Unit Plan 30 (Grade 4 Counselor): Conflict Resolution Practice Stations

Focus: Give students repeated practice applying conflict-resolution skills. Stations include sizing problems, choosing assertive language, predicting consequences, repairing harm, and deciding when adult help is needed. Students rotate through realistic Grade 4 peer situations and use the problem-solving steps to choose respectful solutions.

Grade Level: 4

Subject Area: School Counseling (Conflict Resolution • Problem-Solving • Respectful Communication)

Total Unit Duration: 1–2 weeks, 30 minutes per session

I. Introduction

This Grade 4 counseling lesson gives students structured practice using the conflict-resolution skills they have learned throughout the year. Students revisit problem size, problem-solving steps, assertive communication, consequence thinking, repair actions, and trusted adult help. The counselor emphasizes that conflict-resolution skills become stronger when students practice them with realistic situations before they need them in the moment.

Students rotate through practice stations based on common Grade 4 peer conflicts, such as teasing, exclusion, unfair group work, interrupting, rumors, boundary problems, recess disagreements, and repeated annoying behavior. At each station, students identify the problem, decide whether it is small, medium, or big, choose a safe response, and explain when adult help may be needed. The goal is for students to build confidence choosing respectful solutions that solve problems without making them bigger.

Essential Questions

• How can students decide whether a conflict is a small, medium, or big problem?
• What problem-solving steps help students choose safe solutions?
• How can assertive communication help students address conflict respectfully?
• When should students compromise, repair harm, walk away, or get help from a trusted adult?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Identify the size of realistic peer conflicts as small, medium, or big problems.
2. Use problem-solving steps: pause, calm down, name the problem, consider choices, predict consequences, choose a safe solution, and reflect.
3. Choose assertive language that states a need, sets a boundary, or addresses a conflict respectfully.
4. Predict consequences of helpful and unhelpful conflict responses.
5. Identify repair actions when harm has happened.
6. Decide when adult help is needed for unsafe, repeated, hurtful, threatening, or too-big conflicts.
7. (Optional Session) Apply conflict-resolution skills through additional station rotations, role-play, or a reflection challenge.

Standards Alignment — Grade 4 (ASCA-based Custom)

• C:S4.4a — Identify Problems and Their Size
  • Recognize common school problems and decide whether they are small, medium, or big problems requiring different responses or adult support.
  • Example: A student understands that forgetting a pencil is a small problem, but ongoing exclusion or threats require adult help.
• C:S4.4b — Use Problem-Solving Steps
  • Use steps such as pause, calm down, name the problem, consider choices, predict consequences, choose a safe solution, and reflect on the result.
  • Example: A student says, “We both want to lead the project. We could take turns, vote, or divide the job.”
• C:S4.4c — Resolve Conflicts Safely and Respectfully
  • Use respectful words, compromise, assertive communication, perspective-taking, walking away, or adult help to resolve conflict without unsafe or hurtful behavior.
  • Example: A student says, “Please stop making jokes about my work. I do not like it,” and seeks adult help if the behavior continues.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can decide whether a conflict is a small, medium, or big problem.
• I can use problem-solving steps before choosing what to do.
• I can use respectful and assertive words during conflict.
• I can predict whether a choice may help or make the problem bigger.
• I can choose safe solutions such as compromise, repair, walking away, or adult help.