Girls and Boys... What is happening?
Guess the connecting word
On the first day of puberty lessons, I asked all of the girls to line up at the front of the room. They nervously complied. I gave each one a card and instructed them to read the words in turn. The cards read:
Autumn leaves, a baby’s diaper, dirty socks, coins, nail polish color, your mind, a caterpillar, the seasons, and the one that I thought was the give-away (it wasn’t), a chameleon’s color. I asked all of the students to find the one word that connected all of the cards. Finally, when I kept stressing coins and a chameleon’s color, one person would haltingly say, “Change?” That was the beginning of our trip through puberty. The lesson followed naturally: We are all changing.
The most famous voice change in pop culture history
The Story of Alex
Hi, my name is Alex, and I just returned home after a party with some friends from school. Before I go to bed, I’d like to share a few things that have been happening to me. Oh boy!
First of all, I’m growing in kind of a strange way. I feel as though all of my jeans are too short, and my arms are suddenly longer than they should be. I am always pulling on my sleeves.
There’s something else- I did not even realize this until my friend told me- I don’t always smell great. My friend made me realize that after PE class, I kind of smell bad- especially my feet and under my arms. I realized that I can do something about this if I just take a shower and use my new deodorant. Socks help too.
Guess what- there is hair growing in a few places that it never grew before- like under my arms. This is totally weird!
When I looked in the mirror today, I noticed something else. I have zits- a few around my nose and on my forehead. Ugh!! They are pretty red, but I held a warm washcloth on them and the color faded a little. My mom said that she is going to buy some products that will help. I was almost glad to see that some of the other kids at the party had the same problem.
Something else unusual happened at this party. I was talking to a friend. Even though I have known this person since we were in kindergarten together, I suddenly had a funny feeling. I cannot believe that I found myself wishing we could dance!
I am not quite sure what to make of all these changes, but I guess I am not the only one. I will continue to deal with my body odor, my zits and my strange feelings. Maybe things will be better soon!
By the way, Alex is a nickname. Do you think that my name is Alexander or Alexandra? Am I a boy or a girl?
…
Any thoughts? My students had very strong feelings- in both directions and not relative to their own sex. Some of the comments:
It has to be a boy. He’s growing hair under his arms.
It’s a girl- boys do not care how they look.
A girl would want to dance.
Boys smell worse than girls.
In twenty years of teaching health, only two students figured out the correct answer almost at once. The answer, of course, is that there is not one change in this story that does not affect both boys and girls. Realizing that Alex could be Alexandra or Alexander resulted in a lot of interesting conversation, just as it should.
Now let’s take it step further. How many elementary students could complete the following table correctly? I had the children complete this in small same sex groups. I gave no hints, answered no questions. The conversations and mini arguments were wonderful and enlightening. Try this table with your young adolescent. The one question that every single group asked:
“What is a nocturnal emission?”
I have included a completed chart at the end of this post. Some of the answers are ambiguous as you will see.
Have some fun with these exercises as an introduction to puberty. The answers should lead to great conversation. I supplied the correct answers but told the children that all of their questions would be answered during our coming lessons. When we had concluded the family life section of the curriculum we redid this exercise. The results were gratifying.
Just in case you are wondering:
