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1 Running head: CLASSROOM LESSON

Development of Classroom Lesson: Building Friendships and Promoting Self-Esteem Alana Sopko Malone University

2 CLASSROOM LESSON Elementary School Level Building Friendships and Promoting Self-Esteem LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Learn about Self-Esteem- What is it? 2. How to be a good friend 3. Recognize that others can feel sad and that they can help

INTRODUCTION:
5 min. Personal Into- Name and why I am here Intro Topic- Building Friendships and Promoting Self-Esteem
Who can tell me what a good friend is? Why is it important to be a good friend? Who know what self-esteem is? Why is it important to feel good about yourself? Can anyone tell me how being a good friend to others and feeling good about yourself relate to each other?

A lot of us think about how much we like other people, but don't really think much about whether we like ourselves. Some kids are not very athletic, but they might be good readers Can you think of something you are good at?

ACTIVITY & DISCUSSION


15 min. AGATE- Agate is a book about a moose who feeling badly about himself. He keeps comparing himself to his friends believing he is not as good as they are. I will read a section from the book and I want you to listen to how his friends help him realize his personal strengths!
Were Agate's friends being good friends? How? How did Agate's friends boost his self-esteem? What were some of the strengths they highlighted? Agate's friends described him as "feeling blue" what do you think that means? Why do we associate the color blue with sadness? How can you boost your friends self-esteem?

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10-15 min. Draw Your Friend Ask students to quickly draw a picture of a person that they would like to have as a friend. Around that friend, ask them to write qualities they look for or would like to have in a friend. Once they have had enough time to do this, have students share their picture of their friend and some qualities they would like to highlight for the group. As the leader, record these friendship qualities (on a whiteboard, chart paper, chalk board, etc.).

CLOSING: 5 min. CLOSING QUESTIONS:


Can someone tell me something they learned today? What are some ways that you could go about building your own selfesteem? What about building your friends self-esteem? How can we be better friends in the future? o Become a secret buddy to someone! Do something nice for them without them knowing it! Invite them to sit with you at lunch Complement them Say hello to them in the hall

5-10 min.

ASSESSMENT:
Hand out assessment to evaluate what the children have learned. Read each question out loud and collect when everyone is finished.

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Self-Esteem Assessment
1. What is Self-Esteem? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 2. Who has self-esteem? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 3. Why is self-esteem important? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 4. How can we improve a friend's self-esteem? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 5. What was your favorite part about this lesson? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 6. What was your least favorite part about this lesson? _____________________________________ _____________________________________

5 CLASSROOM LESSON Middle School Level Building Friendships and Promoting Self-Esteem LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Review Self-Esteem and create a definition of a friend 2. Identify three friendship qualities that they have or would like to have 3. Recognize healthy friendships

INTRODUCTION:
5 min. Create a warm welcoming in a safe and caring environment. Introduce group topic and why we are here, developing and enhancing skills to make and maintain friends. Discuss overall goal that we are working towards, how to be a good friend and seek positive friendships using self-esteem building techniques.
Who can tell me what a good friend is? Why is it important to be a good friend? Who know what self-esteem is? Why is it important to feel good about yourself? Can anyone tell me how being a good friend to others and feeling good about yourself relate to each other?

ACTIVITY & DISCUSSION


10 min. Sentence Completion Exercise Students will individually complete their sentences, when done they will be asked to share one or two of their answers in a large group. They are to reflect on their own self-esteem and how to improve upon it. 15 min. What Would a Friend Do??? Cut scenarios into strips and pass them out. Have students read the scenario out loud and then as a group come up with options.
What makes a good friend? How can you become a better friend?

6 CLASSROOM LESSON CLOSING: 5 min.


CLOSING QUESTIONS: Discuss the difference between positive friendship qualities as well as negative friendship qualities. Have students choose three qualities that they already have or would like have. Discuss why they chose these. o o o What did you learn about yourself today? How does self-esteem relate to building positive friendships? How can we become better friends?

5 min.

ASSESSMENT:
Hand out assessment to evaluate what information had been retained, collect when everyone is finished.

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Sentence Completion
1. My greatest asset is ____________________________________________________________. 2. I need to improve on ____________________________________________________________. 3. I regret ____________________________________________________________. 4. My greatest accomplishment is ____________________________________________________________. 5. Compared to others I am ____________________________________________________________. 6. What I want most out of life is ____________________________________________________________. 7. My biggest fear is ____________________________________________________________. 8. I am ____________________________________________________________.

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What Would a Friend Do???


