Life Skills Arcade Middle school Family and Consumer Sciences, grades 6 to 8

Handout 3.13

Handout 3.13: Boundaries Practice and Performance Task Cards

Unit
Unit 3: Growing Up, Getting Along
Handout
3.13

Download PDF Download Word

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Partner: ______________

Directions: Day 1: Parts 1 to 4 (friendship, boundaries, saying no, group chat rules). Day 2: Part 5 (the twelve scenario cards, printed once per class and cut apart by the teacher), Part 6 (the planning sheet), and Part 7 (the four-criterion checklist and your self-score). Exit card for Day 1 is at the end of Part 4.

Part 1: Friendship at this age

One way
Making a friend
Keeping a friend
Letting a friend drift, kindly

Drifting is not a fight. It is what happens when two people grow.

This class is about what a good relationship of any kind looks like, how to draw a line, and how to say no and be heard. Questions about the body go to health class. Anything that worries you goes to the counselor (, room ______).

Part 2: Boundaries

A boundary is a line about what is okay with you. It is about you, not a rule for the other person.

The three-part boundary:

I am okay with ________________. I am not okay with ________________. If it happens, I will ________________.

Example: "I am okay with you borrowing my notes. I am not okay with you posting my notes in the chat. If it happens, I will stop sharing them."

Two traps: a boundary with no "I will" (nothing changes) and a boundary that is really a demand ("you have to stop being friends with them").

How to respect a boundary someone gives you: say "okay." Do not argue. Do not make them explain.

Scenario A. A friend keeps taking food off your tray at lunch without asking. Write a boundary.

I am okay with ______________________. I am not okay with ______________________. If it happens, I will ______________________.

Sentence frames in other languages:

EnglishTurkishPortugueseSpanish
I am okay with ___.___ benim için sorun değil.Eu não me importo com ___.No me molesta ___.
I am not okay with ___.___ benim için sorun.Eu não aceito ___.No estoy de acuerdo con ___.
If it happens, I will ___.Olursa, ___ yapacağım.Se acontecer, eu vou ___.Si pasa, voy a ___.
No, I am not doing that.Hayır, bunu yapmayacağım.Não, eu não vou fazer isso.No, no voy a hacer eso.

Part 3: Saying no and being heard

The three-part no: say it (a plain, short no), say why once (one reason, not a speech), offer what you will do instead.

Example: "No, I am not skipping practice. Coach benches anyone who skips. But I will come to the game after."

What makes a no hard to hear: laughing while you say it, saying "maybe" when you mean no, saying it to the floor.

Practice: Partner A pushes twice (only twice). Partner B says the three-part no. Partner A says "okay." Three each way.

Push scenarioWas the no plain?One reason?Offered something?
1. "Come on, let me copy your homework, just this once."
2. "Skip the club meeting and come to my house."
3. "Send me a picture of the test when you get it back."
4. "Add my cousin to our chat, everyone will be fine with it."
5. "Tell your parents you are at my house and go to the park instead."
6. "Let me borrow your jacket, I will give it back next week."

A third push after two clear nos is what Lesson 3.12 called pressure.

Part 4: Group chat rules

RuleWhy
1. Nothing you would not say to the face.
2. No screenshots shared outside the chat.
3. Leaving the chat is allowed and is not an insult.
4. If someone is being put down, say something or tell an adult. Do not just watch.
5. Our class rule:

Exit card, Day 1: 3-2-1

3 parts of a boundary: ______________ ______________ ______________

2 parts of a clear no: ______________ ______________

1 group chat rule I would add to a chat I am in: ______________________

Part 5: Performance Task scenario cards

(Teacher: print once per class, cut apart, draw face down on Day 2. Cards 1 to 6 name the conflict step. Cards 7 to 12 are the stretch; the pair chooses the step.)

1. The tray. Person A keeps taking food off Person B's tray. Person B opens with an I-message. Conflict step: agree on one step.

2. The borrowed thing. Person A borrowed Person B's calculator a week ago and has not returned it. Person B opens. Conflict step: find the shared want.

3. The seat. Person A saved a seat for Person B every day; today B sat with someone else without saying anything. Person A opens. Conflict step: cool down.

4. The game. Person A always wants to pick the game at recess. Person B opens. Conflict step: agree on one step.

5. The joke. Person A made a joke about Person B's accent. Person B opens. Conflict step: find the shared want.

6. The chat. Person A added someone to the chat without asking. Person B opens. Conflict step: agree on one step.

7. The rumor. Person A heard that Person B told someone a secret. Person A does not know if it is true. Person A opens. Conflict step: your choice.

8. The screenshot. Person A screenshotted something Person B wrote in the chat and sent it to another person. Person B opens. Conflict step: your choice.

9. The drift. Person A and Person B used to be best friends. Person A has new friends from a team and has not texted in two weeks. Person B opens. Conflict step: your choice.

10. The password. Person A wants Person B's phone password "so we can trust each other." Person B opens with a boundary. Conflict step: your choice.

11. The project. Person A did nothing on the group project and Person B did all of it. Person B opens. Conflict step: your choice.

12. The plan. Person A wants Person B to skip a family dinner for a hangout. Person B opens with a no. Conflict step: your choice.

Part 6: Planning sheet (Day 2)

Card number: ____ Person A: ______________ Person B: ______________ Who opens: ______

The I-message (four parts): I feel ______________ when ______________________________ because ______________________________, and I need ______________________________.

The listener's restate line: "So you are saying ______________________________."

The listener's question: "______________________________?"

The conflict step we will use out loud (cool down / find the shared want / agree on one step): ______________________

How it will sound: "______________________________"

The boundary or the no: "I am okay with ___. I am not okay with ___. If it happens, I will ___." or "No, ___. Because ___. But I will ___."

How the other person respects it: "______________________________"

Who says what, in order:

  1. ______________________________
  2. ______________________________
  3. ______________________________
  4. ______________________________
  5. ______________________________
  6. ______________________________

Part 7: The four-criterion checklist (teacher scores live; you self-score after)

Criterion0 Missing1 Attempted, incomplete2 Done3 Done, and it changed what happened next
1. The I-message has all four parts and names a feeling
2. The listener uses eyes, body, restate, and ask
3. One conflict step is used out loud and fits the scenario
4. A boundary or a no is stated clearly and the other person respects it

Total: ____ / 12

My self-score: 1: ____ 2: ____ 3: ____ 4: ____ Total: ____ / 12

The one criterion I would improve: ____ How: ________________________________________________

Stretch: The other person's shared want was ______________________. We found it / did not find it because ______________________.