are made. I also like to have students brainstorm their mind map first before sharing.

Although this is not a traditional discussion method, mind mapping allows students to openly discuss and make a visual representation to track ideas, build connections, and extend their thinking. In first implementing this, I provide students an example template with a category they know well, such as food, TV shows, or music. I scaffold as the year progresses with characters in our novel and with figurative language, and eventually, by the end of the year, students make a mind map to reflect on how everything connects.

3. Harkness Discussion: In this method, students take ownership of the discussion. Students are charged with creating the questions and group norms, facilitating, and tracking participation. Students sit in a circle, as in a Socratic seminar. The teacher does not participate in the discussion. Teachers can plan to teach students how to create higher-order-thinking questions, have practice sessions, or find a video to show as an example.

After the discussion is over, students reflect and agree on a score for the entire class. In their reflecting, I found that students are extremely honest and fair. The score is based on a checklist of criteria. Teachers can use this as a formative grade and just record without weight in the grade book or grade a reflection of the discussion after. In reflecting, students usually cite some who over-participated and others who under-participated. When first introducing this model, ensure that the stakes are low so students can accurately reflect and identify areas of improvement, such as participation of all students.

When discussions don't go as planned

It is important to acknowledge that quality discussions take time and planning. My go-to for when a discussion isn't going as planned is a time-out. Students all stop, and we free-write on the topic we are studying. Depending on the discussion issue, I will have students brainstorm new questions, do research, or review expectations. Some classes take longer to fall into the habits of strong discussers. Teachers need to begin planting seeds throughout classes. All of these tips help ensure that you have total participation during discussions.

As an educator, I strive to improve my questioning techniques to model for students. Building habits in the classroom will help lead to a successful discussion and deeper learning. The first step is for students to practice and know the expectations. After each discussion, reflection is key to the success of the next one. Before the next discussion, I review the reflection with all students, along with class-created discussion expectations. This process allows students to build the community and confidence to continue.

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3 Great Discussion Models for High School English

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These models move beyond Socratic seminars to provide students with authentic, engaging class discussions.

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3 Ways to Support Academic Talk Among Students

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3 Ways to Support Academic Talk Among Students

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While much energy has traditionally been devoted to keeping a quiet and orderly classroom, research shows that making the most of students' drive to be social can actually have positive results. Turning students loose for a discussion can feel overwhelming, particularly with a large or lively class, so bringing some structure to group conversations can help everyone stay focused. And while productive talk may take time and practice, encouraging students to articulate their ideas can build self-confidence and improve both academic achievement and collaboration skills.

To read the research cited in the video, check out the links below:

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3 Ways to Support Academic Talk Among Students

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By providing opportunities for students to share ideas with each other, teachers create space for them to develop social skills, retain more content, and deepen understanding of the material.

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Business Writing

Lessons, Lesson Plans and Worksheets

Teach and learn basic business writing skills.

Here students learn about the importance of effective business writing, letter format, general rules, etiquette, and also learn the basic steps needed for clear writing.

In addition, we also have included informative articles, helpful tips, and advice to help improve business writing and letter writing skills.

Business Writing Lessons and Worksheets

WRITING A BUSINESS LETTER

Writing a Business Letter

Students learn to write and type a formal business letter, using standard block-style format. Learn to define and label the parts of a business letter.

EFFECTIVE WRITING SKILLS FOR BUSINESS

Effective Writing Skills for Business

An introduction to the key writing skills in business. Includes practice in some of the skills.

BUSINESS WRITING BASICS

Business Writing Lesson Plan Introduction - Commas

Students learn the importance of business writing, content, and presentation, while improving their usage of punctuation and commas.

Business Writing Lesson 2 Punctuation - Hyphens

Learn proper punctuation for business writing, including hyphen usage, semi-colons, colons, quotations marks, dashes, and ellipses.

Business Writing Lesson 3 - Common Misused Words

A lesson in avoiding commonly misused words in business writing.

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING

Effective Business Writing: Preparing to Write

Learn how to prepare for effective business writing.

Effective Business Writing: Guidelines to Follow

Students will learn to write material according to specific writing guidelines.

Effective Business Writing: Correcting Grammar

Students will learn to look for common writing errors both during and after writing and will also proof-read for errors.

Persuasive Writing

Students will learn to write using persuasive writing techniques.

OTHER WRITING TYPES

Research Papers: Planning for a New Research Project

Learn how to plan for a research writing project. A guide to research writing.

Using Fact to Write Fiction

Learn about fact and fiction and how they interact in writing.

RESUMES AND RESUME WRITING

Resumes, Resume Writing, and Cover Letter Lessons

These lessons focus on learning about resumes and resume writing. Students learn the importance of resumes, and how to write a clear and effective resume.
BUSINESS PLAN WRITING INFORMATION
Business Plan Writing and Information

Information and resources on writing business plans. Learn about setting business goals, marketing, and strategies.
JOB SEARCH, CAREER, AND WORK INFORMATION
Job Search, Work, and Career Information

Career, work, and business resources and information. Advice and tips to help you with your own career and work skills including information on getting a job, job search, and interviewing. Includes information on business skills such as writing business letters and public speaking.
Back to more Career, Job, and Business Skills Lessons

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Business Writing Lesson Plans, Letter, Teaching Course, Worksheets

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Teach and learn basic business writing skills. Here students learn about the importance of effective business writing, letter format, general rules, etiquette, and also learn the basic steps needed for clear writing. In addition, we also have included informative articles, helpful tips, and advice to help improve business writing and letter writing skills.

