This unit on aging for elementary school children provides information about the aging process and offers experiences with older people. The activities and procedures developed for this unit are designed to accompany an intergenerational project in which students interact with community members age 65+.

Appropriate for Grade Level: K-3 (May be adapted for older students.)

• Differentiate learned from inherited characteristics.
• Understand the relativity of the terms "young" and "old."
• Recognize the unique individuality and diversity of people of all ages.
• Become aware of their attitudes toward aging and older people.
• Learn more about the aging process and the physical changes that occur as people grow older.
• Understand how living with physical and sensory changes affects older people.
• Learn what is true and what is not true about aging and older people.
• Appreciate the roles of older people.
• Perceive long life as an opportunity for continuous growth and development, not as a late life process of decline.
• Develop linkages across generations within communities.

TEACHER PREPARATION

• Planning Your Project
• Suggestions for Finding Project Participants
• Orientation Session for Participants

STUDENT PREPARATION

• "Talking About Traits"
  
• "I'm Different, But the Same"
  
• "How Old is Old?"
• Pre-Project Student Survey - "What I Think About Older People"
• Orientation Session for Students

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

• First Meeting
• Meeting 1 Checklist (.PDF)
• "When You Were My Age"
  Interview Sheet (.PDF)

• Aging Simulation Centers
• "Fuzzy Eyeballs"
• "What Did You Say?"
• "Butterfingers"
• "What Color Am I?"
• "Stiff Legs"

• Second Meeting
• Meeting 2 Checklist (.PDF)
• "Issues of Aging" Interview Sheet (.PDF)

• Third Meeting
• Meeting 3 Checklist (.PDF)
• "Positives of Aging" Interview Sheet (.PDF)
• Grandbuddy's Hand Poem (.PDF)
• Little Buddy's Hand Poem (.PDF)

• Final Meeting
• Meeting 4 Checklist (.PDF)
• Venn Diagram (.PDF)
• Little Buddy Portrait Page (.PDF)

PUBLISHING A MEMORY BOOK

• Suggestions for Content

ASSESSMENT / EVALUATION

• Post-Project Student Survey - "What I Think About Older People"
• Post-Project Senior Participant Evaluation (.PDF)