You hear some kids talking about your friend behind his back. A friend would ______________________________________________________ Your friend is failing a class and begs you to help them cheat on the test. A friend would ______________________________________________________ You are upset that your best friend has been hanging out with another person who you do not get along with. A friend would ______________________________________________________ Two friends of yours are at odds with each other. They demand that you choose between them. You do not want to lose either of them. A friend would ... ______________________________________________________ Your best friend invites you to go to a movie but you are already going to that movie with another friend. A friend would ______________________________________________________ Your friend wants to spend more time with you than you want to spend with Them. You like this person but you want more freedom. A friend would ______________________________________________________ You go to the store with your friend to buy a snack. When you arrive, your friend notices that they forgot to bring their money. A friend would ______________________________________________________ You and your friend find a pack of cigarettes on the kitchen table. Your friend takes them and asks you if you would like to try one. A friend would

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Friendship Assessment
1. What is Self-Esteem, who has it? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 2. What is your definition of friendship? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 3. Name three friendship qualities you possess? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 4. How can we improve a friend's self-esteem? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 5. What was your favorite part about this lesson? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ 6. What was your least favorite part about this lesson? _____________________________________ _____________________________________

10 CLASSROOM LESSON High School Level Building Friendships and Promoting Self-Esteem LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Identify issues relating to Self-Esteem 2. Identify positive friendship qualities and leadership skills 3. Promoting Self-Esteem in others

INTRODUCTION:
5 min. Warmly introduce self and topic for lesson Ask the students to remember a time when a friend treated them in a way that really upset them or hurt their Self-Esteem (may have them close their eyes for this). It could be something that just happened or happened a long time ago. Ask students to volunteer and briefly share their experience as a group.

ACTIVITY & DISCUSSION


5 min. Happy to be Me Questionnaire Have students break into dyads or triads to discuss one of the questions that closely relates to them on a deeper level. Look for similarities and differences with your partner. Return to a large group and ask for volunteers to share.
Do you think you have to "prove yourself" in order to deserve self-esteem? - Do you have to be great at something? - Do you have to be super-popular or part of the "in-crowd?" - Do you have to be terrifically good-looking? Can we sometimes be too critical of ourselves? - What happens when we do that? (ask for examples) - Can self-criticism sometimes be good for us? How? (ask for examples) - How do we know when we've crossed the line?

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5 min. The Challenge for Today Have the students choose a topic from the list (or make up their own) to be their friendship goal of the day. Discuss all the different ways to be a friend.
Invite someone new to eat lunch with you and your friends. Say hello to ten new people. Say youre sorry to someone you know youve hurt in the past. Compliment at least three people at school today. Thank a teacher or other adult for making a difference in your life.

CLOSING: 5 min. CLOSING QUESTIONS:


What are some ways that you could go about building your own self-esteem? What about building your friends Self-Esteem? In what ways are you more equip to handle peer pressure?

5 min.

ASSESSMENT:
Hand out assessment to evaluate effectiveness, collect when everyone is finished.

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Happy to be Me: Self-Esteem


1. What are some things that you or others do or say that help you believe in yourself?

2. What is something you do or say that makes you think you cannot achieve your goal?

3. Talk about a time that someone made you feel bad about yourself.

4. What are things that you do that make you feel great about yourself?

5. Talk about a time you caused someone else to doubt her ability to do something.

6. Talk about a time you helped someone believe that she could achieve something.

7. What does it feel like to doubt yourself?

8. Talk about what it feels like to compare yourself to others.

9. Who are some people who help you feel good about yourself?

10. What are some things you are willing to do to help feel better about yourself?

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Lesson Assessment
Please answer the following questions by circling the appropriate number: 1 being somewhat untrue and 5 being very true.

1. I found this lesson to be worthwhile. 2. I learned something valuable from this lesson. 3. I understand the idea of self-esteem. 4. I am aware of what it is to be a good friend. 5. I recognize the role friendship plays on self-esteem.

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6. What I liked most about this lesson was ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 7. What I liked least about this lesson was ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 8. To improve the lesson I would suggest ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

14 CLASSROOM LESSON Reflection of Presented Lesson I presented my Elementary School lesson on Building Friendships and Promoting Self-Esteem to students in the first grade at the Weaver Child Development Center here at Malone University. The class was led by Susie Maioriello, the Director and Principal of the school and the class consisted of ten students. I presented my lesson on October 4, 2012 at 9:30 am. The presentation lasted about 45 minutes in total. I learned a great deal by presenting my lesson to a real- live classroom with real-live students, instead of the typical classroom of graduate students in which I am accustomed to presenting. My lesson consisted of a short opening or introduction discussion, followed by a reading from a children's book and more discussion/reflection, and finally a friendship drawing activity and closing discussion. Looking back at the lesson I am quite happy with the direction it took. The students were involved and interested; they openly discussed concepts related to both self-esteem and friendship. The needed help with deeper concepts such as linking the two (what does having strong friendships and positive self-esteem have in common?) and what is a good friend (naming specific friendship qualities). The students related well to both the reading as well as the drawing activity. They seemed to work well together, take turns and respect each other's opinions. Although there are still things that could have been improved on I think the lesson was appropriate and well received. I did not implement any evaluation or assessment however, mainly due to time. If I did have time to go over the evaluation I would be interested to see what the student retained and how they were able to articulate these concepts.

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