uniquely ME! guide for facilitators
you can change the way you look or you can change the way the world looks at girls
The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem P rogram Girl Scout/Dove The uniquely me / turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 1 uniquely ME! The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program Guide for facilitators what is uniquely me? Created by Girl Scouts of the USA and Unilever to address the critical nationwide problem of low self-esteem among adolescent and pre-adolescent girls, the uniquely ME! program is designed to foster positive self- esteem among girls, ages 8 to 17, in the United States and Puerto Rico. The program was launched in 2002 with a goal of reaching thousands of girls of diverse backgrounds within the first three years. In 2005, The Dove Self- Esteem Fund, which supports initiatives that help educate and inspire girls to embrace a wider definition of beauty, began to work through the Unilever Foundation to sponsor uniquely ME! directly. The program aims to address the challenges girls face in their daily lives, in addition to helping girls build a strong sense of self, develop healthy relationships and take care of their bodies and minds. how does uniquely me! foster positive self-esteem? uniquely ME! consists of a curriculum that integrates the latest research from the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI) and learning by doing. Four activity booklets, available in English and bilingual English/Spanish, guide girls through simple, but meaningful exercises which lead them to understand and build their self-confidence. The booklets target three developmental levels: uniquely ME! The Way To Be/Nadie Como yo! Una manera de ser for 8 to 10 year-olds, uniquely ME! Inside & Out and uniquely ME! The Real Deal for 11 to 14 year-olds, and Mirror, Mirror: Discover Your Inner Beauty for 14 to 17 year-olds. Uniquely ME! sessions are led by caring adult volunteers and include exercises about recognizing one’s strengths and best attributes, handling peer pressure, developing a positive body image, thinking critically about the influence of the media, developing healthy habits to take care of the body and mind, and identifying personal interests and core values. THIS UNIQUELY ME! GUIDE FOR FACILITATORS has been created for Girl Scout volunteers and staff in a variety of settings as well as school personnel and other adults interested in facilitating uniquely ME! sessions. The session design includes step-by-step activities based on uniquely ME! print resources and the outcomes of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience - they were developed from field-tested uniquely ME! exercises run at councils across the country.
The activities in this guide can be used in troop meetings, to create a series of events, or provide a focus for Special Interest groups. The goal of uniquely ME! is to provide girls with opportunities to strengthen their self- esteem. Along the way, the exercises will help girls find their voice, challenge themselves, make friends, and have fun.
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 2 GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS intro guide
The Girl Scout research Leadership Experience Getting Started 4 What is Self-Esteem? 7 Three Keys to 11 Session Overview Leadership Experience 4 What Causes Low Self-Esteem? 12 Meeting Format 8 Pr ocesses that Support 5 Self-Esteem and Girls a Leadership Experience 13 Building a “Tool Box” 6 Self-Esteem and Leadership 9 Outcomes: Benefits to Girls 14 Facilitator’s Tips the sessions
Girl Scout Girl Scout Girl Scout Senior/ Junior Sessions Cadette Sessions Ambassador Sessions (grades 4-5) (grades 6-8) (grades 9-12) SESSION ONE SESSION ONE SESSION ONE all about me! me, myself and i the real me SESSION TWO SESSION TWO SESSION TWO me and the media the “me” in the mind over media SESSION THREE media SESSION THREE me inside and out SESSION THREE dare to shine SESSION FOUR Serene Scene SESSION FOUR me and you SESSION FOUR myuniquely relationships, me / turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 3 truth and myself consequences GUIDE research what is self-esteem? According to the National Association for Self-Esteem*, someone who possesses self-esteem feels capable of meeting life’s challenges and also feels worthy of experiencing happiness. Individuals with high self-esteem can be what causes low characterized by the following traits: self-esteem? • Tolerance and respect for others There are many potential causes for low-esteem** • Ability to accept responsibility for their actions - the following are a few of the more common reasons that people develop low self-esteem: • Having integrity • Believing the negative and hurtful words and • Taking pride in their accomplishments actions of others • Being self-motivated • Living with people who did not or do not love • Willingness to take risks and respect themselves • Being capable of handling criticism • Having negative thoughts about performance, • Being loving and lovable looks, family income level and I.Q. • Seeking the challenge and stimulation of worthwhile goals • Being under or over-protected as a child • Wanting to take control of their lives • Not being taught “I am good and of value and loved no matter what”
Self-esteem can reveal itself many ways – through creative • Doubting the love of one or both parents (the esteem, athletic esteem, personality esteem, relationship absence of parents also hurts) esteem and of course, body esteem. Self-esteem means • Being punished without ever being taught to having confidence in oneself, in addition to being capable of separate self from bad behaviors feeling self-satisfaction. It is important to note that a strong • Being compared to others or to perfect standards sense of self esteem is based on values and self awareness that cannot be met with regard to others as opposed to a “false bravado” that • Thinking that “you” are your possessions, often contributes to bullying behaviors. clothes, car, grades, job, looks, or I.Q.
“The True Meaning of Self-Esteem,” Robert Reasoner, National Association **“Empowering Teens To Build Self-Esteem,” Suzanne E. for Self-Esteem 2000. Harrill, M.Ed. 1993.
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 4 self-esteem and girls Low self-esteem is pervasive among pre-adolescent and adolescent girls in the United States. Research conducted by organizations including the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI) and The Dove Self-Esteem Fund (DSEF) demonstrates that eating disorders and risky behaviors such as smoking and drinking are often associated with low self-esteem. This research also reveals the alarming reality that self-esteem issues affect every aspect of a girl’s life: reality vs. perception Low self-esteem significantly impacts girls’ overall feelings about their own beauty: • 71% of girls with low self-esteem feel their appearance does not measure up – they report not feeling pretty enough, thin enough or stylish/trendy enough (compared to 29% of girls with high self- esteem). • 78% of girls with low self-esteem admit that it is hard to feel good in school when you do not feel good about how you look (compared to 54% of girls with high self-esteem). • A girl’s self-esteem is more strongly related to how she views her body shape and weight, than to how much she actually weighs.
7 in 10 girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including based on their looks, performance in school and in their relationships with friends and family members. • 62% of all girls feel insecure or not sure of themselves. • 57% of all girls have a mother who criticizes her own looks. • The top wish among girls is that their parents would communicate better with them – including more frequent and more open conversations about what is happening in their own lives.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 5 Girls with low self-esteem are significantly more likely to engage in negative behaviors: • 75% of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities such as disordered eating, cutting, bullying, smoking, or drinking when feeling badly about themselves (compared to 25% of girls with high self-esteem). • 25% of teen girls with low self-esteem practice disordered eating, such as starving themselves, refusing to eat, or over-eating and throwing up when they are feeling badly about themselves (compared to 7% of girls with high self-esteem). • 25% of teen girls with low self-esteem resort to injuring themselves on purpose or cutting when they are feeling badly about themselves (compared to 4% of girls with high self-esteem). • 61% of teen girls with low self-esteem admit to talking badly about themselves (compared to 15% of girls with high self-esteem).
“Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem” commissioned by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, 2008. they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including based on their looks, performance in school and in their relationships with friends and family members. Self-Esteem and Leadership According to research done by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI), self-esteem and self confidence are fundamental elements girls need to become leaders. Based on data from a GSRI online survey done in 2007, girls overwhelming agree that good leaders possess the following three qualities:
1 A positive attitude (86%)
2 The ability to listen (85%)
3 Confidence (84%)
These qualities will help girls navigate and cope with a range of personal and social situations, as well as enhancing their overall Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
In Change It Up! What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership, (GSRI 2008), research indicates that the most influential factor in a girl’s desire to actively pursue leadership is confidence in her skills and competencies. Interestingly, it is not only what skills youth rate themselves highly on that impact their leadership aspirations, but how much confidence they have in general. The greatest single barrier to leadership seems to be low self-regard about skills and qualities. Overall, there is a strong relationship between a girl’s self-regard and her leadership capabilities - youth who report high self-regard of their skills and qualities and have a strong sense of self-esteem are more likely to aspire to leadership.
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 6 the girl scout leadership experience The Girl Scout Leadership Experience enables girls to develop the values and skills they need to become leaders in their lives right now and in the future.
The Girl Scout Leadership Experience is built on the three Girl Scout Keys to leadership, which advocate that girls become leaders by:
Discovering Understanding themselves and their values, and using both their knowledge and skills to explore the world.
Connecting Caring about, inspiring, and teaming up with others, both locally and globally.
Taking Action Acting to make the world a better place.
Self-esteem is an integral part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. All of the uniquely ME! activities in this facilitator guide are built on the first two Keys to Leadership: Discover and Connect. Girls may choose to go on to experience other Girl Scout programs that engage them in the third key to leadership: Take Action.
To ensure that the Girl Scout Leadership Experience is meaningful and beneficial for girls, all of the proposed activities are tied to a core set of national leadership outcomes, and are infused with processes of girl-led, learning by doing, and cooperative learning.
The activities are designed to help raise girls confidence, while also encouraging them to develop positive attitudes toward learning. By taking time to reflect during pivotal points throughout the experience - specifically in the “Wrap Up” and “Reflection/Discussion” sections - girls will see how to apply new concepts and skills to their own lives. This learning will help them feel more confident in themselves, their skills, and their ability to achieve their goals. Finally, through their participation in the group activities described in this guide, girls will recognize the value of working together, and will ultimately feel more connected to their friends, to you, to other adults, and to their communities.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 7 processes that support a leadership experience It is not just “what” girls do, but also “how” they do it that will make their experiences in the uniquely ME! program beneficial. It is for this reason that the three Girl Scout processes of girl-led, learning by doing and cooperative learning are integrated into all of the activities. Making sure that the girls are invested in the activities helps create an environment of fun and friendship, as well as enabling them to further develop their leadership skills. To ensure that your group of girls has a high-quality and fun learning experience, make sure to integrate all three processes into activities! You’ll notice that the session designs are built around these processes. Here are some additional tips.
Girl-Led Being “girl-led” is just what it sounds like - coaching the girls to take charge of the planning, decision making, learning, and fun as much as possible. Depending on when and where meetings take place, and how much time girls have, consider the following: • Asking for a few volunteers each session to assist you in preparing for the next session – this can include the volunteers making choices about what discussion questions you will focus on, what materials you will use and any special “add ons” the girls might think of. • Taking ten minutes at the conclusion of each session to gather and describe the next session design – you may also want to solicit ideas and input from the group. • Inviting any girls who are able to arrive 15 minutes early to help you prepare/set up. • Encouraging girls to volunteer as facilitators and try their hand at “leading” the sessions. • Inviting girls to decide a way to conclude the session and celebrate what they have learned about their unique selves. • Checking the girls interest in creating a phone, online or even texting time between meetings to keep the connections going. • Encouraging girls to think about what other activities they might like to do. Do they want to take a trip? Meet a professional? You can easily mix and match the sequence of activities based upon the interests of the girls! By standing back and letting the girls drive the conversation and create their own experiences, as much as possible, you will give them the opportunity to feel more ownership of the group and their shared experiences – which is bound to be more fun!“
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 8 Learning by Doing In addition to doing activities, the girls will also need time to reflect on what they have done - reflection and critical thinking will help them absorb a deeper meaning from each of their experiences. So, after every experience, allow time for talking, sharing and reflecting – encourage the girls to envision how they’ll apply their new insights to their lives. Articulating their thoughts and feelings is a natural way for them to consolidate all that they are discovering about themselves and their potential as leaders.
Cooperative Learning (or Experiential Learning) When girls work toward shared goals in an atmosphere of respect and collaboration, they learn a lot from each other. Girls will especially value having a team atmosphere that makes them feel safe and supported while they work to build their relationship skills. To support their cooperative learning experience, partner with the girls and create a team agreement. Encourage them to speak openly and often about how they are functioning as a team. Also, whenever possible, encourage girls to do activities in pairs or small groups - it is simply more fun to do things with friends! outcomes: benefits to girls You may be wondering, How will I know if the girls are having a good experience, and whether they are benefiting from the self-esteem activities? Each activity in this guide is tied to a specific outcome. Checking the outcomes is like noting road signs during a trip – both let you know you are getting closer to your destination! Use the age-appropriate outcomes to help you gauge whether the girls are on their way to achieving uniquely ME! session goals.
