School Counselor:

Lesson Plan Title:

Erin’s Law

TN Student Standards Targeted:

SS5. Exercise personal safety skills including refusal skills. 

Erin’s Law: Students can recognize sexual abuse and tell a trusted adult.

Student Learning Objectives:

All K-5 students will be able to:

• Identify private parts as parts of our body covered by a bathing suit

• Demonstrate a verbal and nonverbal way to say “no”

• Identify 2 trusted adults (one at school and one not at school) by name

Suggested Materials:

Kindergarten and 1st grade:
Books: Your Body Belongs to You (Cornelia Spelman), Miles is the Boss of His Body (Abbie Schiller), Don’t Hug Doug (Carrie Finison), My Body’s Mine (Kayla Marnach)

Videos: Fightchildabuse.org (Lessons 2, 3, and 4); Howard Wigglebottom

2nd and 3rd

Book: Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept (Jayneen)

Videos: Fightchildabuse.org (Lessons 2, 3, 4); KidSmartz; Consent for Kids

4th and 5th

 Fightchildabuse.org (Lessons 2 and 5) 

QuaverReady                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Describe how you will:

Introduce Lesson Topic/Focus:

Counselor determined.

Possible Scripting:

Today we are going to talk about keeping our bodies safe.  We’ve talked a lot about how to be safe at school, but this is a little bit different.  Today, we’ll learn to recognize abuse and what we can do if it happens.

Communicate the Lesson Objective:

At the end of the lesson, all students K-5 should be able to:

• Identify private parts as parts of our body covered by a bathing suit

• Demonstrate a verbal and nonverbal way to say “no”

• Identify 2 trusted adults (one at school and one not at school) by name

Possible Scripting:

Success for us today looks like knowing what parts of our bodies are private, practicing a way to say No, and knowing who to tell if we feel unsafe.  We’ll check at the end to see if we can do those things.

Teach Content:

Counselor will choose instructional materials that best help your students meet stated lesson objectives as well as engage in these discussion questions:

• What areas of your body are private? The parts covered by a bathing suit.

• When is it OK for someone to see your private areas? When it is needed for health or hygiene/cleanliness purposes.

For all resources, the counselor should stop frequently to check for student understanding and tie what students are seeing back to the objectives.

Practice Content:

The lesson will have designated time to model and practice both verbal and nonverbal refusal skills.

Click here, here, and here for some refusal skill lists for kids.

No, Go, Tell Handout

Possible Scripting

Now we want to practice how to say “No.”  Sometimes we might say “No” with words, but you can do it without words, too.  Let’s start with words. If someone was doing what we saw in the video, or making my body uncomfortable, I might say “Stop!  I don’t like that.”  Or, maybe I would say, “Leave me alone.”  (Counselor models.)  Let’s take some private think time to think of a way you might use words to say No.  (Give students private think time.)  Would anyone like to share how they might say No?  (Accept volunteers.)  Great, everyone’s way to say No is different, and that is exactly what we want. The best way to say No is the one we’ll actually use.  Now we’ll take a minute to practice our way to say No with a partner.  (Give students practice time.  Counselor will informally assess student learning and provide additional support as needed.)

Now, let’s talk about some ways to say No without words.  I noticed some kids using these already, and that’s fantastic.  (Counselor gives examples likely already modeled by students, such as moving away, crossing arms, hold hand up in Stop motion, etc.)  For me, I might cross my arms or just try my best to get away.  What are some ways you might say no without using words?  (Give students private think time.)  Would anyone like to demonstrate their idea?  (Accept volunteers, emphasizing that all ways to say no are good ways, and the best way is the one you feel comfortable using.)

Our last really important task today is to know which adults we would trust to tell about abuse and unsafe touches.  The most important thing is to make sure it’s an adult we would feel comfortable talking with.  Think in your head about an adult here at school who you could tell.  (Give think time and invite students to share their answers with the group or with a partner.)  What if your chosen adult wasn’t at school that day?  (Solicit student answers, including telling another school adult, or an adult at home.)

Now, let’s pretend it’s a school break, or summer.  Think about adults you see frequently even when school is closed.  Which of those adults would you feel comfortable telling?  (Give think time and then share answers.)

I have a challenge question.  Let’s pretend that a kid got scared and forgot to say No, or they said it but it didn’t work.  Should that kid still tell an adult?  (Solicit student answers.)  Absolutely, we always want to know because we want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.  Kids are never, ever in trouble if someone tries to look at or touch their private body parts, even if the kid didn’t say no.

Summarize/Close:

The lesson should include an assessment–paper/pencil, electronic, verbal, demonstration, etc–to ensure students are able to use a refusal skill and identify 2 trusted adults. 

Possible Scripting

We’ve learned a lot today.  Let’s go back to our objectives and see if we were successful.  (Review objectives, reinforcing areas where students needed additional support.)  The most important thing to remember is that we want to be prepared, not scared.  Kids are never, ever in trouble if someone tries to look at or touch their private body parts, even if the kid didn’t say no.