masterMind
Additional LifeSkills Lesson
Unit 12  Self & Society: maximizing your potential
Objective: to provide further practice of maximizing your
potential, this time within the context of Self & Society.
The three-step strategy for developing this soft skill is:
Step 1: Understand the difference between hard
skills and soft skills and the importance of
each. (Ex. A, Ex. B)
Step 2: Assess your soft skills, and decide which
areas you need to improve. (Ex. C)
Step 3: Consider practical ways in which you can
continue to develop your life skills. (Ex. D,
Ex. E)
You may decide to highlight this strategy at the
beginning of the lesson, and to conduct a short
discussion to check that the students understand the
skill and why it is useful. However, if you prefer to
teach this lesson without discussing the underlying soft
skill, this is also possible. The lesson is designed to be
engaging and successful either way.
For more information about teaching life skills and ideas
for highlighting the soft skill, please refer to p. xii and
pp. T148–T149 of the Teacher’s Book.
MATERIALS:
• board and markers
Lead-in
Write the following sentence beginnings on the board:
• I’m incredibly good at …
• I’m pretty good at …
• I’m slightly better at … than at …
Ask the students to complete the sentences with their
own ideas. Put them in groups and ask them to share
their sentences. Have a brief class feedback session and
write some of the students’ answers on one side of the
board. Leave their answers on the board for now.
A
• On the other side of the board, write hard skills and
soft skills. Underneath, write the following examples:
• being an effective team member
• being an active listener
• knowing how to change a plug
• giving constructive feedback
• knowing how to change a tire
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015. This page may be photocopied and used within the class.
LEVEL 2
• Elicit from the students which of the examples are
hard skills (knowing how to change a plug; knowing
how to change a tire) and which are soft skills (being
an effective team member, being an active listener,
giving constructive feedback).
• Ask the students to look at the examples and, from
these, to give you a definition of the two terms.
(Hard skills are specific skills necessary to do a
particular job or activity. Soft skills are more general
skills that are useful in a range of situations.)
• Refer the students to the list of answers on the board
from the Lead-in and discuss whether most of the
answers the students gave were hard skills or soft
skills.
B
• Ask the students to think about their everyday life and
write a list of the hard skills that they have.
• Then put them in pairs and have them discuss which
of these hard skills they use the most often.
C
• Remind the students that in the Student’s Book
lesson they assessed how good they were at a
number of soft skills. Have them turn to p. 148 and
remind themselves of their assessments for each
skill.
• Now ask the students to work in the same pairs as in
Ex. B and to brainstorm a further list of soft skills that
are especially relevant within the context of Self &
Society.
• Erase the board. Elicit students’ ideas as a class and
build up a list on the left-hand side of the board.
You can add the following soft skills to the list if the
students don’t mention them (all were covered in
masterMind Level 1):
• understanding stereotypes
• being a positive team member
• developing empathy
• showing initiative
• understanding rights and responsibilities
• managing stress
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masterMind LEVEL 2

• Now ask the students to copy the list from the • Before the start, write the following How to say
board and form a two-column table like the one in it box on the board. Read the phrases aloud
the Student’s Book. Have them assess how good and encourage the students to use these in their
they are at each of these soft skills using the same discussion.
scoring system: G (good), A (average), or NI (need to
improve). They should write the relevant letter in the HOW TO SAY IT
second column next to each soft skill.
I’m good at … This is especially important for …
• When the students finish, have them compare their
Being (pretty/incredibly) good at …, you’re probably
answers briefly with their partner. also good at …
D Hearing that you’re good at …, I imagine you’re also
• Put the students in small groups. Ask them to look pretty good at …
at each soft skill in turn and to brainstorm practical
steps they could take to improve it. Remind them
that their ideas should be relevant within the context
of Self & Society, rather than the context of work or
Reflect
study. • Erase the board and write the following question:
If you wish, elicit one or two ideas as an example What did you learn about yourself and your skills in
(see Possible answers below) and then give the this lesson?
students about ten minutes for this. • Give the students time to reflect on the question
• Elicit ideas as a class and write some of the most individually. You can elicit students’ ideas if you
useful ones next to the relevant skill on the board. wish, or you can leave this as an individual reflection
The answers will depend somewhat on the soft skills activity if you prefer.
discussed in Ex. C. Add the answers below, if relevant,
to the list on the board.
EXTRA: HOMEWORK
Possible answers Ask the students to look at the list of soft skills
Understanding stereotypes: visit a different covered in this lesson and to rank the top five soft
country; find a penpal from a different country skills for everyday life, in order of importance. Have
Being a positive team member: find out what the students work in small groups at the next class
groups there are in your community and join one to compare their lists, discussing any differences
Developing empathy: do some charity work to help of opinion.
others who are less fortunate than yourself
Showing initiative: start something in your
community, e.g., a newsletter, group, club, etc.
Understanding rights and responsibilities: exercise
your voting rights
Managing stress: take up an activity to combat
stress, such as yoga or meditation

E
• Ask the students to stay in the same groups.
Encourage each student to tell the rest of the group
which soft skills they are best at. As a group, they
should then discuss how these particular soft skills
are relevant and useful to their everyday life. The
other students can suggest additional soft skills that
could be useful.

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