Welcome Back!

Here we go for the last few weeks of school. It went by very quickly. We are beginning Reproductive Health this week and so students will be earning credit in class by being present and participating. Participation comes in many forms-adding to a discussion, completing an assignment in class, actively listening, etc. There will not be any way to make up classroom activities for absences so students who are absent will be exempted from the activity. Please be sure that you are discussing with your child what the class topic was each day. Your family beliefs are an important part of this course for your child to know. One of the best places to discuss topics that may be uncomfortable to talk about is in the car. No one has to look at the other person, but everyone is a captive, listening audience-just make sure the cell phone is off.

Well, here is the schedule for the next 2 weeks:

Science
Monday, April 13
We will begin class by taking a few minutes to finalize the Science Binders for this week since I will begin collecting them to take a grade for them. Students were told about this often the week before Spring Break and told what day their class would be handing theirs in. Here's the schedule: Monday-1st hour, Tuesday-2nd hour, Wednesday-5th hour, Thursday-6th hour, and Friday-7th hour. The Binders will be worth about 68 points!

Next, we will introduce the idea of using Peer Leaders for different activities in Repo. Health. Students will nominate students to be Peer Leaders and the student can accept or decline. Then students will vote for anywhere from 4-6 Peer Leaders for the class, depending on the class size. I will take the ballots home with me and count the votes.

Then we will establish the class ground rules. They are posted in the room. We will work in a Kagan Structure "Mix Pair Share" and share why we think each ground rule is important to the class. We will then come back together as a class and discuss why we think each ground rule is important to the class.

We will quickly discuss the Anonymous Question Envelopes that are posted on the side bulletin board and how to use it.

Then I will introduce the Safer Choices paradigm.

Tuesday, April 14
Students will be viewing the video, "The Miracle of Life".

Wednesday, April 15
We will finish yesterday's video, if needed. Then we will begin our review of the male and female reproductive system. This is a review of material that has been presented to them since 5th grade reproductive health classes. Students will complete a Male and Female Reproductive System handout.

Thursday, April 16 (Mrs. Kahler is out, alternate lesson)
Students will be viewing a video on Peer Pressure from United Streaming. They will have an Anctipation Guide to go along with the video.

Friday, April 17
We will begin lesson #4 "Not Everybody's Having Sex!" Students will be moved into same gender teams for this activity. Students will have a recorder in their group and brainstorm: 1) All the reasons that young men or young women choose to have sex and 2) All the reasons young men and young women choose to not have sex. Then we will come back together as a class and list our ideas into four different categories: 1) Why young women choose to have sex, 2) Why young men choose to have sex, 3) Why young women choose not to have sex, and 4) Why young men choose not to have sex. Then we will compare and contrast the lists and identify reasons that are similar to both males and females. Next we will identify differences between the lists. We will discuss why knowing the pressure on a partner can help understand the choices they make.

Next we will review the reasons not to have sex. Students will then be asked to come up with their own two reasons not to have sex. Students will not be pushed to share their ideas, but if they would like to share, they may.

Homework: Students will take home a sheet, Then and Now. They are to interview a parent, guardian or other adult about dating, pressures to have sex, and reasons teens chose not to have sex when this adult was a teenager. Students will also brainstorm other questions they would like to ask this adult. I will not be collecting this sheet, just the signed portion at the bottom of the handout. This is personal information and it should stay as such.

Monday, April 20
Lesson #5 is "The Safest Choice:Deciding Not To Have Sex". We will be referring back to our butcher paper poster our class made in lesson #4.

We will then learn about the 4 parts of a clear NO statement. Then, the Peer Leaders will help with a class role play on an ineffective role play and an effective role play. Students will write down their observations for each role play. Then, we will look at another role play where the student writes the responses to a partner on a handout. They will use the 4 parts of a clear NO statement.

Tuesday, April 21 (Mrs. Kahler will be out, alternate lesson plans)
Students will be viewing "The 11th Hour" to focus on Earth Day which is tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 22 -Earth Day
Students will be working on lesson #6 "Saying NO to Having Sex". We will be reviewing giving clear NO statements. Then we will work on more ways to say NO using alternative actions and delay tactics. We will be using role plays again and observer checklists.

Thursday, April 23
Lesson #7 is on understanding STD and HIV. There is a review of both. Students will be given information on one STD or HIV and they will then create a poster to inform others about it. We will look at the information that is similar about the 6 STDs and then signs of them.

Friday, April 24
In lesson #8, students will complete an activity to illustrate the risk of having multiple sexual partners. Then we will look at some partner risk stories and rate each story on the risk of getting an STD..