Living My Values and Defending Them
Students learn to name a personal value that guided a real recent choice, navigate a values dilemma by choosing and defending their priority while respecting what they didn't pick, maintain integrity when peers push them in a different direction, tell the truth in a higher-stakes moment and repair the impact, and write a personal values statement that shows up in their daily behavior.
Lesson Overview
What students will be able to do after this lesson: Students will be able to name a personal value and explain how it guided a real recent choice with a genuine causal explanation, navigate a values dilemma by choosing a primary value and defending it while naming a small step toward the secondary value, maintain integrity when peers push back by using an assertive script that names the value behind the boundary, tell the truth in a higher-stakes moment and complete a concrete repair action they can describe, and write a personal values statement that names specific values and two observable daily behaviors that genuinely reflect them.
Skill segments at a glance:
| Segment | Segment name | Primary standards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Who I Am and What I Stand For | SA-VAL-5-1 · SA-VAL-5-2 |
| 2 | Defending My Values and Making Things Right | SA-VAL-5-3 · SA-VAL-5-4 |
| 3 | My Values Statement | SA-VAL-5-5 |
Supporting standards reinforced:
| Code | Why it connects |
|---|---|
| RDM-ETH-5-1 | Maintaining integrity under peer pressure (SA-VAL-5-3) is ethical choice-making — both require naming what you stand on and holding it when the situation pushes back |
| RDM-CHO-5-1 | Navigating a values dilemma (SA-VAL-5-2) is a specific form of competing values — the same competing-considerations analysis applies |
| RS-FRD-5-2 | Honest conversations with friends — telling the truth about a hard moment and following through on repair (SA-VAL-5-4) — are friendship skills as much as values skills |
Key Vocabulary
- personal value — a stable commitment that guides how you make choices and treat people — not just something you currently enjoy, but something you would protect even when following it costs you something
- values dilemma — a situation where two things you genuinely care about point toward different choices, and you have to decide which one to prioritize — both options matter, neither is simply wrong
- integrity — acting in line with your values even when no one is watching or when going along with something would be easier
- repair — a specific, concrete action that addresses the impact of a choice that was not in line with your values — not just an apology, but something that actually makes it right
- values statement — a written description of the values that guide your day-to-day choices, specific enough that someone who knows you could see those values in your actual behavior
- assertive script — a three-part spoken response used when holding a values-based boundary under social pressure: name the value, state the boundary, and maintain the connection — so the other person knows what you stand on without shutting them out
Materials
- Whiteboard or chart paper + markers (for the values-choice diagram in Segment 1, the four-part dilemma chart in Segment 1, the assertive script components in Segment 2, and the four-part repair chart in Segment 2)
- Before the week begins: Post your unit anchor chart and I Can Statement where students can see them — you’ll reference both throughout the week.
How this lesson is structured: Each skill segment below has an I Do (teacher models the skill with a realistic scenario) and a We Do (class practices together with your guidance). Independent practice — the You Do — lives in the practice resources that go alongside this lesson.
What Students Need Before This Lesson
- What’s inside
- What students should already be able to do
- Helpful to have in place
- 4 quick set-ups before the I DoValues vs. preferences — what makes something a genuine value · Dilemma structure — when both values are genuinely good · Values language vs. refusal language — naming what you stand on · Repair vs. apology — and specific-to-you values vs. generic categories
- Rescue planIf students are significantly behind
This section opens when Grade 5 launches.
Introducing the Skill
- What’s inside
- Opening hook
- What we’re learning
- Why it matters
- Core sentence frameThe frame students use all week
This section opens when Grade 5 launches.
Who I Am and What I Stand For
- What’s inside
- I do: 4 teacher modelsSA-VAL-5-1: Textbook example — a value named and connected to a real, specific recent choice · SA-VAL-5-1: Wrong version → fix — generic claim upgraded to specific real choice with causal explanation · SA-VAL-5-2: Textbook example — full four-part values dilemma navigation · SA-VAL-5-2: Wrong version → fix — picks a winner without completing the full four parts
- We do: 4 guided scenariosWith sentence frames, pacing notes and what to watch for
- Coaching in the momentWhat to say when students get stuck
This section opens when Grade 5 launches.
Defending My Values and Making Things Right
- What’s inside
- I do: 5 teacher modelsSA-VAL-5-3: Textbook example — assertive script naming the value under peer pressure · SA-VAL-5-3: Wrong version → fix — just says no without naming the value · SA-VAL-5-4: Textbook example — honesty in a harder moment, impact named, repair completed, and what changed · SA-VAL-5-4: Wrong version → fix — apology only, no repair action and no what-changed · SA-VAL-5-3: Ordinary positive — values language used naturally in a non-threatening peer context
- We do: 4 guided scenariosWith sentence frames, pacing notes and what to watch for
- Coaching in the momentWhat to say when students get stuck
This section opens when Grade 5 launches.
My Values Statement
- What’s inside
- I do: 3 teacher modelsSA-VAL-5-5: Textbook example — complete values statement with observable, school-relevant, tied behaviors · SA-VAL-5-5: Wrong version → fix — generic values with behaviors that are not genuinely tied · SA-VAL-5-5: Ordinary positive — values statement emerging from noticing a real pattern
- We do: 4 guided scenariosWith sentence frames, pacing notes and what to watch for
- Coaching in the momentWhat to say when students get stuck
This section opens when Grade 5 launches.
Closing the Week
- What’s inside
- 3 partner-share roundsOne for each segment, with the frame students say together
- Round 1 — Segment 1: Values guiding real choices and dilemmas
- Round 2 — Segment 2: Holding values under pressure and honesty
- Round 3 — Segment 3: A personal values statement
- Land the key idea
This section opens when Grade 5 launches.
Practice for every skill segment
Each lesson comes with independent practice — the “you do” — for each of its 3 skill segments, in print and digital.
Printable practice
Ready-to-copy practice pages for each segment.
- View and print in your browser
- Answer keys for quick checking
Digital activities
Share one link — students open it on any device, and you see their answers.
- Works on Chromebooks, tablets and phones
- Students just type their name to start
While you wait: from the SEL Resource Library
Self-Awareness resources for Grade 5, ready to use today.
