What I Really Want to Tell You

What is it all about?

Provide images or quotations for students to use to practice their communication skills to resist social influences or peer pressure, respond to challenges, deal with conflicts, and/ or develop and sustain healthy relationships during or at the end of a unit of learning.

Curriculum Connections

Grade 9: C2.2, C2.3, C3.4

Grade 10: C1.2, C2.3, C2.4, C2.5, C3.4

How is it done?

• Find and post images or quotations about various concepts as identified in the selected curriculum expectations for your chosen grade.
• Have students select the image or quotation that most captures their attention.
• Engage students in a rapid writing activity, in which they adopt the persona of a character depicted in an image or the person who authored the quotation.
• Have students write a letter in character, entitled “What I Really Want to Tell You”, reflecting on the situation in which the character finds themself and having the character use effective communication skills to deal with their situation.

What may be needed?

Images or quotations related to the healthy living concepts identified in the curriculum expectations for your chosen grade.

Opportunities for assessment

Use students’ rapid writing responses to assess their application of communication skills and to provide feedback for further practice.

Ideas for Extension

• Provide students with the choice of reading their letter aloud to a partner, a small group, or the whole class while assuming the persona of their selected character.
• Have students answer questions as their selected character such as “How did you feel when you were initially confronted with the situation?, Why did you choose to resolve it as you did?, What do you think you might do differently if you are confronted with a similar situation?, How did your ability to communicate effectively help you in your situation?
• Facilitate a group debriefing session. Have the students reflect on what they learned, their and others’ reaction to the work of their peers, and what the group as a whole can take away from the session.

Educator notes

• Encourage students to reflect on the experience of putting themselves in someone else’s shoes and any effects that may have on empathy and challenging assumptions.