Lesson 1
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
What are they feeling?
Have students work in groups to choose three photos of faces that show a range of
expressions. They can use personal photos of faces or ones that they have found in
newspapers, magazines, or other media. Have each group write a detailed description of
each face and identify what the person might be feeling. Make sure your students include
the elements of the expressions and clues that helped them identify what the people in the
photos might be feeling.
Health and Science
How do animals communicate?
All animals—from amoebas to humans—communicate with each other. Preselect
appropriate animal-science Web sites or search engines for your students (your school
librarian can help). Then have students work in groups to research the ways different
animals such as bees, birds, cats, dogs, chimpanzees, or whales communicate. For example,
honey bees perform a “waggle dance” when they return to their hive to alert other bees
of their arrival, and chimpanzees greet each other by touching hands. Have students
investigate the different ways animals communicate. How are they similar and different
from the ways humans communicate? Students can work in groups and report what they
found back to the class.
Media Literacy
Are the characters actively listening to each other?
Record a clip from an age-appropriate TV sitcom. Before playing the clip, identify the
main characters for your class. Divide the class into groups. Turn off the sound, then
play the clip. Ask the groups: Are the characters actively listening to each other? Remind
students that active listeners look at the person who is talking, don’t interrupt, and show
interest. Have each group take notes on how well the characters in the clip are actively
listening to each other based on what they see rather than what they hear.
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 125
Lesson 2
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
What does it mean to be an ally to another nation?
Extend the ally definition used in this lesson to nations: An ally is a nation that consciously
decides to support another nation because it’s the right thing to do. Put students into
groups to discuss the following questions: What does it mean to be an ally to another
nation? How is this different or the same as being an ally to someone at school? Who are
the United States’ allies? What makes them our allies? How is the United States an ally to
other countries? Have students give specific examples when appropriate.
Health and Science
What are the similarities and differences between being an ally and symbiotic
relationships between organisms?
Have students research the different symbiotic relationships between organisms using
preselected Web sites or search engines. There are three different types of symbiosis:
mutualism, where both partners benefit (for example: a tickbird and a rhinoceros);
commensalism, where only one organism benefits but the other is neither helped nor
harmed (for example: a remora fish and a shark); and parasitism, where one organism
gains while the other suffers (for example: ticks and mammals). Have students work in
groups to research and find examples of each different type of symbiosis. What are the
similarities and differences between being an ally and each of these different types of
symbiotic relationships between organisms?
Media Literacy
What are the pros and cons of social-networking sites?
Although most social-networking sites have minimum age limitations (14 years), many
of your students may be becoming very interested in using them soon as a way to make
and maintain friendships. Ask students: Are social-networking sites a good way to make
friends? Put students in groups to brainstorm the pros and the cons of using socialnetworking sites. Have each group discuss their ideas with the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 149
Lesson 3
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
What’s another perspective?
Have students choose a controversial issue in your school, such as cell phone use, school
safety, cafeteria rules, or dress code. Divide the class into groups. Ask each group to
imagine the different points of view on the issue from the perspectives of the following
people: the principal, a new student, an eighth-grade boy, a parent, the custodian, a
seventh-grade girl, and a teacher. Have each group choose one of these people and
write down what his or her perspective on the issue might be. Have groups report their
perspectives to the other groups and discuss.
Health and Science
What do you observe?
Take your students outside or have them look out the window. Give students five minutes
to write down what they observe about the outdoor environment. After five minutes,
have students exchange what they observed with another student. How many of their
observations were the same? How many of their observations were different? In what ways
did their own personal backgrounds and perspectives influence what they each observed?
Media Literacy
Whose perspective is that?
Have student groups make their own montage of images focused on one theme, such as
school, sports, travel, or geography. All the images should depict different perspectives
about the theme. For example, if the theme is school, images might include students,
buildings, buses and drivers, football fields, and cafeteria workers. They can clip their
images from magazines and newspapers, or they can create their own. The final montage
can be a media presentation or a poster. Have groups show their montages to the other
groups. Can the groups name all the points of view or perspectives represented in each
others’ montages?
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 175
Lesson 4
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
Can they respectfully disagree?
A town meeting is often used by local governments to obtain suggestions, get feedback on
existing policies and government officials, or debate potential policies and proposals.
Have students use the town meeting format to debate a proposal to build a new skateboard
park. Proponents of the proposal say that building a skateboard park will provide a
healthy outlet for our youth and keep them off busy streets. Opponents are worried
about the cost, the environmental impact, and the kinds of kids the park will attract. Put
students in small groups. Have half of the groups take the proponents’ perspective, and
the other half take the opponents’ perspective. In a town meeting format, have each group
present their arguments based on their perspective using the respectful disagreement skills
practiced in this lesson.
Health and Science
Is there life on other planets?
