Fifth Grade Family Life Education (FLE)

Year at a Glance

Grade Five Instructional Objectives—Emotional and Social Health

5.1 Students will identify roles, duties, and responsibilities of family members.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include discussion of changing roles, duties, and responsibilities of family members; and how roles change throughout life.

5.2 Students will define child abuse and child neglect and identify adults whom they can confide in and who will help them. 

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Students will identify sources of help including parent/guardian, other adult family member, teacher, school counselor, clergy or religious leader.

Grade Five Media—Emotional and Social Health Education

If It Happens to You: Dealing with Abuse, Sunburst Media, 2006, 19 minutes

Presents the realities of child abuse from a child’s perspective, including the guilt and responsibility a victim may feel, and the difficulty a victim may have in reporting an incident of abuse. In telling the stories of three children, one who suffered physical abuse, another who endured verbal abuse, and a third who was a victim of sexual abuse, the program’s goals are not to make students uncomfortable. Instead, its aim is to openly discuss how they can stay safe and, more importantly, to help them identify steps they can take to protect themselves if abuse happens to them.

Grade Five Instructional Objectives—Human Growth and Development

5.1 (Gender-separate): Students will recognize the physical changes that occur during puberty and relate these changes to the increased need for personal hygiene.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction includes the following physical changes: growth spurt, increased sweat production, skin changes, mood swings, growth of pubic and underarm hair, increased shoulder width in boys and breast and hip development in girls, menstruation, erections, and nocturnal emissions. Although instruction for boys includes brief mention of personal hygiene products during instruction about menstruation, girls only are taught about the intended use and proper disposal of personal hygiene products. Focus is on the development of a positive attitude toward oneself during puberty, an appreciation for individual differences, and an understanding of the relationship between changes that occur during puberty and the ability to conceive and bear children.

5.2 (Gender Separate): Students will identify the structures and functions of the male and female reproductive systems.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction includes the functions of the male and female reproductive organs, including the penis, testicles, vas deferens, scrotum, urethra, uterus, ovaries, vagina, cervix, and fallopian tubes. The reproductive organs are explained in relation to the total human anatomy.

5.3 (Gender Separate): Students will be introduced to the basic process of human reproduction.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction includes the uniting of the egg and the sperm through sexual intercourse and basic information about prenatal development and birth.The umbilical cord, placenta, and amniotic sac are introduced. Students learn that at the end of nine months of development, the baby leaves the mother’s body through the vagina or through a surgical procedure called Cesarean section.

5.4 (Gender Separate): Students will explore the benefits of abstinence from sexual intercourse.

Descriptive Statement: The consequences of sexual intercourse on healthy physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development during adolescence are explored; and students review and practice refusal skills in situations related to adolescent development. The concept that physical changes which prepare a person to become a mother or father occur before a person is emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, financially, and socially mature enough to make a commitment to marriage and raising a family is emphasized.

5.5 (Gender Separate): Students will be introduced to the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Descriptive Statement: Instruction includes basic information about the most common bacterial STIs (curable - chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis) and viral STIs (incurable - genital herpes, human papilloma virus [HPV], HIV/AIDS). The term abstinence is defined, and abstinence from sexual intercourse and needle sharing is presented as the only 100% effective way of avoiding STIs.

Grade Five Media—Human Growth and Development

Just Around the Corner for Boys, Marsh Media, 2011. (10:50 minutes)

Note: will be shown to boys only

This program provides an upbeat look at the changes of puberty.  New narration and photography with lighthearted animated figures prepare boys for the momentous changes waiting “just around the corner.” These important topics are introduced:

  • When to expect the onset of puberty
  • The physical and emotional changes of puberty
  • The maturation of the male reproductive system
  • Common experiences of puberty, including voice changes, feelings of physical awkwardness, and nocturnal emissions
  • The importance of good hygiene and healthy habits
  • Maintaining health through good nutrition and exercise
     

Just Around the Corner for Girls, Marsh Media (2011), 14:23 minutes

Note: Companion media that will be shown to girls only

This reassuring presentation includes the same cheerful theme song and clearly illustrated biology, enhanced with new narration and photography to help prepare girls for all of the changes ahead. Topics covered in this program include:

  • When to expect the onset of puberty
  • The physical and emotional changes of puberty
  • The maturation of the female reproductive system
     

We’re Growing Up, Marsh Media (2010), 11:00 minutes

A co-educational program designed for both boys and girls. The narrators talk comfortably and matter-of-factly about human growth. Presentation covers growth patterns (starting with a baby’s rapid growth in the womb) and move quickly through childhood to adolescence. A review of male and female anatomy, sexual development, and an emphasis on responsible choices will be points for classroom discussion.