As girls practice the self-esteem building concepts within the activities, they are working toward the following Girl Scout Leadership Outcomes:
• Discover: Develop a strong sense of self • Discover: Gain practical life skills • Connect: Develop healthy relationships Each session includes a prompt called “Towards Leadership Outcomes” which will explain the National Leadership Outcome focus of the session, the grade level-specific aim of the session, and signs that can be used to confirm whether the girls are on their way to achieving session goals. The accompanying chart provides a few examples of how “Towards Leadership Outcomes” defines each session. It is important to note that a girl isn’t likely to fully achieve the intended outcome/benefit after participating in only one activity. Instead of focusing on a single experience yielding a particular outcome, prioritize the girls’ repeated exposure to the activities – the outcomes will be met over a period of time and throughout the Girl Scouting experience. It is also important to remember that not all girls will demonstrate the same sign at the same time - these are only indicators and should not be used to judge girls or their abilities.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 9 Towards Leadership Outcomes
Sample Session Example: Indicators: National Grade Level- “Signs” that girls leadership Specific are working towards Session outcome Definition achieving outcomes session Discover: Girls Develop Junior Example: girls gain Girls name and recognize their a Strong Sense of Self a clearer sense of their values, the qualities that make one individual identities in them unique, and some of the relation to, and apart from, differences between the way outside influences. they see themselves and the way others see them. session Discover: Girls Develop Junior Example: Girls are Girls will be able to identify ways a Strong Sense of Self better able to recognize that advertising, the media and two how situations, attitudes peer pressure influence their and the behaviors of others sense of self. affect their sense of self. session Discover: Girls Gain Junior Example: Girls Girls will be able to identify Practical Life Skills will increase their choices that are healthy for their three understanding of what it bodies and their minds, and means to be physically and recognize ways they can defuse emotionally healthy. stress in their every day lives. session Connect: Girls Develop Junior Example: Girls Girls will be able to identify Healthy Relationships strengthen communication communicate strategies that four skills for maintaining can be used to strengthen the healthy relationship qualities of their relationships.
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 10 GETTING STARTED
session Overview The uniquely ME! sessions in this facilitator guide are based on two of the three Keys to Leadership - Discover and Connect – and are organized by grade level: Junior, Cadette and Senior/Ambassador. Notice that the Senior/Ambassador session emphasize Sample Session activities for Seniors but provide tips about modifying the session for Ambassadors based on outcomes for this higher grade level . Indicators: the sessions: “Signs” that girls Girl Scout Girl Scout Girl Scout Senior/ are working towards Junior Sessions Cadette Sessions Ambassador Sessions achieving outcomes (GRADES 4-5) (GRADES 6-8) (GRADES 9-12) SESSION ONE SESSION ONE SESSION ONE all about me! me, myself and i the real me SESSION TWO SESSION TWO SESSION TWO me and the media the “me” in the mind over media SESSION THREE media SESSION THREE me inside and out SESSION THREE dare to shine SESSION FOUR Serene Scene SESSION FOUR me and you SESSION FOUR my relationships, truth and myself consequences
Sessions have been adapted from activities in uniquely ME! print resources and include handouts from the materials listed below. uniquely ME! Resources: uniquely ME! The Way To Be Girls 8-10 years old discover their unique qualities, the importance of challenging themselves, coping skills, and what makes a person a good friend. Activities include how to evaluate media influences and finding ways to make a difference. uniquely ME! Inside and Out Girls 11-14 years old learn to love the ski n their in! Topics include the power of body language, developing healthy eating habits and physical activity routines, and discovering one’s unique style. uniquely ME! The Real Deal Girls 11-14 years old lead activities that focus on recognizing what matters most to them, coping with feelings, dealing with social pressures, and enjoying relationships with family and friends. uniquely ME! Mirror, Mirror: Discover Your Inner Beauty Girls 14 years and older participate and lead activities that ask them to think critically about their concepts of beauty, reflect on their individual style and sense of self, embrace their strengths, and take care of their bodies and minds.
Additional Resources SuChin Pak PSA: “It’s A Girl Thing” at www.girlscouts.org/uniquelyme uniquely me / turnkey curriculum Dove Evolution Video www.dove.com INTRO GUIDE / page 11 Sample Session Each activity in this guide is designed for a 60-75 minute meeting. If your group meets for a shorter time, consider condensing activities, or spreading an activity over two meetings. Always try to leave a little time at the end of the session for girls to reflect. A typical meeting might look like this: 10 minutes: Welcome (ice-breaker, opening ceremony, business) Session Format 45–55 minutes: Activity (introduction, hands-on activity, reflection/discussion) Each activity in this guide follows a 5–10 minutes: Clean-up/Closing (Wrap Up, similar format: journaling) • Objective: Snapshot of what girls will do during the session and the overall goals of their activity. •Introduction to Facilitator: Introduction to the activity, placing it in the context of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. materials Supplies •materials and supplies: additional items needed to facilitate activity and to be gathered in advance of session. Make sure to bring your uniquely ME! “Tool Box” to every session. •hands-on activities: 1 Introduce Step-by-step instructions for facilitating activity - each activity is designed to help girls build a stronger sense of self, and to 2 Ask bolster their self-esteem in an engaging and fun way. 3 ENGAGE •Wrap Up: An opportunity for girls to think about and celebrate what they have learned during the session •reflection/discussion: wrapup A list of questions and talking points designed to help girls explore and discuss how the activity’s skills and themes can help in their school world and be applied to their real lives. Questions can also be used as prompts for any journal writing girls do outside of meetings. DISCUSSIONreflection QUESTIONS uniquely me! turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 12 Building a uniquely ME! “Tool Box” To help prepare you to lead sessions, you’ll need to bring a little tool box to every session that includes:
White Board, blackboard or large piece of paper Markers Pens and pencils Scratch paper Example of images of girls in the media Girl magazines (Seventeen, Discovery Girls, Girl’s Life, etc.) Clippings of advertisements Scissors Glue
For journaling and collage activities, it would be helpful to have: • Old scraps of fabric
• Recycled greeting cards 1 Introduce 2 Ask • Assortment of magazines (travel, sports, health, etc.) 3 ENGAGE • Ribbons, stickers and miscellaneous decorative items
Why not ask girls, families, teachers, your local library and community for some help collecting these items? Keep all of your supplies in a box so you are ready for every session - nothing fancy is necessary. Also, remember to recycle! Instead of using white or construction paper, try cutting cardboard from boxes, using the backs of file folders, and re-using other paper materials.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum INTRO GUIDE / page 13 facilitator tips Dealing with Tweens and Teens The facilitator’s role is to help girls achieve a level of comfort with and among themselves, feel good about their bodies and minds, and to encourage them to set and achieve reasonable goals. Volunteers need not be experts in psychology – instead, ideal volunteers will just be caring and sensitive. Here are some general tips for creating an open and positive atmosphere: • Open up and share your own experiences – this will help the girls feel more comfortable and engaged. • Focus on each girl’s special abilities and characteristics - use positive reinforcement. • Be sensitive to cultural issues and parental values. • Suggest, don’t dictate. • Help each girl develop a sense of belonging within the group; encourage girls to participate in all of the activities and projects. • Listen seriously to what girls say, and encourage them to listen to and respect each other. Make a habit of soliciting answers from the group. • To keep from influencing the girls, don’t be too quick to express your own opinions. However, when only one side of an issue is presented during discussion, be sure to offer other points of view. • Handle rebellious behavior calmly - engage girls in setting behavior standards and consequences by making a “Group Pact” in the initial session. • Encourage girls to express their values and opinions. Also let girls know that it’s important to be fully informed – encourage them to research issues and always listen to other points of view. remember... • Reviewing this guide will give you confidence! • If a girl seems bored, consider asking her to take the • When preparing, make sure to review each session in lead on an activity. full before going through the activities with the girls. • Be flexible. If an activity is not working, ask girls what • It is OK not to know everything - you and the girls can they want to change or what other activity they would explore answers together. rather do. • Be enthusiastic – it’s contagious! • Know when to assert yourself – show confidence! • Get to know the girls by inquiring about each • Be consistent and fair - treat everyone alike. individually - know their likes, dislikes, and so forth. • As often as possible, let the girls lead. • Have fun!
When preparing, make sure to review each session in full before going through the activities with the girls.
Iuniquelyf you have me! any turnkey additional curriculum questions or would like more information on the uniquely ME! program, pleaseINTRO goGUIDE to www.girlscouts.org/uniquelyme / page 14 or email [email protected]. uniquely ME! The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program Guide for facilitators
SESSION ONE all about me!
SESSION TWO me and the media
SESSION THREE me inside and out!
SESSION FOUR me and you G ir l Sc out JUNIOR SESSIONS ( gr ad es 4-5)
you can change the way you look or you can change the way the world looks at girls Girl Scout JUNIOR prep (grades 4-5) step Cut colored paper into 4 x6 squares and punch holes SESSION ONE in the top of each square Guide for facilitators - these will form the pages all about me! of the “About Me” book (which will later be bound together with ribbon, string or binder rings). Objective Each girl creates an “About Me” book to reinforce her sense of self. Towards Leadership Outcomes In Session One, girls will explore thet Discover Key to Leadership: Girls develop a strong sense of self. During this session, Junior girls will gain a clearer sense of their individual identities in relation to, and apart from, outside influences. By the end of the session, girls will be able to name and recognize their values, the qualities that make them unique, and some of the differences between the way they see themselves and the way others materials see them. Supplies Colored paper Introduction To Markers Hole-punchers Facilitators Colored ribbons, string or In this session, you’ll be encouraging the girls to look inside themselves to binder rings discover who they are and what makes them unique – it’s time for each girl Hand mirror to start recognizing and celebrating her character! Handouts To prepare, think about the qualities and values that make you unique - from uniquely ME! The Way To Be how have they led you to be in this room with these girls? In talking “About Me!” (page 3) about your own experiences, you can help guide girls on their own paths “What Makes You ‘You’” of self-discovery. (page 4) “Me-O-Meter” quiz (page 6)
Optional Scrapbook materials, stickers, uniquely me / turnkey curriculum fabric, glue, scissors session ONE / junior / page 1 ACTIVITY: f ive Hand out the construction paper, all about me! markers, hole-punchers and ribbons. Explain to the girls that, they are going to make a book and that each page of their book should one Introduce the concept of highlight something that makes them special and uniqueness by , saying unique. Each girl can make a book that is between You’re special in every way: how you look, 5 and 15 pages - it is up to the girls how long or how you think, how you feel. Isn’t it amazing? short she would like her book to be. There is no other girl in the world exactly like Let the girls know that while they can use you. Today, we are going to have some fun tip: the prompts on the “About Me!” handout to build getting to know what makes each one of us their pages, they can also create pages using other unique – you are going to create your own information they want to share about themselves. book about what makes you, you!
When the girls are through ask Does your About Me! book fully tell the story Icebreaker Hand out markers and the two of who you are? “Me-O-Meter” quiz while telling the girls, Let’s What’s missing? six take a quiz to find out more about ourselves. There Who can tell me what values are? are no wrong answers, only more news about you! Describe what values are as a group.
Ask Who marked mostly A’s? Explain that our choices and the three Who marked mostly B’s? things we like and admire are only seven Who marked the same number of A’s & B’s? part of what makes up who we are. Take a moment to talk with the girls about what their answers mean. Say: You are more than just your looks – more than your likes and dislikes. You are also what you believe and what you value. Your character is made To get started, distribute “About Me!” and up of what is important to you, and your sense of emphasize how the people and places we enjoy, what is right and what is wrong. Your character and things we like to do, reveal information about is defined by your values – the things that matter who we are. Give the girls a few minutes to write most to you and all that helps you decide how to down answers to the “About Me!”questoins. four act. Your family, friends, faith and experiences Encourage the girls to have fun help you choose what your values are. So, let’s and share some of their answers as a group. talk about what is most important to you! about me! questions Three things I can’t live without My favorite place to dream about My favorite color The people I admire (in my life, in the news) My favorite sport Words that describe me My closest friends My three favorite subjects at school My favorite season My favorite animal uniquely me! turnkey curriculum My favorite food session ONE / junior / page 2 eight Distribute the “What Makes You ‘You’” handout. SAY, To help us discover our values, let’s all circle the words in the box that we think are important. Have the group brainstorm additional values that could go in the box – write all of their answers on the board or a large piece of paper.
