Inclusiveness--Conflict+2


 * Stopping the Conflict Before It Starts **

**Aim:** Students will strengthen their listening skills and be able to communicate their needs and wants while respecting the needs and wants of others. Students will learn how to negotiate effectively.


 * Materials: **
 * Chart Paper (1 piece)
 * Role Play Scenarios (included- should make approx. 4 copies)


 * Do Now: **
 * Have students do a written reflection about a time when they were trying to say something important and the other person wasn’t listening. How did they know the other person wasn’t listening? What did that feel like? Students should share with partners, and then have a few share with the group.

**Activity A:** The 5 Steps of Active Listening
 * Explain to students that there are 5 ways of letting someone know you are really listening to them. Explain the concept of “Active Listening”.
 * Write the 5 steps on the board or on chart paper:
 * Attentiveness (looking at speaker, making eye contact)
 * Acknowledgment (nodding, saying “Uh huh,” “I see,” and “Go on.”)
 * Encouraging (asking “Would you like to talk about it?” and “What was that like?”)
 * Reflecting the Facts (“So you want to go to the party but your parents won’t let you.”)
 * Reflecting the Feelings (“It seems like you are very upset and angry about your parents not letting you go to the party.”)
 * Discussion Qs for the whole group: Why might it be important to reflect the facts? What’s valuable about reflecting the feelings? Who do you know that shows the signs of an active listener?

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**Activity B:** Role Plays- Putting the Steps into Action //__**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Scenario 1 **__// <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Student A got into a big fight with his parents last night and he was to frustrated to do his English homework. Now that he is in school he is really nervous because he is borderline failing English, and if he doesn’t have homework to hand in he is sure this will put him over the edge. Student A asks his friend Student B if he can look at Student B’s homework as a guide. Student B is hesitant to hand over her homework. She considers Student B a close friend and wants to help him out, but she is afraid that Student B will copy her homework and the teacher will find out. Student A once got in trouble for cheating and promised her parents, her teacher, and herself that she will never do it again!
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Divide the students into groups of 4. Explain that 2 students within each group will receive a scenario and negotiate with one another until they find a solution. Their goal is to use the active listening steps throughout the discussion.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">The other two members in the group will each be assigned one of the 2 students and will be taking notes and writing down the active listening behaviors that student showed. The observer should also make constructive notes on how the student could be a better listener.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">When a solution is reached the observers should share their feedback with the students. Now, the roles switch and the 2 other students begin acting out different scenarios while the other group members observe and take notes.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Wrap Up: After both scenarios are acted out in each group, ask for feedback from the students. How did it go? How did active listening help the students reach a solution? How can active listening stop conflict from escalating.

__//**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Scenario 2 **//__ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Student X lost her lunch pass (to leave school and go out for lunch) for the day because she slept through her alarm and was late to school. Student X hates eating lunch all by herself, and asked her friend Student Y to stay in with her. Student Y had not been out to lunch in weeks! After getting in trouble at home he lost his allowance and was forced to eat in the cafeteria every day. He finally got his lunch pass back and cannot wait to go out for lunch- he’s been waiting for this day for a long time!