Self-Advocacy Lesson Plan

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Standards Addressed

Self-Awareness: The ability to recognize one's strengths and weaknesses

Relationship Skills: The ability to express needs and opinions confidently

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Objective

Students will be able to recognize and express their needs by identifying one area at school where they need to self-advocate.

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Materials

"Advocating for Myself in 5 Steps" handout (see printable version below)

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Assessment

Students can be assessed in the following areas:

-Demonstrating mastery of self-advocacy

-Script writing

-Receiving feedback and editing their script in response

-Role-play participation

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Activating Prior Knowledge

Ask students, "Have you ever felt like you needed help but weren't sure how to ask for it?" Allow students to share their thoughts. Explain that self-advocacy involves understanding one’s needs and effectively communicating them to others.

Then, introduce a scenario where someone might need to self-advocate, such as asking a teacher for extra help on a project.

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Lesson Plan

1) Introduce the key points by discussing self-advocacy and why it is important. Use examples from school where students might need to express their needs. Address the misconception

that asking for help is a sign of weakness by clarifying that it is a strength to recognize when one needs support.

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2) Play this Self-Advocacy video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCjwA67THIc that lists the 5 self-advocacy steps.

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3) Review the 5 steps if needed when you hand out the worksheet “Advocating for Myself in 5 Steps” for students to use.

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4) Have students complete Steps 1 and 2 of the worksheet independently.

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5) Break students into pairs and have them complete Step 3 of the worksheet with script feedback and role-play. Make sure to allow time for students to make changes to their scripts

based on partner feedback. When students are satisfied with their scripts, have partners role-play and practice how they will respectfully reach out and speak to someone who can help

them. Allow time for both students to practice their script.

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6) Have students complete Step 4 of the worksheet and make a plan to self-advocate by

confirming a time and place when they will self-advocate. Support students in actually self-

advocating at school.

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Reflection

Complete Step 5 of the worksheet. Students will reflect on how their self-advocacy conversation went, including what worked and what they would do differently next time.

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Digging Deeper

Allow students to play the “Needs” module of Ava for 10-15 minutes. In this module, students learn how to identify and communicate their needs.

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Here is the printable version of the Self-Advocacy Lesson Plan.

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Our online SEL video game Ava and its supplemental curriculum have already impacted students in 200+ schools and therapy centers throughout the world. Want to learn how Ava can enhance your SEL program? Let's talk.

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