Adam Hanson

Group Lessons
Old Dominion University

1.
2.

See Appendix A
Sixth graders who are navigating their ways through their first year of Middle School
face a difficult challenge. They are attempting to find their places in a new environment,
which they may have many expectations about. In addition, they may be becoming
increasingly self-conscious about their own physical development, or lack thereof, compared
with peers. All of these factors lead to a difficult transition for many, who will find that
managing social relationships while reconciling their own expectations with reality is
overwhelming. For students with families who reinforce collectivistic styles, it may be even
more difficult to make sense of these changes, as the typical European-American educational
style is to reinforce individual responsibility for work (Rothstein-Fisch, Greenfield, &
Trumbull).

3.
ASCA Standards: PS:A1.5; PS:A1.9; PS:A1.10; PS:A2.2; PS:A2.6
ASCA Competencies: I-A-3; I-A-8; I-B-1h; I-B-3; I-B-4e; I-C-1; I-C-5: I-C-7; II-A-5; II-A-8; IIC-3; II-C-5; II-B-6d; IV-A-3; IV-A-4; IV-A-3a: IV-A-3b; V-C-1
4.

The goals of Session #1 are to establish the rules of the group, define the purpose of the
group, and introduce the group members to one another in order to help them begin to feel
comfortable. The goals of Session #2 are to reinforce the rules and purpose as defined in the
first session, and to use mutual storytelling to help group members identify more appropriate
ways to interact with peers in particular social situations. The goals of Session #3 are to use an
adventure counseling-based activity to get the group members working together towards a
mutual goal, and to help them to process that activity in a way that encourages selfunderstanding, understanding of others, and positive team-building for future circumstances in
their typical school days. These groups will be facilitated using a blend of person-centered
theory, a strengths-based approach, and a constructivist approach.

5.
Screening Procedures: Group members will be self-referred and teacher-referred. Questions that
will be asked during member screenings will include the following:
-What do you like best about coming to school?
-What would make it better?
-Where do you think of yourself as fitting in at school?
-What do you hope to gain from a group about friendship?
Group Rules: Group rules will be developed by the group during Session #1. Assuming that this
had already happened, the rules might be as follows:
-No talking about what the group talks about with other people at school
-Its okay to talk to parents about the group
-If you talk to parents about the group, there is no using real names of other group
members
-No making fun of group members
-Be nice to group members
6.
See Appendix B

7.

The Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment will be

given to the teachers of group members one week before the first session and again one week
after the last session. Because teachers behavioral observations of students are so key to their
understanding of those students, this instrument will provide a behavioral snapshot of the
group members by the individual who views their behavior most frequently. An additional
benefit of having teachers complete the evaluation is that they will be drawn into the process,
causing their attention to necessarily shift to the students changes in behavior.

8.

Group members who have not shown improvement on their evaluation instruments, or
those who request additional follow up, will be given additional one-on-one attention when
possible, or their parents will be referred to an outside resource, as appropriate.

9.
Session #1:
Supplies/Equipment - Whiteboard, whiteboard markers, name tags, 3x5 cards, colored
pencils
Session Plans
a)
Define the purpose of the group as a safe place to learn and practice friendship skills.
Have everyone take a name tag to write their name on, and place one red and one blue colored
pencil in the middle of the group. Ask the members to write their first names in red and their
last names in blue on their tags. This gives the group leader an idea of who in the group is
most likely to take on a leadership role, who the more reserved members are, and how the
group will work together as a unit. Next, ask everyone to help develop the rules of the group
by starting with an example and having them suggest other rules to be copied to the
whiteboard. These will be transferred to construction paper later by the group leader.
b)
Give everyone a 3x5 notecard and a pencil, and ask them to think of a question about
friendship that anyone in the group could answer. Shuffle all of the cards and place them face
down in the middle. One at a time, have each group member pick up a card, read the question
and answer it.
c)
Processing includes a discussion of what it was like for each member to have to pick up a
card without knowing what was on it and try to answer a question without preparing. Were
they surprised by some of the questions people asked? Were there questions that they also
wondered about?
Session #2:
Supplies/Equipment - Written list of rules, copy of Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh,
name tags
Session Plans
a)
Welcome the group members back. Have them complete name tags. Re-establish the
rules that were written together during the prior week.
b)
Explain that the activity for the session will be a short reading from a book, and then
some brainstorming about the character. Share the plot of the book Harriet the Spy with the
group. Read an excerpt from the book, illustrating some of the negative consequences on her
friendships that occurred due to the mean comments about her friends in her notebook. Ask
each group member to contribute by discussing some of the reasons her friends were angry

