Chapter 13-16
Putting Learned Skills into Practice
Key Learning Points
Putting skills into action: So far, we have learned about cognitive restructuring/challenging thinking errors, behavioural activation/getting out and engaging in activities, fear ladders/hierarchies and Stress Busters. In these chapters Harry puts all of these together to help him be resilient. This offers an opportunity to review these techniques and to show how they can be combined for maximum effect.
Review the concept of resilience. The concept of resilience, first introduced in Chapters 3-4, is on display frequently in this section. This can be used to facilitate another discussion about resilience and how Harry has achieved it.
Introduce CBT Core Principle #7 – Don’t bite off more than you can chew: Harry is doing a good job of combining his skills but, in Chapter 15, we start to see Hermione struggling because she has taken on more tasks than she can handle. This creates an opportunity for a discussion about setting clear and attainable goals and not setting yourself up to fail by taking on too much.
CBT Foundations
Putting Skills into Practice
“Homework” is an indispensable aspect of CBT. CBT’s philosophy is that it is not sufficient to merely talk about your problems and your skills. You have to practice implementing those skills. By now, students receiving this curriculum should already be very familiar with this idea given the assignments for each unit which encourage practicing skills. However, these chapters introduce Harry to the concept and provide an opportunity for us to review it. In that spirit, students should be encouraged to continue to try practicing some of the skills they have learned through this curriculum outside of class time.
Resilience
As described in Chapters 3-4, resilience is defined as an individual’s ability to overcome adversity and to continue his or her normal development. We can encourage resilience by helping people recognize their personal strengths and then to realize how they can apply them in other situations.
Numerous character traits, attitudes and approaches help to facilitate resilience. Some of those encouraged by CBT and displayed by Harry and his friends include:
· an assertive approach
· flexible thinking/being able to identify multiple ways of solving problems
· avoidance of black-and-white thinking/ability to see the “grey”
· realistic goals
· getting support from others/a strong social network/meaningful relationships
· humour
· taking appropriate risks/allowing oneself to be exposed to unfamiliar situations
· openness to different ways of thinking
CBT Core Principle #7
Don’t bite off more than you can chew
When applying CBT strategies/making efforts to be resilient, it is vital to set realistic goals. One of the approaches demonstrated by Harry throughout the novel is a measured, step-wise approach to implementing what he has learned. This is one of the keys to his success. In CBT, we say that it is better to set two pieces of homework and achieve both than to set four, be overwhelmed, and achieve none. When planning to put multiple skills into practice, students must be mindful of the effort required and should try to set themselves up for success even if it means leaving practicing some skills until later.
Note that the three concepts covered in Chapters 13-16 (putting skills into practice, resilience and not biting off more than you can chew) are inter-related but separate and each likely requires its own time for discussion. Given that this section includes four chapters, teachers should have ample time to review each individually.
How are Chapters 13-16 Related to CBT?
Now that Harry has learned about cognitive restructuring, behavioural activation, fear hierarchies and Stress Busters, he can work on putting them together to make himself feel better. Although he is still nervous about his limited ability to produce a Patronus, at the beginning of Chapter 13, Harry returns to Quidditch with his friends and gets to try his new Firebolt which is “better than he’d ever dreamed”. He worries about the Grim returning but when he thinks he sees it he shines a light towards it (gathering evidence) and discovers it is just Hermione’s cat. When Malfoy tries to bully Harry the next morning, he defends himself, showing confidence he would not have been able to muster a few chapters earlier.
Because he has now practiced his Patronus/Stress Buster, when dementors appear at his Quidditch match he reflexively deploys it without stopping to think. He then wins the match and feels “happier than he did in ages”. In keeping with the notion that growth does not occur in a straight line, he is faced with a nightmare and the reappearance of Sirius Black at the end of the chapter.
As Chapter 14 begins, the school is reacting to the news about Sirius Black. Continuing to use his CBT skills, Harry evaluates the evidence and cannot understand why Black didn’t attack him and Ron (this foreshadows further examples of evidence gathering and flexible thinking regarding Black that we will see in later chapters). Harry spends some of the chapter having fun with and getting up to mischief with his friends, an example of how his efforts are slowly paying dividends/allowing him to return to his usual lifestyle. As in the last chapter, we have an example of a bumpy path to feeling better as he gets into trouble with Snape and then learns of Buckbeak’s impending execution (the notion that moods often fluctuate is also conveyed by the temporary effects of the Cheering Charm at the beginning of Chapter 15).
In Chapter 15, Hermione’s excessive work schedule starts to catch up to her and she is overwhelmed. Here we see an illustration of another CBT concept – that we should work hard but that our goals have to be reasonable and achievable. It is better to take on less and be successful that to taking on too much and fail. Here, we see a hidden aspect of Harry’s journey – he learns a little bit every chapter and builds towards a successful conclusion rather than biting off more than he can chew. In Professor Trelawney’s class, Hermione immediately points out the foolishness of Trelawney’s “prediction” about the exam (since she sets it!). Unlike earlier chapters, Harry and Ron have both figured out that the whole class is a thinking error and don’t treat it seriously (in Chapter 16, Ron calls Trelawney a “fraud”). Harry anticipates a dire prediction from Professor Trelawney but isn’t nearly as worried about it as he was in Chapter 6 (although he does question whether the Grim might still show up at the Quidditch final and then continues to have some difficulty sleeping). When Harry sees the black dog out the window, we find that more curious than afraid. He tries to understand what the evidence (that Crookshanks can see the dog) means. Seeing the dog now has no negative impact on his mood and, with his regained confidence, Harry wins the Quidditch Cup for his team. Succeeding in the activity that gives Harry the most pleasure and sense of mastery leads him to feel elated: “If only there had been a dementor around…Harry felt he could have produced the world’s best Patronus”.
