For our final lesson in this rotation, we talked about what it means to be assertive. We began our lesson by watching the "Walk, Walk, Walk" video and listening for the phrase "recognize those feelings." Students counted how many times they were able to listen with attention and hear the phrase in the song. Next, we did an activity called Sculptor and Clay, where students took turns being the sculptor or the clay, and the sculptor "molded" the clay into whichever pose I asked for. I first asked for sculptors to mold their class into an aggressive pose. We asked how students would feel if someone talked to them while using that body language (scared, uncomfortable, sad). We also talked about whether this pose was a good way to ask for help (no!). Next, I asked students to switch, and this time the sculptor should make their clay into a passive pose (the opposite of aggressive). Many students struggled to capture what passive looks like, so I modeled for the class and we talked about whether this was a good way to ask for help.
Next, we talked about what it means to be assertive: calm, firm, and respectful. I modeled what assertive would look like, and we talked about why it was the right way to ask for help.
You can find the link to this lesson's prezi here.