Ask the girls to decide on the five things that are the most important nine to them. Next, ask them to list these items in order of most to least important. Encourage the girls to decorate additional pages of their books with these words, explaining that the words reveal added information about what makes wrapup them who they are. Optional If they seem comfortable, ask each girl to choose a partner and come up with one quality about her neighbor that reflects something she values about her (she’s friendly, helpful, generous, funny). Invite each girl to sign a page in her partner’s book, celebrating what is special or unique about twelve her them. Talk with the girls about how other people may see things about us Ask the girls to brainstorm ways that we don’t see in ourselves. they can remind themselves of all that makes them special – ten their choices, talents, values Finish by having the girls create covers for their books. and unique qualities. Invite Suggest that each girl illustrate her cover using the animal that embodies each girl to shout out something the spirit or qualities she possesses (as opposed to any animal she might look special about herself - for like). To provide an example, pick the animal you would be and explain what example, “I am Sarah Brown quality this animal embodies – for instance, if you are adventurous, have fun and I am unique because I…” at the playground and like to climb trees, you might be a monkey. Emphasize Encourage the girls to think the difference between superficial appearance (that which we can see) and about how they can use what character (qualities which we can’t see). they’ve learned today to help them become leaders. If time permits, pass around a hand mirror and ask the girls: eleven • What’s the first thing you see when you look in the mirror? • Does our image in the mirror tell the full story of who we are? • What’s really important about who we are - the things we see when we look in the mirror, the things other people see when they look at us, or what we see when we look inside ourselves?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Who influences our values reflection and what is important to us?
How will I feel and respond if someone says uniquely me / turnkey curriculum I’m stupid, ugly or not good enough? session ONE / junior / page 3 Girl Scout JUNIOR (grades 4-5) prep step SESSION TWO If you have the technology to do so, me and media compile a VHS/DVD clip of a commercial, TV show or music video that highlights objective unrealistic images of women in the media. Girls create an “advice column” to explore how the media influences the way Ask the girls to do the they think about themselves, and to develop ways to deal with some of the “Real Girl TV” activity negative pressures they may feel and experience. before the session. Towards Leadership Outcomes In Session Two, girls will explore the Discover Key to Leadership: Girls develop a strong sense of self. During this session, Junior girls will recognize how situations, attitudes and the behavior of others affect their sense of self. By the end of the session, girls will be able to identify ways that advertising, the media and peer pressure influences their sense of self; girls may also express increased confidence in their abilities to deal with outside pressures. Introduction To Facilitators materials In this session, you’ll be asking the girls to think about how the media – Supplies especially TV and magazines – can influence their ideas about who they think they should be, and how they feel about themselves. Negative body image Eight sheets of 8x11 paper and low self-esteem can start at a young age, and dissatisfaction with body Markers image increases as young women progress toward adolescence. Advertisements from magazines Shopping bag To prepare, think about how the media’s existing definition of beauty is narrow, unrealistic and unattainable. Also, consider how unhealthy this Handouts from uniquely ME! depiction of beauty is in the way that it creates hang-ups that may lead girls The Way To Be to mistrust their own beauty and question themselves. Encouraging girls to “Media” (page 17) analyze media culture at an early age will help them to navigate it with good “Good friends…Not-so-good judgment and their self-esteem intact. Friends” (page 19)
Optional TV and VHS/DVD player uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session two / junior / page 1 Getting Girls Involved: “Real Girl TV” Girl-led activities are one part of the Girl Scout leadership process - when girls help lead activities, they’re more likely to embrace the learning being done. Invite the girls to conduct some media observation before today’s session. Ask them to spend time flipping between channels to look at the girls and women who appear in commercials, TV shows and music videos. Request that they write down any words that describe the images they see. For example, “blonde” or “tall and skinny” if this is how most of the girls and women appear.
ACTIVITY: me and media 1Open discussion by asking, “What is “the media?” Solicit responses from the girls before suggesting: The media is movies, music Did you videos, TV shows, commercials, billboards, magazines, newspapers and know? websites. The media sends you many messages that can influence how you think. For example, “Dress like a model” – “Don’t get fat” – “Wear }}}The average US girl has the designer clothes.” It’s important to sort out the messages that we see and opportunity to see an estimated hear. Which ones are right for you? Which ones aren’t? 77,546 commercials by the time she is 12 years old. Icebreaker: Write “Real Girl TV” on the board or a large piece of }}}Girls who watch TV commercials 2 featuring underweight models lose paper. Invite the girls to shout out some of the words and messages they self-confidence and became more received while watching “Real Girl TV.” Ask leading questions to solicit dissatisfied with their own bodies. their responses. For example: How did the girls and women look? Write }}}More than four in 10 girls and the girls answers on the board. After each of the girls has contributed, ask: young women only see their flaws Do the words on the board describe “real girls?” – why or why not? Do the when they look in the mirror. programs you watched belong on a channel called “Real Girl TV?” }}}58 percent of girls describe themselves in negative terms, 3Show the girls the advertisements you clipped from magazines or, and use words like “disgusting” and if it’s an option, have them watch the video you brought in. “ugly,” when feeling badly about themselves. 4Once the girls have taken a good look, pass out the “Media” Statistics, DSEF handout and engage them by posing the following questions: • What messages are being sent here? Are they accurate? facilitator notes • How do these messages make you feel about yourself? Girls may need extra encouragement to recognize the not-so-obvious • How would you like to see girls and women portrayed in messages from their community magazines and on TV? and cultural environment. To help • Which shows and commercials do you think are the most realistic? them think about the variety of ways the media influences us, consider Are these the shows and commercials you watch? Why or why not? discussing a specific example of • How do these images compare to you and your friends? conformity - like how the most popular girls at school all wear the same brand of jeans or carry the Ask the girls to close their eyes and raise their hands if they have 5 same backpacks. ever felt bad about themselves, or if they’ve judged themselves or someone else based on appearance. Have them keep their eyes closed while you ask them how this made them feel – request that uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session TWO / junior / page 2 they keep their hands in the air and open their eyes. 6 Offer: Sometimes the images all around us can 9Next, explain: Once you’ve completed your make us feel that we should look the way models and letter, fold the paper in half and pass it to the girl celebrities do. And, sometimes we judge ourselves who’s seated two people to your right. When someone and our friends in comparison to these images, and hands you her paper, pretend you’re Addie the Advice we feel bad if we don’t measure up. Sometimes, girls Giver and write her advice about how you think she are mean to other girls because of how they look - should handle the situation. because they’re not skinny, or because they aren’t wearing the right clothes, or because their hair style 10 When the girls are done writing, invite them is different. But it sounds like this is something that to deposit their pages in a shopping bag. most of us want to change. So, how do we do it? 11 Pass the shopping bag around the circle 7 Explain to the girls that they’re now – have each girl grab a page and read both the going to work on writing an advice column from problem/question and the answer/response. Once all the perspective of both an advice-seeker, and the of the columns have been read, invite the girls to advice-giver (who we’ll call Dear Addie). choose one question they’d like to respond to as a group. Help the girls work together as they prepare 8 Say, First, pretend you’re a girl who is their Dear Addie response. Invite a volunteer to write upset about how she doesn’t conform to the images the groups answer to the letter on the board. and messages that tell her how she’s supposed to look and act. Or, pretend you’re a girl who’s upset 12 If time permits, invite the girls to come because another girl or boy was mean to her. Write up with a name for their advice column and for the Dear Addie a letter – explain how you feel and ask fictional magazine where it would be published. for advice about what to do or say.
13 Ask the girls to think of ways that they can separate themselves from some of the negative influences that surround them-encourage them to up consider how doing this makes them leaders. To close, ask the girls to take an wrap actual step that represents the progress they made today.
What are some of the message I get from other How will I respond people I know (my if someone makes DISCUSSION QUESTIONS family, friends, reflection fun of how I look classmates and or what I’m What are some of the messages teachers) about wearing? How what’s important? I want myself to remember will I respond if about what’s important? someone I know is being made fun of? uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session two / junior / page 3 Girl Scout JUNIOR (grades 4-5) prep step
Many online resources SESSION THREE are available for facilitators who would me inside and out like to learn more about building healthy habits. You might want to check www.mypyramid.gov, in addition to “Fits Inn,” Objective “The New Normal: Girls create a healthy body/healthy mind menu to strengthen their What Girls Say About understanding of how they can make good choices for their physical and Healthy Living” and emotional health. “Weighing In: Helping Girls to Be Healthy Today and Tomorrow” Towards Leadership at www.girlscouts.org. Outcomes In Session Three, girls will explore the Discover Key to Leadership: Girls gain practical life skills, including healthy living. During this session, Junior girls will increase their understanding of what it means to be physically and emotionally healthy. By the end of the session, girls will be able to identify choices that are healthy for their bodies and minds, and recognize ways they can defuse stress. Introduction To Facilitators In this session, you’ll be encouraging girls to consider the relationship between their physical and emotional health. What we eat and how much we exercise and sleep have a big impact on how we think and feel (and materials exactly the opposite is true, too). There’s more and more evidence that links Supplies the health of our bodies to the health of our minds. To prepare, think about what you’ve found to be the best way to stay healthy. Markers What strategies do you have to help get rid of the day’s tension so that you can relax? To get girls started on the right path, lead by example and share Handouts from some of your healthy habits with them. When girls understand more about uniquely ME! The Way To Be the connection between their bodies and minds, they can make healthy “Body-wise” quiz (page 9) “My Unique Tastes” (page 11) choices that benefit both. “Good Stress, Bad Stress” (page 14) “Stress Busters” (page 15) uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session THREE / junior / page 1 How can you order off this menu every day? ACTIVITY What might stop you from sometimes making healthy choices? me inside How can you support the healthy choices of your friends and family members? DISCUSSIONreflection QUESTIONS and out How can we take the lead in helping others make healthier choices? 1 Introduce the activity by saying: One day, you may notice that you are Emphasize that even though there are two getting taller, or even that hair is growing in places 5 different menus, our bodies and minds work that it’s never grown before. As your body changes, together and affect each other. To help explain this it’s really important that you begin building healthy concept, encourage conversation by asking the girls habits. If you never thought about what you eat, questions like: How does your body feel when you have a how active you are, how much sleep you get each fight with a friend or when you’re worried about something? night, or how you deal with something that stresses How do you feel the morning you have a test at school, or bothers you, it’s time to start! “Why?” you ask? or after something big has happened in your family? How Because the healthy and unhealthy habits you does your mind feel if you haven’t had enough sleep? What form while you’re young can stick with you into the about when you’ve skipped breakfast or lunch? future. Today, we will explore some fun and healthy ways to take care of our bodies and minds, so that Explain, All day, every day, we’re making choices you can be the best “you” possible! 