Connecting with the older people in your life can sometimes feel like a struggle. Here’s how to make it work.
Describe how to connect with grandparents and other older folks; evaluate the benefits of intergenerational relationships.
Subscriber Only Resources
Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to Choices magazine.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
HEALTH ED STANDARDS
NHES 4: Use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.
CASEL: Relationship skills
KEY VOCAB
reciprocate
judgmental
dementia
intergenerational
Lesson Plan: A User's Guide to Grandparents
1. Preparing to Read
Before you read the article “A User’s Guide to Grandparents,” ask your students the following pre-reading question:
How can I create and maintain good relationships with my grandparents or other older folks?
2. Reading and Discussing
- Have your students read the article “A User’s Guide to Grandparents” independently; read the article out loud to them; or have students partner-read the article out loud.
- After they’ve read the article, revisit the pre-reading question. Have their answers changed?
- Next, have your students answer the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking questions, either working in small groups or independently.
Close-Reading Questions
The following questions can be shared in printable or interactive form from the Resources tab.
- What are two main benefits of getting to know your grandparents, according to Chuck Kalish?
- What other types of intergenerational relationships can have a positive impact in your life even if you don’t have grandparents?
Critical-Thinking Questions
- Describe one challenge you have had connecting with a grandparent or other elderly person. How did you deal with this challenge when it happened?
- Would you deal with the challenge you just described differently after reading the article? Explain.
3. Building Comprehension and Vocab
Check students’ comprehension of and engagement with the story with the following assessment tools:
Quiz
Vocab Builder
4. Expanding SEL Opportunities
Continue the learning journey with the following extension activity:
Challenge your students to put what they learned into practice by conducting an INTERGENERATIONAL INTERVIEW with an elderly family member or acquaintance using a mix of questions from the article and their own questions. Then, have them reflect on what the interview taught them
Text-to-Speech