Communication Skills

ATL Skills Playbook

About the resource

Communication skills are an integral This playbook contains a set of activity Each card contains an activity idea
and crucial component of IB cards, designed specifically to practice that enhances a specific strand
Approaches to Learning (ATL). The and enhance students’ communication within the communication skill
ability to express one’s ideas clearly skills. These can be used as part of any clusters. It also indicates a learner
and in diverse ways, to listen to class or course, and are not aligned to profile attribute that can
multiple perspectives and to any one MYP subject. potentially be developed through
collaborate with other individuals are the activity.
important descriptors of an effective
communicator.

Disclaimer - This resource has been produced independently of and not endorsed by the IB. Toddle’s resources seek to encourage sharing of perspectives and innovative ideas for classroom teaching & learning. They are not

intended to be replacements for official IB guides and publications. Views and opinions expressed by the authors of these resources are personal and should not be construed as official guidance by the IB. Please seek assistance

from your school’s IB coordinator and/or refer to official IB documents before implementing ideas and strategies shared within these resources in your classroom.
Approaches to learning

Communication Skills
Exchanging thoughts, messages and information effectively through interaction

Overview
How can students communicate through interaction? Students should be able to:
Give and receive meaningful feedback Interpret and use effectively modes of non-verbal
Use intercultural understanding to interpret communication
communicatio Negotiate ideas and knowledge with peers and teachers
Use a variety of speaking techniques to communicate 
 Participate in, and contribute to, digital social media
with a variety of audiences networks
Use appropriate forms of writing for different purposes 
 Collaborate with peers and experts using a variety of digital
and audiences environments and medi
Use a variety of media to communicate with a range of Share ideas with multiple audiences using a variety of
audiences
digital environments and media
Approaches to learning

Communication Skills
Reading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information

Overview

How can students demonstrate communication through language? Students should be able to:

Read critically and for comprehension Preview and skim texts to build understanding
Read a variety of sources for information 
 Take effective notes in class
and for pleasure Make effective summary notes for studying
Make inferences and draw conclusions Use a variety of organizers for academic writing tasks
Use and interpret a range of discipline-specific terms 
 Find information for disciplinary and interdisciplinary
and symbols inquiries, using a variety of media
Write for different purposes Organize and depict information logically
Understand and use mathematical notation Structure information in summaries, essays and reports
Paraphrase accurately and concisely
Roadmap: How to use this resource

Activity title
Feedback Cycle
ATL strand Give and receive meaningful feedback

Learner profile: Open-minded

These activities are intended for These cards can serve as a
Instructions 1 3 Learner
students and carry instructions on communication skills activity bank for
profile
each for how students can best engagement in class, applicable to
attribute
utilise them.
most subjects, and may also be used

during home room time.

2 Educators can print and hand 


these cards out to students 
 4 Additionally, educators can guide

when specifically working on students to reflect on the

communication skills and/or 
 development of the learner profile

the ATLs. Some of these cards also attribute indicated.

contain printable templates for

students.

How many
Group
students
Awkward turtle
Navigate communication in real scenarios 

& use nonverbal cues of communication

Learner profile: Thinker

In groups of 3-4, look at the given Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3
scenarios. Think of all probable You meet people from You are waiting in line You are at a
responses to each situation. Are these another country/culture 
 at the billing counter restaurant and the
responses using assertive, passive or and they ask you if a and two salespeople waiting staff served
aggressive styles of communication?
particular stereotype 
 are chatting, not aware you the wrong dish.
about your culture is true. of the line.
Visualize your own nonverbal
expressions that would likely use when
stating what you would need to say.

Scenario 4 Scenario 5
Your friend/relative You receive a lower
shows up at your 
 grade on a test/paper/
door right as you 
 essay that you think you
are leaving. do not deserve.

Group
Communicate
to draw
Use and interpret a range of discipline-specific
terms and symbols

Learner profile: Communicator

Psst!

Try it with

population

pyramids!
This is a great way to interpret data, describe what you see accurately, communicate

information to your peer, and have a bit of fun–all in one activity!