Have student groups contemplate the question: Is there life on other planets? Have half
of the groups take the position that there is life on other planets, and the other half that
there is not. Give the groups time to come up with support for their positions. Then
have opposing groups debate whether there is or is not life on other planets while using
respectful disagreement skills.
Media Literacy
Can you identify respectful disagreement skills?
Record a clip from an age-appropriate TV sitcom, drama, or movie that shows a conflict
between characters. Before showing the clip, direct your students to look for a conflict
between characters. Show the clip and have students analyze how the conflict is or is not
resolved. Do the characters use the skills for disagreeing respectfully? Have them write
down all the skills they see the characters using. If they are not using the skills, have them
describe how the conflict might have been resolved differently if they had. Then discuss
as a class or in groups some of the following questions: How often do you see respectful
disagreement on-screen? Do you think disrespect is seen as more compelling or exciting?
Why or why not? Do you think disrespectful or respectful disagreement between characters
on-screen is encouraged? Why?
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 199
Lesson 5
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
What would an assertive pig say to an aggressive wolf?
Have students work in groups to write and perform a script for a Readers’ Theater. First,
read aloud (or have a student read aloud) “The Three Little Pigs” (or any other applicable
folktale from your students’ heritage). Then have each group take the theme from the story
and rewrite it. The first two pigs are passive communicators. The wolf is an aggressive
communicator. The third pig is an assertive communicator. The third pig must confront the
wolf in an assertive manner. Have each group perform their story for the class.
Health and Science
Can dogs be assertive?
Have students groups research the different ways dogs communicate. Direct your students
to look for examples of how dogs communicate joy, anger, anxiety, submission, and
dominance. Can dogs be passive, assertive, or aggressive in the ways they communicate
these things? What are the similarities and differences between the ways dogs and humans
communicate the same feelings? Have each group report their findings to the class.
Media Literacy
Is there a better way to resolve this dispute?
Record sports or political news clips from TV or the Web that show passive and/or
aggressive communication styles. Put students in groups. Play the clips. Have each group
identify the dispute. Then ask: What communication style are they using? How can you
tell? Have students describe how the dispute may have been resolved differently if assertive
communication was used. Have each group report on their story to another group or
the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
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Lesson 6
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
Is it bullying?
Have your students examine unkind or mean behaviors that occur between characters in
any novel they are currently reading in class or on their own. Have each student write a
description of the mean behavior. Then have them use the definition of bullying given in
the lesson to determine whether the behavior is bullying: Bullying is when one or more
people repeatedly harm, harass, intimidate, or exclude another person. Bullying is unfair
and one-sided.
Health and Science
What do you observe?
Have students work in groups to make observations about other people’s behaviors. Assign
each group a location in your school (such as the hallway, lunchroom, or sports field).
Have each member of the group take notes about the behavior of the people they observe
in these locations for a determined amount of time (such as 10 minutes). Have groups
come back and discuss their observations. Have them use the bullying definition in this
lesson to determine whether any of the behaviors they observed were bullying. Have each
group report their findings to the class. Were there some locations in the school where
more bullying was observed? If so, why do you think this occurs?
Media Literacy
What’s the message?
Record clips from animated cartoon programs that show some form of bullying. (Caution:
Some kids might think that the bullying depicted in some cartoons is funny.) Show the
clips. Ask student groups to watch for examples of bullying, then discuss the following
questions: Do any of the characters bully others face-to-face? Do any of the characters
bully others behind their backs? What kind of message do you think this sends to young
kids? How could these cartoons be funny without the bullying? Can you think of some
funny cartoons that do not use bullying? Have each group report their responses to
another group or the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 253
Lesson 7
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
What does this artwork mean to you?
Have student groups really look at the artwork on the Bystander Power poster. What do
they think the artwork means? Encourage students to identify the lesson concepts that
they think are represented by the symbols. Have small groups come up with words that
represent main elements of the program or elements suggested by the posters. Then have
the groups report to the class their words and what they mean.
Health and Science
What is herd behavior?
“Herd behavior” is when individuals in a group act together without a planned direction.
Have students work in groups to research (using preselected Web sites or search engines)
animals that exhibit herd behavior, such as flocks of birds, herds of sheep, or schools
of fish. What are the advantages of herd behavior for these animals? What are the
disadvantages? Have each group present their findings to the class. Then discuss: When
and why might crowds of humans exhibit the same sort of herd behavior? How can
bystanders who exhibit herd behavior be part of the problem?
Media Literacy
Is this really funny?
Use the same animated cartoon clips used in the Lesson 6 media literacy integration
activity to show bystander behavior. Show the clips again. This time, ask student groups to
notice how the bystanders to the bullying that they identified earlier behave. Then discuss
the following questions: How do the bystanders react? Do they think the bullying is funny?
How does their behavior encourage or discourage more bullying? What kind of message
do you think this sends to young kids? Can you think of funny ways the bystanders can be
“part of the solution?” Have each group report their responses to another group or
the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 279
Lesson 8
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
How can anger be positive?
Anger is not a good or bad emotion. It’s the response to anger that is either good or bad. If
people did not get angry about situations such as oppression, slavery, or abuse, then many
positive changes would not have come about. Have students work in groups to research
nonaggressive responses by people to unjust situations in history. Possible people to
research include Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso),
Aung San Suu Kyi, and Rosa Parks. Have groups write a brief summary of how the leader
they selected used anger to make a positive change. Then have each group report back to
the class.
Health and Science
Do animals feel emotions?
Do animals feel emotions? Or do humans project their own emotions onto animals? Divide
students into groups. Have each group research these questions (using preselected Web
sites or search engines), focusing on a different animal species (such as dogs, dolphins,
pigs, or reptiles). Compare how animal and human brains process information and feel
emotions. Have students report what they found out about the animal they researched to
the other groups.
Media Literacy
How do images and sounds in advertisements influence how you feel?
Explain to students that images are processed in the same “primitive” part of the brain
where strong emotions and instincts are located, but that written and spoken language
is processed in the cerebral cortex, the “thinking” part of the brain. First have students
listen to the sound only of a TV advertisement that you have recorded. How does it make
them feel? Do they want to buy the product? Now show them the same ad with the sound
and the images. Does it make them feel any different? Why or why not? In what ways do
they think advertisements encourage “impulse” buying? What can they do to control
those impulses?
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 309
Lesson 9
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
What makes you happy?
Have students write a detailed description of a time when they felt calm and happy.
Remind students that when they use the calming-down strategy “thinking about something
else,” they can think about their description.
Health and Science
What happens to your body when you experience strong emotions?
Have students research the physiology of experiencing specific strong emotions such as
fear, sadness, happiness, or anger using preselected Web sites or search engines. Divide
students into groups. Have each group explore a different aspect of the body’s reaction to
the specific emotion, such as: What hormones are released when the body experiences fear?
What happens to the liver when the body experiences anger? What happens to the heart
the when the body experiences sadness? What happens to the respiratory system when the
body experiences happiness? Have each group report what they learned to the class.
Media Literacy
Does this music make you feel calm?
Record several different types of music such as classical, new age, rock, jazz, country, or
rap. Play clips of each type of music for the class. After playing each clip, have student
groups come up with one or two words that describe the way the music made them feel,
such as: relaxed, anxious, nervous, happy, calm, energized, excited. After listening to all
the clips, ask your students which type of music might help them calm down and why.
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 335
Lesson 10
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
How would you solve the problem?
Have students work in groups to use the first four Action Steps to analyze a problem found
in current events. The event could be international, national, local, or schoolwide (such
as conflict-resolution talks between countries, local zoning issues, or school dress codes).
Have students determine the problem, identify the perspectives of those involved, and
come up with a neutral problem statement. Next, have them generate multiple options
for solving the problem, or for why the problem exists. Finally, have them consider each
option and decide on the best one. Have each group present their analysis of the problem
to the class.
Health and Science
How do the Action Steps and the scientific method compare?
Have students compare the Action Steps with the scientific method. Put students in groups.
Have each group write down all the Action Steps. Next to each Action Step, have them
write down the equivalent step in the scientific method. How are they the same? How are
they different? Discuss the benefits of using methodical steps for solving problems.
Media Literacy
How do you rate their problem-solving skills?
Prerecord a clip from a TV sitcom or drama that is age-appropriate for your students and
displays poor problem-solving skills. Show the clip to your class. Have students work in
groups. Ask each group to identify the problem and rate the characters’ use of problemsolving skills on a scale from one to five (one=poor, five=excellent). Then have each group
brainstorm multiple options for how they might solve the problem and decide on the best
one. Have groups read their options to the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
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Lesson 11
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
How would you handle the problem?
Have students use the Action Steps to examine a novel they are currently reading in
class or on their own, but have not yet finished. Students can work in groups or on their
own. Have students determine a problem in the novel, identify the perspectives of those
involved, and come up with a neutral problem statement the characters might use. Next,
have them generate multiple options for solving the problem or for why the problem exists.
Finally, have them consider each option and decide on the best one. After your students
have finished reading the novel, have them answer the following questions: Did the
characters in the novel use the same option you selected for solving their problem? If so,
how did it work for them? If not, how did their option work? Were you satisfied with the
novel’s ending? Explain why or why not.
Health and Science
Is designing an experiment using the Action Steps different from using the scientific
method?
Have students work in groups to design a simple experiment using the Action Steps. For
example: How does light affect plant growth? How does changing the location of the
fulcrum on a lever affect how much force is required to move an object? How is using the
Action Steps to solve a problem similar to using the scientific method to solve a problem?
Media Literacy
How do you rate their problem-solving skills?
