Seventh - Eigth Grade

Developmental Characteristics

Physical

  • May appear awkward as result of rapid physical growth

  • Experiencing the beginning of puberty

  • Differ greatly in rate of maturation

  • Need to become familiar with changing body with strong drives

  • Tend to tire easily

  • Have a high activity level and appetite

  • Enjoy cooperative games and competitive sports

Social Emotional

  • Sensitive to their appearance

  • Establishing a personal moral code

  • Unsure of their place in society

  • Depend on their peer group to develop identity

  • Critical of their parents and home

  • May adopt extremes and fads in clothing, speech, handwriting, and mannerisms

  • Form close one-on-one friendships

  • Enjoy small, peer-dominated group discussions

  • Have a strong desire to assert individuality and independence

Cognitive

  • Capable of high level of abstract thought

  • Beginning to think about their future life roles

  • Need time and freedom to engage in self-reflection

  • Are able to postpone gratification

  • Can plan ahead and organize tasks with little or no guidance from adults

  • Beginning to develop views about social issues

Lessons

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Relationship Bulding Gina Patterson Relationship Bulding Gina Patterson

Strengths Circle

Students sit in a circle and take turns sharing a personal strength, with each person first repeating all the strengths named before them and then adding their own — building a growing chain of affirmations around the room.

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Human Bingo

Students mingle around the room playing Human Bingo — approaching classmates to find someone who matches each square on their bingo grid, collecting their signature in that spot (one signature per person per card) — racing to be the first to fill their entire card and call "BINGO!"

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The I Wonder Ball

Students play "No, No, No…THIS Is What Happened" in a circle — each person creatively replacing the previous person's silly excuse with their own — then toss a numbered ball around the room, answering increasingly personal reflection questions (across three levels) based on whichever number their right thumb lands on when they catch it.

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What is it?

Students take turns drawing one puzzle piece at a time from a mystery bag, guessing what the full picture might be after each piece, and connecting pieces together as a group until someone figures out the image — then discuss how jumping to conclusions from limited information connects to real-life gossip and judgment.

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Common Ground

Students play Common Ground — moving around the room to group themselves by shared preferences (favorite season, music taste, cat vs. dog person) and briefly connecting with classmates who made the same choice — then play Moment of Memory, listening to six words read aloud and racing to write down as many as they can remember across multiple rounds.

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The Rubber Band Tower

Students play Would You Rather (moving to opposite sides of the room for each answer on relationship-themed questions), then work in small groups on the Cup Stacking Challenge — each person holds a rubber band string connected to a shared center band and the group uses it to lift and stack cups into a pile, tower, or pyramid without touching them directly.

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