February 7–11
Theme: Healthy Relationships
Skill Building: Interpersonal Communication
Person-Centered Thinking & Safety
Monday, February 7, 2022
Today Happens to be...
National Send a Card to a Friend Day! ❤️
Black History Month
This week, let's learn and talk about Black arts and Black artists.
Have you heard of the Harlem Renaissance? What do you know about it?
Check-In (5 min)
Say hello, share the weekend...
Theme of Week (3 min)
Healthy Relationships are the main theme.
The skill we're practicing is interpersonal communication.
Show & Share (5-10-min)
How did you meet your current partner or a valued friend? How long ago was it? What has made your relationship a good one?
Client-led Exercise - Choose one volunteer to lead an exercise. *Remember your Safety Checks!
Thematic Activity (10-15 min)
PRESENTERS: This helps identify and express the things that make us feel SAFE in relationships.
This is a list of things that make us feel SAFE in a relationship, friendship or romance, or any kind.
- Being accepted for who we are
- Laughing at the same things together
- Being able to make mistakes in front of each other
- Teasing and jokes are good-natured, not mean
- Knowing someone will stick up for me
- Always telling each other the truth
- Sticking by each other when things are not fun or even difficult
- Helping each other when we need it
- Not asking for things the other person doesn't want to give
- Not gossiping or telling secrets - what is private stays private
- Being able to apologize and have things go back to normal
- Name someone you have a safe relationship with. Tell us how you feel with them.
- How do you make others feel safe?
Skill Builder (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: This is to build the vocabulary and awareness to turn DOWN requests from friends that are not OK with the individual. You can play the role of the person taking advantage. Repeat requests more than once to demonstrate the pressure that comes from it.
We want to help friends and partners. But sometimes they ask for something that we don't feel comfortable giving. This is especially true if we haven't known someone for a long time.
For each situation, role-play how to say "no" clearly and directly without being rude. Good places to start are "I don't agree..., " "I prefer not to." and "I think you know you shouldn't be asking me that."
- A good friend asks to borrow your entire savings.
- A person you have a crush on wants to use your apartment to have a party for people you don't really know well.
- A co-worker asks to borrow your family car for the weekend.
- A friend you know on facebook asks for your, or your family member's, credit card information to play a game online with you
- A home support staff takes you shopping and asks you to put some purchases for them on your card.
Body Break!
Survival Language (5-10 min)
What are homonyms? (3 min video)
PRESENTERS: close the video after the pair "STARE and STAIR" appears--it's advertising after that
As a group, brainstorm 5 homonyms.
Optional Level-Up on Homonyms
Did you know there are TRIPLE homonyms?
Choose triple homonyms from this list and invent sentences that clarify the CONTEXT so the listener can tell which meaning is being used.
- aisle, isle, I'll
- do, dew, due
- new, knew, gnu ( the last one is a herd animal
- road, rode. rowed
_______________________________________
What did we learn today? What is our theme?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Civics & Community Awareness
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Today happens to be...
How do you keep yourself safe online?
Black History Month
Yesterday we looked at the Harlem Renaissance. Today, let's look at one of the artists from that time: Langston Hughes. Here is a video about him and links to some of his famous poems:
- Langston Hughes (YouTube)
- “Dreams” by Langston Hughes
- “Harlem” by Langston Hughes
- “I, Too” by Langston Hughes
Recap Theme (1 min)
Feeling SAFE in relationships
Saying NO to requests
Show & Share (10-min)
How did your parents, or grandparents meet?
Client-led Exercise - Choose one volunteer to lead an exercise. *Remember your Safety Checks!
Thematic Activity 01 (10-15 min)
PRESENTERS: This is an example of citizens speaking up against the exploitation of their communities-in this case a pipeline project. Guide participants to the idea that people can disagree but keep on talking. Disagreement is not the end of communication.
Listen to this man speak out against a project he believes is bad for his and other people's communities. See if he is ASSERTIVE or AGGRESSIVE in his way of talking.
Speaking up against a pipeline at a public meeting
PRESENTER NOTE: if the volume is low, turn up the volume on your computer
- Do citizens have the right to object to projects in their communities they don't want?
- Can people have different opinions and still keep communicating?
- Did the peope in the audience mostly agree or mostly disagree with him? How do you know?
- Do you remember if he said that his opinion is shared by other people? If he did, who else is he speaking for, or representing?
Body Break!
Skill Builder (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: More difference between ASSERTIVE and AGGRESSIVE statements.
For each AGGRESSIVE statement, see if you can figure out an ASSERTIVE way to say it instead.
- Asking for something back — "Gimme that! It's mine. Not yours."
- Doing what you believe is right in spite of advice — "I don't care what you think or say, I'm doing it anyway."
- Suspect someone is not being honest or sincere — "You're a dirty, rotten liar!"
- Disagreeing on a way to do something — "Don't you know anything? That's NOT how you do it."
- Being in authority over someone who has a question — I don't have to answer your questions. Just do as I say.
Body Break!
Check out this Video on Communication Styles.
- What can make it hard to be assertive?
- Have you ever been in a situation where you had to be assertive?
_______________________________________
What did we learn today? What is our theme?
What are we doing this afternoon?
20-1+3-1+4=25
Well Being and Social Connection
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Today happens to be...
Theme: Relationships
Check-In (5 min)
Black History Month
Do you like jazz music? (Have you watched the new Pixar movie Soul?)