6 that affect our bodies and our minds. The menus we create will give us a good selection of options for us to Icebreaker: Hand out the “Body-Wise” choose from. 2 quiz and ask the girls to complete it. Write the word Menu on the board or large piece Review the quiz answers as 7 of paper. Draw a line down the middle and on one 3 a group and talk with the girls about side write “Body” and on the other write “Mind”. what their answers mean. Be sure to keep an encouraging tone – focus on acknowledging and Invite the girls to shout out items for the reinforcing healthy behaviors instead reprimanding 8 “healthy” side of the Body Menu and write their unhealthy ones. Let the girls know that sometimes suggestions where everyone can read them. To help them we all need a little help figuring out how to make brainstorm ideas, consider using the following questions healthy choices. as prompts: • How can we start the day with healthy choices for our Today, we are going to plan Explain: body? (choosing fruit for breakfast, brushing our teeth, 4 menus! These menus will be more than wearing comfortable shoes). just appetizers and entrees. Working together, • What can we do during the school day to keep our we will create one menu for our bodies and one bodies healthy? menu for our minds. These “menus” will give us What are some fun ways that we can get enough some healthy choices so that we can take good • exercise? care of ourselves! (playing on the playground, playing tag with friends). • How can we make sure our body is well rested and getting enough sleep? uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session THREE / junior / page 2 • What are some yummy, healthy snacks we can eat? Say, Now that we’ve thought of some great ways to take 9 care of our bodies, we are going to talk a bit about some facilitator tips of the ways we can take care of our minds. One way we can keep Girls will come up with a lot of stress busters on their own, but to a healthy mind is by finding positive ways to deal with stress. encourage them along, think about and introduce the following things: Ask the girls to talk about things in their daily lives that 10 stress them out. On a separate section of the board or large Tips to help you feel in control of piece of paper, keep track of all the stressors the girls identify. your life so you won’t get stressed: Reinforce that what is stressful for one person is not necessarily }}}Talk it over if you’re upset with friends or family, talk it out with stressful to another - for instance, while some people find speaking them to clear the air in front of a group stressful – others might think it’s fun! }}}Get organized prioritize Talk with the girls about how stress can affect their bodies your homework and start assignments early 11 and minds. Say, Let’s think back to our bodies. What are }}}Ask for help if you feel like you some ways that bad stress can affect our bodies? Solicit answer have too much to do, ask your from the girls (bad stress can make your stomach ache, your neck family for help feel stiff and sore, your heart beat too fast, head hurt). }}}Learn to relax practice relaxing by doing things you enjoy Invite the girls to suggest stress buster options for the 12 healthy side of the Mind Menu. , How can we deal with Say Stress Busters: the stresses in our lives? (listening to music, working on a puzzle, }}}Move your body ride your bike, talking to a friend or trusted adult about the cause of the stress). dance, jump rope, swim laps or Fotr tips and prompts, see the Facilitator Tips. take a long walk }}}Work on a hobby a puzzle, a Once the mind menu is finished, have the girls think about sticker collection or a photo album 13 one thing they can do right now to relieve stress and relax }}}Listen to music their minds. the girls to decide one stress buster they’d like to try Ask }}}Close your eyes, take deep out as a group (the girls can close their eyes and take deep breaths, breaths in through your nose tell each other jokes, skip around the classroom). If time permits, have and out through your mouth them experiment with a second or third option. }}}Get plenty of sleep at least 8-10 hours every night Invite the girls to think about }}}Eat a balanced diet, low in 14 how taking care of their bodies and sugar and fat minds can help them lead healthier }}}Talk to a friend or adult you lives. Ask the girls to find a partner with trust about what is stressing you who they’ll share a commitment to adopt up }}}Spend time thinking quietly wrap one healthy choice from each side of }}}Do something nice for the menu. someone else Shaking hands, each girl should complete the sentence: I will choose from the Healthy Body Menu to ______; I will choose from the Healthy Mind Menu to ______; uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session THREE / junior / page 3 Girl Scout JUNIOR (grades 4-5) prep step
Before the session begins, create prompts for charades by writing the adjectives listed SESSION FOUR below on index cards and placing them in a bag. Feel me and you free to add additional words. Angry Sad Disappointed Happy Shy Nervous Afraid Embarrassed Excited Objective Confident Exhausted Bored Girls play charades to deepen their understanding of how body language and communication strategies can affect and shape their relationships. Next, on the board or a large piece of paper, draw a large Towards Leadership chart like the one below: Outcomes Nonverbal Communication In Session Four, girls will explore the Connect Key to Leadership: Girls develop Feeling behavior healthy relationships. During this session, Junior girls will strengthen their communication skills for maintaining healthy relationships. By the end of the session, girls will be able to communicate strategies – particularly body language moves – that can be used to enhance the quality of their relationships. Introduction To Facilitators In this session, you’ll be encouraging the girls to think about what their body language communicates to the people around them. Though it is entirely unspoken, our body language can be even more powerful than our words – especially because we are often unaware of what our bodies are telling other people. To prepare, think about specific examples that reveal the importance of body language – like interviews and first impressions. Also, consider times when we’re so relaxed we stop thinking about what our body language is saying – like when we’re materials with friends and family members. Encouraging girls to better understand how to read Supplies other people’s body language, and how to communicate in a positive way with their own body language, will help them to achieve and maintain healthy relationships. Index cards or slips of paper Markers Big paper bag or container
Handouts “What Are You Really Saying?” (page 13) uniquely me / turnkey curriculum “Good Friends…Not-So- session FOUR / junior / page 1 Good Friends” (page 19) ACTIVITY me and you
Introduce the activity by saying: The language we speak is very important for communicating 1 with other people. But guess what? Whether you like it or not, your body can say things you’re not even aware of! Today we are going to learn what our body language reveals. Sometimes we’re not even aware of the messages we’re sending with our body, and this means that sometimes we can send the wrong message without even knowing it.
Begin discussion by asking the group to define what body language is. If necessary, clarify that body language refers to how one expresses their feelings through movement. Next, ask 2 for several examples of body language or provide a couple of your own (smiling, shrugging your shoulders, crossing your arms over your chest).
Icebreaker: Have the girls work together as a group without anyone talking or moving her lips. 3 Explain: I am going to ask you a question and, as a group, you’re going to have to solve a puzzle without talking, reading lips, or making any noise. For example, if I tell the group to line up from youngest to oldest, you would need to figure out how to order yourselves using only gestures and body language. Ask the girls to line up by birthday or shoe size.
Hand out “What Are You Really Saying?” Invite volunteers to act out each of the body 4 language examples – have the girls answer “What it means” as a group.
Distribute markers and index cards to the girls and review the following activity 5 instructions*: • Now we’re going to play a game like charades. Who can explain how charades works? If no one speaks up, explain how the game is played. • Invite the girls to generate their own prompts by writing feelings onto index cards. Then, collect the cards in a bag with the prompts you have already prepared. • Ask the first volunteer to grab a card and act out the emotion written on it without using any words. The rest of the group should guess what feeling is being communicated – after the feeling is correctly identified, write it in the left column of the chart. • Next, ask the group to shout out the behaviors that helped them identify the feeling - write these in the right column. For example, if the feeling is “disappointed,” behaviors might include the volunteer shrugging her shoulders, sighing, or hanging her head. • If the group is small, everyone can take at least one turn acting out a charade. If the group is large, ask for volunteers or, if everyone wants to participate, have the girls act out the charades in teams. Make sure to set a time limit for the game, depending on the size of your group. Use the chart and keep track of the relationship betweens feelings and behaviors. *This activity was adapted from Beyond Bars A Curriculum for Life, Girl Scouts of the USA, NY 2006 uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session FOUR / junior / page 2 DISCUSSIONreflection QUESTIONS
How will understanding body language help your relationships at home, at school and with friends?
Is there anything you will do differently now that you understand how important body language can be?
What kinds of body language do leaders exhibit?
Help the girls understand the activity’s meaning by asking: 6 • Can you give an example of when someone’s body language communicates a different message than what she says with her words? • When you are trying to send a message, which is more effective: body language or verbal communication? Why? • What are some body language messages that you think are particularly positive? • What kind of body language do we use when we are confident, or feeling good about ourselves? • How can body language help us maintain healthy relationships?
wrapup
Ask each girl to think of a way to communicate approval and 7 friendship without using any words (bowing deeply, blowing a kiss, clapping her hands, giving a hug). Next, have each girl use body language to deliver this message to the girl sitting to her right. Once they are done, ask each girl to think about one way she can incorporate positive body language into her life.
facilitator note Girls will be watching each other more carefully and more intensely as this session progresses. As such, you should try to identify a good opportunity to talk with them about what kinds of body language we use when we’re really paying attention to someone else. It will also be important to discuss how we can use our body language to be dismissive of other people, even if we uniquely me / turnkey curriculum don’t intend to reveal that we’re not really interested. session FOUR / junior / page 3 uniquely ME! The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program Guide for facilitators
SESSION ONE me, myself and i
SESSION TWO the “me” in the media
SESSION THREE serene scene
SESSION FOUR truth and consequences G ir l Sc out C ADETTE SESSIONS ( grades 6-8)
you can change the way you look or you can change the way the world looks at girls Girl Scout CADETTE (grades 6-8) uniquely ME! The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program prep step Write each of the “Word SESSION ONE Guide for facilitators Box” ideas (listed below) on a separate piece of me, myself and i paper. Place all of the entries into a container marked “Word Box.” WORD BOX WORD IDEAS Objective Honest Sensitive Each girl identifies and develops her positive qualities, talents and strengths in order to build confidence in her ability to achieve her goals. Smart Daring Polite Neat Serious Towards Leadership Competitive Trendy Outcomes In Session One, girls explore the Discover Key to Leadership: Girls Dependable Friendly develop a strong sense of self. During this session, Cadette girls will Creative Hard-working work towards an increased sense of self efficacy. By the end of the session, girls will be better able to recognize how their values, talents and Brave Popular strengths can help them achieve their goals. Open minded Cheerful Caring Funny Introduction To Helpful Healthy Fair Facilitators In this session, you’ll want to encourage the girls to start answering the big Fun-loving Confident questions that face them: “Who am I?” – “What do I believe in?” – “What’s Outgoing Quiet important to me?” – “What qualities make me unique?” If they can tackle these questions, they will gain a clearer sense of who they are and what Talented Tough Patient they can accomplish in life. Trustworthy To prepare, think about the importance of self-knowledge in your own life. Consider how your positive qualities, personal strengths and talents have led you to where you are today. Like Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Wherever we go, whatever we do, self is the sole subject we study and learn.” For materials these girls, the journey of self-discovery begins now! Supplies Markers “Word Box” (see avove) uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session ONE / CADETTE / page 1 Getting Girls Involved: Group Vote! Girl-led activities are one part of the Girl Scout leadership process - when girls help lead activities, they’re more likely to embrace the learning that is done. This session gives girls the opportunity to determine the direction of group discussion. After they have finished identifying their talents and strengths, have the girls vote as group whether they want to play a guessing game or create super-heroine characters.
ACTIVITY me, myself and i
Introduce the concept of values by asking the girls questions 1 like: Who likes to keep their room neat? Who likes to go to facilitator notes amusement parks and ride roller-coasters? Who would rather Here are additional tips for study then go to a party, or vice versa? Have you ever thought facilitating activities and about WHY you like one thing over another? WHY you do the things you do? discussions about values: • Ask the girls to set Icebreaker: Play “The True or Not True” game. discussion ground rules, 2 • Each girl comes up with two statements about herself - one so that everyone’s opinion true and one false. is respected. • Examples: “Our cat’s name is Bunny. True or not?” “My • Note that different favorite sport is skateboarding. True or not?” people have different • After a girl shares her statements, the group should guess which one is true. values and there is no “right” or Explain that understanding what we value helps us to “wrong” answer. 3 understand why we think and act the way we do. Ask the girls • Be aware of your own to define “values” as a group. Once they have self-defined, values, especially on reinforce: Values are things that are important to you - they controversial topics. help you decide how to spend your time and how to act. For Monitor your verbal example, a girl who values neatness may like keeping her comments room clean. A girl who values being daring and adventurous and body language so may like to ride roller-coasters. Values, coupled with our as to avoid taking one talents and strengths, make up a big part of who we are position over another. as individuals.
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session ONE / Cadette / page 2 Reveal the “Word Box” and explain that it contains examples of traits that people 4 often value. Suggest Together, let’s see if we can brainstorm things we think matter most in a person. How about honesty? Is it important for a friend to be honest with you? Write “honesty” on the board or a large piece of paper, and explain why you believe honesty is a good value.
Pick a girl from the group to take your place. Ask her to name another trait or quality 5 that’s important to her – have her write the quality on the board and talk a little bit about why she thinks it’s valuable. Once she is through, ask her to pick another girl to take her place. Keep this going until you have generated 10-20 words.
Note: If you have a small group, each girl may have a chance to go twice. If you have a very large group, you may need to ask for volunteers. If a girl gets stumped, let her know that she can go to the “Word Box” and pull out a suggestion.
Invite the girls to create a list of 5 things that that they think matters most in a person. 6 Remind them that they can use items from the word box on the board for inspiration. Next, ask the girls to list 5 things that they think best describes them. Once the girls have written both lists, ask them to think about the differences between what matters most and how they see themselves.
Invite them to think about and write down two things they could do, starting today, to 7 develop one of the qualities they admire in others but feel that they don’t have. Suggest that they fill in the blanks of this sentence: “To become more ______I could ______.” You can give examples such as, “To become more daring, I could try to do one thing I find difficult,” or “To become neater, I could hang up my clothes and put them away.”
Introduce the idea that in addition to our values, each one of us has unique talents 8 and strengths. Say something like, What else makes you, you? What else makes you unique? How about your talents and strengths? Recognizing the things you do well gives you a bigger picture of who you are. So come on, let’s brag a little!
