Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Explore: Support network

35+ minutes

Discover: Open-hearted letter

15 minutes

Thrive: Managing conflict

Explore: Support network

Step 1

Ask students to consider who the important people are in their lives. Provide each student with a Support Network worksheet. Explain that the small inner circle should be filled with their 3-5 most important people, while the bigger outer circle should be filled with all the people they know and appreciate in some way.

Examples:

Inner circle: best friend, Mum, brother
Outer circle: basketball coach, Science teacher, cousin, other friends

Step 2

Give students 5 minutes to complete the task, then facilitate a class discussion.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

How did you determine who was in your inner circle?
What about your outer circle?
Why is it important to identify these people?
In what ways do your inner and outer circles offer you support?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

It’s important to recognise who makes up our support network as it allows us to easily identify who we can turn to in times of need. These people can offer a sense of safety, belonging and community.

Discover: Open-hearted letter

Step 1

Advise students that the following exercise will require them to be in a calm and grounded mental and physical state. Explain that they will write an open-hearted letter to someone in their inner circle. Guide them through 4 rounds of box breathing to assist them in finding a centred state of mind. Encourage them to consider who they might like to write to as they go through their box breathing.

Provide the following steps to guide them:

Sit with your bottom pushed to the back of your chair.
Sit up straight with shoulders back and feet shoulder-width apart, touching the floor if possible.
Hands should be empty and placed on knees.
Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds.
Repeat 4 times.
When the final round is completed, ask them to keep their eyes closed for 1 minute.

Step 2

Before students start writing their letters, remind them this is a personal and reflective activity that doesn’t involve talking. Let students know if they would like to draw rather than write, that they are welcome to express themselves in this way. Encourage students to find a quiet place to write and let them know they can write as much or as little as they like.

If students are stuck on how to begin, encourage them to consider all the things they love and appreciate about the person they’re writing to and/or provide the following sentence stems:

I really appreciate you because …
My favourite memory of us is when we …

Encourage students to hand-write their letter on lined paper and sign their names at the bottom for a personal touch. Try to allow 20+ minutes for students to complete this task, or ask them to complete it for homework if time is running short.

Step 3

Provide students with an envelope and ask them to fold and seal their letter, then encourage them to give their letter to the recipient as soon as possible (can be during the lesson if students have written to each other). For further encouragement, you may share a story about the power of gratitude in your own life and what something like this would mean to you. Discuss the activity as a class.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

How did expressing your gratitude through writing feel?
Have you ever received something like this? How did it make you feel?
Why is it important to show gratitude to those we are close to?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Writing about or verbally sharing our appreciation is a powerful way to deepen personal connection. We don’t always take the time to let the people in our lives know what they mean to us, but when we do, it can strengthen our bond and bring us even closer.

Teacher note: If students are really struggling to write their letters, they may like to draw a picture instead.

Thrive: Managing conflict

Step 1

Explain to students that even the strongest relationships will experience conflict at some point and may involve friends, family, acquaintances, strangers and even ourselves (known as inner conflict).

Step 2

Ask students to form groups of 3-4 and brainstorm a range of common conflicts they have experienced or would expect to experience as a young person. Give each group a stack of scrap paper to write on and provide some examples to help get them started. They should record 1 conflict per piece of paper.

Examples:

Conflict with parents about academic performance
Inner conflict when faced with peer pressure

Step 3

Invite students to think of a recent conflict they’ve had and give them an opportunity to share it with a partner. Ask if anyone would like to share with the whole class and facilitate a group discussion.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

How did you resolve the conflict?
What feelings and emotions came up?
Why is managing conflict a critical skill to have?

Step 4

Advise students that the conflicts they wrote down will be placed in a pile along with a list of pre-generated answers and drawn out of a hat/box at an agreed-upon time each week/fortnight (such as homeroom or at the start of SEL lessons). Each time a conflict is drawn, students will be asked the same questions to help them learn how to navigate and effectively manage conflict.

Share the following questions with students:

What are some unhelpful ways to handle this conflict?
What are some helpful ways to handle this conflict?
Have you had to deal with this conflict before? How did it turn out?
What will be your go-to strategy in the future if this conflict arises?

Step 5

Practise this process by drawing 1-2 conflicts from the pile and moving through the questions as a class. Time permitting, you may ask students to discuss these in small groups before addressing them as a class.

Teacher note: Ensure that each conflict is appropriate and comfortable for all students before reading it. You can solely rely on the Common Conflict list if students are hesitant to provide their own conflict ideas.

Tribe: Creating Support Networks

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will..

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson Guides and Printables

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Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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