6th Grade Sexual Health Curriculum
Rationale for the Curriculum
While many sexuality education materials have addressed the needs of adolescents, Advocates for Youth realized that such education must begin much earlier. Learning about good communication, safety in relationships, and growth and development lays a foundation that can support healthy relationships and healthy behaviors throughout a person’s lifetime. This K-12 curriculum, therefore, is a collection of lesson plans on a wide range of topics including: self-understanding, family, growth and development, friendship, sexuality, life skills, and health promotion.
Lesson 1: Change is Good
LESSON SUMMARY: This lesson defines the physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes of adolescence and students, in small groups, try to sort the various changes into these four categories. The teacher processes the activity providing the correct information using the teacher’s guide. The homework is completed with a parent/caregiver and involves visiting specific websites to find answers to key human growth and development questions. TARGET GRADE: Grade 6 Lesson
Lesson 2: Understanding Boundaries
LESSON SUMMARY: This lesson starts by defining and then providing examples of personal boundaries. Students, in small groups, analyze scenarios about people not respecting other people’s boundaries. The teacher then makes connections to sexual assault and rape and how consent and communicating one’s boundaries are key but the person who violates a boundary is always responsible for what happened. The homework involves giving advice to two teens in different scenarios. TARGET GRADE: Grade 6 Lesson
Lesson 3: Becoming a Sexual Health Sleuth
LESSON SUMMARY: This lesson reviews the strategies for knowing whether a sexual health website is reliable and accurate and in small groups, students review four common online sexual health resources. Each small group then presents their findings to the whole group including whether they would recommend this website to others. The homework is visiting one of the reliable sexual health websites with a parent/caregiver and talking together about the content they find.
While many sexuality education materials have addressed the needs of adolescents, Advocates for Youth realized that such education must begin much earlier. Learning about good communication, safety in relationships, and growth and development lays a foundation that can support healthy relationships and healthy behaviors throughout a person’s lifetime. This K-12 curriculum, therefore, is a collection of lesson plans on a wide range of topics including: self-understanding, family, growth and development, friendship, sexuality, life skills, and health promotion.
Lesson 1: Change is Good
LESSON SUMMARY: This lesson defines the physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes of adolescence and students, in small groups, try to sort the various changes into these four categories. The teacher processes the activity providing the correct information using the teacher’s guide. The homework is completed with a parent/caregiver and involves visiting specific websites to find answers to key human growth and development questions. TARGET GRADE: Grade 6 Lesson
Lesson 2: Understanding Boundaries
LESSON SUMMARY: This lesson starts by defining and then providing examples of personal boundaries. Students, in small groups, analyze scenarios about people not respecting other people’s boundaries. The teacher then makes connections to sexual assault and rape and how consent and communicating one’s boundaries are key but the person who violates a boundary is always responsible for what happened. The homework involves giving advice to two teens in different scenarios. TARGET GRADE: Grade 6 Lesson
Lesson 3: Becoming a Sexual Health Sleuth
LESSON SUMMARY: This lesson reviews the strategies for knowing whether a sexual health website is reliable and accurate and in small groups, students review four common online sexual health resources. Each small group then presents their findings to the whole group including whether they would recommend this website to others. The homework is visiting one of the reliable sexual health websites with a parent/caregiver and talking together about the content they find.