Adam Hanson
Group Lessons
Old Dominion University

with her. Processing may include questions like were her friends right to be angry? and
what could Harriet have done differently? Processing should then move to discussion of
how they might have acted differently had they been in Harriets position.
c)
Ask the group members to - over the course of the school week - think about some ways
in which they may have acted like Harriet in the past or present, and how they might have
made a different decision.
Session #3:
Supplies/Equipment Beach ball, list of rules created by group, name tags
Session Plans
a)
Welcome group members. Have them complete name tags. Remind the group of the
ending of last weeks session. Ask them to share some of the ways they thought of that they
may have acted like Harriet the spy in the past or present, and how they might have made a
different decision.
b)
Explain to the group that youd like to try a game with them. Take out the beach ball and
ask them how many times they think they can hit the beach ball to keep it in the air without
touching the ground. Tell them that no one can hit the ball more than once in a row. Give them
two chances to practice. Next, ask each member to predict the number of times the group will
be able to keep the ball up. Have them try once. Processing should follow the PARS model.
Questions include: What did we just do during this activity (processing-activity)?; How well
did we work together to accomplish this goal (processing-relationships)?; What role did you as
an individual member of the group play (processing-self)?; What was the purpose of doing this
activity (understanding-activity)?; What were our strengths as a group? What were our
weaknesses (understanding-relationships)?; What role did you play in helping or hindering the
group, and what role would you like to play next time (understanding-self)?; When in your
everyday life is there a time when you need others to help you accomplish a goal (applyingactivity)? What did our group do well that each of you could apply to other group situations
(applying-relationships)?; What did you learn about yourselves from this activity that you
might not have known before (applying-self)?
c)
Ask the group members to throughout the week pay attention to their interactions in
groups, and to take note of what role they play in those groups.

Appendix A

Adam Hanson
Group Lessons
Old Dominion University

References
Glass, J. S., & Benshoff, J. M. (1999). PARS: A processing model for beginning group leaders.
JournalforSpecialists in Group Work, 24, 15-26.
Glass, J.S., & Shoffner, M.F. (2001). Adventure-based counseling in schools. Professional
School Counseling, Vol. 5 Issue 1, p42-48, 7p.
Rothstein-Fisch, C., Greenfield, P.M., & Trumbull, E. (1999). Bridging cultures with classroom
strategies. Educational Leadership, Vol. 56 Issue 7, p64-67, 4p.

Appendix B

Adam Hanson
Group Lessons
Old Dominion University

Dear Monarch Parents & Guardians,

Im very pleased to inform you that your child has either self-selected, or has been referred by a
teacher, to participate in a series of small group counseling session on the topic of friendshipbuilding.
During these sessions, they will have the opportunity to learn and practice friendship-building
skills with other group members. The overall goal of these sessions is to increase your childs
ability to interact socially with their peers, thereby increasing their self-confidence and
decreasing their daily level of stress. Research in education has shown us that students with high
levels of confidence and low levels of stress perform better in the classroom and retain
information for longer.
Each group session will take roughly 20-25 minutes, and will take place during your childs
study block. There will be a total of five (5) group sessions over the course of five (5) weeks.
Pre and post-group assessments will help us gather information on the effectiveness of this
particular group topic, and help us continue to improve our school counseling services for your
children, as well as future students.
By filling out the form below, you are providing permission for your child to participate in these
group sessions. You can also choose to check the box labeled I would prefer that my child does
not participate in this group, should you wish for your child to not be included at this time.
If you have any additional questions or concerns about the nature or content of this group, please
dont hesitate to call me directly at 757-555-5555 or email at adam@someschool.edu.
Thank you very much for your attention,
Adam Hanson
School Counselor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I, _________________________, have been informed about my childs interest/referral to the
friendship skills group.
O

I would like my child to participate in this group.

I would prefer that my child does not participate in this group.

____________________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature
Date