Name of Lesson ___5th Grade Parent/Guardian Night Out_________________________i

Counselor_______Christina Pucci & Lindsey Goane______________________________

UNIT/TOPIC:
(If unit, note how
many lessons in unit):

Student and Family Communication

DOMAIN:
(academic, career,
personal/social)

Personal/social

GRADE LEVEL(S):

5th Grade and Parent/Guardian

GUIDANCE
STANDARD(S):
ASCA Standards
Addressed:

PS:A1.3 Learn the goal-setting process

PS:A1.5 Identify and express feelings
PS:A1.9 Demonstrate cooperative behavior in groups
PS:A1.10 Identify personal strengths and assets
PS:A2.2 Respect alternative points of view
PS:A2.6 Use effective communications skills
PS:A2.7 Know that communication involves speaking, listening and
nonverbal behavior
PS:B1.1 Use a decision-making and problem-solving model
PS:B1.2 Understand consequences of decisions and choices
PS:B1.3 Identify alternative solutions to a problem
PS:B1.9 Identify long- and short-term goals
PS:B1.10 Identify alternative ways of achieving goals
PS:B1.12 Develop an action plan to set and achieve realistic goals
PS:C1.6 Identify resource people in the school and community, and
know how to seek their help

INDIANA
STANDARDS
ADDRESSED:
*If this lesson is
crosswalked with other
academic areas, please
list here.

3-5.3.3 Discuss the benefits of consensus building.

3-5.3.4 Describe a situation at school in which they have reached consensus with a
group.
3-5.3.9 Demonstrate verbal and non-verbal communications.
3-5.3.18 Describe ways in which students demonstrate respect for their parents and
home.
3-5.3.22 Describe the importance of focusing on ones strengths.
3-5.3.23 Discuss the relationship between behaviors and consequences.
3-5.3.25 Describe the benefits of goal-setting.
3-5.3.26 Identify the qualities of a well-written goal.
3-5.3.27 Write a goal for a specific timeframe.
3-5.3.28 Develop an action plan related to one of their goals.

DIFFERENTIATED
INSTRUCTION
STRATEGIES:

Chairs will be provided for those with limited mobility. Students and parents will have
the choice to engage in experiential learning, including speaking, moving around,
writing, listening, and reading opportunities for different activities throughout the lesson.
For example, students and parents can write down their answers to discussion
questions instead of speaking them aloud and vice versa. Throughout the lesson, the
counselors will repeat back key concepts and terms and write them on the board for
auditory and visual learners.

DEVELOPMENTAL
ASSET(S)
ADDRESSED: This
section only needs
completed if you have
taken ED 671

Positive Family Communication

Parent Involvement in Schooling
Adult Role Models
Responsibility
Planning and Decision Making

COLLABORATIVE
PARTNERS: e.g.,
advisory teachers,
other teachers,

School Counselor of North Montgomery Elementary

Fifth Grade Teachers of North Montgomery Elementary

community resource
people
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES

1. Students and parents/guardians will recognize the meaning of and

differences between verbal and nonverbal communication.
2. Students and parents/guardians will learn better ways of communicating
with each other through the development of SMART Goals.

TIME REQUIRED

2 hours

MATERIALS NEEDED

Pizza
Pencils
Copies of Discussion Talking Points worksheet (front)/Goal-Setting worksheet (back)
4 different colored bandanas (enough for each person and divided up evenly across
four groups)
Shaving cream
Plastic Board
Candy

ACTIVITY SUMMARY

Introduction, pre-tests, whole group, verbal communication ice breaker, Pair &
Share/family group and whole group, small groups/discussion teams, Pair &
Share/family group, whole group shaving cream activity, nonverbal communication
whole group discussion, Pair & Share/family groups, closing, post-tests/surveys
Introduction/Pre-Test (20 minutes)

PROCEDURE

1. Have parents and students sign in as they enter the gym. Provide at random
each member of the family with the same color bandana and ask them to wear
it on their bodies because they will help in identifying groups during the lesson.
Make sure the four colors of bandanas are divided up evenly across four
groups of families.
2. Hand each parent and student a pre-test to fill out.
3. Introduce selves as school counselor and school counseling intern and each
professionals role in schools for students.
4. Let families grab pizza for dinner.
Whole Group (5 minutes)
5. Explain to students and parents that during this lesson they are going to have a
lot of things to do tonight, so everyone is needed to transition to each activity
quickly.
6. Let the group know we will have an attention-getter call to obtain everyones
attention throughout the lesson. Tell them when the counselors say Communi
the students and parents say Cation. When the group hears and responds
accordingly, they are needed to quiet down and listen to the next set of
instructions. Practice this as a group a couple times.
Verbal Communication Ice Breaker (20 minutes)
7. Explain to the group that before the ice breaker game begins, each family
needs to spend under 1 minute agreeing on a name and then students in the
family will have under 4 minutes to create a poster with their familys team
name while the counselors talk with the parents.
a. (Counselor will talk to parents about the need for parents to take
advantage of modeling positive communication to their children so the
parents and children have the opportunity to help the night run
smoothly as they obtain useful information and practice valuable
techniques to strengthen their parent-child relationship.

b. Teachers will assist students with creating signs as needed.

