Rebecca Scott
Smart Tools
Essential Question: What traits are found in a good relationship?
Subquestions: What is the role of change in a good relationship? How does cooperation affect good relationships? What is the effect of conflict on good relationships? How do our choices affect our relationships?
1. Utah Lesson Plans, "2nd Grade-Act 07: What Makes a Good Family?.” UEN
2ndGrade Core Lesson Plans. 12 Aug 2003. Utah Education Network. 22 Mar
2008 <http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview?LPid=5697>.
This lesson plan has the students decide which traits contribute to a good family. The students choose whether they agree or disagree that the trait on the paper is characteristic of a good family. Having strips of paper with traits on them and then allowing the students to decide if they agree or disagree that these are traits of a good family is a good idea. In the lesson plan, it says to make strips of paper with traits of a good family on them. To be more effective, there should also be strips of paper with traits that don’t contribute to a good family, so that there are things to disagree about. This would be a good activity to use at the beginning of the unit to assess the students’ background knowledge. The T-chart could remain on the classroom wall during the unit. Then the strips of paper could be moved if the students decide that a trait would fit better under a different column.
2. Godina, Stevane. "The Important Thing About a Family." Teacher Resources:
Lesson Plan/Webquests/Activities. 21 Jul 1997. Utah Education Network Themepark.
29 Mar 2008. <http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=1284>.
This lesson plan uses Margaret Wise Brown’s The Important Book as a basis for the students to create their own important books related to families. This lesson plan has the first graders working with older students who can help them write their ideas. The older students would not be needed if the activity were done with students who had basic writing skills. Then this could be used to expand the important things about families to the important things about relationships in general. A class book could be created as a culminating activity to the unit on relationships that reviews the important aspects of relationships including the role of conflict, cooperation, choices, and change.
3. Tompkins, Andrea. "George Shrinks: See, Think & Do Activity Guide." PBS Kids. Public Broadcasting System. 29 Mar 2008 <http://www-tc.pbskids.org/georgeshrinks/caregiver/George_AG_FINAL.pdf>.
This activity guide contains many valuable lesson plans about friendship. One of the best parts of this guide is the index located at the end. This makes it easy to find the lessons that address your specific topic. The lesson on how to help a friend in need is well done.
4. Tompkins, Andrea. "Berenstain Bears: See, Think & Do Activity Guide." PBS Kids. Public Broadcasting System. 29 Mar 2008 <http://www-tc.pbskids.org/berenstainbears/caregiver/Bears_AG_FINAL.pdf>.
This activity guide uses the Berenstain Bears as characters that the children can relate to as they learn about relationships. There are lesson plans that tie in with an episode of the Berenstain Bears. The lessons could be used even without watching the episode. There is a sample letter for parental involvement as well as background and activities related to family, community and choices. The index of activities is useful.
5. "Books about Friends, Relationships, Community." Thinkfinity. 21 Oct 2006. NCTE/IRA. 29 Mar 2008 <http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson136/Books_About_Friends.pdf>.
This list is an easy to use reference of picture books about relationships. The list was last updated in 2003. This means that the most recently published books on the topic are not included on the list. It would be more valuable if there were short summaries of the books rather than just the bibliographic information.
6. "When Friends Fight: Talk About It." It's My Life. PBS Kids. 29 Mar 2008
<http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/friendsfight/article3.html>.
This site discusses the value of using I-messages when conflicts arise in relationships. This is a valuable and simple tool to help students resolve conflicts and understand one another. The site is geared toward older students, but the principles can be taught to any age group. There are also links to a crossword puzzle and a video clip about friendship.
7. "Character Education." Virtual Fieldtrips. Utah Education Network. 5 Apr 2008 <http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/tourFames.cgi?tour_id=14902>.
This site contains valuable questions to promote discussion. These questions are related to respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, trustworthiness, and community. This website did not have any other valuable resources than these questions. The questions could be used for a class discussion or an opportunity for students to draw and write their own responses.
8. Hughes, Fountain. "Voices From the Days of Slavery." The Library of Congress: American Memory. 11 June 1949. The Library of Congress. 5 Apr 2008 <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/vfssp.html>.
This site contains interviews with former slaves. This is a powerful first hand account of how it feels to be in a bad relationship: a slave. The English is not perfect because it is the former slaves own voice. This would be a valuable resource to use with older students, but it might not be appropriate for younger students. This could be used for younger students if there was time spent to give students the background to understand slavery. It would also be appropriate to use only a section of the interview. Part of this interview talks about how the man felt that he was of less value than a dog. This could create a good discussion as to what that would be like and how we need to be careful not to treat people poorly.
9. Straley, Maggi. "Options for Anger." SURWEB Media Shows. Utah Education Network. 5 Apr 2008 <http://www.surweb.org/search/view_custom_show.asp?page=1&change=45>.