Ask each of the girls to think about and fill in the blanks in these “Talents and 9 Strengths” sentences on a seperate piece of paper (taken from pg. 5 of uniquely ME! The Real Deal). • I am good at ..../ What makes me special is... • One thing people may not know about me is... • One of my proudest achievements was______because______.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session ONE / Cadette / page 3 How will your values, talents, and strengths help you to achieve your goals? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Where do you think values come from? reflection Who or what has influenced your values?
Try asking a friend or relative to name the things that he or she thinks make you special. Did that person’s answers match with your own? Did he or she say anything that surprised you?
After they’re finished, it’s time for the girls to share and celebrate their talents and 10 strengths with one another. Invite group to vote whether they want to play a guessing game or create super-heroine characters for themselves
Option One: Guessing Game Collect all the papers and mix them up. Select one sheet and ask the group, Who do you think said she is good at ______? Or, Who do you think said, ‘One of my proudest achievements was ______because ______?’ When the girls have made their guesses ask, Who really said that? Have the author stand up or raise her hand. Before moving on, have the group decide a way to celebrate each girl for her accomplishment (they might celebrate with a loud cheer, a round of applause, snaps or silence). Go through all the papers until each girl has had a chance to exercise her bragging rights.
Option Two: Super-Heroine Characters Ask the girls: If you were creating a superhero/super-heroine who has your talents and strengths, what name would you give her? What would she look like? Can you describe her costume and where she’d live? What about how she would use her superpowers to help others? Invite the girls to share their character and talk about how she uses her superpowers. If they girls get stuck, help them get started by brainstorming together (Does her piano playing lull the bad guys to sleep? Does she outrun her enemies?).
To close, gather the girls in a circle and talk briefly about how recognizing our values, talents 11 and strengths can help us to achieve our goals. up Ask them to go around the circle and name one wrap thing they learned about themselves. Make sure each girl gets to decide how she would like to be celebrated by the rest of the group. uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session ONE / CADETTE / page 4 Girl Scout CADETTE prep (grades 6-8) step
Many online resources are available for SESSION TWO facilitators who would like to learn about the effects the “me” in the media the media has on one’s sense of self. Check out “Campaign for Real Beauty/Moms and Mentors” at objective www.dove.com for helpful Girls play the role of advertising creative directors to explore how the media tips, tools and articles. influences the way they think about themselves, and learn how to deal with some of the negative pressures they may feel and experience. Towards Leadership Outcomes In Session Two, girls will explore the Discover Key to Leadership: Girls develop a strong sense of self. During this session, Cadette girls will work towards negotiating the effects sociocultural factors, gender issues, and stereotyping/ bias have on their sense of self. By the end of the session, girls will be better able to analyze and evaluate how advertisements and the media affect their materials sense of self. Supplies Introduction To uME! Tool Box Facilitators Four to Six poster-boards In this session, you’ll be asking the girls to take a hard look at the messages or large pieces of paper that the media conveys. Every time we turn on the TV or open a magazine, Markers Selection of teen magazines we see dozens of images of “perfect” women. As girls and young women look around for help in understanding who they want to become, they can be Handouts heavily influenced by these unrealistic portrayals of perfection. from uniquely ME! Mirror, Mirror To prepare, think about how these images create an expectation of who we “Truth in Advertising?” should be and what we should look like. Ask yourself honest questions - how (page 18) many of these images are real? Do these images portray real life and real “Just a Little Touch Up?” women? How do we define beauty? Indeed, who defines beauty? Exploring the (page 20) differences between real and unrealistic representations of self allows girls to “Smoke & Mirrors” (page 21) see how they are influenced by the media and culture around them. Optional TV/DVD player and “Evolution” video, laptop uniquely me / turnkey curriculum with internet connection session TWO / CADETTE / page 1 ACTIVITY the “me” in the media
1 Introduce the activity: Every day we see hundreds of different ads on TV, in magazines, on billboards and even in school that show images of what the “perfect” woman should look like. But many of these images create a manufactured idea of perfection, because they’ve been altered and changed to get rid of flaws. Comparing ourselves to these unrealistic Truth in Advertising? What is the advertisement selling? images can negatively influence the way we feel about ourselves. We may What is the message the ad is not have the power to make those ads disappear, but we do have the trying to convey? power to examine the messages they convey, and to decide whether we’re Is the message accurate? buying into any of it. Are you buying into it? What types of bodies are 2 For the icebreaker, you have a few different options depending on represented? the level of technology available to you: Is there diversity? How does it make you feel Print: Pass out the “Just a Little Touch Up?” and “Smoke and Mirrors” about yourself? handouts. Talk with the girls about all that has been retouched.
Video: Watch “Evolution” (a one minute film that shows how a normal Magazine woman is transformed before being featured in an ad). photographs rarely Internet: Go to http://demo.fb.se/e/girlpower/retouch/retouch/index.html show the true and use the interactive tool that reveals a magazine cover before and after likeness of any retouching. woman. In fact, the retouching that occurs often 3 Hand out the magazines and ask the girls to flip through the goes way beyond imperfections copies until they find an eye-catching ad. Next, distribute the “Truth in being airbrushed out. Instead, Advertising?” handouts. physical proportions can be completely adjusted making waists smaller, busts larger, 4 After giving about 5 minutes to reflect on the “Truth In Advertising?” legs longer, lips plumped, questions, invite the girls to discuss their answers and reactions. cheek bones raised, noses straightened, chins angled and 5 Divide into groups of four or six. Give each group a poster-board and necks sculpted – and these markers. Say: We’ve have the opportunity to challenge media messages are only a few of the ways that images are altered before being – now it’s time to create an original ad and spread positive messages of published!* our own! * “Looking at Me: A resource to help Note: If you have a small group, you can create one ad campaign all together. 10-14 year old girls build a positive sense of body image and self esteem” as developed by Girl Guiding UK and the Dove Self Esteem Fund © The Girl Guide Association 2007. uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session TWO / CADETTE / page 2 Do you compare yourself with the models you see in ads and the actresses you watch on TV and in movies? How does it make you feel? Do you think Facebook and MySpace pages are advertisements for ourselves? DISCUSSIONreflection QUESTIONS In what ways are they like ads? In what ways are they different? What’s the advantage of being aware of the messages sent to us by ads?
6 Explain the mission: You are a creative team in an advertising firm, and it’s your job to design an ad campaign for a girls clothing lines. What makes the clothing line special is that all the clothes are eco-friendly and use organic cotton, bamboo fibers and other environmentally-friendly fabrics. What makes the ad campaign special is that it’s all about making girls feel good about themselves, celebrating our unique identities and body diversity.
7 Suggest that each group consider the following: •What is your slogan or logo? •What is your message? •What will your ad look like? What images will you use? Follow-Up: Journals •What is the best way to get the word out (billboard, website, Have the girls try this exercise for celebrity spokesperson)? one week: •Who is your audience? }}}Carry a small notebook with you at all times. Invite the girls to “pitch” their campaigns to the group by sharing }}}Every time that you compare 8 yourself with somebody else – a their posters and ideas. If time permits, have the entire group vote celebrity, a model, your friend, on which team won the account. Ask How would life be different if your sister, whoever - write it advertising was more like the ones the girls created? down. For example, you might write something like, “I wish I were more like______” or “If only I could do what ______does.” }}}At the end of the week, take a wrapup look at your notebook. What do your entries say to you? Are you proud of who you are, or are you 9 Ask each girl to name one thing she learned during the spending a lot of time wishing you session, and have her commit to how she might spread this message were someone else? along to other girls. Encourage each girl to come up with a strategy for the next time she or one of her friends says something negative about the way they look, or when they compare themselves to girls on TV or in magazines. uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session TWO / CADETTE / page 3 Girl Scout CADETTE (grades 6-8) prep step SESSION THREE Many online resources are available for serene scene facilitators who would like to learn more about building healthy habits. You might want to check www.mypyramid.gov, Objective in addition to “Fits Inn,” “The New Normal: Girls explore strategies for dealing with emotions like anger, stress and What Girls Say About negativity, and learn ways to de-stress and relax. Healthy Living” and “Weighing In: Helping Towards Leadership Girls to Be Healthy Today and Tomorrow” Outcomes at www.girlscouts.org. In Session Three, girls will explore Discover Keys to Leadership: Girls gain practical life skills, and Girls practice healthy living. During this session, Cadette girls will work towards increasing their commitment to practicing and promoting healthy behavior. By the end of the session, girls will have explored techniques they can use to help keep their lives mentally and emotionally healthy as well as balanced. Introduction To Facilitators In this session, you’ll be asking the girls to explore activities and techniques that can help them deal with their feelings and emotions in a healthy way. As girls develop into young women, they experience a new range of moods and emotions that can feel overwhelming and frustrating. To prepare, think about situations in your life that have taught you the benefits materials of maintaining a positive attitude. Of course it would be incredible if we could Supplies eliminate feelings like anger, stress and sadness, but in truth we know that we can’t escape our feelings. What we can do, is take pleasure in the good ones Big paper bag or container while learning effective ways to manage and handle the difficult ones. Dealing with emotions is all part of growing up - becoming an adult means learning Handouts from uniquely ME! The Real Deal how to process and release these emotions in positive ways. “The PMA Test” (page 7) “PMA Test” score key (page 8) “Six Ways to Stress Less” (page 13) uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session THREE / CADETTE / page 1 Optional:: Blankets or pillows ACTIVITY serene scene
1 Explain to the girls that learning how to take care 5 Ask the girls to think of situations that have caused of ourselves also means learning how to handle difficult them to think negative thoughts about their lives. Then, emotions like anger, fear, stress, and insecurity. invite them to put PMA into action by saying, You can change the tape that’s playing in your head by turning 2 Icebreaker: Play “React and Act!” (a variation of charades) your negative thoughts around! • Pass out paper and pens to the girls. • Explain: Let’s practice changing our tape! Find a the girls to think of a situation or occurrence that • Ask partner and share out loud any mean things you’ve caused them to be stressed, mad, anxious, sad or any said to yourself recently, or negative things that you another difficult emotion. Once they come up with a tell yourself all the time. situation, have them write it down. Ask the girls to fold and place their papers into a bag. • Partners, after you have heard enough you should shout “STOP!” • Divide the group into two teams and ask two or three girls from one team to select an event from the bag – these • Replace the negative thoughts with something girls are the reactors, while the remaining girls in their more empowering. Come up with thoughts that show group are the guessers. you forgive, accept and care about yourself. Think about what you would say to your best friend if she that when you say “Go!” the reactors will all • Explain went through a similar situation. simultaneously react to what is written on the card using exaggerated gestures, facial expressions and their voices. • Once one girl practices “Changing the Tape”, her partner should have a turn. When the time expires (set a time limit – either 30 seconds • Note: You’ll want to record the girls’ answers on the board, or ask or a minute), the guessers should shout out their guesses. for a volunteer to do so. • Rotate the activity between teams, keeping score to determine which team makes the most correct guesses. 6 Acknowledge that even if we practice PMA, we can still get stressed out, angry and upset. Ask 3 Acknowledge to the girls that the way we react to the girls to think about something that makes them situations that make us mad, upset or stressed can be just really mad, sad, or stressed out. Suggest they as important as the situation itself. Ask them to close their brainstorm other ways to deal when they’re feeling eyes and raise their hands if they have ever heard that overwhelmed. Hand out “Six Ways to Stress Less” to little voice in their head that says “I’m not good enough” get the conversation going. Invite the girls to call out or “I’m always messing up” or “Life isn’t fair?” Tell them to their answers to the following questions: open their eyes. Shout out, How can we go about changing • What can you do if you’re mad? that little voice in our head? Solution – PMA! • What can you do if you’re sad? 4 Distribute copies of “The PMA Test” and go • What can you do if you’re stressed out? through the test question-by-question, asking the girls to mark their answers. Then, have each girl tally the number of A’s and B’s she marked. Read from the “PMA Test” uniquely me! turnkey curriculum score key to help the girls make sense of their results. session THREE / CADETTE / page 2 7 After the brainstorming wraps up, ask each girl to jot down a 3-step plan she can use when her feelings are out of control or when she’s stressed out.
