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Are Your Values Showing?

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Liza Mamulashvili

Tier 1
For Schools

Lesson Plan

Values in Action Blueprint

Students will be able to identify their personal values and connect them to their daily actions and decisions, thereby fostering greater self-awareness and intentionality.

Understanding personal values is crucial for making choices that align with who you are and who you want to be. This lesson helps students recognize how their values are already present in their lives and how they can intentionally live by them.

Audience

8th Grade Class

Time

60 minutes

Approach

Interactive activities, discussion, and reflection.

Materials

Walking Your Talk (Slide Deck)](#walking-your-talk-slide-deck), Value Charades (Game)](#value-charades-game), Daily Value Tracker (Worksheet)](#daily-value-tracker-worksheet), and One Action, One Value (Cool Down)](#one-action-one-value-cool-down)

Prep

Review Materials and Prepare

15 minutes

  • Review the Values in Action Blueprint Lesson Plan and familiarize yourself with the activities.
    - Prepare the Walking Your Talk Slide Deck for presentation.
    - Print copies of the Daily Value Tracker Worksheet (one per student).
    - Review the instructions for Value Charades (Game).
    - Prepare the One Action, One Value Cool Down activity.

Step 1

Introduction & Hook: What Are Values?

10 minutes

  • Begin with a brief discussion: "What does it mean to have values?" or "What's important to you in life?"
    - Introduce the concept of personal values using Walking Your Talk Slide Deck (Slides 1-3).
    - Explain that values are like a compass guiding our decisions.

Step 2

Exploring Values: Value Charades

15 minutes

  • Introduce the Value Charades (Game) activity.
    - Divide students into small groups.
    - Have each group act out different values, and the class guesses.
    - Facilitate a brief discussion after the game about how values are expressed through actions (use Walking Your Talk Slide Deck Slides 4-5 to reinforce).

Step 3

Connecting Values to Actions: Daily Value Tracker

20 minutes

  • Distribute the Daily Value Tracker Worksheet.
    - Explain how to use the tracker to identify values in their daily lives.
    - Ask students to brainstorm 2-3 of their own personal values.
    - Guide students through an example of how an action they took today might connect to a personal value.
    - Encourage them to think about how they can intentionally demonstrate their values.

Step 4

Reflection & Share Out

10 minutes

  • Have students share one insight or a value they identified from their worksheet.
    - Facilitate a brief class discussion about the importance of aligning actions with values. (use Walking Your Talk Slide Deck Slides 6-7).

Step 5

Cool Down: One Action, One Value

5 minutes

  • Distribute the One Action, One Value Cool Down.
    - Instruct students to complete the cool-down ticket, reflecting on one action they can take that reflects a personal value.
    - Collect cool-down tickets as an exit ticket.
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Slide Deck

Are Your Values Showing?

What guides your choices?

Welcome students and introduce the day's topic: personal values. Ask them what they think 'values' are.

Values: Your Inner Compass

Deeply held beliefs that guide your actions and decisions.

  • What's important to you?
  • What do you stand for?

Explain that values are like a compass. They are deeply held beliefs that influence our decisions and actions. Give a simple example like 'honesty' or 'kindness'.

Why Do Values Matter?

They help you:

  • Make choices that feel right.
  • Understand yourself better.
  • Build strong relationships.
  • Live authentically.

Ask students to think about why understanding their values is important. Connect it to making good choices and feeling good about themselves.

Values in Action: Show, Don't Tell!

Your values aren't just ideas – they're shown in what you DO!

Think about:

  • How do you treat others?
  • How do you spend your time?
  • What causes do you care about?

Introduce the 'Value Charades' game. Explain that actions speak louder than words. We can often tell what someone values by how they act.

Seeing Values in Everyday Life

From big decisions to small moments, your values are at play.

  • Helping a friend = Kindness
  • Working hard on a project = Diligence
  • Speaking up for what's right = Justice

After the game, reinforce the idea that even simple actions can reflect a core value. Ask for examples from the charades.

Your Daily Value Tracker

A tool to help you:

  • Observe your own actions.
  • Identify the values behind them.
  • Become more intentional about living your values.

Explain the 'Daily Value Tracker' and how it helps them observe their own actions and connect them to values.

Walk Your Talk!

When your actions match your values, you are 'walking your talk'.

It leads to:

  • Greater self-awareness
  • Feeling good about your choices
  • A more meaningful life

Conclude by emphasizing that self-awareness of values leads to a more fulfilling life. Encourage them to continue reflecting.

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Game

Value Charades: Act It Out!

Objective

To creatively express and identify personal values through non-verbal communication.

Instructions

  1. Divide into Groups: The teacher will divide the class into small groups (3-4 students per group).
  2. Assign Values: Each group will be given 2-3 value words (e.g., Kindness, Honesty, Respect, Courage, Creativity, Perseverance, Responsibility, Compassion, Fairness, Patience).
  3. Brainstorm Actions: Within their groups, students will brainstorm actions or scenarios that demonstrate their assigned values without speaking. They should think about how someone who values X would behave.
  4. Perform Charades: Each group will take turns acting out one of their values. The rest of the class will watch and try to guess the value being portrayed.
  5. Discuss: After each guess (or if the class struggles to guess), the teacher will facilitate a brief discussion:
    • "What actions did you see that made you think of that value?"
    • "Can you think of other ways this value might be shown?"
    • "Why is it sometimes easier to see values rather than just hear about them?"

Value Word Ideas (Teacher will provide to groups):

  • Kindness: Helping someone, sharing, comforting a friend.
  • Honesty: Telling the truth, admitting a mistake, returning a lost item.
  • Respect: Listening attentively, waiting your turn, using polite language.
  • Courage: Trying something new, standing up for someone, admitting fear.
  • Creativity: Drawing, building, coming up with new ideas.
  • Perseverance: Not giving up on a difficult task, practicing a skill.
  • Responsibility: Completing homework, taking care of a pet, being on time.
  • Compassion: Showing empathy, caring for others, volunteering.
  • Fairness: Sharing equally, taking turns, judging impartially.
  • Patience: Waiting calmly, explaining things clearly, not interrupting.

Enjoy showing your values!

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Worksheet

Daily Value Tracker: My Actions, My Values

Name: _________________________ Date: _________________________

My Personal Values

Before we begin, brainstorm 2-3 values that are important to you. These are the things you believe are truly significant in life.

Tracking My Values in Action

Over the next day, observe your actions and decisions. For each action, try to identify which of your personal values (or other values) it reflects. Don't worry if you can't fill in every box; the goal is to start noticing the connections!

Time of DayWhat I Did (My Action/Decision)Which Value Did This Show?Why do you think so?
Morning








Afternoon








Evening








Reflection Questions

  1. Was it easy or difficult to connect your actions to values? Why do you think that is?






  2. Did you notice any values in your actions that you hadn't considered important before? Explain.






  3. How can being aware of your values help you make better decisions in the future?






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Cool Down

One Action, One Value: Exit Ticket

Name: _________________________

Reflect & Act

  1. My Top Value: What is ONE personal value that you feel is most important to you right now?

  2. An Intentional Action: Describe ONE specific action you can take tomorrow that will clearly demonstrate this value.

    ________________________________________________________________________________________

  3. Why? Briefly explain why this action reflects your chosen value.

    ________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for sharing!

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