Direct students to sit in a circle. Give one student a sheet of paper with a simple sentence written on it, instructing him not to let other students see it. This student will then whisper the sentence in the ear of the person sitting to his right, and this cycle will repeat until it comes to the person sitting to the left of the original speaker. This student will then tell the class the sentence he heard, which very likely will be different from the original. Explain that this activity shows that communication is not always perfect and people often misinterpret the messages they receive from others.
Distribute pieces of paper with an emotion written on them. Instruct students to flip the paper over and draw a picture of person expressing that emotion, adding that there should be no words on the page. Students will then share their pictures, and the class will attempt to guess the emotion being depicted. After all students have finished, explain the concept of nonverbal communication, of which the pictures are an example. In nonverbal communication, people use facial expressions or other unspoken gestures to send a message about what they are thinking or feeling.
Present students with the following writing prompt: "Do you talk to your parents or other family members the same way you talk to your friends? Why or why not?" Ask for volunteers to share their answers. Most students should answer that they talk to their parents in a different way than to their friends. Explain that this is an example of how people often change the way they communicate depending on the setting and their relationship with the person with whom they are interacting.
Present students with another writing prompt: "Can animals communicate, and if so how?" Ask for volunteers to read their answers. Explain to students that animals do communicate, but they only use nonverbal communication, which they learned about in a previous lesson. For example, certain monkeys will make a particular noise to warn their group that danger is approaching. There are also nonauditory examples, such as dogs marking an area with the smell of their urine to tell other animals it is their territory.