( Lesson Plan Template – Overview For a more detailed explanation, including examples, of each section within the Lesson Plan Template, please view the Lesson Plan Handbook. ) Content Area or Developmental Focus: Age/Grade of Children: Length of Lesson: Goal The goal is the purpose of the lesson. Objective The objective is what students will be able to know or do at the end of the lesson. Standards Included Standards are the knowledge or skills that students will be expected to demonstrate. Depending on the age of the children you are working with, you will choose the appropriate standard from the list below: Birth to Age 3: Developmental Milestones. Click HEREto locate a developmental milestone checklist that includes developmental standards. Ages 3 to 5: Early Learning Guidelines. Click HERE to locate the Early Learning Guidelines for your state. HeadStart Framework: If you work in a HeadStart program, please click HERE to choose a standard from the HeadStart Early Learning Framework. K-3: Click HERE to locate the Kindergarten through 3rd grade standards for your state. Materials The materials section lists all items needed throughout a lesson. Introduction The introduction is how you will introduce the activity so your students are interested, engaged, and have the opportunity to think about any background knowledge/experience that they may have. Lesson Development: The lesson development section includes the steps that you will take to teach the lesson including any modeling, direct instruction, centers, etc. that will be utilized. Sometimes this is also referred to as the “procedures” section of the lesson plan. Differentiation Often times you will have students that you will need to include modifications for when you are developing a lesson. In this section you will need to explain how you could modify your lesson to meet the needs of the different children you are working with. These modifications may apply to the lesson development section, the practice/check for understanding section, or both. Assessment (Practice/ Checking for Understanding) Students are given the opportunity to apply what they have learned in a formal or informal way. You will need to describe what you will do to assess student learning. It can be through guided practice and/or independent practice. Guided practice allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the material while the teacher is present and can provide needed assistance. Independent practice might be group work, projects, or homework. Closing Here the ECE teacher/provider reviews the highlights of the lesson and brings closure to the activity. ( Lesson Plan Template ) Content Area or Developmental Focus: Age/Grade of Children: Length of Lesson: Goal Objective Standards Included Materials Introduction Lesson Development Differentiation Assessment (Practice/ Checking for Understanding) Closing References Center on Enhancing.

1. (
Lesson Plan Template –
Overview
For a more detailed explanation, including examples, of each
section within the Lesson Plan Template, please view the
Lesson Plan Handbook.
)
Content Area or Developmental Focus:
Age/Grade of Children:
Length of Lesson:
Goal
The goal is the purpose of the lesson.
Objective
The objective is what students will be able to know or do at the
end of the lesson.
Standards Included
Standards are the knowledge or skills that students will be
expected to demonstrate. Depending on the age of the children
you are working with, you will choose the appropriate standard
from the list below:
Birth to Age 3: Developmental Milestones. Click HEREto
locate a developmental milestone checklist that includes
developmental standards.
Ages 3 to 5: Early Learning Guidelines. Click HERE to locate
the Early Learning Guidelines for your state.
HeadStart Framework: If you work in a HeadStart program,
please click HERE to choose a standard from the HeadStart
Early Learning Framework.

2. K-3: Click HERE to locate the Kindergarten through 3rd grade
standards for your state.
Materials
The materials section lists all items needed throughout a lesson.
Introduction
The introduction is how you will introduce the activity so your
students are interested, engaged, and have the opportunity to
think about any background knowledge/experience that they
may have.
Lesson Development:
The lesson development section includes the steps that you will
take to teach the lesson including any modeling, direct
instruction, centers, etc. that will be utilized. Sometimes this is
also referred to as the “procedures” section of the lesson plan.
Differentiation
Often times you will have students that you will need to include
modifications for when you are developing a lesson. In this
section you will need to explain how you could modify your
lesson to meet the needs of the different children you are
working with. These modifications may apply to the lesson
development section, the practice/check for understanding
section, or both.
Assessment
(Practice/ Checking for
Understanding)
Students are given the opportunity to apply what they have
learned in a formal or informal way. You will need to describe
what you will do to assess student learning. It can be through

3. guided practice and/or independent practice. Guided practice
allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the
material while the teacher is present and can provide needed
assistance. Independent practice might be group work, projects,
or homework.
Closing
Here the ECE teacher/provider reviews the highlights of the
lesson and brings closure to the activity.
(
Lesson Plan Template
)
Content Area or Developmental Focus:
Age/Grade of Children:
Length of Lesson:
Goal
Objective
Standards Included
Materials

4. Introduction
Lesson Development
Differentiation
Assessment
(Practice/ Checking for
Understanding)
Closing
References
Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes.(2014). State-
By-State.Retrieved from http://ceelo.org/state-
information/state-map/.Common Core State Standards
Initiative.(2015). Standards by State. Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/

