Assertive Communication

PROCEDURAL

Personal & Social Development›Friendship & Cooperation|Ages 9—11|ID: mt_rqLMfiw61L

Use assertive communication — expressing needs, opinions, and boundaries clearly and respectfully without being aggressive (pushy/demanding) or passive (giving in/staying silent) — including saying no when something doesn't feel right

Mastery Evidence

Explain the difference between assertive, aggressive, and passive responses
Role-play saying no in a peer pressure scenario
Express a personal boundary clearly and respectfully in a real situation

Assessment Prompt

“If friends want [child] to do something they're uncomfortable with — like excluding another child or breaking a rule — can [child] say 'I don't want to do that' firmly but politely?”

Curriculum Standards1 alignment

PSPE.INT.P2.LO.8IB PYP Personal, Social and Physical Education (PSPE) Scope and Sequencecodes only

Standard code — full text not included in this dataset.

Prerequisites3

Positive Self-Talk
softAges 7—9
Communication Vocabulary
hardAges 7—11
Resolving Disagreements with Friends
hardAges 7—9

Show full prerequisite tree

Positive Self-Talk soft
Assertive communication benefits from positive self-talk skills
- Vocabulary: resilience and self hard
  Positive self-talk practice requires knowing the term 'self-talk' and distinguishing it from intrusive negative thoughts
- Simple Calming Strategies hard
  Positive self-talk builds on basic calming strategies
  - Naming Basic Emotions soft
    Calming strategies benefit from naming the emotion you're trying to manage
  - Words for Big Feelings hard
    Calming strategies (calm, breathe, settle) rely on knowing this vocabulary to name and apply the techniques
- Emotion Vocabulary soft
  Self-talk benefits from wider emotion vocabulary to name what you're feeling
  - Naming Basic Emotions hard
    Wider emotion vocabulary builds on naming basic emotions
- Growth Mindset soft
  Self-talk benefits from growth mindset framing
  - Vocabulary: resilience and self hard
    The growth mindset concept requires understanding the vocabulary pair 'growth mindset' vs 'fixed mindset'
  - Learning from Mistakes hard
    Growth mindset builds on understanding mistakes as learning opportunities
    - Words for Big Feelings soft
      Framing mistakes as learning uses the vocabulary of feelings management and coping with setback
  - Making Sense of Problems soft
    Growth mindset understanding (SEL) is grounded in the concrete experience of persevering through mathematical problems — the abstract principle is made real through mathematics
    - Checking Your Own Work soft
      Checking whether a maths answer makes sense applies the universal self-checking habit to a mathematical context
    - How Many in Total? soft
      Problem sense-making at 5-6 requires cardinality understanding to make sense of 'how many' problems
      - One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
    - Listening to Texts Read Aloud soft
      Making sense of word problems requires listening comprehension skills
    - Addition as combining or putting together two soft
      Making sense of addition problems requires understanding addition as combining
      - How Many in Total? hard
        Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
    - Persisting When It's Hard soft
      Mathematical perseverance with problems is the domain-specific application of the universal persistence habit
Communication Vocabulary hard
Assertive communication requires understanding the trio: assertive vs passive vs aggressive
Resolving Disagreements with Friends hard
Assertive communication builds on basic conflict resolution
- Communication Vocabulary hard
  Resolving disagreements requires vocabulary for conflict, resolution, and compromise
- Makes someone a good friend hard
  Conflict resolution builds on understanding friendship qualities
  - Vocabulary: working with others soft
    Understanding what makes a good friend draws on cooperation and inclusion vocabulary
- Expressing Feelings with Words soft
  Resolving disagreements benefits from expressing feelings in words
  - Triggers and Causes of Feelings soft
    Expressing feelings in words benefits from understanding triggers
    - Feelings Change and Differ soft
      Identifying triggers benefits from knowing feelings change
      - Naming Basic Emotions soft
        Understanding feelings change benefits from naming basic emotions
  - Simple Calming Strategies soft
    Expressing feelings in words benefits from calming down first
    - Naming Basic Emotions soft
      Calming strategies benefit from naming the emotion you're trying to manage
    - Words for Big Feelings hard
      Calming strategies (calm, breathe, settle) rely on knowing this vocabulary to name and apply the techniques
- Group discussions soft
  Resolving disagreements through conversation requires the collaborative speaking skills — staying on topic, building on others' contributions — from Speaking & Listening
  - Listening and responding hard
    Listening and responding foundational to conversation
  - Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft
    Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
    - Feeling of not understanding soft
      Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register
      - Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Listening to Others hard
  Resolving disagreements builds on listening to others
  - Listening and responding soft
    SEL listening skills build on curriculum speaking & listening foundations
  - Vocabulary: working with others hard
    Active listening practice requires understanding the vocabulary of listening, agreeing, and disagreeing respectfully

Unlocks4

Giving and Receiving Feedback
softAges 9—11
Peer Pressure and Resisting It
softAges 9—11
Social Cues and Group Dynamics
hardAges 11—12
Self-Reflection in Relationships
hardAges 9—11