Second Grade: Being Assertive

For our first lesson in our second rotation, we learned our final skill for learning: being assertive. We started our lesson with a review of the previous skills for learning we had discussed: focus attenion, listen, and use self-talk.

For this lesson's brain builder, we did an activity called "The Doodle Dance." For the Doodle Dance, students must pay attention to my directions as they are vital to the success of this activity. Students are shown six different doodles that correspond with a particular dance move. Students must do this activity silently. I hold up the doodles in a certain order, which is very imporant because: all dancing must be done in reverse order of when the doodle was held up.

The dance moves are as follows:

• Red Bug - Shoulder Shrug
• Yellow Squiggle - Hip Wiggle
• Green Clover - Shake All Over
• Blue Tree - Lift Knee
• Purple Drops - Foot Hops
• Orange Star - Air Guitar

After the activity, we discussed which skills for learning had helped the students to be successful and how they had implemented these skills for learning. For instance, what were they focusing on? How did they use self-talk? Next, we talked about our final skill for being assertive: asking for what you want or need in a calm, firm, respectful way.

For the remainder of our lesson, we looked at a photo of a student named Connor. Connor had listening to the directions and paid attention to the teacher, but he did not understand what he was supposed to do. We talked about how Connor might have felt in the situation: frustrated, disappointed, confused, sad, angry, embarrassed and alone. We all agreed that Connor needed help, so we brainstormed who he could ask for help: his seat neighbor, a friend, or the teacher.

Next, we explored three different ways to ask for help:

• Passive: shoulders and head down, quiet voice
• Aggressive: aggressive stance; loud, rude voice
• Assertive: head and shoulders up; calm, firm, respectful voice

We talked about each of the different ways to ask for help and why being passive or aggressive wouldn't work. Being assertive is the best way for learners to ask for what they want or need. We ended the lesson by practicing asking our partners for help in an assertive way.