Ask for four volunteers. Each one is assigned the same sentence, “I just lost my pen.” Each volunteer is to use one of the following emotions: indifference, sadness, happiness, anger. The class is to guess which emotion was expressed.
Have students create their own symbols for the road signs: bathroom, gas station, handicap accessible, no smoking, curves ahead, falling rock Inventing Symbols exercise (1/2 hour): Break students up in groups of five (count off up to six). Each group should identify the scribe/artist and one leader. The assignment – I will give each group a word that has a symbolic representation. Each group is to first draw what the standard symbolic representation is and then create a new representation of the word. At the end of the exercise, each group will draw their new symbol up on the board – WITHOUT saying what it stands for. It is up to the class to determine what the new symbol represents. The symbols should cross cultural boundaries, and after the class has correctly guessed the right answer groups need to explain their new representation and why is works. Also discuss how their new symbol will become embedded as a norm. Symbols to recreate: No smoking Bathroom Lethal chemicals/poison Curves ahead Pedestrian crossing Falling rocks Gas station