8 Explain, One of the ways that we can deal with negative emotions or stress is through relaxation and visualization. Share that these techniques help put positive thoughts and images in our minds. To help the girls practice, you’ll lead them through two exercises. First, the relaxation technique: • Get into a comfortable position. • Close your eyes and take long, deep, slow breaths. Try to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. • Try to relax every muscle and joint by first tensing it and then letting it relax. Start with your toes and move up to your head. If you notice an area of tightness, spend extra time trying to release the tension. • Keep taking slow, deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Imagine your stress disappearing each time you exhale.
9 Next, you’ll want to help the girls experience the technique of visualization. • Ask the girls to keep their eyes closed while they think about something they want to accomplish in the next few weeks that they may be worried about (shooting free throws, auditioning for the school play, writing a story for the school newspaper on deadline, giving a speech). • Encourage them to imagine themselves achieving their goal: Begin with arriving at the event or situation. Imagine every detail from beginning to end: what you’re wearing, how your clothes feel, the smells, the sounds – use each of your senses. Picture yourself going through the situation or event feeling relaxed, confident and completely in control. • Now, ask them to open their eyes and write down all the details of this vision. • Encourage the girls to reread what they’ve written in the days and weeks leading up to their event.
wrapup
DISCUSSION/JOURNALreflection QUESTIONS 10 Ask the girls to sit in a circle. Have each share one thing she’ll do in the future to help her What kinds of feelings do you usually have deal with anxiety, stress or negativity, or something she’ll when you try something new? try when she encounters a difficult emotion or situation. What kinds of relaxation techniques do you After all the girls have spoken, have them decide how to use to stay calm or de-stress? celebrate their new mindset and what they’ve learned. What opportunities do you have to put PMA into action? How can the technique of visualization help uniquely me! turnkey curriculum you in your life? session THREE / CADETTE / page 3 Girl Scout CADETTE (grades 6-8)
SESSION FOUR truth and consequences
Objective materials Girls play a game called “Sticky Situations” to reinforce the idea that good Supplies relationships are based on mutual respect, trust and understanding, and to build these qualities in their relationships.
Handouts from Towards Leadership uniquely ME! The Real Deal “What Are You Really Saying?” Outcomes “Sticky Situations” In Session Four, girls will explore the Connect Key to Leadership: Girls (page 14) develop healthy relationships. During this session, Cadette girls will work “What Would You Do?” towards establishing positive, more trusting relationships with others, in (page 19) addition to learning how to hone their relationship-building skills. By the end “What Your Answers Mean” (page 20) of the session, girls will be able to give examples of behaviors they can use to promote mutual respect, trust and understanding, in addition to furthering their ability to recognize and act upon healthy decisions. Introduction To Facilitators In this session, the girls will practice skills that should help them to understand that giving and receiving constructive criticism can be a positive experience. They will also talk about negative peer pressure, and what it takes to triumph over it. To prepare, consider the relationships in your own life. Is there an example of a sticky situation that you wished you had handled differently? What did you learn from that experience? You may also want to think about times you have experienced peer pressure – consider both how it affected you and how you handled it. Today you’ll help encourage the girls to be emotionally mature enough to learn from constructive criticism, while also preparing them to deal with negative peer pressure.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session FOUR / CADETTE / pagE 1 ACTIVITY 4 Invite each girl to select the role she’ll play. truth and Encourage the girls to really think about how their consequences person would handle the situation – what they’d say and do. Emphasize that the role playing should be realistic and believable (the two characters aren’t Introduce the activity by sharing with the girls: 1 going to agree right away!). Friends make life more enjoyable - you confide in them, do things with them and most importantly, you want to After a few minutes, ask each pair to act out their be accepted by them. But relationships aren’t always 5 situation in front of the group. When the girls have all easy - sometimes they leave you feeling hurt, picked taken a turn, have the group discuss: on or mad. Our activity today will help us practice ways to keep our friendships and relationships strong so that • Which solutions were the most helpful? Why? we can stay true to ourselves! • Which reactions were the least helpful? Why? Was it easier to offer constructive criticism or to Icebreaker: Ask the girls to pair up, and think • 2 accept it? of three things (aside from physical attributes) that they want to tell their partners. Explain that each girl must • What would you differently if you got the chance to convey her three things without mouthing any words do this again? or whispering to her partner – in fact, she can’t use any sounds at all. When the girls have completed their 6 Next, invite each pair of girls to come up with silent interviews, ask each of them to tell the group the their own sticky situation. Explain that the situations things they learned about their partners. can be about any relationship dilemmas they may have experienced. Then have the girls repeat the 3 Distribute the “Sticky Situations” handouts and exercise. ask the girls to divide into new pairs. Have each pair Note: Keep a running tab of helpful strategies (listening, decide which sticky situation they would like to tackle. respecting, boundaries, patience) on the board or a large piece of paper.
}}}Share your feelings with the group Many of them Prepare For may be feeling the same things and may be scared to Pressure say so. Don’t aim to change their view, but help them to understand yours. Peer pressure (the negative kind) is tough to take. }}} “I don’t mind being president of the You have to be strong, confident and courageous to Use Humor looser of the month club” might just take the pressure ignore it. Here are some suggestions on how to face a off without making you look like a “goody two shoes” peer pressure situation and come away smiling.
}}}Imagine how you will feel about yourself afterward }}}Blame Your Parents Everyone can related to the What will it cost you to go along with the others versus fear of the trouble you might get into if your parents find staying true to yourself? This may be all it takes for you out you have done something they disapprove of. (Don’t to say “no thanks” confidently and easily. worry, your parents probably won’t mind if you use them as an excuse!)
}}}Pick your Friends Wisely The best friends are uniquely me! turnkey curriculum ones who share your values. If you are often pressured session FOUR / CADETTE / page 2 to against your beliefs, maybe you are hanging out with the wrong crowd. 7Following, ask the group to talk again about their 10 Refer to the “What Your Answers Mean” key solutions and reactions by raising the questions: and help the girls evaluate their answers. • Which solutions were the most helpful? Why? 11 Using “Prepare for Pressure” as a jumping off • Which reactions were the least helpful? Why? point, discuss the various ways that the girls can avoid and prepare for peer pressure. Ask, Have you ever 8 Introduce the “What Would You Do?” exercise ignored peer pressure? What did you do or say? What by asking “You are probably familiar with peer pressure, reaction did you get? Generate a girl driven discussion right? I mean, who isn’t? So, what is the difference and create a list of strategies on the board (you may between constructive criticism and peer pressure?” also consider recording the list on paper so that it can Have the girls call out answers as a group. be copied and later given to each of the girls). 9 Distribute pens and paper. Ask the girls to write down how they would react to the five “What Would Invite the girls to form a You Do?” scenarios. As you read the scenarios aloud, 12 circle. Sum up the session include a fifth choice for each question. by saying something like, We’ve learned a lot about Note: You can use the following choices, or make up your relationships and how we own thought-provoking ones: wrapup can communicate better, u E) keep the sweater on. You don’t say anything but continue to wear the sweater feeling confident about so that we can be better your taste and enjoying the thought that it was a gift friends to one another. from your aunt. v E) ask one or two of the “in” crowd girls if they’d care Ask the girls to think about one thing they’ve learned to study with you. that they would like to commit to making part of their w E) say, “If I were you, I’d put the nail polish back - right lives. Before the girls begin sharing, ask them to now!” decide as a group how they would like to celebrate one x E) back up the other girl’s opinion because you think she’s right. another’s commitments (through a cheer, clapping y E) ask him if he’d like to practice Spanish with you hands, stomping feet, snapping or even silence). after he takes the test on his own.
Can you think of any sticky situations from What are the potential consequences your life that you wish you had handled of not speaking up and offering differently? What will you do next time if a constructive criticism to a good friend? similar situation arises? What are the risks? Are you currently experiencing peer reflectionDISCUSSION QUESTIONS Is there someone you know who offers his or her honest opinions in a kind and helpful pressure in your own life? How can you way? How does he or she do it? face it and come out smiling?
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session FOUR / CADETTE / page 3 uniquely ME! The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program Guide for facilitators
SESSION ONE the real you
SESSION TWO mind over media
SESSION THREE dare to shine
SESSION FOUR my relationships, myself
you can change the way you look
SENIOR/AMBASSADOR SESSIONS ( grades 9-12) G ir l Sc out SENIOR/AMBASSADOR or you can change the way the world looks at girls Girl Scout prep SENIOR /AMBASSADOR step (grades 9-12) Write each uniquely ME! SESSION ONE value on a separate piece of 8x11 paper. the real you Invite the girls to help you set up the room: • Use blue masking tape to create a large 8-slice Objective pie-wheel on the floor. Guide for facilitators Each girl explores the uniquely ME! values so that she can become more Aim for each slice to be confident in her ability to overcome barriers and achieve her goals. about 4 feet long • Place a sheet of paper featuring one of the Towards Leadership uniquely ME! values in Outcomes each slice of the wheel. In Session One, girls will explore Discover Keys to Leadership: Girls develop a strong sense of self and Girls develop positive values. During this session, Senior the uniquely girls will explore ways to recognize and address personal and social barriers to me! values achieving personal goals. By the end of the session, girls will identify ways that • Celebrate you! they can use their values to overcome challenges and obstacles, and achieve • Surround yourself with their goals. positive people • Challenge yourself to modifying “the real you” try new things for ambassadors Be good to your body • To take this session a step further and explore age appropriate outcomes for • Find and express the Ambassador girls, modify the session to explore how and why they are well real you equipped to pursue future life goals. Focus the Wrap Up and Discussion • Have a positive mental questions so that by the end of the session, girls may report increased confidence attitude in their ability to pursue the life goals each envisions for herself and her future. • Learn from your experiences • Find the humor in everyday life Introduction To Facilitators In this session, you will be encouraging the girls to explore how the uniquely ME! values can help them overcome challenges they face in their every day lives. Think about what makes us stay true to ourselves and achieve our goals. This materials includes things like keeping a positive mental attitude, celebrating achievements Supplies and learning from mistakes. To prepare, think about a time when you felt held back from achieving a goal. What got in the way? What personal values helped Masking tape you to overcome your obstacles? Consider sharing a story with the girls about your Sticky notes experience. Invite the girls to recognize how they can stay true to themselves by helping them to identify what matters most to them. For the girls to achieve their Handouts from uniquely ME! goals, they must first connect with their values. The Real Deal What Matters Most” (page 4) “Talents and uniquely me / turnkey curriculum Strengths” (page 5) session ONE / SENIOR / page 1 getting girls involved: girl pact Girl-led activities are one part of the Girl Scout leadership process - when girls help lead activities, they’re more likely to embrace the learning that is done. At the beginning of this session, you can give the girls the opportunity to compose a pact detailing how they will respect and listen to each other. This pact should be all their own - created entirely by them. Tape a piece of butcher paper to the wall and label it “Our Pact.” Allow two girls to take over as leaders - while they should be in charge of writing down the pact points, all of the girls should contribute. Pact points may include: • No talking over one another • Respecting one another’s opinions • Practicing active listening
Advise the leaders of this activity to have the girls raise their hands to demonstrate that they agree with each point of the pact.
ACTIVITY the real you 3 Set up the icebreaker by saying: There is a lot you can’t tell about a girl from her appearance - like how she thinks and feels, and what she values. Let’s 1 Introduce today’s activity by saying “To test this theory out! Explain that each girl around the let the true you shine through, you have to get in circle will take a turn completing this sentence: “One touch with your values and what matters most to thing you can’t tell about me from the way I look is…” you. In this session, we will explore the uniquely ME! values and some strategies we can build into tip: As the facilitator, you should go first. Remember that the girls will look to you to set the tone, so be our every day lives to help us reach our goals. honest and try to provide a powerful example. 2 Ask the girls, What keeps us from being true to ourselves and reaching our goals? Generate some discussion in the group. Reinforce For starters, sometimes we lack confidence or are worried that THE GIRL SCOUT LAW I will do my best to be we won’t be accepted. Being the real-you means honest and fair, being honest about what matters most to you. friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others,
respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout. uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session ONE / SENIOR / page 2 4 Ask the girls to come up with a feeling, thought process, idea, person, situation, or any other example of something that holds them back from reaching their goals. Give each girl a sticky note and a marker, asking that she write her answer on the note before sticking it someplace on her body where it won’t fall off.
