Lesson 6.2: Being Yourself

Overview

This lesson focuses on developing self-awareness and self-esteem and develops skills in decision-making.

Learning Targets

  • Define identity and describe your identity.
  • Compare and contrast self-image and self-esteem.
  • Explain why self-confidence is important.
  • Describe two ways to improve self-esteem.
  • Demonstrate how self-esteem can influence decision-making.

Preparation

For the Warm-Up Activity: Write the journal question on the board, or identify (and copy as needed) the worksheets you plan to use:

For the Content Focus: Open the Lesson 6.2 PowerPoint slides, or make copies of the Lesson 6.2 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 6.2 Self-Esteem and Decision-Making Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet.

Warm-Up Activity

Select a warm-up activity to help get your class focused and on task.

  • Journal Question: What makes you unique and different from other people?
    • Option: Write or project the question, and have students respond in their journals as they enter class.
    • Option: Have students discuss the questions with a partner or in a small group.
  • Vocabulary Review: Have students work individually, in partners, or in small groups to complete the Lesson 6.2 Vocabulary Review Worksheet.
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 6.2 Quiz to assess their prior knowledge.
    • Option: Collect the quizzes, and use them alongside posttests to demonstrate student learning.
    • Option: Have students share their answers with a partner and then go over the answers together as a class.

Lesson Content

Review the content from the textbook lesson.

Option: Use the Lesson 6.2 PowerPoint slides to review the chapter content.

Option: Have students use the Lesson 6.2 Note-Taking Guide to review chapter content. Ask students to work alone, in pairs, or in small groups. Review the questions as a class if time permits.

Lesson Focus: Self-Esteem and Decision-Making

  1. Pair students or place them into groups. Give each group or individual a copy of the Self-Esteem and Decision-Making Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet.
  2. Have students complete the worksheet. They will write two endings to the story: one as if Andy had low self-esteem and one as if Andy had high self-esteem. Encourage students to use the decision-making skill cues on the worksheet to help them model good decision-making.
  3. As time allows, ask students to read their stories to another group or to the class.

Challenge Activity

Have students who need an additional challenge work on the following critical-thinking task.

Many health behaviors are associated with self-esteem. Choose a health behavior (such as eating healthy, exercising, managing stress, or not vaping or drinking alcohol) and research how self-esteem might influence it. Make a bullet point list of the things you learn.

Reflection and Summary

Review the critical content from today’s lesson. Review the learning targets, and ask students to answer each question posed.

Can you…

  • Define identity and describe your identity?

    Identity is who you are and includes things such as your gender, race, hair color, and height. Have students describe their identity to a partner.

  • Compare and contrast self-image and self-esteem?

    Self-image is what you think about yourself, and self-esteem is how much you like, admire, and value yourself regardless of what others think.

  • Explain why self-confidence is important?

    Self-confidence comes from trusting yourself to manage challenges, seize opportunities, and deal with difficult situations.

  • Describe two ways to improve self-esteem?

    Check the list of confidence boosters. Learn your strengths and weaknesses, be kind to yourself, grow from your mistakes, and know when to ask for help.

  • Demonstrate how self-esteem can influence decision-making?

    This was done in the Skill-Building Challenge. Ask students whether they were able to demonstrate this successfully through their stories.

Assessment

Complete one or more of the following assessment tasks for this lesson.

  • Quiz: Have students take the Lesson 6.2 Quiz.
  • Vocabulary Review: Collect the Lesson 6.2 Vocabulary Review Worksheets, and evaluate them for accuracy.
  • Note-Taking Guide: Collect the completed Lesson 6.2 Note-Taking Guides, and spot check one or more items for completion and accuracy.
  • Skill-Building Worksheet: Have students submit the Lesson 6.2 Self-Esteem and Decision-Making Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet, and use the Healthy Decision-Making Holistic Rubric to evaluate their skill development.
  • Journal Question: Ask students to respond to the journal question again, adding information they learned from today’s class. Require a one-paragraph response that uses proper grammar.

Take It Home

Keep a self-esteem journal for one week. Each day when you get home, write down something you liked about yourself or something you were proud of that day. At the end of the week, review your entries and reflect on how reading them makes you feel.