Pair up! One of you should find a The drawing student must draw

graph/chart on a specific topic (think: the chart as best they can, based

math, economics, geography) and the on the information provided by

other should be ready with a pencil and their partner.

a paper. The student with the chart must

Then, compare the chart with the
describe the features and shape of the
drawn version, and see how well
chart/graph that they are looking at, as
you communicated.
accurately as possible, without directly

saying what it is.

Pair
Glow and grow
Give and receive meaningful feedback
Constructive criticism is feedback
provided to make something better.
One method is to use the glow and
grow feedback technique. This peer
review technique can be used for
any individual or group task.
When you’re providing any feedback
to your classmates, make sure to start
with the positives and indicate
specific aspects of their work they
should improve on.
Listen
“Could you talk me
through your process?”
Learner profile: Reflective
Here are a few sentence starters to help you along:
GLOW GROW
I like how you It might be helpful to
You succeed in Perhaps you could
Terrific work on You may need more
You did a wonderful/excellent/great job You may need less
The most outstanding aspect of your 
 Your response may be more effective if you
work is The part about ____ is a little confusing. You could
I think the best thing about your work is The task was to… Be sure to
This is quality work because Our suggestion would be to
I like the way you included Your next steps might be
I really enjoyed this because… Would it be better if…
You might try…
Start positively Be specific
“I love how you’ve captured “I think it would look even
the essence of the topic.” more awesome when…”
Pair
Feedback cycle
Give and receive meaningful feedback

Learner profile: Open-minded

This peer evaluation activity can be used as either a midway Each phase can take from 5-10 minutes so plan
feedback opportunity for longer projects or as a final assessment accordingly. Form two teams - one being the
for shorter projects. The process forces students to practice their presenting group and the other being critical
listening skills and provides a safe means for peer evaluation. friends. Take turns to swap team roles.

Step 1: Present Step 2: Evaluate Step 3: Discuss

Presenting group: Describe the Critical friends: Time for feedback. Begin by Presenting group
components of your project.
focusing on the strengths of the presentation. , and critical friends
Follow up with suggestions for improvement, can now discuss
Critical friends: Friends remain
and suggest ideas for "next steps." if possible.

ideas or suggestions
silent. Do not ask clarifying or
I appreciate that about the project 

follow up questions just yet. Take
and the feedback.
notes and evaluate the work I wonder if
presented based on parameters
My suggestion would now be…
provided by the teacher (e.g.
creativity, ease of understanding, Presenting group: Listen actively to the critique
flow, etc.). provided by your critical friends.

Group
How do you 

take notes?
Take effective notes in class

Learner profile: Knowledgeable

Step 1

Take a look at some popular note-taking methods here.

Did you know
there are different
methods for note- Step 2
taking and
summary-writing? In groups, assign one note-taking method to each teammate. The
link above has blank templates for you to use. Then, choose one
class or one topic to take notes for, using your designated note-
taking style. All teammates should do this for the same topic/class.

Step 3

Share these differently styled notes with each other on the same
topic, and observe similarities and/or differences. Pick a favorite.

Individual
Be your class’s
social media pro!
Participate & contribute to digital social media networks

Learner profile: Risk-taker

Some tweeting tips for you:
Assume that your class is organizing a fundraiser

event to donate funds to a cause of your choice. 1

Figure out who your audience should be. Who is more

Your team has been put in charge of creating a likely to show up to this fundraiser? Design your tweets,

series of tweets to post at different intervals on 
 keeping your audience in mind.

the fundraiser’s twitter account.

Check out what topics & hashtags are trending. Think of

Create a social media strategy (a series of tweets 2

how you can include your event’s twitter into the

that highlight the cause, and attract people toward
conversations on these topics.
the fundraiser).

P.S. Serious tweets aren’t always fun. Think about

3
Each word counts. Make sure each tweet is eye-catching
what makes tweets go viral. What makes people
and delivers the intended purpose, without being too
want to forward that tweet and share it with
explanatory or too vague.
someone else?

4
Using multimedia (GIFs, memes, emojis and videos)

to attract your audience and inform them about your

event is always a good idea.

Group
Speech! 

Speech! Speech!
Write for different purposes

Learner profile: Communicator

Brainstorm different ways people start 
 Hook style Speech purpose

their speeches.

