Name of Lesson: Learning About Assumptions and Appreciating Differences

Counselor: Emily Tucker

UNIT/TOPIC:
(If unit, note how
many lessons in unit):

Topic: Differences

DOMAIN:
(academic, career,
personal/social)

Personal/Social

GRADE LEVEL(S):

9-12
BS.SMS.7 Demonstrate effective coping skills when faced with a problem.

GUIDANCE
STANDARD(S):
ASCA Standards
Addressed:

INDIANA
STANDARDS
ADDRESSED:
*If this lesson is
crosswalked with other
academic areas, please
list here.
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES

BS.SS.2 Create positive and supportive relationships with other students.

BS.SS.4 Demonstrate empathy
BS.SS.9 Demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and
environment.

9.12.3.2

Describe challenges that are typical for young adults and successful
methods for addressing them.

1.
2.

Students will learn and be able to identify SAFE ways to handle name-calling or bullying
situations
Students will identify times when differences are helpful and learn to appreciate
differences

TIME REQUIRED

45 minutes

MATERIALS NEEDED

Pre/Post test, blank paper or notecards, pens or pencils, Four Ways to Stay SAFE
Handout

ACTIVITY SUMMARY

Establish a Safe Space; Assumptions Activity and discussion; discussion on

differences; staying SAFE discussion and role play; Closing

Establish a Safe Space -- we might share personal information today - I am going

to keep what we talk about private, and I hope you all will do the same
Once a safe space has been established give students the pre-test.
PROCEDURE
Introduce topic: Unfortunately, name-calling and making fun of others happens in
schools. We are going to start with an activity.
Hand out notecards or sheets of paper to students and ask them to write answers
to the following questions. Instruct them not to share their answers with others.

1. What wouldn't we know by just looking at you?

2. What is your favorite book?
3. What goal are you working towards?
4. What is your most positive personality trait?
5. What personal experiences do you have, if any, with
discrimination?
Collect the cards, Shuffle the cards and pass them out randomly, ensuring that no
one has their own card. Ask the students to find the owner of the card based on the
answers.
Discussion Questions
How accurate were the assumptions you made about people you
don't know very well?
Did you learn anything about your classmates that surprised you?
What are the dangers of making assumptions?
What is a stereotype?
How can assumptions about groups lead to stereotypes?
What can we do to prevent stereotyping?
Thinking of times you have been made fun of, bullied, left out, name-called
because of who you are (or not even because of who you are) - write down a
couple of times, once finished, share with a partner. Could include:
What happened?
If you were called a name, was this name accurate or did it fully describe
who you are?
How did you feel when you were made fun of, bullied, left out, or called a
name?
Were there any physical symptoms you experienced?
How did you react?
Did you know how to end the situation?
On the flipside of this, have you ever made fun of someone, left someone out, or
called someone a name (even if it was just talking to friends)?
What happened?
Can you imagine how the other person felt, or would have felt?
How did you feel afterward?
It is easy to fall into a trap of making assumptions about people based on one
encounter with them or one thing that we know about them, but these assumptions
are often not true.
Just because someone is different, does not mean they are wrong or should be
made fun of. Differences can help get things done in school and in life -- ask the
class for examples - discuss positives.
Explain the SAFE Responses to Bullying/Name-calling - pass out handout
Say what you feel

Ask for help

Find a friend
Exit the area

Once each response has been explained, ask some students to volunteer to roleplay each response. They can come up with the scenarios themselves or the
counselor can provide the scenario.
Ask students to identify if the way they reacted to the times they identified earlier in
the lesson corresponds to any of the letters. Ask: Was it helpful? Which would
you be comfortable using in the future?
Identify situations in which each letter would be helpful if time permits.
Close by having students take the post-test and share at least one thing they
learned during the lesson.
EVALUATION:
What data will you
collect and How will
you collect data to
show:
1. impact on K12 students
2. feedback on
lesson

FOLLOW-UP PLAN:
CITATION(S)
References/Resource
s Used:
Cite copyrighted
materials, but do not
reproduce copyrighted
materials in your
lesson plan. Noncopyrighted materials
must be reproduced
and included in your
lesson plan.

1. The counselor will ask students if they believe they are prepared to
respond appropriately to a name-calling or bullying situation.
2. The counselor will gauge students interest in the group throughout the
session. The counselor will also listen to what members are saying to
determine if the lesson helped them and if it was interesting to them.

Students will be encouraged to think about differences and how it feels to be put
down or called a name for being different in hopes of encouraging them to not
name call or put down others. Students will also think about ways to stay SAFE if
they are in a name-calling or bullying situation.

Lesson adapted from:

http://glsen.org/nonamecallingweek/high-school