Conversation sentence stems:

For Early Childhood-Grade 3 Students: 

1. In our family, we believe...
   (Encourages sharing family values and helps build a sense of identity.)
   - "What do we do in our family when we disagree?"
   - "How do you think our family shows kindness to others?"
    

2. Let’s explore that comment together, what do you think it means?
   (Guides students toward understanding and developing their own interpretations.)
   - "Can you tell me more about what you're thinking?"
   - "Why do you think someone might feel that way?"
    

3. You are safe.
   (Provides reassurance and helps students feel secure and comfortable.)
   - "It’s okay to share your feelings, I’m here to listen."
   - “I can handle your big feelings. I am not afraid of them.” 
   - "No matter what, you’re safe to be yourself here."
    

4. Look for the helpers.
   (Instills a positive outlook and teaches students to focus on acts of kindness in difficult situations.)
   - "Who are some people you know who help others?"
   - "When things get tough, who do you think can step in to help?"
    

5. Can you imagine what that would feel like?
   (Encourages empathy by asking students to put themselves in someone else's shoes.)
   - "How would you feel if that happened to you?"
   - "What could we do to help someone in that situation?"
    

6. Let’s think of a way we can solve this together.
   (Promotes problem-solving and collaboration.)
   - "What ideas do you have to make things better?"
   - "How can we work as a team to fix this problem?"
    

For Grade 4-8 Students: 

Building on the prompts above:

ACT Conversation Protocol

Acknowledge/Affirm: Thank you for sharing;  not everyone sees it like that.  Or, I can imagine how that must feel.

Clarify: What do you mean? Where did you get that idea?  Is that a fact or is that an opinion?

Test the Claim: What is your evidence? What is the evidence for another opinion on this topic?

1. Let’s do some research...
   (Encourages critical thinking and the use of evidence to support ideas.)
   - "What sources can we use to find out more about this?"
   - "What’s something new you learned from your research?"
    

2. What might they have been thinking about?
   (Develops empathy and the ability to consider multiple perspectives.)
   - "How do you think their experiences might shape their opinions?"
   - "Can you think of a reason why they might feel differently than you?"
    

3. Most issues aren’t as simple as yes or no, what could some other opinions or policies be?
   (Encourages recognizing complexity in real-world issues.)
   - "What are some gray areas we should think about?"
   - "What if someone had a different set of experiences—how would that change their view?"
    

4. What do you think we could do differently next time?
   (Promotes reflection and growth from experiences.)
   - "How could we improve on what we did?"
   - "What’s something we can learn from this?"
    

5. What are the possible consequences of that action?
   (Encourages students to think critically about outcomes and accountability.)
   - "How might this affect others?"
   - "What are the short-term and long-term impacts?"
    

6. Let’s break it down into smaller steps to understand it better.
   (Helps students tackle complex ideas or problems one piece at a time.)
   - "What’s the first thing we need to figure out?"
   - "How can we organize this information to make sense of it?"
    

7. Why do you think this is important to some people?
   (Encourages understanding of others’ values and priorities.)
   - "What about this issue makes it personal for others?"
   - "Can you think of a reason someone would care deeply about this?"
    

8. What might happen if we tried to see things from a different perspective?
   (Encourages flexibility in thinking and the importance of diverse viewpoints.)
   - "How could we approach this situation differently?"
   - "What if we considered an entirely different solution?"