Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Explore: Inner wolves

20 minutes

Discover: Villain or side-kick

20 minutes

Thrive: Identifying strengths

Explore: Inner wolves

Teacher note: This lesson builds upon concepts taught in another lesson titled ‘Health: Mindset and Self-talk’. If you haven’t taught the ‘Health: Mindset and Self-talk’ lesson, it is recommended you read over the lesson and ensure students are familiar with the basic concepts before proceeding.

Step 1

Re-introduce the concept of the inner hero and inner villain:

Explain that our inner hero is the thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviours that create the best version of ourselves, aligned with our goals and vision.
Our inner villain, on the other hand, is the thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviours that take us away from being the best version of ourselves, often not aligned with our goals and values.

Explain that it's important to be aware when our inner villain has taken control of our thoughts, emotions and actions.

Step 2

Watch the video:

Two Wolves (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzKryaN44ss)

After watching, ask students to share their thoughts in pairs before discussing as a class.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

What did you learn about the two wolves?
Why is it important to accept both wolves?
What are some ways that we can do this?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

The two wolves represent the hero (blue) and the villain (red). It’s not about suppressing and fighting the red wolf (villain) but about learning to embrace and accept that part of ourselves and feeding the blue wolf (hero) more often than not.

Discover: Villain or side-kick

Step 1

Provide students with a copy of the Hero and Villain worksheet. Ask them to draw their hero and villain in cartoon form, then give each a name. List some famous hero and villain characters to help students visualise their own.

Examples:

Batman and The Joker
Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader
Peter Pan and Captain Hook
Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort

Step 2

In small groups, invite students to share their drawings and discuss how their hero and villain usually interact with each other.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

What do your hero and villain usually fight about? What do you frequently tell yourself?
Does the hero or villain usually win? Is your positive or negative self-talk stronger?
What are some ways your hero could defeat your villain? What strategies could help reduce negative self-talk?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Shifting the way you think about your villain can help you understand why it exists and how you can tame it to work for you rather than against you. Instead of constantly fighting with your villain, consider it as a sidekick that’s trying to assist you.

Step 3

To help students reframe their villain as a sidekick, encourage them to brainstorm the benefits of having an inner critic/villain.

Examples:

It encourages critical thinking and self-reflection.
It helps you become more aware of your abilities and things you could work on.
It can keep you safe.
It can keep you modest/humble.

Step 4

To link this activity to the next, explain that sometimes it can be difficult to know when to trust our inner critic (as sometimes it can go into overdrive). When this happens, we can call on friends or family members to provide honest feedback and assurance.

Teacher tip: If time permits, invite students to draw a sidekick next to their hero. This sidekick may share similar traits to the villain but should be represented as an ally instead of an enemy.

Thrive: Identifying strengths

Step 1

To prepare for this activity, print and cut the Identifying Strengths printable to separate each word. Then on another piece of paper, write down the names of all the students in your class, cut them up and place them in a hat or container.

Step 2

In pairs, ask students to brainstorm a range of strength-based words they can use to describe others. They should write them on separate pieces of paper and contribute them to a class pile.

Examples:

Open-minded
Kind
Great listener
Encouraging
Confident
Considerate
Passionate

Step 3

Explain that part of accepting ourselves is learning to accept positive affirmations and feedback from peers and people we trust. Doing so can help us recognise positive traits we may not be aware of, in turn helping build self-esteem and confidence.

Step 4

Combine the class pile with the printed words and lay them face up on tables around the room. Remove any words you think may be inappropriate or encourage negative behaviour.

Step 5

Invite each student to draw a name from the hat/container, then select 2-3 strength-based words to describe that person. Encourage them to select from the words scattered around the room if they’re unsure what to write.

Step 6

Give students time to share their answers with the person they drew from the hat/container. Encourage them to explain why they chose the words they did and to give specific examples if possible.

Step 7

Ask students to reflect on the words their peers chose and invite them to share how it made them feel. They can do this with a partner or the class if they feel comfortable to do so.

The following questions can prompt discussion:

How did you feel when your peer shared their selected words with you?
Did you agree with the words? Why/why not?
Did anything surprise you?
How can you adopt one of these strength-based words and use it to feed your inner hero?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

If we focus on building one another up, this helps to create a supportive and empowering community. When we take the time to acknowledge our classmates and focus on their strengths, this helps them see their own strengths and feed their inner heroes.

Self: Identifying Strengths

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Info

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson