Skills Basics: Communication and Refusal Skills 2/24/2020

• Class Objectives
• SWBAT identify components of effective
communication.
• SW practice effective communication
skills with a partner or group of three.

• Warm-Up:
• What are some common problems
that you experience in your family
and friend relationships? How do
you manage those issues?
• Be prepared to share your answers
with the class.
Class Agenda
• Warm-Up (5 minutes)
• Lecture (15 minutes)
• Practice Activity (20 minutes)
• Chapter 1 Practice Test Review (15 minutes)
• Exit Ticket (5 minutes)
 Importance of Communication

• Effective communication
is perhaps the most
important thing in a
healthy relationship
• The communication
process involves
sending a message and
receiving feedback
• Feedback is a
constructive response
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 Types of Communication

• Verbal communication
– Oral (spoken) or written message
• Nonverbal communication
– Facial expressions (smiling, rolling eyes)
– Body language/Posture (leaning forward, facing
away)
– Gestures (nodding, moving hands)
– Eye contact or lack of eye contact
– Tone of voice (friendliness, sarcasm)
– Volume of voice (loud, moderate, or quiet)
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 Think Further

Why is nonverbal communication so important? Jot down a few ideas

in your notes. Be prepared to share your answers with the class.

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 Communication Strategies

• Active listening
– Focus full attention on the person
speaking
– Acknowledge and repeat what you
heard in your own words
• Think about what you want to say
• Pick the appropriate time and place
• Watch nonverbal communication

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 Communication Strategies

• Use “I-statements” (I think…I Refusal Skills

want…) • Say NO firmly but respectfully.
• Express opinions (“I believe ...”) • Clearly state what you don't want
• State your strengths and abilities to do.
(“I can ...”) • Explain why.
• Ask for what you want. • Suggest an alternative.
• Express positive feelings and/or • Leave if you need or want to.
appreciation.

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 Pair Practice Activity

• You and your partner will receive a scenario slip at random. The scenarios are
common situations that teens often encounter.
• With your partner, on a separate sheet of loose-leaf, write a short skit (6-8 lines)
in which the character of “you” demonstrates effective communication and/or
refusal skills. Your play should be realistic and appropriate for school.
• When you are finished, take turns reading your skit so that each person gets a
chance to play the character of “you”.
• You will have about 20 minutes for this activity.
• Return your slip to Ms. Bothell at the end of the activity so that another class can
use them.
• Turn in your skit to your class folder at the end of the period.

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 Homework Review: Chapter 1 Practice Test

• Trade homework papers with a partner. They will mark your work.

• Extra copies are available in the “Family Health Last Week”

mailboxes.

• When finished, put your homework back into your binder. It will be
part of your next binder check.

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 “Exit Ticket”

• What are three communication strategies that we learned today that

you think would be effective for you personally?
• Answer in your notes.

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 Scenarios
1. Your friend asks you on Monday morning if they can copy your
homework. You believe that plagiarism is wrong.
2. You have been invited to a movie with friends. The movie ends at
11pm, and you have a 10pm curfew. You approach your
parents/guardians for permission to stay out later.
3. You receive a paper back from a teacher with a C grade. You
worked really hard on the paper, and don’t think it was fairly graded.
You approach your teacher about the grade.
4. You are at a party with other high school students where alcohol is
being served. An older student whom you don’t know very well, but
whom you think is really cute, approaches you and offers to get you
a beer. You have to drive home tonight.
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 Scenarios
5. You are at the park playing basketball with your friends and your
younger cousin who is in middle school. During a water break, one
of your friends takes out a JUUL and starts passing it around. You
want to set a healthy example for your cousin.
6. You have been feeling really down in the dumps lately. You haven’t
really wanted to hang out with friends or do the activities you enjoy.
You approach a teacher for advice on what to do.
7. You have a friend who is really mean to their partner. When you see
them together, your friend is always putting down their partner and
disrespecting the partner in front of others. You think this behavior
is really wrong, and it makes you very uncomfortable to see.

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 Scenarios
8. You and your partner have been dating for about six months. Your
partner wants to do something sexual that you do not feel
comfortable with. You like this person a lot, and want to keep dating
them, but you also want to respect your own boundaries.
9. You are at a friend’s house and there is a small party going on. A
bunch of kids from your school and also some of your friend’s
sibling’s college friends are there. You hit it off with one of the
college students. The college student tells you that they know about
a different, even cooler party that is going on, and that they have a
car. You don’t get into cars with people you just met.
10.Two of your friends have challenged each other to a road race in
their cars. One of them wants you to ride along with them. You think
this is a dangerous idea, and you don’t want your friends to do it
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