Lesson 9.2: Anger, Aggression, and Conflict

Overview

This lesson focuses on understanding the difference between anger, aggression, and assertiveness.

Learning Targets

  • Compare and contrast aggression and assertiveness.
  • Explain a common cause of conflict.
  • Compare and contrast two styles of managing conflict.
  • Practice the steps of conflict resolution.

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 9.2 PowerPoint slides, or make copies of the Lesson 9.2 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 9.2 Resolving Conflicts Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet.

Warm-Up Activity

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

  • Journal Question: When you experience a conflict how does it make you feel? How do you usually handle conflict?
    • 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 9.2 Vocabulary Review Worksheet.
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 9.2 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 9.2 PowerPoint slides to review the chapter content.

Option: Have students use the Lesson 9.2 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: Resolving Conflicts

  1. Give each student a copy of the Lesson 9.2 Resolving Conflicts Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet. Have students work alone or in pairs.
  2. Have students follow the instructions on the worksheet. They will read through two scenarios and identify the best decision to resolve the conflict.
  3. Go over each scenario, and ask multiple pairs to explain their decisions. Make sure students use a good decision-making process and that they successfully resolve the conflict.
  4. As time permits, have students write a third scenario of their own.

Challenge Activity

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

Conflict can lead to positive outcomes. Write a paragraph about a situation in which a conflict, if handled well, might lead to a positive outcome for the people involved. Explain the situation and why the outcome might be positive.

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…

  • Compare and contrast aggression and assertiveness?

    Assertiveness is a nonviolent and confident way of expressing your needs and point of view. It is characterized by self-confidence, being respectful of others, making eye contact, remaining calm, valuing yourself, and trying not to hurt others. Aggression is forceful or violent communication. It is characterized by attacking others, forcing opinions on others, not listening, focusing only on what you want, valuing yourself as more important than others, and seeking to hurt others.

  • Explain a common cause of conflict?

    Conflict could be caused by differences in values, differences in personalities and boundaries in relationships, differences in interests, or a lack of resources.

  • Compare and contrast two styles of managing conflict?
    • Accommodating approach: This is when you cooperate to a high degree, even letting go of your own goals, objectives, and desired outcomes, to reach a solution.
    • Avoiding approach: This is when you simply avoid the thing that is causing the conflict.
    • Collaborating approach: This is when you work together to try to achieve everyone’s goals.
    • Competing approach: This is the win-lose approach.
    • Compromising approach: In this approach, neither party really achieves all of what they want.
  • Practice the steps of conflict resolution?

    This was done in the Skill-Building Challenge. Have students talk about how well they did in resolving the conflicts in the scenarios.

Assessment

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

  • Quiz: Have students take the Lesson 9.2 Quiz.
  • Vocabulary Review: Collect the Lesson 9.2 Vocabulary Review Worksheets, and evaluate them for accuracy.
  • Note-Taking Guide: Collect the completed Lesson 9.2 Note-Taking Guides, and spot check one or more items for completion and accuracy.
  • Skill-Building Worksheet: Have students submit the Lesson 9.2 Resolving Conflict Skill-Building Challenge Worksheets, and use the Healthy Communication 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

Share the conflict management strategies with someone in your family or community, and ask them which approach they think they use the most. Ask questions, and try to get an example of a time they used the approach and what happened as a result.