5 Now that the girls have opened up a bit, they should be ready to explore the uniquely ME! values. Explain: On the floor you can see the 8-slice wheel we created. Each slice features a different uniquely ME! value. Facilitator Notes We’re going to explore these values to see if they can be used Creating a safe space for sharing is to help us reach our goals. tricky and for today’s session, you might need to take time to establish this space. Ask for a volunteer to read one uniquely ME! value out 6 One way to help girls open up is to lead loud and to define for the group what the value means to her. by example. You can also ask the girls You will need 8 volunteers total – encourage the group to add to think about what it means to be an onto the each others definitions. active, effective listener. It should always be clear to the group that if a girl shares Explore these values by walking slowing around 7 Explain: a personal story, it won’t be repeated the circle and reading each one to yourself. Take your time outside the session. As the girls are and as you are reading, think about what each value means developing their pact, you can ask the to you.. group questions like: How can we respect each other during Next, ask the girls to make a decision by saying, Walk 8 this session? How do you know when around the wheel once more and pick a value that really someone is really listening to you? How stands out as something that is important to you. Once you’ve do you listen to someone with your full identified the value that’s most important to you, stand in that attention (versus thinking about what slice. you’re going to say or interrupting)? 9 Say, Within your slice, pick a partner and tell each other how you incorporate the uniquely ME! value in your every day life and what you gain by doing so. To get started, say to your partner(s): “I [uniquely ME! value] by______and what I gain is______.”
10 Ask the girls to think about what obstacles they are currently facing in their lives–it could be what they wrote on their sticky notes, or an entirely different issue.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session ONE / SENIOR / page 3 How will you incorporate the uniquely ME! values into your everyday life? What values were not on the wheel that you would like to add? DISCUSSIONreflection QUESTIONS What would the world be like if all girls lived by the uniquely ME! values and the Girl Scout Law? Can you take the lead to help others – your friends and family – gain more confidence in achieving their goals? Who do you know who could benefit from an experience like the one you tried today.
11 Encourage them to pick a uniquely ME! value they would like to work on to help them overcome their obstacles. Suggest that they share with their partner(s) by completing the sentence: “I want to overcome______. To do this, I will wrapup (uniquely ME! value) by______.” You may want to give an example: “I want to overcome my friends telling me I’m not pretty enough. To do this, I will 14 To close, have the girls think about their sticky celebrate myself by acknowledging and being proud note, and any other things that hold them back from of my positive qualities.” achieving their goals. To encourage them to commit to using their values, go around in a circle 12 If time permits, have the girls repeat Step 11 and ask each girl to say - either out loud or to herself one more time so they each can explore two different – “To overcome ______, I will ______.” uniquely ME! values. Bring a bin or garbage can to the middle of the room 13 Discuss how incorporating uniquely ME! to act as a “fire.” Suggest that everyone crumple values into our lives helps us to carry out elements of up their sticky notes and throw them into the fire. the Girl Scout Law. Pose the question: How does the Have the girls choose a movement, cheer or dance Law help us to achieve our goals and make the world move that they can do together to celebrate the a better place? completion of the session!
for ambassador girls Your Ambassador session should focus on the Follow up: Handouts goals the girls want to achieve in the future as To help girls explore their own values, opposed to any of their current obstacles. strengths and talents, after the session have To achieve this, focus the Wrap Up and them complete the activities outlined on Reflection on the following discussion questions: “What Matters Most” (page 4) and • What is one major goal you want to accomplish? “Talents and Strengths” (page 5) from • What obstacles do you need to overcome in uniquely ME! The Real Deal. order to feel successful? Note: If girls have participated in uniquely ME! • What is one step you’re committing to take today to achieve your goals? before, they may have already completed these activities. Ask these girls to take a fresh perspective by focusing on what is important to them now uniquely me! turnkey curriculum (as opposed to the last time they session ONE / SENIOR / page 4 tackled these questions). Girl Scout SENIOR /AMBASSADOR (grades 9-12)
SESSION TWO mind over media materials objective Supplies Girls explore how the media and the opinions of others shape the way they look at themselves, and create a “Love My Body Agreement” to help them improve their uME! Tool Box body image. Butcher paper (to make “Ms. Perfect”) Tissue paper and colored Towards Leadership construction paper Outcomes Glue In Session Two, girls will explore Discover Key to Leadership: Girls Develop Scissors DVD player and TV or a laptop A Strong Sense of Self. During this session, Senior girls will work towards Two film clips: “It’s a Girl Thing” recognizing and the multiple demands and expectations of others while (www.girlscouts.org/uniquelyme) establishing their own individuality. By the end of the session, girls will be able “Evolution” (www.dove.com) to identify and describe the challenges they face in finding a balance between accepting group beliefs and making decisions on their own. Handouts from uniquely ME! Mirror, Mirror “Mirror Image” (page 8) modifying “mind over “Just a Little Touch-Up?” media” for ambassadors (page 20) To take this session a step further and explore age appropriate outcomes for “Love Me, Love Me Not” Ambassador girls, modify the session to explore how the girls can act consistently (page 32) with a self-determined set of values, in addition to identifying local, global and Optional societal barriers. By the end of the session, girls may report an increased sense CD player or MP3/iPod player of autonomy. with dock station and speakers, CDs or playlists Introduction To Facilitators In this session, you’ll be asking the girls to explore the outside pressures that influence their body image. For most girls and women the answer is complex, as body image is shaped by a multitude of sources: our community, friends, family, and the larger pressures of the media and society.
To prepare, first think back to your own experience as a teenager - is there an example of when you didn’t accept your body or desperately wanted to change it? Also consider whether you are still influenced by certain media messages - how does this affect your self-esteem? Exploring how we can love both our imperfections and our perfections is a realistic approach to maintaining a health body image.
uniquely me / turnkey curriculum session TWO / SENIOR / page 1 getting girls involved: leaders! Most of the activities in this session can be totally girl-led. When a girl volunteers to lead, explain to her in front of the entire group what the activity is about, and what she’ll need to do to facilitate.
ACTIVITY Facilitator Notes You can modify this session if you don’t mind over media have access to a TV/DVD or a computer. Instead of playing video, have the girls look through magazines and talk about how photos may be altered. You might PREP STEPS 1 also want to use “Just A Little Touch-Up?” Set up TV and/or a laptop. to help investigate how photos are retouched. Ask for two volunteers - one girl should trace the outline of the second girl on a big sheet of butcher paper (ask that they leave room around the body outline). Once Tip: the girls are done, hang up the drawing and label it Because music can inspire girls and help them to access their feelings, it’s a great “Ms. Perfect.” idea to make music a part of your uniquely Set up an area with the construction paper, scissors, ME! sessions. For today’s session, you can markers and glue. play songs as girls write in Ms. Perfect, create their flowers and celebrate their 2 As an icebreaker, show “It’s a Girl Thing” – a commitments to love their bodies. You might film whose message will set the tone for the session - want to: You can change the way you look, or you can change • Ask the girls to create and bring in their the way the world looks at girls. own original playlists (be sure to specify whether they should bring CDs or MP3s). 3 Share a story about any difficulties you’ve had with • Create a playlist or CD using the playlist your own body image, or about a time you struggled created by girls at the uniquely ME! Leadership Institute (search “uniquely me” with trying to get that “perfect” look. Describe how at Apple iTunes). wanting to change the way you look based on pressure from friends, family or the media made you feel. • Create your own original playlist or CD mix (song suggestions: “Beautiful” and “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera; “Respect” by Aretha Franklin; “Just a Girl” by No Doubt; “I Am Not My Hair” and “Beautiful Flower” by India Arie; “Revolution” by The Veronicas; uniquely me! turnkey curriculum “Lessons Learned” by Carrie Underwood; session TWO / SENIOR / page 2 “Work That” by Mary J. Blige). 4 Ask the girls to go around the circle and share 8 Discuss: What did you think about that video? their own examples. Sharing can be free-form, How are these messages and images harmful to or the girls can complete the following sentence: us? How do you think any of us might feel about “One way I’ve wanted to change the way I look ourselves if we didn’t have this outside pressure to is______and the pressure to change came change our appearance? from______.” Ambassador Note: 5 Call out to girls, What does the “perfect Because your Ambassador session will focus on look” look like? Ask for a volunteer to facilitate this increasing the girls’ sense of autonomy and self- reliance, before the “Love My Body Agreement” activity, discussion - she can ask the group questions like explore and discuss how other factors shape body “What are all the things you need to do or have in image and life goals: order to get the perfect look?” or “Who are some • How does your family influence your body image and famous people who have influenced your body what you think about yourself? image?” Have the leader write all the girls’ responses • How do your friends influence your body image and inside the outline of Ms. Perfect’s body. what you think about yourself? • How does a negative body image get in the way of 6 Ask the girls: So where do we get our ideas your achieving your goals? about appearance, body and style? Who or what • What else could girls do with their time if they weren’t is pressuring us to look at Ms. Perfect this way? so focused on body image? Ask a new volunteer to write group responses on To introduce girls to the “Love My Body the outside of Ms. Perfect’s body. If none of the girls 9 Agreement” activity say: There may always be mention the influence of advertising or the media, outside pressures to change our look or who we make sure to add them to the list. are. To make ourselves stronger, and to appreciate our individuality, we have to recognize what we Before playing “Evolution,” explain: The 7 love about ourselves and our bodies. Together we media - especially advertising – can influence our are going to create a “Love My Body Agreement” body image. Here’s a video clip that shows where so that we can choose for ourselves what to think we get this idea of “perfection” an end result that about our bodies. most of us can’t attain, and probably wouldn’t want to if we really thought about what goes into that 10 Hand out the “Love Me, Love Me Not” kind of look.” worksheet - give the girls about 5 minutes to prepare their responses.
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session TWO / SENIOR / page 3 What was it like to create your flower and cover Ms. Perfect by celebrating things you DISCUSSION QUESTIONS love about your body? reflection Why is it challenging to make decisions for yourself as opposed to doing what your friends, family, or the media says you should do? How else can you limit the way people and the media negatively impact your body image? How do you want to feel about your body? How will you apply what you learned in this session the next time you have a bad body thought?
11 Invite girls to make a “Love Me Flower” that has many petals. • First, have them think about something they don’t like about their bodies. Then, encourage: How can you find a positive quality of that body part? What does that body part help you do in your life? • Ask them to write at least one thing they love about their bodies and Follow up: selves on each petal. You might provide an example like, “I love my legs Handouts because they help me play my favorite sport - soccer.” To help them explore their Note: You’ll want to allow the girls about 10 minutes to complete their flowers. own ideas about inner beauty, after the session have the girls complete the To create the “Love My Body Agreement,” have girls take turns 12 “Mirror Image” activities taping their “Love Me Flowers” over Ms. Perfect. (page 8) from uniquely ME! Mirror, Mirror.
