Fifth Grade
LESSON 1: Friendship Calls for Respect
In our first guidance lesson for the year I brainstorm with the children what a school counselor is and what they do. One of the duties of a school counselor is to provide classroom guidance lessons. In the Fifth Grade we follow a guidance curriculum called Steps to Respect. Students learn today that friendships provide a valuable structure in which children can learn and practice social skills. To develop friendships student practice initiating friendly, respectful contact with potential friends. Students explore the benefits of friendship, are able to define respect and discuss the part respect plays in friendships.
LESSON 2: Finding and Making Friends
In todays lesson I help students understand that using social skills to get to know someone better is an important step in friendships. We also talk about that it is helpful to be able to recognize when someone would like to become friends with you. We practice making appropriate responses to friendly behavior today and identify emotion-management techniques.
LESSON 3: Joining a Group
Joining a group involves showing interest in the group's activity by watching, listening, and asking questions, including asking to join in. Because group entry is challenging for many children students practice respectful behaviors that increase their chances of success. Additionally, children learn to understand that not being part of a group happens to everyone. Throughout the lesson students identify and evaluate both successful and unsuccessful group joining strategies.
LESSON 4: Recognizing Bullying
Todays lesson teaches children two ways bullying occurs. Bullying is easily recognized when it is carried out face to face. Behind the back bullying is more difficult to identify. An example of this would be rumors. We play a game today that helps students identify these two types of bullying and read the children book "Mr. Peabody's Apples".
LESSON 5: Put-Downs Hurt
The use of put-downs is a common form of bullying. Put-downs are often used to exclude and embarrass children. It is sometimes difficult for children to recognize put-downs because they have become common in today's culture-even between friends. Children are able to define put down and distinguish between purposely hurtful put-downs and those that are accidentally hurtful.
LESSON 6: Refusing Bullying
When a child recognizes bullying, he or she needs to determine whether it is safe to use refusal strategies. Children who are bullied often feel powerless. Assertively refusing bullying can decrease a child's stress level and decrease that child's chances of being bullied in the future. To work on this students learn the 3 R's of responding to bullying. We evaluate safety levels in a variety of bullying situations and role play assertiveness skills.
LESSON 7: Controlling Rumors
Rumors and gossip are examples of social bullying frequently used to exclude, isolate, or scapegoat people. Blocking rumors is one way to refuse this type of bullying so today students learn to define rumors and practice responding to bullying along with practicing to block rumors.
 | | | |  | | About the Steps to Respect Curriculum | Steps to Respect: A Bullying Prevention Program is the classroom guidance curriculum being used in grades 4, 5, and 6. The primary goal of this schoolwide program is to help create a safe, caring, respectful, learning environment in which bullying is not tolerated.
As part of the Steps to Respect, students in your child's class will learn new skills to help them build friendships and deal with bullying. For example they will learn how to:
- make friends
- join group activities
- manage conflicts
- recognize, refuse, and report bullying
Parent involvement is an important element in the program. Throughout the program please check the monthly school newsletter for informative handouts. Try the suggested ideas to help your child practice Steps to Respect skills and help join us in creating and maintaining a safe, positive school environment.
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