Relationship skills are the ability to form and maintain meaningful and healthy relationships with other individuals. They can be romantic, professional, teammates, or friendships. Important components of healthy relationships of any kind include open communication, listening, trust, collaboration, compromise, and problem solving. It is also crucial for children to understand what an UNhealthy relationship looks like.
For this activity, the teacher will read aloud the book A Letter to Amy by Jack Ezra Keats. After discussing the book, students will create a 3 cell storyboard that illustrates a scenario of a positive and healthy relationship. The example provided only includes illustrations and speech bubbles, but teachers may add a writing component by adding description boxes and headings if they choose.
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Due Date:
Objective: Create a storyboard that illustrates a positive and healthy relationship scenario.
Start your lesson by discussing what respectful communication looks like, including listening, taking turns, and using kind words. This helps students understand the foundation of healthy relationships and sets a positive tone for activities.
Demonstrate active listening, empathy, and problem-solving while interacting with students. When students see these behaviors in action, they're more likely to mirror them in their own interactions.
Organize simple role-play scenarios where students can practice skills like compromise, expressing feelings, and resolving conflicts. Role-play gives students a safe space to try out new strategies before applying them in real life.
Ask students to share or journal about times they used healthy relationship skills, either during class or outside of school. Reflection helps reinforce positive behaviors and builds self-awareness.
Healthy relationship skills for elementary students include open communication, listening, trust, collaboration, compromise, and problem solving. Teaching these helps children form positive bonds with peers and adults.
Read A Letter to Amy aloud, then discuss examples of positive and negative relationships in the story. Have students create a 3-cell storyboard illustrating a healthy relationship scenario, using speech bubbles and character interactions.
Ask students to design a three-panel storyboard showing characters practicing healthy relationship skills like teamwork, listening, or resolving a conflict. Encourage creativity with illustrations, dialogue, and optional descriptions.
Recommended books include A Letter to Amy by Jack Ezra Keats, The Almost Terrible Playdate by Richard Torrey, Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon, It Wasn’t Me by Oliver Jeffers, Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival, and Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry.
Use clear examples and stories to show that healthy relationships involve trust, respect, and communication, while unhealthy relationships may have exclusion, dishonesty, or lack of respect. Encourage students to identify these signs in familiar situations.