5. Head Start.(2011). Head Start Child Development and Early
Learning Framework.Retrieved from:
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-
system/teaching/eecd/Assessment/Child%20Outcomes/HS_Revis
ed_Child_Outcomes_Framework(rev-Sept2011).pdf .
National Center on Child Care Quality Improvement.(2014).
State/Territory Early Learning Guidelines.Retrieved from
https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/state_elgs_web
_final.pdf.
Office of Child Care (2015).State Early Learning
Guidelines.Retrieved from
https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/state-early-learning-
guidelines.
The Early Childhood Direction Center.(2006). Developmental
Checklists Birth to Five. Retrieved from
http://www.preschoollearningcenter.org/images/upload/develop
mental_checklist.pdf
Developed by Kristina Bodamer and Jennifer Zaur, Full-Time
Faculty, College of Education, ECE/CD Department
1
5

6. Introduction to Research Proposals
Social Work Research: Couple Counseling
This research proposal is going to be focused on the case
study about couple counselling. Marriage is an important
aspect in every community. Many couples who are experiencing
abuse or violence in their relationship choose to stay as a family
(Bradley, Drummey, Gottman, & Gottman, 2014). Couple
counseling projects always involve services such as training,
researching, and offering counseling program so that couples
who have experienced abuses or violence can benefit from and
allow them to have abuse free-relationship. Lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples are seeking
therapeutic help through engaging the counselors who assist
them with their relationships and issues being faced outside the
relationship, for example, external stigma (Duchame & Kollar,
2012).
Many people choose stay in a relationship due to the desire
to establish, maintain and prolong a life lasting relationship
with someone. Unfortunately, at times not all relationships end
well. As a result, there are many disappointments which have
been witnessed and therefore calls for the services of a marriage
counselor or some form of professional help (Lytle, Vaughan,
Eric, & Schmerler, 2015). Marriage counseling is considered to
be important in the restoration of the relationship and marital
union. This particular research paper is based on looking at
some of the issues related to conflict of same-sex couples. The
research proposal paper is targeted at investigating some of the
challenges of the LGBT couples which usually leads to the
complication in the process of helping them.
Research Questions
i. What are some of the challenges faced by LGBT couples
which usually lead to the complication in the process of helping
them?
ii. What is the effectiveness of the treatment tools in addressing

7. conflict of LGBT couples?
Research Problem
The challenges and other shortcomings related to the
interventions being provided to the couples. Occasionally,
major factors leading to the shortcomings of the interventions
are related to the tools being utilized in tracking the
improvement as well as the progress of the being tackled for
example communication methods. Couple counseling is always
considered as a common issue within society due to the
presence of various elements which forms the subject of
counseling and therapy. Couples always tend to be unique in
their own ways based on the challenges being faced. This is the
case despite the fact that counseling procedures, skills, and the
tools used for the assessment process might look identical to the
general problems.
Even though conflict among couples can be considered to
be a common issue during the counseling process, handling
LGBT couples requires counselors to pay special attention to
some of the delicate couples. Assisting heterosexual couples in
overcoming conflict is always viewed differently by the
counselors in addressing LGBT couples. The relationships
which involve same-sex couples are associated with many
challenges and most of these challenges are faced during the
interaction with other people, strengths, and vulnerabilities of
people belonging to this sexual category.
Provision of therapeutic counseling and help to the LGBT
couple is important in improving communication process as well
as the relations which need professionalism and proficiency in
psychotherapy which determines the achievement or
disappointment of counseling session (Moller & Andreas,
2015). A large number of counselors are faced with challenges
and difficulties in handling issues faced by same-sex couples.
The whole counseling process and even some stages sometimes
fail to meet the objective of the counseling procedure. Some
difficulties occur during the tracking of communication level
between couples using a scale or a chart. There are situations

8. whereby improvements can be noted during the early stages of
the counseling process, however, the process might languish
soon after. Maintenance of a progressive development on the
issue which is being resolved therefore causes challenges to the
counselors.
Literature Review
At present, the practice of couple counseling is being
recognized as an important process since it helps in ensuring
that there is the existence of a sound relationship. According to
the analysis report which was presented based on the
countrywide representative samples of 12, 279 females and 10,
402 males of ages 1 to 44 years in the highly populated regions
of United States, more than 50 percent of marriages in the
United States are ending in divorce (Copen, Daniels, Vespa, &
Mosher, 2012). However, studies indicate that relationship
problems can be addressed by involving the process of couple
counseling. In performing an unrestrained research of Gottman
Method Couples Therapy in transforming relationship
contentment amongst 106 gay and lesbian couples, a
measurement of relationship contentment was carried out at five
separate time stages. There was an improvement in the
relationship satisfaction after eleven gatherings of therapies for
both gay males and lesbian couples (Salvatore, Alapaki,
Gottman, Julie, Carrie, & Preciado, 2015; Jennings, Skovholt, &
Lian, 2013).
Couple counseling is important in addressing different
kinds of relationships which are related to dating, engagement,
and marriage. There are a number of issues which can affect the
relationship and some of them are related to sexual issues,
money issues, children and partnering issues, misunderstanding,
and communication disorders among others. Other issues
affecting relationship include cheating, adultery, overworking,
lack of support, and jealousy and this result in the creation of
tension in the family (Copen, Daniels, Vespa, & Mosher, 2012).
In an attempt to help LGBT couples, counselors are always
finding it hard to help the situation because the majority of

