n exploring conflict, commit to trying on different perspectives in the conflict. Draw out of a bowl a particular role with an attached explanation. Play that role in teams of four or five, expressing your beliefs. Debrief with the whole group, adding in different perspectives in time, gender, geography, economy, and ethnicity. Evaluate the roles …
Share individual stories of people in need. Identify what everyone can contribute. Where could we find the needed materials? Together as a group, deliver the donated items to a nearby organization in wagons, if available. Work with the accepting agency to provide further information about the services and supports they provide (examples: donation to a …
Show pictures and/or video of certain situations at school and in the surrounding neighborhood. Examples include: seeing garbage on the floor, an elderly person dropping their cane, a person not able to get through a door because their hands are full, a child crying or looking sad, or classmates arguing or fighting. Hold a classroom …
Show youth a variety of pictures of celebrations involving young people from around the world. Place cut-outs of known children/students into the celebration picture (make sure to rotate the pictures). Have the youth guess where the celebration is and what the kids are celebrating. What is the significance of the celebration? Do we have a …
An opportunity to explore controversial issues and divergent positions and work to reach consensus on what may have happened– highlighting the complexities of particular perspectives, opinions and events. Have youth argue one side of an argument and then have them switch sides before negotiating an agreement between the two sides. The controversial issues can be …
A person who recognizes when something is wrong and then acts to make it right; doing one’s best to help support and protect someone who is being mistreated; being socially responsible. There are many online campaigns and curricula that teach youth to be upstanders and how to take on bullying and negative peer behaviors. Most …
Titled after the Greek philosopher, Socratic dialogue transforms a student’s learning experience by allowing youth to generate and express their own ideas via the teacher asking questions as their primary method of instruction. It is collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with open-ended questions about a topic, text, or issue. When done purposefully, the outcome is improved …
Opportunities to share healthy snacks together builds community. Everyone begins eating together, often marking the time with a simple shared message. Parents or teachers can assist our youth in appreciating where our food comes from, asking what part of the snack took the longest time to grow, how the snack is helping our bodies, what …
Youth sit in a circle, often at a transition point in the day. Holding a ball of yarn, they share one thing (something they like to do, someplace they have been, something they learned recently) . Then they throw the ball to someone else while they hold on to their bit of yarn. The next …
Have youth think individually and record their views about a particular issue. Then have them share their ideas with one another. Teachers/parents can foster careful listening by having youth be responsible for representing their partners in a group share-out and discussion. The act of sharing another person’s ideas builds compassion and collaboration. By entrusting our …