6th Grade Friendship Group Outline
Session 1:
There were 20 students that signed up for the friendship group. Since this was too large of a group to have, they were split up into four groups of five. During the first session, the students introduced themselves and told a fact about themselves. After they introduced themselves, they talked about different personalities and how that can affect their friendships. They then read several different stories about the various personalities: shy, outgoing, quiet, loud, etc. After each story was read, they talked about what advice they would give the person in that scenario and how they could improve their friendship skills. They also talked about whether they were similar or opposite to that personality type and how that affects them.
Session 2:
The four groups were switched around so that the students didn’t meet with the same people. By redoing the groups, the students were able to meet other students that they may not have known. They did introductions again with a fact about themselves. After the introductions, they talked about the different ways to start friendships and how difficult it can be to start conversations with people that they don’t know. After the discussion, they were paired with another student that they didn’t know. They were provided a list of “interview questions” that they asked each other. Questions included things about their pets, what they like to do, a secret wish, etc. They then shared something with the group about their partner that they didn’t know before. They discussed the questions and how easy it was for them to ask. They also discussed other questions and topics that they could use when trying to make new friends.
Session 3:
The four groups were switched around again, and they did the same introduction of their name and a fact about themselves. The topic for this group was peer conflict and resolution. They were given a worksheet that showed 5 steps to help them resolve conflicts. The 5 steps were cooling off, stating the problem behavior, stating the feeling, stating what you want, and resolving the conflict. They went through the list and read and discussed each step. They then were asked to think of a scenario where they had a conflict with their friends. Each student walked through the steps and talked about how they could have handled their situation better.
Session 4-8:
After the three weeks was up, the students were sent weekly invitations for another friendship group for the next five weeks. The invitation was open to all students that participated in the friendship group and said that this was more of an informal meeting. The group was optional and was just for the students to come in and talk to the students that they got to know in their friendship groups. They discussed their weeks, plans for the weekend, school, etc. The group met five times with an average of ten students in attendance.
There were 20 students that signed up for the friendship group. Since this was too large of a group to have, they were split up into four groups of five. During the first session, the students introduced themselves and told a fact about themselves. After they introduced themselves, they talked about different personalities and how that can affect their friendships. They then read several different stories about the various personalities: shy, outgoing, quiet, loud, etc. After each story was read, they talked about what advice they would give the person in that scenario and how they could improve their friendship skills. They also talked about whether they were similar or opposite to that personality type and how that affects them.
Session 2:
The four groups were switched around so that the students didn’t meet with the same people. By redoing the groups, the students were able to meet other students that they may not have known. They did introductions again with a fact about themselves. After the introductions, they talked about the different ways to start friendships and how difficult it can be to start conversations with people that they don’t know. After the discussion, they were paired with another student that they didn’t know. They were provided a list of “interview questions” that they asked each other. Questions included things about their pets, what they like to do, a secret wish, etc. They then shared something with the group about their partner that they didn’t know before. They discussed the questions and how easy it was for them to ask. They also discussed other questions and topics that they could use when trying to make new friends.
Session 3:
The four groups were switched around again, and they did the same introduction of their name and a fact about themselves. The topic for this group was peer conflict and resolution. They were given a worksheet that showed 5 steps to help them resolve conflicts. The 5 steps were cooling off, stating the problem behavior, stating the feeling, stating what you want, and resolving the conflict. They went through the list and read and discussed each step. They then were asked to think of a scenario where they had a conflict with their friends. Each student walked through the steps and talked about how they could have handled their situation better.
Session 4-8:
After the three weeks was up, the students were sent weekly invitations for another friendship group for the next five weeks. The invitation was open to all students that participated in the friendship group and said that this was more of an informal meeting. The group was optional and was just for the students to come in and talk to the students that they got to know in their friendship groups. They discussed their weeks, plans for the weekend, school, etc. The group met five times with an average of ten students in attendance.