Stories to Help Students Develop a Positive Self-Concept

One’s actions greatly impact one’s self-concept. When a person chooses to do positive actions, they feel good about themselves and see themselves in a positive light. This lesson is designed to help Grade 1 students reflect on and gain a deeper understanding of this Positive Action philosophy.

Together, the class reads "A Tale of Two Tuesdays," a story that follows Carlos and John as they each make small choices throughout the day that heavily influence their self-concept in the end. All thanks to positive actions, Carlos’ day is turning out to be a great one. Meanwhile, John struggles to feel good about himself as he takes one negative action after another. Later in the story, John’s teacher reminds him that he can still turn his day around by simply choosing to do positive actions again.

The story is followed by a set of discussion questions that drive conversations on how positive actions can make every day a good day.

After this, the class proceeds to read another story about Maurice the Mouse. Maurice lives in a nice place with plenty of food and space to play but no one to share it with. He decides to invite his cousin Marrott to live with him. When Marrott arrives, Maurice notices that he is unhappy and feels inferior to Maurice. Maurice tries to cheer up Marrott by showing him a picture of a handsome mouse, but Marrott sees the mouse in the picture as scruffy and sad. Maurice is confused by this and wonders if Marrott needs glasses.

This is where the lesson ends, leaving students with a cliffhanger and an opportunity to discuss why Maurice and Marrott have different opinions on the same picture.

By reading the stories in this evidence-based lesson, Grade 1 students reflect on how their actions can help or hurt their self-concept. They also learn that they are in control of their days and can make every day a good one by doing positive actions.