About this activity
Eight phrases for disagreeing: I don't agree with that. I think it's better this way. That's not what I meant. Can I say something? I'd rather not. I changed my mind. I see it differently. Core vocabulary sets are generous with requests and thin on dissent, which leaves a teenager fluent in asking and mute in arguing — and arguing is most of adolescence.
How to use it in a session
Create something worth disagreeing about. Pick a genuinely contestable question, take a position the student will object to, and then wait through the objection instead of conceding early. I'd rather not deserves special attention because it is a refusal that is not a behaviour, and students who lack it often end up refusing in ways that get written up. Twelve minutes with a real disagreement beats a full session of rehearsed phrases.
What to listen for
Watch whether disagreement gets used with adults or only with peers. Many students will contradict a classmate and never a teacher, which is usually about how their earlier disagreements were received rather than about vocabulary. Notice whether I changed my mind appears — reversal is a sophisticated move and a sign the student feels safe using the set.
Carrying it home
Let the student win an argument at home occasionally, on something real: what to have for dinner, which film, when to leave. A disagreement phrase that never changes an outcome stops being used.
Questions
- Won't this increase refusals?
- It usually changes their form rather than their number. A student who can say I'd rather not has a way to decline that does not read as a behaviour incident.
- Is an account needed?
- No. The board is free to play with no login.
- Which goal area does this fit?
- Self-advocacy and pragmatic language. Count instances where the student states a position and maintains it through one follow-up.