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Self-Assessment * 18 min read

Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Reading Effectively

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Communication is one of the most important skills that you need to succeed in the workplace.

If you want to be an expert communicator, you need to be effective at all points in the communication process - from "sender" through to "receiver" - and you must be comfortable with the different channels of communication - face-to-face, online, written, and so on. This is because poor communicators often struggle to develop their careers beyond a certain point.

So, how can you find out how good your communication skills really are? Take this short quiz to find out.

The Communication Quiz

Instructions

For each statement, click the button in the column that best describes you. Please answer questions as you actually are (rather than how you think you should be), and don't worry if some questions seem to score in the "wrong direction." When you are finished, please click the "Calculate My Total" button at the bottom of the test.

15 Statements to Answer

Not at all

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Very often

Detailed Interpretation

Whenever you communicate with someone else, you each follow the steps of the Communication Process (see figure 1, below).

Figure 1. The Communication Process

During this process, the person who is the source of the communication encodes it into a message, and transmits it through a channel. The receiver decodes the message, and, in one way or another, feeds back his or her understanding or a lack of understanding to the source.

By understanding the steps in the process, you can become more aware of your role in it, recognize what you need to do to communicate effectively, anticipate problems before they happen, and improve your overall ability to communicate effectively.

The sections below help you do this, and improve the way that you communicate at each stage of the process.

The Source - Planning Your Message(Questions 2, 11)Before you start communicating, take a moment to figure out what you want to say, and why. Don't waste time conveying information that isn't necessary - and don't waste the listener or reader's time either. Too often, people just keep talking or writing because they think that by saying more they'll surely cover all the points. Often, however, all they do is confuse the people they're talking to. To plan your communication:Understand your objective.Why are you communicating?Understand your audience. With whom are you communicating? What do they need to know?Plan what you want to say, and how you'll send the message.Seek feedback on how well your message was received.When you do this, you'll be able to craft a message that will be received positively by your audience.Good communicators use the KISS ("Keep It Simple and Straightforward") principle. They know that less is often more, and that good communication should be efficient as well as effective. Encoding - Creating a Clear, Well-Crafted Message(Questions 1, 5, 8, 10, 15)When you know what you want to say, decide exactly how you'll say it. You're responsible for sending a message that's clear and concise. To achieve this, you need to consider not only what you'll say, but also how you think the recipient will perceive it.We often focus on the message that we want to send, and the way in which we'll send it. But if our message is delivered without considering the recipient's perspective, it's likely that part of that message will be lost. To communicate more effectively:Understand what you truly need and want to say.Anticipate the other person's reaction to your message.Choose words and body language that allow the other person to really hear what you're saying.With written communication, make sure that what you write will be perceived the way you intend. Words on a page generally have no emotion - they don't "smile" or "frown" at you while you're reading them (unless you're a very talented writer, of course!)When writing, take time to do the following:Review your style.Avoid jargon or slang.Check your grammar and punctuation.Check also for tone, attitude, nuance, and other subtleties. If you think the message may be misunderstood, it probably will. Take the time to clarify it!Familiarize yourself with your company's writing policies or style guides.Another important consideration is to use pictures, charts, and diagrams wherever possible. As the saying goes, "a picture speaks a thousand words." Our article on charts and graphs has some great tips that help you to use these to communicate clearly.Also, whether you speak or write your message, consider the cultural context. If there's potential for miscommunication or misunderstanding due to cultural or language barriers, address these issues in advance. Consult with people who are familiar with these types of barriers and do your research, so that you're aware of problems you may face. See our article on Effective Cross-Culture Communication for more help. Choosing the Right Channel(Questions 7, 11, 13)Along with encoding your message, you need to choose the best communication channel to use to send it. You want to be efficient, while also making the most of your communication opportunity.Using email to send simple directions is practical. However, if you want to delegate a complex task, an email will probably just lead to more questions, so it may be best to arrange a time to speak in person. And if your communication has any negative emotional content, stay well away from email! Make sure that you communicate face to face or by phone, so that you can judge the impact of your words and adjust your message appropriately.When choosing the right channel for your message, consider the following:The sensitivity and emotional content of the subject.How easy it is to communicate detail.The receiver's preferences.Time constraints.The need to ask and answer questions. Decoding - Receiving and Interpreting a Message(Questions 3, 6, 12, 14)It can be easy to focus on speaking: we want to get our points out there, because we usually have lots to say. However, to be a great communicator, you also need to step back, let the other person talk, and listen.This doesn't mean that you should be passive. Listening is hard work, which is why effective listening is called active listening. To listen actively, give your undivided attention to the speaker:Look at the person.Pay attention to his or her body language.Avoid distractions.Nod and smile to acknowledge points.Occasionally think back about what the person has said.Allow the person to speak, without thinking about what you'll say next.Don't interrupt. Empathic listening also helps you decode messages accurately. To understand a message fully, you have to understand the emotions and underlying feelings that the speaker is expressing. This is where an understanding of body language can be useful. Feedback(Questions 4, 9)You need feedback, because without it, you can't be sure that people have understood your message. Sometimes feedback is verbal, and sometimes it's not. We've looked at the importance of asking questions and listening carefully. However, feedback through body language can also help you to assess the impact of your message. By watching the facial expressions, gestures, and posture of the person you're communicating with, you can spot:Confidence levels.Defensiveness.Agreement.Comprehension (or lack of understanding).Level of interest.Level of engagement with the message.Truthfulness (or lying/dishonesty).As a speaker, understanding your listener's body language can give you an opportunity to adjust your message and make it more understandable, appealing, or interesting. As a listener, body language can show you more about what the other person is saying. You can then ask questions to ensure that you have, indeed, understood each other. In both situations, you can better avoid miscommunication if it happens.Feedback can also be formal. If you're communicating something really important, it can often be worth asking questions of the person you're talking to make sure that they've understood fully. And if you're receiving this sort of communication, repeat it in your own words to check your understanding.

