The idea for this mini-lesson came after reading an article on Linkedin by Robert Glazer. Unspoken Rules for Life and Work are considered common behaviors and expections that society expects us to know. They are learned by observing others and noting what is accepted and approved of versus those that are disapproved of. This is a great way to introduce your students to these, possibly before they learn them the hard way!

Set

• Ask students if they’ve ever heard of the the term “unspoken rules” and what it means.
• Explain in case students don’t know that “unspoken rules” are considered common behaviors and expectations that society expects us to know and perform. They are learned by observing others and noting what is accepted and approved of versus those that are frowned upon.
• Ask students for some daily life examples as they might apply to their friendships, school, family and/or work.
• Assign students the article written by Robert Glazer titled, “Do You Know These Unspoken Rules for Life and Work?” and answer corresponding questions. Note: This article is from Linkedin which may be public, if not, you may need to set up an account in order access it.
• Pull the class together and discuss their response.

Materials

• iPads or Laptops (only if doing digital versions)
• Projector & Screen (only if doing digital versions)
• Copies of the Article (digital or hard copy)
• Colored Pencils (only if doing hard copy versions)

Activities

• Give students the opportunity to practice identifying unspoken rules by having them read through a variety of scenarios. I’m providing two versions. One version related to personal life scenarios and the second version applies to workplace scenarios. You can do both either in a movement based way or as a worksheet.
• If you are doing the movement based version, simply cut apart the scenarios and place them around the room for students to circulate and record their answers on a piece of notebook paper.
• If you are doing the worksheet version, simply, make copies or attach them digitally to your learning managment system such as Google Classroom.
• Take time to go over the scenarios to be sure students have accurately identified the unspoken rules.
• For the culminating assignment, students are to Rewrite the Restaurant Scene from the article and complete the steps within the guide sheet.
• After the scenario has been rewritten, have students count off by 5’s and place students into small groups based on their number.
• First, the groups share each of their individual restaurant rewrites. They then have to revise their response to include suggestions and/or solutions from each person’s contribution and color-code them. Groups then present their new scenario BEST responses to the class. To save time, these can be graded while students are presenting.
• If you’d like students to individually share what they’ve learned, have them complete the 3-2-1 slip.

Attachments

• Article Questions
• Personal Life Scenarios
• Workplace Scenarios
• Rewrite the Restaurant Scene
• 3-2-1 Exit Slip