- The Birth of Jazz (YouTube)
- Duke Ellington Bio (YouTube)
- Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington Perform Together (YouTube)
Show & Share (5-10-min)
How do you feel when you meet new people?
Client-led Exercise - Choose one volunteer to lead an exercise. *Remember your Safety Checks!
Thematic Activity (10-15 min)
PRESENTERS: This lesson helps us tell the difference between nagging and encouragement. In healthy relationships, we rely more on encouragement than pressure to promote good results.
Encouragement or Nagging?
Joe and Sally got married 2 years ago. Since living independently together they have both gained weight by eating fast food very often. Joe wants to start exercising and start cooking at home. Sally SAYS she agrees but she keeps ordering fast food and bringing it home. Joe is frustrated because the more he reminds Sally to make healthy choices the more junk food she buys. He has tried to frighten her by showing her stories of people who have heart attacks and telling her she is going to have one too. Lately, he asks her what she's eating and why at every meal. They keep getting into fights about it.
- Which partner is right about the health issues?
- Do you think Joe is nagging or encouraging Sally?
- Do you think Sally really does want to eat more healthfully and exercise?
- If you were Sally, how would you feel?
- If you were Joe, how would you feel?
- What advice would you give Joe and Sally?
- In what relationships is OK to give advice about personal topics like health or diet? Friend, family member, spouse, partner, co-worker, acquaintance, classmate?
- How would you encourage someone close to you in real life to make healthful choices in food and exercise?
Body Break
Thematic Activity 02 (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: This should help develop the vocabulary for encouraging healthful actions. Scroll down to the heading "Instead of Nagging Try Positive Approaches"
Encourage, Don't Nag--What to Do Instead of Nagging
Using the examples in the link of positive approaches what can we say or do in each of the following situations to encourage someone we care about?
- Cleaning up around the house
- Doing laundry more often
- Coming home from work on time
- Getting more exercise
- Taking good care of a pet
Body Break
Survival Language in Grocery Store (5-10 min)
Answer all the questions for each picture separately.
- Where are we in the grocery store?
- What are examples of foods in that aisle?
- What are some things that will definitely NOT be in the aisle?
- What would you be SHOCKED to find in that aisle? Get wild with this one. It can be something that isn't even supposed to be in a grocery store!
_______________________________________
What did we learn today? What was our theme?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Rights & Self Advocacy
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Today happens to be...
Theme: Relationships
Black History Month
Yesterday, we looked at jazz, an influential music genre that originated in African-American communities. Today, let's look at hip-hop, another popular music genre developed by African-Americans. Who are your favorite Black hip-hop artists?
Recap Yesterday (1 min)
encouraging instead of nagging
positive ways to encourage someone
Show & Share (10-min)
- Have you ever tried to play matchmaker? Has anyone ever
- tried to match you up with someone?
Client-led Exercise - Choose one volunteer to lead an exercise. *Remember your Safety Checks!
Skill Builder - Setting aside time for difficult conversations (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: The lesson is that when we have a difficult topic to work out with someone we love,
- it's a good idea to set aside time in advance so that you can prepare and focus AND
- that "I" statements are less threatening in interpersonal relationships than "you" statements.
When a relationship problem starts, we need to discuss it. This can be hard. We don't want to fight or hurt our partner's or friend's feelings. What can we do?
- Ask for a time to talk that will not be interrupted—like an appointment.
- The person may ask to talk about it right away. You can do that if you want to and have time.
- It's better to wait because you can both be more prepared and calmer.
- If asking for the time to talk makes your friend or partner worry, you can tell them what topic you want to discuss and reassure them that it's not a bad thing but you do need their help with it.
Which statements sound calm and non-accusing? What is different about the statements that don't feel scary?
- I want to understand your view on something
- You have a habit that drives me crazy
- I am feeling badly and need your help to figure out what to do
- You made me mad.
- I'm having some difficulty and want to process it with you
- You hurt my feelings and I want you to apologize.
Body Break
Survival Math (5-10 min)
Understanding Weather Changes
Subtracting big numbers from little numbers makes NEGATIVE numbers - numbers that are LESS than 0
Optional Level-Up
Can you subtract bigger numbers from smaller numbers?
3-10=
5-6=
20-30=
1-6=
Answers at the bottom of the page in blue
_______________________________________
What did we learn today? What was our theme?
What are we doing this afternoon?
3-10 = -7
5-6 = -1
20-30 = -10
1-6 = -5
Knowledge & Fun
Friday, February 11, 2022
Today happens to be...
Black History Month
Black artists are still making history today!
N.K. Jemisin, an award-winning speculative fiction writer, was recently awarded a MacArther “Genius” Grant. Visit her page on the MacArthur Foundation website to watch a short video and learn more about her.
Show & Share (5 min)
If you could meet any famous person, who would you choose and to what activity would you invite them?
Lunar Horoscope MatchMaker
- Find your Lunar Calendar Sign
- What's your lunar personality?
- What lunar personality is a good match for you?
Games of Love and Friendship
- Ask the Magic 8 Ball
- Crack Open Your Fortune Cookie
- Western Zodiac Love Compatibility Game
- Ask the book of love your heart's destiny
Love Messages
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What did we learn today? What was the theme?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Choosing Fun Stuff to Do
Need some help deciding on an afternoon activity?
The activities are numbered. These numbers corrospond to brief activity descriptions listen in the linked document below.
