LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Identify the health benefits of developing good conversation skills; describe a variety of ways to approach small talk and other potentially challenging conversations.

HEALTH ED STANDARDS

NHES 4: Demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

CASEL COMPETENCY: Relationship skills

KEY VOCAB

network

specific

vulnerable

gauge

Lesson Plan: How to Talk to Anyone

Some conversations are easy. Others not so much. Here’s how to say just about anything to just about anyone.

PREPARING TO READ

Before you read the article “How to Talk to Anyone,” ask your students the following pre-reading questions:

Why are conversation skills necessary, and how can you develop them?

READING AND DISCUSSION

  • Have your students read the article “How to Talk to Anyone” independently; read the article out loud to them; or have students partner-read the article out loud.
  • After they’ve read the article, revisit the pre-reading questions. Have their answers changed?

BUILDING COMPREHENSION AND VOCAB

Check students’ comprehension of and engagement with the story with the following assessment tools:

  • Comprehension Quiz
  • Vocab Builder

EXPANDING SEL OPPORTUNITIES

Continue the learning journey with the following writing prompt:

In TALK ABOUT IT, have students write a two- to three-page reflective essay about their own experiences with holding conversations. They should start off by considering why developing conversation skills is useful for teens. From there, they should tell which types of conversations they find enjoyable or challenging, and why. From there, they should describe a specific conversation they had recently that went well, and say why it was a good conversation. Alternatively, they might choose to describe a recent conversation they wish had gone better, and apply what they learned in the article to say what they might do differently next time. Have them conclude by explaining which of the conversation (or listening) tips from the article was their favorite, and why.

Print the Lesson Plan

Text-to-Speech