This show helps students think through what leads to their feelings of anger. It also empowers them with strategies to use to control their anger. There is a lot of reading, so it would have to be read to younger students. Children can relate to the pictures that are used. The naïve and awareness anger cycles are valuable to help students understand how their choices affect relationships. This is a valuable resource to help students understand anger.
10. "Monster Swap." Designing Effective Units: Project-Based Units to Engage Students. Intel Education. 9 Apr 2008 <http://educate.intel.com/en/ProjectDesign/UnitPlanIndex/MonsterSwap/>.
The learning unit is well developed. It includes ways to differentiate instruction. Using technology is part of this plan, but the learning activities could be completed without using technology if the project was coordinate with another classroom of students in the school or a local school. The theme of monsters is engaging especially for boys. The activities clearly illustrate the need for clear communication. Students also learn in a concrete manner that each person interprets information differently. This is valuable knowledge when trying to understand the effects of communication on relationships.
11. Sherman, Richard and Robert. "It's A Small World ." The Teacher's Guide: Children's Songs. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 12 Apr 2008 <http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/smworld.htm>.
This site contains the lyrics and music to the song “It’s A Small World”. This song has a catchy tune, which helps students remember the song. The lyrics discuss the similarities that we all share as people. This would be a good thing to use to remind students to focus on similarities with others rather than criticizing differences.
12. Dowell, Saxie. "Oh Playmate, Come Out and Play With Me." The Teacher's Guide: Children's Songs. 1940. National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. 12 Apr 2008 <http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/playmate.htm>.
This site contains the words and lyrics to the song “Oh Playmate, Come Out and Play With Me”. This song is useful to use with children that are shy to show the importance of inviting others to play. It also shows that things change in relationships. In the lyrics to the song, they cannot play one day, but they are still friends. This can help the students, who feel that they always have to play with one person, see that they can still be friends with someone even if they play by themselves or with someone else one day.
13. Hawley, Marsha. "Out on A Limb: A Guide to Getting Along." Urban Programs Resource Network. University of Illinois Extension. 12 Apr 2008 <http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/conflict/index.html>.
This is an interactive power point presentation, which shows students that everyone experiences conflict in relationships and the important thing is how the individual responds to the situation. The students choose one of three responses: retaliate, ignore the problem, or discuss the problem. Then the students see the results of this response. This helps the students see learn appropriate responses to conflict because they see the consequences. There are several different situations that can be selected that address different conflicts that children face. There is a teacher resource. There is also a discussion of feelings, listening, and taking another person’s perspective. This is an excellent resource because it is simple yet full of instructional value.
14. Jones, Marianne. "Daily Life." Ouelessebougou. Utah Education Network. 12 Apr 2008 <http://www.uen.org/core/socialstudies/ouelessebougou/daily/index.html>.
This site helps students see that there are people all over the world living in families. It allows students to see pictures and compare similarities and differences in the way people live. This could be a useful resource to use in conjunction with the song “It’s A Small World”. There is a picture of a school. The school has Hillcrest Elementary School painted on it because this school helped the community in Africa be able to build the school. Ask the students how they think the children at this African school feel about the students at Hillcrest Elementary. Why do you think that they feel that way? How does reaching out and helping others affect relationships?
15. "Doing The Right Thing, Building Character." eMedia. Utah Education Network. 19 Apr 2008 <http://dms.uen.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/tsweb.woa/1/wo/z6zib2RbfpDExQU7u6impg/2.13.3?1208664718687>.
This video has four vignettes that show how making good choices has a positive effect on relationships. The vignettes are on telling the truth, being responsible, being considerate, and standing up in defense of a friend. The vignette on standing up for a friend was a powerful example of the challenges of standing against the crowd in defense of a friend. This example is especially valuable in trying to combat bullying by helping the students see another’s perspective.
16. "Let's Make Up, Learning About Forgiveness." eMedia. Utah Education Network. 20 Apr 2008 <http://dms.uen.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/tsweb.woa/1/wo/z6zib2RbfpDExQU7u6impg/2.13.3?1208664718687>.
The video uses three vignettes to demonstrate that apologizing and accepting apologies can diffuse conflicts in relationships. I would recommend this video. It is simple and clearly presents its message. This is valuable to help students see that each person plays a role in maintaining a good relationship when there has been conflict. This also gives an opportunity to discuss that conflict in a relationship requires that change occur (even if the change is as simple as saying I’m sorry) in order for the relationship to continue because grudges destroy relationships. Either one or both of the people need to apologize and the other person needs to accept the apology and not hold a grudge.
17. Shribman, Bill. "Arthur: Family Matters." PBS Kids. WGBH Boston. 20 Apr 2008 <http://pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/activities/acts/family_matters.html?cat=development>.
This is a lesson plan that discusses family relationships. It talks about how family relationships change. This plan is geared toward preschool age students. It has children talk about a time when someone in their family made them happy and a time that angered them. Discussing feelings as suggested in this lesson is helpful for everyone. I would use this resource mainly for the booklist of books related to this topic and then develop my own discussion with the students after reading some of the recommended books.