Students watch a motivational TED Talk or video, discuss what made it effective, then write their own motivational speech or video script to share with the class.

Reflect on what types of statements energize and motivate them, create their own motivational self-talk statements and turn them into a book, and share and discuss their statements with classmates.

Students privately rate their own self-esteem on a 1–10 scale and reflect on what shapes it, then choose a role model with high self-esteem and create a collage or drawing of that person's qualities — sharing connections between their role model and themselves.

Create a Mad Lib story in which other students can fill in either “happy” or “excited” to complete the story, and apply their understanding of the difference between happy and excited to their own Mad Lib as well as to those of their classmates.

Teams draw a random letter tile, then race to come up with a positive word starting with that letter to describe every person in the class — sharing their lists aloud and then discussing how it felt to hear the words others chose for them.

Over several sessions, each student secretly observes an assigned classmate and tracks their positive qualities, then writes a formal letter to that classmate's family describing the strengths they witnessed — which is mailed home after a draft-and-revise process.

Students will identify their positive qualities and write a letter to themselves — building self-confidence by giving themselves the kind of encouragement they often save for others.

Students will create a drawing or collage that expresses how they see themselves and how others see them — building self-confidence by giving voice to who they are on the inside.

Students will be able to identify the people, places, and things they love — building self-confidence by recognizing the joy and goodness already present in their own lives.