Grade 4 supplemental lessons

This guide was adapted with permission from the Teacher's Guide to Rights, Respect, Responsibility: A K-12 Curriculum, produced by Advocates for Youth. It was developed to assist teachers with implementing a puberty education unit, specifically the grade 4 and 5 puberty education sequence of lessons in the New York City K-5 Health Education Scope and Sequence. The Scope and Sequence is a compilation of lessons from the New York City Department of Education's recommended curriculum, HealthTeacher; lessons from Ready, Set, Respect! GLSEN's Elementary School Toolkit; and Advocates for Youth’s Rights, Respect, Responsibility: A K-12 Curriculum.

The contents of this resource were updated on November 22, 2021.

Adapted from the education publisher Overcoming Obstacles, this lesson supplements the Grade 4, Unit 3 curriculum, which focuses on social, emotional, and mental health. In this lesson, students will understand stress, how it affects them, and how to cope with situations that are stressful. Students will practice coping strategies and will identify what they should do when they become stressed.

Adapted from Advocates for Youth's Rights, Respect, Responsibility: A K-12 Curriculum, this lesson supplements the Grade 4, Unit 4, Lesson 1 curriculum, "Growth and Development," and focuses on the physical, social, and emotional changes during puberty. It explains how the timing of puberty and adolescent development can vary considerably and still be healthy. The document includes the following student handout:

• They Tell Me I'm Going Through Puberty

Adapted from Advocates for Youth's Rights, Respect, Responsibility: A K-12 Curriculum, this lesson supplements the Grade 4, Unit 4 curriculum and focuses on developing healthy relationships with family, friends, and peers. It covers effective ways in which students can respond and take action when they are or someone else is being teased, harassed, or bullied. This document includes the following resources:

• Video: "You Can Be an Upstander"
• Handout: ZED's Steps for Interrupting Bullying Behavior
• Homework: Making a Difference to Stop Bullying Behavior
• Handout: Our Upstander Story

Adapted from Advocates for Youth's Rights, Respect, Responsibility: A K-12 Curriculum, this lesson supplements the Grade 4, Unit 4 curriculum, "Growth and Development," and focuses on developing healthy relationships with family, friends, and peers. It compares positive and negative ways that friends and peers can influence relationships, and helps students identify parents and other trusted adults they can talk to about relationships. This document includes the following resources:

• Video: "Friendship Soup"
• Worksheet: Positive and Negative Influences on Relationships
• Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships Quiz
• Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships Quiz: Answer Key
• Handout: Trusted Adults
• Homework: Circles of Trust

This lesson appears on pp. 48-50 of Ready, Set, Respect! GLSEN's Elementary School Toolkit. It supplements the Grade 4, Unit 4 curriculum, "Growth and Development," and explores gender roles and diversity. This lesson helps students to challenge their own and others' assumptions about gender and gender roles.