8. Explain the theme and rules of the Minefield game (to build trust and
communication)
9. Run a practice game and then one real game.
Pair & Share/Family Group and Whole Group (5 minutes)
10. Start the cheer, Communi (group responds, Cation).
11. Tell the students and parents it is important for us to now talk about verbal
communication. Have family members turn to each other and spend under 1
minute briefly talking about and piecing together what they think verbal
communication is.
12. Have the group rejoin as a whole and ask them to their hand if they would like
to share the definition the families came up with.
13. Mention to the group that only about 20% or less of our communication is
verbal (with our words) and 80% or more of our communication is nonverbal
(with our bodies).
Small Groups/Discussion Teams (10 minutes)
14. Start the cheer, Communi (group responds, Cation).
15. Request for students and parents break out into their corners where their
bandana color is located. Clarify to the group that they will use these
discussion corners as opportunities for small group discussion throughout the
lesson.
16. Ensure everyone has a discussion sheet.
17. Have small groups begin discussion:
a. What do you feel you learned from this Minefield game/activity?
b. What distractions occurred during the game?
c. How does this game relate to communication?
i. How are those distractions similar to difficulties with
communication between parents and children?
Pair & Share/Family Groups (5 minutes)
18. Start the cheer, Communi (group responds, Cation).
19. Communicate to the group that they will now find a safe space in the room to
still with their parent/child and discussion the following question:
a. What difficulties or distractions do we find in our communication?
Whole Group Shaving Cream Activity (15 minutes)
20. Start the cheer, Communi (group responds, Cation).
21. Request for parents and students to sit with the families who have the same
colored bandana as them.
22. Tell the group we will need one set of parent-child volunteers to come up to the
stage. Make sure families understand that if selected, they need to be willing to
speak/communicate with each other in front of the whole group given they will
be the ones demonstrating the following activity.
23. Ask group members to select from the parent-child volunteers raising their
hands which of them should be their small groups parent-child volunteer
leaders. Remember, the leaders need to be willing to communicate in front of
the whole group (allow 1 minute for the selection process).
24. Have the selected volunteers come up to the front of the group. Go over the
instructions for the game, which are as follows:
a. Students will be given a word by the counselor. Parents/guardians will
not know what the word is.
b. Students will use shaving cream to draw out a picture that describes
the word (not writing the letters of the word) on the board.
c. Parents need to guess the word using verbal communication.
d. Students who are drawing cannot talk during the game.
e. (Student will be assigned to draw a moose and parent will be assigned

to draw an angry bird).

25. Pull the students aside and tell them the word they will need to draw out.
26. Allow the round to begin (allow 2 minutes for the parent/guardian to guess the
word)
27. Tell the group we will have another round of this game, only this time parents
will be given a word to draw on the board and the student has to guess.
Remind volunteers that the parent is not allowed to talk this time but the
student is allowed to talk this time.
28. Remind the group to cheer on their same-colored bandana team.
29. Tell the group at the end of this game, it is important to discuss what nonverbal
communication is in order to help you best understand the purpose of this
activity.
a. Ask the group to spend under 1 minute talking with their
parent/guardian or child about what they think nonverbal
communication is.
b. Have the group rejoin as a whole and ask group members to raise
their hands if they would like to share their familys response.
Nonverbal Communication Whole Group Discussion (10 minutes)
30. Start the cheer, Communi (group responds, Cation).
31. Have volunteers return to the stage.
32. Ask for the volunteers to answer the following questions:
a. When drawing, how did it feel when your family member didnt
understand what you were trying to draw?
b. When guessing, how did it feel when you had to continuously try and
try to figure out what your family member was drawing and could not
just be told the answer?
c. How did you feel when you were unable to verbally (with our words)
communicate with each other?
33. Ask the whole group to raise their hand to share what things they noticed that
seemed like a communication challenge for the volunteers.
Pair & Share/Family Groups (20 minutes)
34. Start the cheer, Communi (group responds, Cation).
35. Tell the group they will be playing the Facial Recognition Game within their
families.
36. Go over the instructions:
a. Each parent/guardian and child will cover their face with their hands
and count together to 3. On the count of three, the parent/guardian and
child will each drop their hands and show each other an angry face.
Then they will do this activity with a sad face, and the last round with a
happy face.
37. Begin the activity once the group has a full understanding of what to do (allow
under 3 minutes for these rounds)
38. Instruct the family groups to spend the next 10 minutes discussing the answers
to questions on their discussion worksheets, which are as follows:
a. What nonverbal or verbal communication frustrates you (must use I
statements I feel ________ when you _________.).
b. Whats one thing you need me to work on to improve our
communication?
c. For students: What do you wish your parent would talk to you about?
d. For parents: What do you wish your child would talk to you about?
39. Start instructing group members to turn their discussion worksheet over to the
back where it says Goal-Setting. Request for families to create their own
goals, individual and family group goals, that will help them work on improving
a specific area of their family communication.
Closing/Post-test (10 minutes)
40. Pass out the post-test to each student and parent and have them each turn in
their completed test to a facilitator below they leave.

EVALUATION:
What data will you
collect and How will
you collect data to
show:

1. Counselor will collect and analyze data from the pre-test at the beginning of the
lesson and data from the post-test at the end of the lesson to determine the
impact on students and parents/guardians, as well as feedback on the lesson.

1. impact on K12 students

2. feedback on
lesson

2. Counselor will reach out to 5th grade parents/guardians via School Messenger
whereby the counselor will have written up a summary of the evening and
provided the opportunity for parents/guardians to speak with the counselor if
they have any further questions or concerns. Also, counselor will reach out to
middle school counselor to convey what has been done with the 5 th graders
and parents/guardians in case the middle school counselor would like to plan
and implement as extension of the guidance lesson when the 5th graders
become 6th graders.

FOLLOW-UP
PLAN:

CITATION(S)
References/Resources
Used:
Cite copyrighted materials,
but do not reproduce
copyrighted materials in your
lesson plan. Non-copyrighted
materials must be reproduced
and included in your lesson
plan.

N/A

Updated June 2012