Key Points

It can take a lot of effort to communicate effectively. However, you need to be able to communicate well if you're going to make the most of the opportunities that life has to offer.

By learning the skills you need to communicate effectively, you can learn how to get your ideas across clearly and effectively, and understand much more of the information that's conveyed to you.

Whether you're a speaker, a listener, a writer, or a reader, you are responsible for making sure that messages are communicated accurately. Pay attention to words and actions, ask questions, and watch body language. These will all help to ensure that you say what you mean, and hear what is intended.

Note:

This assessment has not been validated and is intended for illustrative purposes only.

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How Good Are Your Communication Skills? - Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Reading Effectively

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Take this test to see how well you communicate, then use our tools and strategies to improve your communication skills.

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Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success

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Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success

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HOW You Say It Matters...

You may have heard sayings such as "actions speak louder than words" or "what you see is what you get" or "it's not what he said, it's was HOW he said it". All of these phrases remind us of the importance of Nonverbal Communication, the focus of this module.

Nonverbal Communication is particularly important with respect to teaching. Studies suggest that as much as 75% of a teacher's classroom management direction (intentional or otherwise) is nonverbal (Balzer 1969). Many of the cues students use to make judgments about a teacher's competence or character are obtained by observing the teacher's nonverbal behavior.

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HOW You Say It Matters... You may have heard sayings such as "actions speak louder than words" or "what you see is what you get" or "it's not what he said, it's was HOW he said it". All of these phrases remind us of the importance of Nonverbal Communication, the focus of this module.

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picture repersention for communication skills

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10 Powerful Body Language Tips for Your Next Presentation

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10 Powerful Body Language Tips for Your Next Presentation

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We all know that when we give a presentation or speak in front of a group, not only are our words important, but the body language that accompanies them.

Your words may give the audience one message while your body sends quite another.

As if getting the words out wasn't hard enough, right?

An infographic from SOAP Presentations lists 10 body language tips to employ during your next presentation. These tips range from how to get the audience to like you, to how to make sure the audience remembers your key points.

For example:

1. To get the audience to like you, make eye contact. People tend to pay more attention to and like those who look them in the eye.

2. To boost your confidence, open your chest and arms, and keep your back straight.

3. To demonstrate authority, be calm and use small, stiff gestures.

4. To draw the audience's attention to something, point directly at it and look at it yourself. The audience will follow your lead.

5. To convince the audience of something, use positive gestures - smiling, nodding, open movements, etc. - throughout the presentation.

Check out the full graphic for more:

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10 Body Language Tips Every Speaker Must Know (Infographic) | Entrepreneur

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When delivering a presentation before an audience, our words aren't the only thing people pay attention to. Consider this advice for making better eye contact, staying calm and more.

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Friends & Neighbors Packet: Grades 1 and 2 | Summer of Possibilities 

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Friends & Neighbors Packet: Grades 1 and 2 | Summer of Possibilities 

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Friends & Neighbors Packet: Grades 1 and 2 | Summer of Possibilities | PBS LearningMedia

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Use these friends & neighbors-themed activity sheets to allow children to choose their own learning adventures.

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Communication Across Cultures | Dance Contest

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Communication Across Cultures | Dance Contest

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Dance Contest | Tiny Time Travel | PBS LearningMedia

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Children will see how "rules" of communication may differ across cultures with this video from the PBS KIDS show Tiny Time Travel. Cammy and her friend Evalynn are creating a dance for a dance contest. When Cammy suggests a move in which they pat each other's heads, Evalynn gets upset and leaves.

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Starting Critical Thinking and Collaboration Early

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Starting Critical Thinking and Collaboration Early

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Starting Critical Thinking and Collaboration Early