Teaching middle schoolers to self-advocacy is an important social skill to acquire. With Everyday Speech’s self-advocacy lesson, students can learn to independently advocate for themselves and honor their strengths in order to respect their own differing needs. This in turn will boost their confidence and self-esteem, as well. To teach your next middle school lesson on self-advocacy & honoring strengths make sure to download this free middle school self-advocacy material.
Teaching Middle Schoolers Self-Advocacy
As an educator, you know the importance of teaching your students with differing needs, strengths, and abilities self-advocacy; a skill they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Advocating for oneself is the ability to express your own needs, wants, and preferences in a clear and assertive way. In this lesson plan, we will provide you with everything you need to teach your middle school students how to honor their strengths and advocate for themselves effectively.
Lesson Plan – Using Your Free Self-Advocacy Material
1. Teach the Concept of Self-Advocacy
Start by discussing with your middle school students what self-advocacy means and why it is essential for them. Use examples to illustrate how self-advocacy can help students achieve their goals and overcome obstacles. Additionally, have a conversation with your students regarding how honoring their strengths can in turn help them to self-advocate and increase their self-esteem.
2. Practice Self-Advocacy
Have your students practice advocating for themselves in a role-play scenario. Encourage them to use a communication strategy, like ‘I-Statements’ or asking for clarification to be assertive in expressing their needs.
After the role-play, ask students to reflect on their unique strengths and how those strengths can be used to help them self-advocate. Remind your students that part of being proud of ourselves means celebrating our uniqueness, including our strengths and weaknesses. When we
embrace and honor our differences, we boost our self-esteem.
3. Use Your Free Middle School Self-Advocacy Material
Your free PDF worksheet is Everyday Speech’s “Honoring Your Strengths” activity! Download, print, and have your middle school students complete this activity to reinforce the concept of self-advocacy and honoring their unique strengths.
Sample Video:
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