Out on a Limb

Subject: Health
Grade: 3
Topic: Social Relationships
Strand: Conflict Management

One thing that is very important to continually teach all year long is conflict management. During my internship, I started with my health unit on Friendship/Conflict Management right from day one and continued teaching it until the last day I was there. A great site I found that I wish I would have had then to use to introduce this unit. This site is called "Out on a Limb". I would have the students go through this site with a partner to be able to discuss different options and problem solving ideas.

This site contains different problems that students will be able to relate to, such as fighting with a friend, spilling secrets, and not getting a long with an adult (such as a teacher). The students can click along at their own pace and the site also reads to you, which would be good for weaker readers. There is a lot to do just in one day, so I would have an outline set up on my blog or hotlist for the students to follow. The first day, I would do just as a have described above. Then there is a section on "how we see things", "listening", "getting along", "feelings" and then "Maria's fun place". I would break these up and have them go through each with a different partner each day so they are able to discuss this with a variety of people.

TIP: This site contains many vocabulary words that should be discussed beforehand, such as the different feelings, so the students are able to understand the different situations.