Sometimes, All I Need Is Me / A veces, yo soy todo lo que necesito

Share this Book

Help students discover activities or experiences that help them calm down, feel better, or bring them comfort or joy. After reading Sometimes, All I Need Is Me, talk with students about how the girl responds to different situations and surroundings. Ask students what they think the girl is doing to feel safe and settle into experiences.

Together, make a list of the situations from the book (being away from home, playing with or without friends, feeling scared in the dark, falling down, being alone). Explain how positive self-talk is a skill that’s helpful for lots of situations. Then have students brainstorm a list of some things they tell or would tell themselves in similar situations.

Walk through some of the scenarios in the book along with different situations students will face in real life and have students practice addressing them with positive self-talk. Get them thinking, talking, and writing about the kinds of thoughts and actions they should have if they want to be positive about a situation or feel good about themselves. Ask them to come up with several affirmations. They can share these with the class if they feel comfortable as well as write them down and put them in places they will see every day to help them remember to regularly use positive self-talk.

Questions for Discussion or Reflective Writing

1. How do you think the girl sees herself? How would you describe her? How do you see yourself? In what ways are you similar to or different from the girl?
2. How can changing how you think about a situation change how you feel?
3. The girl in the story shows confidence in herself. Think about a time when you felt confident. What contributed to this feeling?
4. What are some things you like to do for yourself? What gives you comfort or peace?
5. On the pages where the girl is with friends or family, how do you see them supporting each other while honoring their own individual strengths and needs?

Related Resources

• Strengths Chain activity from Understood
• Role-Play as an SEL Teaching Tool from Edutopia
• My Gifts activity from ‎Positive Psychology