In Chapter 16, Harry writes his exams. While these are actual tests for his courses, Harry’s performance on Lupin and Trelawney’s exams represents the culmination of his learning about managing distress and rejecting thinking errors. It symbolizes his success at CBT. He dispatches Lupin’s creatures including the boggart and then stands his ground and refuses to agree with Trelawney that Buckbeak is doomed to be executed.
These four chapters show Harry putting his CBT skills into action and achieving success. Now that he has been resilient, he is capable of doing higher-level learning in the final few chapters of the book.
Core Lesson Plan 1 - Putting Learned Skills into Practice
What is YOUR Quidditch?
Duration: 1 to 2 50 min periods, plus follow up throughout unit.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
Further explore positive coping strategies and CBT skills already introduced that students may employ when they are struggling.
Continue to normalize mental health concerns (we all occasionally struggle with our mental health, just like we all sometimes struggle with our physical health like when we catch a cold) and the fact that we can all find paths to resilience just as Harry does.
Allow students the opportunity to share and learn coping strategies with and from their peers.
Emphasize the importance of realistic and achievable goals when implementing the strategies learned.
SUMMARY OF TASKS/ACTIONS
Suggested Actions:
Read chapters 13-16 prior to engaging in this lesson (some teachers may also want to include film clips)
Explain to students that Harry Potter’s love of Quidditch helps him when he is struggling. This is another example of a healthy coping strategy: sports.
Ask the students to raise their hands if they would consider themselves “sporty people” (i.e., they enjoy playing sports like softball, swimming, basketball, etc.)
Once these students have had a chance to raise their hands, say, “On the count of 3, I want you all to shout out your favorite sport: 1, 2, 3”.
Next, ask the group: “Who plays an instrument?” Phrase questions in ways that allow you to engage quieter students and draw their examples out. “Who are our artists? People who like to draw or paint?” “Who are our writers?” “Who enjoys hiking, camping, and outdoor activities?”
Continue calling out a range of healthy activities and getting responses. The wider the range of activities, the more included students will feel: i.e., time alone, sleeping, reading, video games, animals, etc.
Ask the students: “What is it that we love so much about these activities or what do you think it is about these activities that help us cope with stress, anxiety, sadness, etc.?”
Call on people who raise their hand so that they can share why these activities help them to be resilient. Students may offer that the activities lead them to forget about everything else and just focus on being in the moment (e.g. playing a game), or they might say they benefit from team spirit and doing something together, or it could be that they’re just talented at something and that feels good.
Lesson Planning:
Instruct the students to break into small groups of four to seven (depending on the size of the class).
Give each group a sheet of chart paper and a handful of markers.
Introduce the activity like this: “In just a minute I’m going to hand out poster paper and markers and we’re going to break up into groups of 4 to 7. When I do, I want you to think about all of your personal strengths (that is, things that help you to be resilient) as well as your healthy coping strategies. Put as many strengths and healthy coping strategies down as possible in the next five to six minutes. I’m not looking for a neat list, so everyone can write or draw at the same time. Just grab a corner of the poster paper and start writing and drawing. Think about what strengths and coping strategies help you get through tough situations and make you feel good about yourself”.
Allow the group ample time to fill in their posters with their strengths and coping strategies (i.e. if the group needs more than 5 to 6 minutes, then allow them more time).
Give the group a warning when there is one-minute left and that they need to start wrapping it up. When time is up, have them sit back in the circle and describe, as a group, their posters for their peers.
To further engage students, it can be fun to ask them to find creative ways to present their posters to the class. They can come up with a cheer, a skit, a mime, an interpretive dance, a rap or song, charades, etc. that communicate the activities on their poster to the rest of the group in a fun and energetic way.
Obviously, gauge the group beforehand to see if your class would be more engaged presenting in this way. If a large portion of the group is quiet and shy, this might not be the best option.
Allow the students an additional 10 minutes to prepare their creative method of communicating the activities that they came up with.
Have them display their poster on the wall and move on to another group, going through all of the groups in the room.
Following this activity, engage students in a discussion of how Harry has used all of the skills he has learned to achieve resilience.
Entire Lesson Plan
Student Activities
No Worksheets
Teacher Answer Key
No Answer Key
Guiding Questions
Under Core lesson 2 - see below
Core Lesson Plan - Putting Learned Skills into Practice
The Thought-Mood Connection
Duration: 15 mins
LESSON OBJECTIVES
Explore the five most common unpleasant moods we experience and help students to understand that specific thoughts will contribute to one’s mood.
Suggested Actions/Lesson Planning:
1. Explain to students that five of the most common unpleasant moods that we experience as humans (and we all experience them!) are: sadness, worry/anxiety, anger, guilt and shame.
2. Students should understand at this point that their thoughts – or what they tell themselves about a situation/event – directly impact their mood. Reinforce this concept with the students by providing them with the worksheet attached. Explain that, to complete the worksheet, they need to identify which of the 5 most common unpleasant moods would be triggered by the thoughts listed.
Entire Lesson Plan
Student Activities
Teacher Answer Key
1: No Answer Key
Guiding Questions
Optional Lesson Plans and Activities
The following lessons and activities are optional. You may download the full set of optional lesson plans, activities, and chapter questions. Alternatively, you can download each activity or worksheet separately.
Entire Set of Optional Activities
Optional Activities (Separated)