Note: If girls have participated in uniquely up ME! before, they may have wrap already completed this activity. Encourage them to take a fresh perspective Encourage each girl to affirm her commitment to the “Love My 13 and think about what is Body Agreement” by completing this sentence: “To love me and my important to them now as body more, I will…” opposed to the last time FOR Ambassador GIRLS they explored this activity. During the Wrap Up, ask Ambassadors to complete this sentence: “One boundary I need to set to stay true to myself is…”
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session TWO / SENIOR / page 4 Girl Scout SENIOR /AMBASSADOR (grades 9-12) prep step SESSION THREE
In advance of the dare to shine session, you’ll want to give each girl a copy of “Shine the Spotlight.” In addition to having Objective the girls to think about Girls create an “Inspiration Wall” of women who inspire them, and identify how they would answer the questions, ask them personal strategies for how they can be positive role models for younger girls. to bring in a picture of a woman who inspires Towards Leadership them as well as a Outcomes photo of themselves. Remember to bring in In Session Three, girls will explore Discover Key to Leadership: Girls gain your own photos, as well practical life skills. During the session, Senior girls will explore how to act as role as extras for the girls models by making healthy choices. By the end of the session, girls will have who may forget theirs. identified their own role models and the ways that they themselves can be role models for younger girls. Modifying “Dare to Shine” for Ambassadors To take this session a step further and explore age appropriate outcomes for Ambassador girls, modify the session to explore how they can become better able to address health issues in their lives, as well as in their local and global communities. By the end of the session, encourage girls to identify the ways they can be role models, both at their schools and in their local communities; girls may also report self-care practices that can help them bring balance to materials their lives. Supplies Introduction To Facilitators Butcher paper (to make In this session, you’ll be asking the girls to explore the women who inspire them. “Inspiration Wall”) They will also start connecting the dots between how making healthy choices Sticky notes helps them to become positive role models for younger girls. Photos (each girl should bring: 1) photo of herself, and To prepare, think about who your role models are - how they treat themselves, 2) a photo of her role model) and what steps do they take to make healthy choices. Strive to help the girls see that by recognizing women who are powerful inside and out, we can all begin to Handouts from own our unique, positive qualities too! uniquely ME! Mirror, Mirror “Mirror Image” (page 8) “Women Who Dared to Shine” (page 66) uniquely me! turnkey curriculum “Shine the Spotlight” (page 67) session THREE / SENIOR / page 1 ACTIVITY dare to shine 3 Ask the group: What do you think makes you a strong, healthy role model? When you’re a positive 1 Prep Steps role model, how do you take care of your body and mind? Have the girls call out 3-5 answers. Ask one • Tape a piece of butcher paper across a wall volunteer to record answers on the “Our Ideas” list. like a banner (you may ask girls to help you out). Write “Inspiration Wall – Women who Dare to 4 Explain: Today we’re going to share who our Shine” across the top. role models are, and talk about why they inspired • Hang another sheet of butcher paper and title us. We’ll also think about the kinds of role models we it “Our Ideas.” want to be for younger girls. To kick off the activity, share your “Dares to Shine” example and how she 2 Icebreaker: Lead the following 2-minute has influenced you. After you share, tape the photo breathing exercise to help girls become present of this woman on the Inspiration Wall. in their bodies and minds: 5 Next, invite the girls to share their role model • Close your eyes and take long, deep, slow examples and to tape them onto the Inspiration Wall. breaths. Try to inhale through your nose and In sharing, each girl should complete this sentence: exhale through your mouth. “This is______. She shines because ______. • Try to relax every muscle and joint, first by I want to be like her by ______.” tensing the muscle and then letting it relax. Start Note: ask a volunteer to keep track of these power words with your toes and move up to your head. on a loose piece of paper or the board.
• If you notice an area of tightness, spend extra time trying to release the tensions. • Keep taking slow deep breath in through your Facilitator Notes nose and out through your mouth. Imagine the For this session, you might want to remind girls about Listening 101 by saying, stress disappearing each time you exhale. Listening with respect is another trait of a strong role model. Let’s really listen to one When the girls are done, ask them: How do you another as each shares her examples and feel now? What do you notice? commitments with the group. You can also explain the two levels of listening: • Level 1. Not listening - when you’re in your own head thinking about what you’re going to say, or when you’re interrupting someone before she’s through speaking. • Level 2. Active listening - when you’re listening to what someone else is saying, and can even mirror back to them what they’ve said. uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session THREE / SENIOR / page 2 reflectionDISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What did you discover about yourself during this activity?
Why is it important for girls to have positive role models?
How does identifying your role model help you become a stronger role model?
What boundaries do you need to set, or what changes do you need to make, in order to become a more positive role model?
6 After everyone has put her role model on the 7 Offer the girls a choice: We can get into pairs Inspiration Wall, ask them to brainstorm three and share our sentences this way, or some us can qualities or personal goals that make them a just share with the whole group and if we have time, positive role model for younger girls. Distribute we’ll get to everyone. Or we can do a combination. sticky notes and pens so that they can record their Which would you rather do? answers. Then, ask the girls to pick one quality or goal to complete this sentence: “To stay______, I______.” For example, “To stay on track to go to college, I say ‘no’ to going out with my friends when I need to study.” wrapup
8 To close, have the girls commit to how they’ll For Ambassador Girls: make healthier choices to be better role models. Your Ambassador session should include • Invite girl facilitators to ask the group: “What are an emphasis on the girls becoming better able to address health issues on community ways we can be powerful role models for younger and global levels. To achieve this, focus the girls, especially when it comes to our body and Wrap Up and Reflection on the following mind choices?” discussion questions: • Next, ask the girls to face each other in two lines • How will you model positive self-care practices? How might these practices bring (A and B) so that each girl has a partner (join in if balance to your life? you have an odd number). • What are some advocacy projects related • Have the A’s say to the B’s: “I will dare to shine by…” to healthy issues that you can participate in or lead? Are there school projects, teams, or and then switch, allowing the B’s to do the same. community clubs that you can join?
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session THREE / SENIOR / page 3 WOMEN WHO SHINE uniquely ME! spokeswoman SuChin Pak joined the MTV News Team as a correspondent in May of 2001. SuChin delivered the news for the network’s flagship show “Total Request Live.” Through MTV’s “Choose or Lose” campaign, SuChin also spoke with people across the country while reporting on the presidential election, youth voting issues and political activism.
Born in Korea, SuChin and her family moved to tAhe San Francisco Bay Area when she was five years old. She is most proud of her work as the host and co-producer of the documentary series, “My Life Translated.” A personal, narrative doc series for MTV, the show follows the lives of young immigrants as they try to navigate between two cultures. Now, SuChin is adding Girl Scouts of the USA to her list of passions, as she travels around the country promoting self-esteem and self-confidence among girls. As a spokesperson for the Girl Scouts/Dove self-esteem program uniquely ME!, SuChin Pak is redefining what it means to be a girl in a world where media and mainstream images don’t always reinforce positive self-worth.
uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session THREE / SENIOR / page 4 prep step Girl Scout SENIOR /AMBASSADOR Create “What Would YouD o?” (grades 9-12) prompts by writing each of the following scenarios on a large index card: • You heard your best friend SESSION FOUR started a rumor about you: my relationships, myself What would you do? • A good friend just asked to copy your homework: What would you do? • Because you forgot to take out Objective the garbage, your mom yelled at Girls explore challenging situations that come up in their relationships, and create you in front of your friend: What their own rules for making their relationships healthier. would you do? • You got invited to a college Towards Leadership party this weekend and you know your parents would never Outcomes let you go: What would you do? In Session Four, girls will explore the Connect Key to Leadership: Girls develop • Your friend is nice to you healthy relationships. During this session, Senior girls will enhance their ability in private, but ignores you at school when she’s hanging to recognize and address some of the challenges inherent to forming and around the in-crowd: What maintaining relationships. By the end of the session, girls will develop their own would you do? set of rules for how to manage and keep their relationships healthy. • A guy you really like, and who’s really respectful toward you, is not that popular and your modifying “my relationships, friends make fun of him all the myself” for ambassadors time: What would you do? To take this session a step further and explore age appropriate outcomes for • Your friend just shoplifted in Ambassador girls, modify the session to help girls strengthen their strategies front of you at the mall: What would you do? for maintaining healthy relationships. By the end of the session, girls will better • A boy you’ve been dating for a understand the benefits and risks involved in their using assertive behavior to while wants to get physical but set boundaries. you’re not ready: What would you do? Introduction To Facilitators Note: If you are able to plan far enough in advance, you can In this session, you will help the girls explore some common relationship have the girls anonymously write challenges. Girls’ relationships shape them - positive relationships help them down relationship scenarios to thrive while negative relationships can lead to unhealthy choices. include with the above prompts. To prepare, think about the relationships you had and the situations you faced as a teen - consider sharing specific examples about how you responded to positive and negative influences. And today, when the girls are exploring how they would materials react to challenges, think about what you would do in each situation, too. By Supplies listening to one another, you can each come up with your own relationship code 8 large index cards that resists peer pressure and supports the development of healthy self-esteem.
Handouts from uniquely ME! The Real Deal Handout: “Would You Ever?” uniquely me! turnkey curriculum (page 16) session FOUR / SENIOR / page 1 ACTIVITY my relationships, myself
Facilitator Notes 1 Prep Step: Set out handouts, blank sheets of paper, pens This session provides an opportunity to get and “What Would You Do?” scenario cards. girls thinking about behaviors that hinder the development of positive relationships. 2 Icebreaker: This is a fun and quick way to physically Topics like backstabbing, gossip, bullying, energize the girls while also having them work together. Explain verbal abuse or other sensitive topics these rules: could come up. Remind girls that they should be able to share their feelings • Find a partner for a game of Standing Twister. honestly. Ask all of the girls not to repeat • Now, I’m going to call out instructions for you to follow – ready? what is discussed in the session, and have them raise their hands to demonstrate • If you’ve ever had an argument with a friend, put your elbow on their commitment to group privacy. Also, your partner’s knee. let them know that that you’re available after class if they’d like to talk with you • If you’ve ever been pressured by a friend to do something one-on-one. you didn’t want to do, put your pinky finger on your partner’s pinky toe. For Ambassador Girls: • If you’ve ever had a crush on someone but we’re afraid they It is also important to help girls discover didn’t like you back, put your hip to your partner’s calf. ways to set boundaries – this involves differentiating between assertive • Last one - if you’ve ever said something that hurt a friend’s (effective) boundaries, and passive or feelings, put your right hand on top of you’re partner’s head. aggressive responses. You might want to use an example to illustrate the 3 Introduce the activity by saying something like: As you differences between these kinds might have figured out, this session is about relationships! Our of boundaries. For instance: relationships are important to us because they shape who we are • The scenario is: “Your friend just shoplifted in front of you at the mall: and, in many cases, they shape the choices we make. Do you What would you do?” think the relationships in your life are helping to boost your self- •The assertive response would be: esteem, or do they drag you down? To find out, let’s play a game “You say, ‘I don’t want to be a part of of “What Would You Do?” this - put that back because I don’t want you to get me in trouble, too.’” • Have a volunteer pick a card from the stack and read it aloud. • The passive response would be: • Ask the volunteer to answer the question: “What would you do?” “You say nothing and look away.” Encourage her to give an answer that realistically reflects her goals • The aggressive response would be: and values. “You say, ‘What do you think you’re doing!? If you don’t put that back now • Before moving on, solicit responses from the group regarding I’m going to drag you to the store what any of the other girls might do. manager’s office!’” • Instead of your picking the next volunteer, ask a girl to step in and facilitate – suggest that she encourage other girls to participate uniquely me! turnkey curriculum by calling on them after each new volunteer presents her “What session FOUR / SENIOR / page 2 would you do?” answer. reflectionDISCUSSION QUESTIONS
4 Invite girls to add to the game once all of the cards How can you better respect the differences have been read. You can prompt them with the following between you and the people you’re in relationships with? questions: What is one relationship scenario that you’ve experienced? What did you do when it happened? How did How do you think our relationships positively or negatively affect our self-esteem? your response work for you? What, if anything, would you If your friends pressure you to do something have done differently? that you don’t want to do, what strategy will you use to stick up for your beliefs and 5 Discuss what creates relationship challenges like those values? that came up during the game. Ask questions like: What are some ways you can be more assertive in your relationships? • Where do people learn about how to act in their relationships What are some changes you need to make to and how to treat people? have healthier relationships? • What kinds of differences come up in close relationships? How can setting boundaries help us to be good leaders? • What causes relationship challenges or sticky situations like the ones we just explored in the game?
Ask girls to create their own relationship rules for how 6 For Ambassador Girls: they’ll treat others, and how they want others to treat them. Your Ambassador session should include an Distribute paper and pens so that each girl can complete the emphasis on the creation and maintenance of sentence: “To make sure my relationships are healthy and the girls’ boundaries. To achieve this, use the Wrap Up and Reflection to: build my self-esteem, I will…” Discuss ways to set boundaries in sticky relationship situations - for example, you 7 Have them create a relationship rules list together. can illustrate the use of an I-sentence: “I feel used when you want to copy off my exams 8 Let the girls decide how they every week. I need you to stop pressuring me.” want to celebrate their new ASK two girls to lead a discussion about commitment to using clear how to create healthier relationships. They can ask questions like: wrapup communication and making •When a friend or family member crosses one of their relationships healthier. your boundaries, how do you say For example, they could share their rules with the group, or what you want and need? make a group pact suggesting how they’ll treat one another. • In a healthy relationship, how do people treat one another? • How can girls avoid buckling under peer pressure? • What is the difference between passive, assertive and aggressive communication? uniquely me! turnkey curriculum uniquely me! turnkey curriculum session FOUR / SENIOR / page 3 session FOUR / SENIOR / page 3