opportunity to read other and communicate abstractly how the member member’s fears/worries, may be feeling. They will take on perspective as well as their own regarding the another’s written worry/fear statement. Description Index cards, pens, and hat. Materials: The activity will take approximately 15 minutes. There will be a circle of chairs for the students to sit in, with the co-leaders sitting across from each other in the circle. Group rules and the topic of confidentiality will be briefly reviewed. The leaders will set an appropriate tone, e.g., settled, attentive, caring and serious. The tone could be set by introducing the topic of fear/worry and explaining how it is normal and natural at this stage of program that people are experiencing all sorts of anxieties, worries and fears about transitioning to high school (2 minutes). Setup for Worries in a Hat (4 minutes): Distribute an index card and a writing utensil to each person. Instruct them to anonymously write a fear or worry that they have (Icebreakers.ws, 2012; Neill, 2004). Ask everyone to complete this sentence on an index card (anonymously): a couple weeks as a new student in the high school I am afraid, I worry “After about…” Tell them to be as specific and as honest as possible, but not in such a way that they could be easily identified. Provide an example, such as, a couple weeks as a new student in the high “After school I am afraid that I am not making any friends, OR, I worry about being the only girl in my everyone is done writing a fear/worry, collect each index card into a large hat. math class.” After Explain that each student will have a turn to pick an index card from the hat. He/she will read the concern aloud and attempt to explain what the person who wrote the worry means, trying to describe his/her understanding/reflection of the with the person’s emotions associated
opportunity to read other member’s fears/worries, and communicate abstractly how the member may be feeling. They will take on another’s perspective as well as their own regarding the written worry/fear statement. Description Materials: Index cards, pens, and hat. The activity will take approximately 15 minutes. There will be a circle of chairs for the students to sit in, with the co-leaders sitting across from each other in the circle. Group rules and the topic of confidentiality will be briefly reviewed. The leaders will set an appropriate tone, e.g., settled, attentive, caring and serious. The tone could be set by introducing the topic of fear/worry and explaining how it is normal and natural at this stage of program that people are experiencing all sorts of anxieties, worries and fears about transitioning to high school (2 minutes). Setup for Worries in a Hat (4 minutes): Distribute an index card and a writing utensil to each person. Instruct them to anonymously write a fear or worry that they have (Icebreakers.ws, 2012; Neill, 2004). Ask everyone to complete this sentence on an index card (anonymously): “After a couple weeks as a new student in the high school I am afraid, I worry about…” Tell them to be as specific and as honest as possible, but not in such a way that they could be easily identified. Provide an example, such as, “After a couple weeks as a new student in the high school I am afraid that I am not making any friends, OR, I worry about being the only girl in my math class.” After everyone is done writing a fear/worry, collect each index card into a large hat. Explain that each student will have a turn to pick an index card from the hat. He/she will read the concern aloud and attempt to explain what the person who wrote the worry means, trying to describe his/her understanding/reflection of the person’s emotions associated with the