BC Education - CAPP: Appendix D

Sample 3: Grade 10

Topic: Relationships and Anger Management

Prescribed Learning Outcomes:

Personal Development (Mental Well-Being)

It is expected that students will:

encourage respect for others Personal Development (Family Life Education)

It is expected that students will:

analyse components needed to build and maintain healthy relationships

Personal Development (Child Abuse Prevention)

It is expected that students will:

propose strategies for dealing with emotions to avoid abusive behaviour

Overview

The teacher presented a three-hour unit on anger management. Students analysed how anger can affect relationships and learned about strategies for anger management. Evaluation was based on skits that students developed in groups. Some groups chose to perform their skits in the classroom; others presented their skits on videotape or as written scripts.

Planning for Assessment and Evaluation

The teacher introduced the unit by asking students to brainstorm a list of relationships they had which might require anger management to maintain healthy relations. Students listed relationships with friends, parents, siblings, and teachers.

The teacher divided the class into four groups. Students in each group discussed one of the relationship categories-- parents, siblings, or teachers--and identified situations with people in these categories that might make them feel angry. Each group brainstormed and posted a list of the triggers for anger.

The class reviewed the lists and, with the teacher's help, classified the triggers they had identified under headings such as Fear, Embarrassment, Disappointment, Injustice, and Betrayal.

Since students had, for the most part, identified that the actions of others had made them angry, the teacher pointed out that one's own negative thinking could also trigger anger. The teacher described some categories of negative thinking that could trigger anger, and the students suggested examples. For example:

overgeneralizing ("I'm always overlooked.")
attributing thoughts to others without factual information ("They think I"m dumb.")
assuming the worst will happen ("I won't ever make the team.")

Students suggested some causes of negative thinking and volunteered ideas about how to focus on positive thoughts.

The teacher introduced a three-step anger-management model based on:

recognizing angry feelings and anger signals
identifying positive ways to think about conflict
acting in ways that are constructive and calming

Recognizing Physical Anger Signals

The teacher posed the question: How can you tell when you or someone else is angry? Students' suggestions included:

rapid breathing
muscle tension
sweaty palms
heart pounding
knot in stomach
flushed face
high voice
shouting

Students then worked individually or in pairs to make cartoon posters that caricatured the physical signals of an angry person. The posters were displayed in the classroom and served as a reference point for subsequent activities. Identifying Positive Ways to Think About Conflict

To help students deal with anger, the teacher gave them a list of positive ways of thinking and invited them to add to the list. The list included the following:
- I'm not going to take this personally.
- I'm not going to lose control.
- I'm not going to overreact.
- I know he doesn't really mean that.
- I know I can work this out.

Acting in Ways That Are Constructive and Calming

The teacher presented information and instruction on strategies that students could use to help themselves and others stay calm or calm down when angry. The presentation stressed that:
- feeling angry is normal and healthy
- there are both negative (destructive) and positive (constructive) ways of dealing with angry feelings
- individuals have control over their own thoughts and actions
- a person can help others remain calm or help them calm down
After the presentation, students brainstormed calming strategies for themselves and others.
Strategies to stay calm or calm down included:
- take a deep breath
- count to 10
- talk to someone not involved
- write in your journal
- do something physical--walk, exercise, play a sport
- do something to take your mind off the situation--read a a book, watch a movie
Strategies to help others stay calm or calm down included:
- find a point you can agree on
- use humour
- speak calmly
- apologize
- suggest another time to resolve the problem
As a culminating assignment, the teacher asked students to work in small groups to develop skits that illustrated effective anger management. Each group could perform the skit for the class, present the skit on videotape, or produce a written script that would be photocopied and distributed to the class. Students who performed their skits were encouraged to express characters' thoughts as asides to the audience.

Defining the Criteria

Before students began working on their skits or scripts, the class discussed and agreed on the following assessment criteria.

To what extent does the skit:

portray realistic conflict situations within relationships
identify feelings or situations that trigger angry feelings
identify physical anger signals
model positive ways of thinking about conflict
model positive ways to stay calm or calm down
model positive ways to help others stay calm or calm down
identify the positive effects of anger management on relationships

Assessing and Evaluating Student Performance

Whether the skits were performed or read, they were assessed both by peers and the teacher using the same rating scale.

Anger Management Skit
Criteria Rating Comments

identifies and portrays physical anger signals

identifies the feelings or situations that triggered the angry feelings

models positive ways of thinking about a conflict

models positive ways to stay calm or calm down

models positive ways to help others stay calm or calm down

identifies the positive effects of anger management on a relationship

Key

3 - Outstanding
2 - Clearly Demonstrated
1 - Partly Demonstrated
0 - Not Done

Revised: January 25, 1999

BC Ministry of Education Home Page

Anger Management Skit
Criteria	Rating	Comments
identifies and portrays physical anger signals
identifies the feelings or situations that triggered the angry feelings
models positive ways of thinking about a conflict
models positive ways to stay calm or calm down
models positive ways to help others stay calm or calm down
identifies the positive effects of anger management on a relationship