Length
45-60 minutes
Curriculum Standards
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Materials
Lesson Instructions
- To start the lesson, ask:
- What is a positive attitude?
- Write student responses on the board working together to create a definition.
- Now, have students listen to a series of statements and decide if it is a positive attitude or negative attitude. If they think it is positive, they will smile and give a thumbs up. If they think it is negative, it will frown and give a thumbs down.
- Read the following statements aloud:
- Michael's soccer game gets rained out, so he has a temper tantrum in the parking lot of the field.
- Jim was nervous for his math test, so he pretended to be sick and went home.
- Pam's class field trip was cancelled, so she told her classmates that they will have a fun day at school anyways.
- Kevin fell off his bike, so he brushed off his shoulders, got back on the bike and tried again.
- Ryan lost the school election. He told the person who beat him 'Congratulations!' and shook his hand.
- Meredith does not like Monday mornings, so she goes to school with a scowl on her face.
- If the answer is negative, ask students how it could have been turned into a positive attitude.
Discussion Questions
Use these discussion questions to allow students to think more in-depth about positive attitude and how it affects them and others.
- When it is hard to maintain a positive attitude, what can you do?
- How can a positive attitude impact your life? The people around you? The world?
- Do you have a role-model in your life? How do they display a positive attitude?
- Is it important to have a positive attitude on social media? How can you do this?
Activities
Letter to Myself
- Students will think about a time in their lives when they missed an opportunity to maintain a positive attitude. They will write a letter to themselves in that moment with words of encouragement and suggestions of how they could have approached the situation with a positive attitude.
- Have students share their letters with a partner, offering feedback.
Hashtag Challenge
- Students will create a hashtag that would encourage others to keep a positive attitude. Vote on the best hashtag as a class.
Extension Activities
- Watch a TED talk about positivity and write a response to it.
- Begin a positivity campaign with the class. Students will design ways to spread positivity throughout the school, outside the school and on social media.