Fact or statistic 

What are the different hooks they use? 
 Congratulatory speech
e.g. Did you know…
Are they tuned to a specific purpose?

Use this table to match your hook style Quote 


Celebration
with a speech purpose. Create your very e.g. Gandhi once said…

own introductory paragraph using the

chosen hook type and speech purpose. A joke/humor


Call to Action/Appeal
Extra points for creative matching! e.g. Knock knock…

A story/anecdote 

Loss of a loved one
e.g. When I was a student…

A rhetorical question 

Motivational speech
e.g. Isn’t it obvious…

Individual
Using graphic
organisers
Use a variety of organisers for academic writing tasks

Learner profile: Thinker

Check out some cool graphic organiser templates here.
Reflect
Select a text type that we are working on in class, e.g. feature article. In pairs,
categorize given information onto one common graphic organiser from the Do you show awareness
ones provided in the document using post-it notes. Rearrange if required, that different organisers
with teacher guidance. Repeat with another topic and given information.
suit different purposes?

For your own feature article, which organiser will you use to plan and
organise your ideas? Go for it! Have a try using an organiser of your choice.
Can you categorise
Pair up with a partner. Read a variety of mentor text types with your partner. information on a given
Match an organiser to the text by asking yourself:



organiser appropriately?

Which of these organisers might have helped the

writer to plan and organise their ideas Can you select an
Could more than one organiser be used? appropriate organiser 

to suit a task/genre?
Share with another group.

Pair
Act it out
Interpret and use effectively modes
of non-verbal communication

Learner profile: Inquirer

Choose a video to watch with two people interacting in a social situation. You are then going to role-play
the scenario with a partner. The rest of the class can rate the actors on their performance, based on how
well you portrayed the given emotions. Each group can present their scenario.

After the role play, discuss these questions with your partner:

What message does Does the racial/ethnic What do you look 
 Which parts of the What situations have
each character’s body identity or gender of the at when reading body can tell you you experienced in
language send? people in the scenes someone’s body how someone is which your body
affect the interpretation language? feeling? language was
of their body language? misinterpreted?

Pair
Wordless acting
Interpret and use effectively modes
of non-verbal communication
Subtext scene
In groups, create scene where at least one
character has lines that do not match their body
language (e.g. being angry about a stolen
watch, but laughing and giving high fives).
Learner profile: Inquirer
One Talker/One Not
In pairs, create a one-minute scene about a problem
that needs to be solved. Person A is allowed to speak
their lines but Person B can only use gestures, body
language, and other nonverbal communication.
Afterwards, switch sides so that Person A is the
nonverbal communicator.
Pair
Group
Cultural iceberg
Use intercultural understanding 

to interpret communication

Learner profile: Open-minded

Just as an iceberg has a visible section above the waterline
and a larger, invisible section below, culture has some
aspects that are observable and others that can only be
imagined or perceived.

The words below are all features of culture. Choose the

words that you think will be easily observed in people and
write them above the water line on the iceberg here. For
words that you think will be difficult to perceive, add them
below the water line.

Gestures Holidays Music Art Views on family

Religious beliefs Dress code Eating habits Biases

Language Attitude towards the environment

Write 

here!

Individual
About the authors

Lisa McKeon Joassaint has been teaching MYP Individuals and Societies since
2008. She has taught for 16 years in American and International schools in
Haiti, Sri Lanka and currently teaches at the ACS Hillingdon International
School, London. Trained as an intermediate/senior French and History teacher
in Canada, Lisa is a secondary school Social Studies and DP History teacher
and Head of Grade 10 currently. She has been an IB workshop leader since
2013, and has previously held several leadership positions including MYP
Coordinator, ATL leader and Head of Department for her school. She enjoys
working with curriculum across levels and the flexibility of the MYP.

Lisa McKeon Joassaint

Akriti Macker is an Associate Director, Learning and Engagement at Toddle.

She completed her Masters in Developmental Psychology from Teachers
College–Columbia University in 2015. She has worked as a curriculum expert
and workshop leader for PBS, the Brooklyn Public Library and Callido Learning.
She is fascinated by how students learn new concepts and adapt to the ways of
the world. Akriti has also previously been a homeroom and a creative writing
teacher in Tokyo and New York.

Akriti Macker
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