Guidance Lesson: Understanding Peer Relationships

Understanding Peer Relationships

By: Melissa Pierson 

Grade Level: 6th Grade 

During this guidance lesson, students will explore the different types of peer relationships as they are related to types of weather. Four weather forecasts will represent different types of relationships: sunny, partly sunny, cloudy and a tornado. Sunny weather represents healthy and supportive relationships. Partly sunny occurs when relationships are healthy, but there may be times of conflict or unhappiness. The cloudy forecast is when the relationship is no longer healthy and instead is filled with animosity and angst. The tornado represents the drama that sometimes stems from a cloudy relationship. During this lesson, students will explore what each relationship looks like through role plays. Students will articulate what constitutes a healthy relationship and what unhealthy relationships looks like. Students will understand how it is normal for relationships to move between different forecasts and will learn how to cope with the drama tornado. Role plays and scenarios will equip students with real-life situations and spark conversation about what is happening in the relationship. The key learning target is for students to recognize healthy relationships and learn what to do when relationships are laden with drama. These learning objectives will be met through classroom conversation, role plays and the completions of an individual worksheet. 

The lesson will begin with exploring each of the weather patterns shown to class using the document camera. Students will use their previous experiences with peer relationships and interpret what each of the weather patterns represent. After this brief discussion, students will break up into groups and will be assigned a scenario representing different types of relationships. Groups will have 10 minutes to prepare a short skit of the scenario. Students will present their skit to the class and after the class will identify what weather pattern occurred in the scenario. If applicable, the class will determine ways to avoid or resolve the scenario. The learning objectives for the students will be to recognize and articulate different types of relationships.