Group session: Getting to know each other, defining the group.

Age: 4th Grade (9/10 years old) Topic: Dealing with divorce Time: 50 minutes Preparation: Get recommendations from parents and teachers as well as from own knowledge about students who might benefit from a group of this sort. Briefly interview students to ascertain if they will be a good fit. Reserve a room for the time needed and get permission from parents (if needed) and teachers for students to participate. Purpose/rational: The purpose of this lesson is to create a feeling of community and inclusion within the group. This meeting lays the groundwork for the work that will come. All students need to feel honored and safe in order to participate. Learning objectives: By the end of the lesson, the group should know appropriate group behavior, parameters of confidentiality and trust, what the purpose of the group is, and have a general idea of what we will be doing for the next 12 weeks. Developmental level of students: The key systems for these students are family, school, neighborhood, and peers. They are in the concrete operations stage according to Piaget, which means they are thinking relationally and starting to generalize. They are also beginning to bring causes and relationships together. Socially, they are oriented to parents. They enjoy group play and same gender relationships. They can be competitive with peers, and are often unaware of the effect of their behavior on others. They are impressed by older role models, and learn behavior from parent/peer role models. They are more concerned with physical image than social image. Key Questions: Why join this group? What do you want out of this group? How do we create safety? Materials Needed: Poster board, writing utensils, white board. Procedures: Anticipatory Set: Briefly introduce group and what the goals of the group are. Let students know this is their group and they will get out of it what they put into it. Tell students they will be creating a group agreement that everyone will put together. Lead group inclusion activity. Body of Lesson: Lead discussion about what the members want out of the group. Create a group agreement. This should be mostly student lead, but should include some contribution from group leaders. The agreement should include how the group listens to each other, what respect looks like, how to appreciate other group members, and a safety agreement (this includes confidentiality). Write the group agreement on the white board or poster board. Bring this to every meeting to have a concrete representation of the group agreement. Choose an activity from the

attached activities. Be sure you have any materials needed. Closure: Tell group time is almost up. Ask them if there was anything in particular they learned or talked about today that they want to share. If no one wants to share, the group leader should share something about his or her own experience. Assessment: The group leaders will be assessing during the body of the lesson. As the objective of the lesson is to build inclusion, pay special attention to how the group members interact and how they treat each other.

Group session: Getting to know each other, defining the group. Age: 10th Grade (15/16 years old) Topic: Dealing with divorce Time: 50 minutes Preparation: Get recommendations from parents and teachers as well as from own knowledge about students who might benefit from a group of this sort. Briefly interview students to ascertain if they will be a good fit. Reserve a room for the time needed and get permission from parents (if needed) and teachers for students to participate. Purpose/rational: The purpose of this lesson is to create a feeling of community and inclusion within the group. This meeting lays the groundwork for the work that will come. All students need to feel honored and safe in order to participate. Learning objectives: By the end of the lesson, the group should know appropriate group behavior, parameters of confidentiality and trust, what the purpose of the group is, and have a general idea of what we will be doing for the next 12 weeks. Developmental level of students: The key systems for this age group are family, peer group and school. They are in normal mental operations in Piagets theory. This means they are capable of cognitive problem solving, can think abstractly and hypothetically and they integrate multiple factors in order to understand concepts. Socially, they are oriented to present rather than future. They are preoccupied with self-presentation, acceptance by peer group and physical maturity. They seek sexual intimacy, peer role models and independence in decision-making. They differentiate between self and environment and feel awkward in social skills. Key Questions: Why join this group? What do you want out of this group? How do we create safety? Materials Needed: Poster board, writing utensils, white board. Procedures: Anticipatory Set: Briefly introduce group and what the goals of the group are. Let students know this is their group and they will get out of it what they put into it. Tell students they will be creating a group agreement that everyone will put together. Lead group inclusion activity. Body of Lesson: Lead discussion about what the members want out of the group. Create a group agreement. This should be mostly student lead, but should include some contribution from group leaders. The agreement should include how the group listens to each other, what respect looks like, how to appreciate other group members, and a safety agreement (this includes confidentiality). Write the group agreement on the white board or poster board. Bring this to every meeting to have a concrete representation of the group agreement

Closure: Tell group time is almost up. Ask them if there was anything in particular they learned or talked about today that they want to share. If no one wants to share, the group leader should share something about his or her own experience. Assessment: The group leaders will be assessing during the body of the lesson. As the objective of the lesson is to build inclusion, pay special attention to how the group members interact and how they treat each other.

Activities: Bolded typing indicates prep work for the group leader.

All in the Family

Instructions: 1. Ask students to form groups in different parts of the room according to their birth position. (Eldest, youngest, middle, only) 2. Have each member share: How does it feel to be (eldest, youngest, middle, only)? What are their responsiblities? What are their advantages? 3. Merge groups. 4. Ask the group to share: Who has the most power in your family? How do you feel toward the other siblings? Who gets the attention and how do they get it? Reflections: What did you learn about birth order and power? What generalizations can you make about birth order? How did you feel when you were with others in the same birth position as you? What did you feel about those in same/other birth positions? What did you learn about your self?

Five Tribles
Instructions: 1. COPY 5 TRIBLES WORKSHEET- ONE FOR EACH PARTICIPANT! 2. Sit in circle 3. Talk about how each person arrived today with different feelings- some happy or excited, some sad, anxious, tired, some inbetween. 4. Pass out worksheet 5. Ask people to look at worksheet and figure out which face they feel like right now. 6. Review group agreements 7. Group leader models the activity. Be honest and share which face and why. 8. Go around circle and ask everyone to share. Reflections: Why is it important to share how you are feeling with others? How does sharing our feelings help us to know each other better? Whats the mood of the group now? How did you feel as your turn came closer? What did you learn in this activity?

Slip Game
Instructions: 1. PRE-PREPARE A BAG (OR TWO) FOR THE GROUPCONTAINING SLIPS OF PAPER WITH QUESTIONS ON THEM. (SEE ATTACHED SHEET FOR IDEAS OR USE .) 2. Review group agreements, pass out bags. 3. Everyone has a right to pass if they select a question they dont like. They can choose another instead. Just put the original back in the bag and select an alternative. 4. Take turns reading and answering questions. Reflections Whats one thing someone shared you found interesting? Why is the right to pass and select a different question important? Did you feel more comfortable sharing as the activity progressed? Why? Why could it feel difficult for you to share? How did you feel when you were answering your question?