Social and Emotional Learning to Support Formative Assessment

Social Belonging Exercise: Values Affirmation

Time: Approximately 30-45 minutes Intended audience: Student in grade 5 and up

Preparation

Materials

Values Affirmation Handout Envelopes (optional)

Pens or pencils for writing

Session set-up

Students should be seated individually with enough space to write privately.

Session outcomes

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

•  Reflect on values that are important to them, for the purpose of bolstering sense of belonging.

Pre-reading

Recursive Processes in Self-affirmation: Intervening to Close the Minority Achievement Gap

Cohen et al., 2009

This activity is based on research showing that values affirmation can decrease achievement gaps and protect students’ sense of belonging. In an experiment with a similar activity (Cohen et al., 2009), seventh-grade students chose from a list of personal values and wrote an essay about why those values were important to them. These students were followed into eighth grade and their grades and sense of belonging were compared with students who did not do the activity. African American students who did the values affirmation earned higher GPAs and nearly halved the achievement gap between African American and white peers. Additionally, belonging was more stable for African American students who did the values affirmation during the vulnerable transition into middle school. This suggests that it helped build resiliency and bolstered students’ sense of belonging against adversities. The significant results for African American students suggest that values affirmation is most powerful for those who face the greatest threat to their sense of belonging.



SEL for Formative Assessment by Davidson, S., Bates, L., McLean, C., and Lewis, K., is licensed

under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Step-by-Step Guidelines

Timing / Content: topic/steps/activities / Notes to facilitator / Resources/ materials
2 minutes / Introduction
1.  Ask the group to think silently for a minute about the following question: “What are a few things that are important to you? These can be hobbies, abilities, relationships with people, or anything else that you feel is a big part of who you are.”
2.  Explain that today’s activity is a quiet writing exercise to give ourselves the chance to reflect on what matters to us in our lives. / In general, activities like this are most beneficial if they are not presented as “interventions.” Rather than saying this activity is intended
to boost a sense of belonging, emphasize the importance of connecting to what is important in our lives.
5 minutes / Exploring the values list
1.  Distribute “What Matters to Me” handout.
2.  Make the following key points:
Key points
◇  On this handout is a list of common values that some people feel are important in their lives. This is not a complete list. There are probably values that you care about that you don’t see on this list.
◇  Take a moment and look at the values listed here, and see if you can think of some others that are not included.
3. Give students a few minutes to add to the list of values. / You may customize the list of values on the handout based on your knowledge of students’ background and context. / “What Matters to Me” handout
Pen or pencil
Timing / Content: topic/steps/activities / Notes to facilitator / Resources/ materials
5 minutes / Pick your “Top 3”
1. Guide students to choose three values from the list that they think are especially important in their lives right now (this can include any new ones that they wrote).
Key point
◇  Your top three can include values that were already on the list or those you added to the list. These are likely to change over time, because this is just a snapshot of where you’re at in your life right now. / Students do not need to share their top three with others. / “What Matters to Me” handout
Pen or pencil
15-30
minutes / Writing exercise
1. Guide students to choose one of their top three values and, using the other sheet of paper provided, write about why that top-rated value is important to them. Ask, “Can you think of a time in your life when you had the opportunity to really express this value?”
Key point
◇  This is not a graded assignment, and there are no right or wrong answers.
◇  Students should focus on their thoughts and feelings and not worry about grammar or spelling. / You can provide additional guiding questions as necessary. / “What Matters to Me” handout
Pen or pencil
Timing / Content: topic/steps/activities / Notes to facilitator / Resources/ materials
5 minutes / Optional follow-up
1.  Hand out envelopes and have students put their essay in the envelope and seal it with their names on the outside.
2.  Students can either keep the envelopes, or you can collect them and hand them back at the end of the school year as a “booster” of values affirmation. / While research suggests that “boosters” are not necessarily needed for sustaining the impact of this activity, students may enjoy reading and reflecting on their responses as a later follow-up activity. / Envelopes Pen or pencil