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ELA 4: How Words Can Help 1205 Views


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Description:

Sticks and stones, right? Well...only sometimes. It's a good idea to make sure your words aren't going to hurt others. Let's look at some ways to do that.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

Conversations are great. They’re a big part of how we connect to people. [Boy and girl on a see-saw]

00:17

“Oh, you love Shmoop? Me, too!” Bam! Instant friendship.

00:21

But it’s not always so simple. Sometimes you have a – dun, dun, dun – disagreement. [Girl hurt on the floor]

00:27

And then what?

00:28

Well, we’re here to let you know that a disagreement doesn't mean you have to end

00:31

your friendship and move to a different city. Follow these tips, and you should be able [Girl packing a suitcase]

00:35

to move on… without actually having to move. The first thing to keep in mind is that people

00:39

often disagree when they don't share the same opinion. And that's completely fine.

00:44

It might not feel great, but it’s okay.

00:47

Opinions aren't hard facts that everyone needs to agree on––they're shaped by people's [Coop discussing opinions]

00:51

perspectives and their experiences, which means that everybody can have a different

00:55

one.

00:56

With that in mind, it's always a good idea to hear people out on why they hold certain

01:00

opinions. What makes them feel the way that they do? What experiences have they had that [Man and woman in a coffee store]

01:05

support that opinion? You'll only find out if you listen.

01:09

And that's not just true about other people's opinions, but your own as well. If someone

01:13

doesn't agree with you, you should be just as willing to talk them through why you hold [Girl getting a haircut]

01:17

that opinion. Even things that are incredibly clear to you might be news to someone else.

01:23

And when stating your opinions, it's a good idea to make clear that they are, in fact, [Man sits on a chair by a PC]

01:27

opinions. You can do this with phrases like: "In my opinion…" or "In my experience…"

01:32

or even "I think that…"

01:34

So instead of saying, “Harry OBVIOUSLY should have ended up with Hermione,” just throw

01:39

an “I think” in there, and boom: less people will get mad at you.

01:42

Well…maybe just stay away from Harry Potter fans in general. They're a pretty loyal bunch. [Person in wizard robes makes man levitate]

01:46

That brings us to a very important thing you can do to help navigate your way through a

01:51

disagreement: be nice.

01:52

Yup. It's that simple.

01:54

Disagreements are no excuse to be disagreeable. Sure, it’s easy to get mad and call somebody [Tomato hits man in the face]

01:59

a “poop-face,” but… maybe try not to.

02:01

Even if it's kind of funny, it’s not very nice and it’s certainly not winning you

02:05

any persuasion points.

02:06

Because guess what: it’s a lot easier to convince somebody you’re right when they

02:10

like you. And if you follow all these steps and still [Coop teaching how to handle disagreements]

02:13

don’t reach an agreement, that’s totally fine.

02:15

It’s actually a good thing to learn how to do in life. Agree to disagree, get some

02:19

ice cream together, and move on.

02:21

And one last pro-tip: rocky road is a great flavor for moving past arguments. [Boys ice cream falls on the floor]

02:26

But of course, that's just our opinion.

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