Have student groups create a plan using the Action Steps for solving the problem from the
Lesson 10 media literacy integration activity. Review the clip that displays poor problemsolving skills if necessary. Then have the group rewrite the scenario using their own plan
for solving the problem. Have each group read their revised scenario to the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
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Lesson 12
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
Which information might help your character?
Have students work in groups to write a short story about a character who is confronted
with a situation in which he or she decides not to use tobacco or marijuana. Have them
write how the character uses some of the information presented in this lesson to make his
or her decision. Have each group read their story to the class.
Health and Science
How does tobacco or marijuana affect the respiratory system?
Have students work in groups to research how tobacco or marijuana affects the respiratory
system using preselected Web sites or search engines. Which respiratory diseases are caused
by smoking? How does smoking cause these diseases? What are the effects of second-hand
smoke on the respiratory system? Have each group report their findings to the class.
Media Literacy
What are some good reasons not to smoke?
Have students work in groups to create a print advertisement against smoking tobacco or
marijuana. Your students can use some of the same techniques that tobacco advertisers
use: Make the reader believe that not smoking will make them relaxed, rich, glamorous,
desirable, etc. What copy and visuals will make the reader believe this? They can find
visuals in magazines and newspapers or create their own. Have each group present their ad
to the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
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Lesson 13
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
What do you say?
Have student groups think about what they might say to a person who is encouraging
them to try alcohol or other drugs. Have each group write several statements they could
say in response. Now have each student use some of those statements in a letter they write
to their future selves, reminding them why they have chosen not to use. Encourage students
to save their letters to read to themselves if needed.
Health and Science
How does the liver process alcohol?
Have students work in groups to research how the liver processes alcohol using preselected
Web sites or search engines. What does the liver do? What are the two ways the liver
processes alcohol? How does the level of alcohol in your system affect the way the liver
processes it? How can alcohol harm the liver? Have each group report their findings to
the class.
Media Literacy
What are the dangers of using alcohol that the public should know about?
Record two or three alcohol-related public service announcements (PSAs) from TV or
radio, or find some on the Web (see the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug
Information sites for examples). Play the PSAs for your students. Explain that a PSA is an
announcement that serves the public interest and is run by the media at no charge. Then
have your students work in groups to create their own PSA scripts (and record them, if
possible) about what they believe are the dangers of using alcohol. Have the groups read or
show their final PSAs to the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
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Lesson 14
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
Where will you be in 10 years?
Have students imagine that it is 10 years from now. Then have them write about a “day in
your life” as it will be in 10 years. Where will they be? What will they be doing? Now have
them describe 10 things they can do now to make that day 10 years from now possible.
Ask for volunteers to read their descriptions to the class.
Health and Science
How does alcohol affect your brain?
Have students work in groups to research how alcohol (or other drugs) affects the brain.
How does alcohol affect the brain immediately? How does it affect the brain with repeated
use? What difference do things such as age, gender, genetic background, and general health
make on how alcohol affects the brain? Have each group report their findings to the class.
Media Literacy
What makes a good role model?
Have your students work in groups to identify role models in the media. These role models
could be athletes, movie stars, singers, or even successful business people they hear about
or see in the media. Next have the groups discuss the following questions: What makes
a good role model? Do you think these role models had or have hopes and plans? How
might abusing alcohol and other drugs have gotten or get in the way of their hopes and
plans? Have each group report their thoughts to the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
www.secondstep.org Page 459
Lesson 15
Grade
Academic Integration Activities
Language Arts and Social Studies
Who is your “commitment” ally?
Help students find a “commitment” ally. The ally should also be committed to not using
alcohol or other drugs. The ally could be a classmate, friend, cousin, grandparent, or even
an online friend. After students have identified their ally, have them report to their ally
their descriptions from the Lesson 14 integration activity of 10 things they can do now to
get where they want to be 10 years from now. They can also write letters back and forth
supporting each other’s commitment to stay substance-free.
Health and Science
Why are tobacco products so addictive?
Have students work in groups to research what makes tobacco products addictive using
preselected Web sites or search engines. What substances found in tobacco products are
addictive? Why are they addictive? How can tobacco products be more than just physically
addictive? Have each group report their findings to the class.
Media Literacy
Can you keep movies from getting in the way of keeping your commitment?
According to a study funded by the National Cancer Institute, teenagers who see actors
smoking in films are more likely to try smoking. For students trying to keep their
commitment to remain substance-free, watching smoking depicted in movies may challenge
that commitment. Have students work in groups to brainstorm three to five ideas about
how to help curb teen exposure to movie smoking. For example, boycott movies that show
characters smoking, write letters of protest to the movie studios and actors, or increase the
awareness of the dangers of exposure to movie smoking to teens through public service
announcements. Have each group report their ideas to the class.
© 2008 Committee for Children
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