curriculum

new curriculum ideas and websites

This month I taught my 8th grade unit on dating abuse & healthy relationships. I used Lessons 1,2,3 of SAFE DATES, the power wheels, and www.chooserespect.org.
Lesson 1 is a great introduction to caring relationships and in Lesson 2 students learn what is dating abuse. When reading the statistics to the students, I added some from the list of stats I created (under Facts on this website). Lesson 3 does a great job of explaining the cycle of violence, without calling it that, and it explains the control and manipulation of the victim…...be sure to read ALL the BOLD PRINT to the students during each lesson, as I found it contains the most important concepts that students need to understand…..most of my 8th graders found this material interesting and fairly easy to understand…...none received lower than a “B” on the test I gave at the end of this unit, although I did keep the test simple. CHOOSERESPECT.org is excellent and every 8th grade health teacher should use it…...I had the mobile lab in my room…students used laptops to navigate the website. I began the first lesson by projecting the 13 minute video on the white wall for them all to view. Then they had to complete a handout that I wrote to keep them focused (this handout can be found via a link on the curriculum page of the LABMF website). AFTER they completed the handout, then they were allowed to play the Game and start making a video. It took about 1 1/2 classes to complete the handout, and most were able to play the game and check out the video section. What’s nice about this, is that students who didn’t get to finish making a video could do so at home or in the library. The students LOVED this website…...and they were VERY MOTIVATED….ALL of them…...I felt that each curriculum offered something that the other didn’t…..and they complimented each other and as a result students got a good knowledge base and basic understanding of the topic in 8th grade.