9. these couples enter into therapy with some adverse experiences
with family, friends, clergy, health care providers, and school.
This makes them have deeply internalized negative beliefs
concerning their attraction or identities. Some of these couples
might be confused or puzzled by the efforts being made by the
mental health providers while communicating about some
positive aspects of their experiences as sexual minorities
instead of exclusive focus on the diagnosis. LGBT individuals
are also likely to present for treatment because of various
reasons and in such situations, the use of positive psychology
might prove important in the identification, fostering, and using
client strength within the context of treating more severe
psychopathology (Copen, Daniels, Vespa, & Mosher, 2012).
Challenges faced by LGBT couples which usually lead to the
complication in the process of helping them
Even though there are efforts being made by counselors to
help LGBT couples towards overcoming their issues, there are a
number of challenges which affects the process of incorporating
positive psychology in practice. Clements-Nolle and his
colleagues reported that a high proportion of LGBT individuals
has suicidal thoughts and there it is becoming hard to protect
them from suicidal behavior. Other challenges include sexual
problems, money issues, issues related to parenting and
children, misunderstandings, in-law challenges, and
communication disorders among other issues. There are also
issues brought by variation in the interest of the couples,
adultery, and cheating among others.
Overcoming the existing gap (challenges faced by LGBT
individuals)
The effectiveness of the treatment tools in addressing conflict
of LGBT couples
There are is a huge gap concerning the mechanism or the
methods through which LGBT couples can be helped to
overcome the challenges in the daily lives. It is the
responsibility of the counselor to look into effective methods or
tools which can be used to help these individuals overcome

10. these challenges. One of the proposed tools which can be relied
upon to help in reducing this gap is relying on the strength of
hope technique to help individuals in overcoming suicidal
thoughts and making individuals have a feeling of being
connected to others. Also, it is important to rely on the LGBT
affiliation which can help in fostering LGBT community. This
is because it helps in creating a positive institution which
influences positive traits like courage and resiliency.
Counselors can also make suggestions of several
opportunities for the couples on the means of addressing the
problems and challenges which hinder their happiness. Creation
of a supportive environment by counselors is important since it
helps in determining, communicating, interpreting some of the
concerns and facilitating positive changes and understanding.
There are also coaching instructions and the professional
feedbacks which can be offered by counselors to the couples
thus helping couples to develop new skills of enhancing their
relationships.
According to Gottman and Silver (2015), about 5 percent
of couples who are on the edge of divorce are seeking marriage
counseling and this, therefore, implies that majority of the
couples are unsure concerning what they should be expecting
from the practice of couple counseling. Based on Gottman
Method Couples Therapy (GMCT), treatment to the LGBT is
based on the evaluation of the relationship; lively medication;
and the prevention of the relapse. The system is based on
assessing and attending to the companionship system, system in
the management of conflict, and collective meaning system
(Salvatore, Alapaki, Gottman, Julie, Carrie, & Preciado, 2015).
Conflict intervention addresses the past conflict of each
couple which might have developed the attachment damages, the
present conflict, and the continuous conflicts. The friendship or
intimacy interventions involve asking the couple to utilize card
decks or the phone app versions. In this system, the sexual
relationship of the partners is well thought-out to be part of the
friendship system and later tackled using Salsa Card Deck.

11. Shared interventions are achieved through the development of
stress-reducing discussion and the use of card desk known as
Build Rituals of Connections. In this system, couples are
motivated to create rituals that would be important when it is
implemented in their daily lives for example birthdays,
holidays, and anniversaries.
Conclusions
Positive counseling is important towards helping the LGBT
couples overcome their problems. A positive approach is
important since it revolves around putting a focus on the
strengths as well as the framework which can assists physicians
to recognize and commemorate the positive aspect of LGBT life
experiences. Despite the fact that they are faced with many
challenges, counselors are having an exceptional opportunity of
leading the way of creating a more theoretical and empirical-
based knowledge of LGBT strengths. Overcoming issues related
to LGBT counseling requires the adoption of necessary skills to
help couples.
References
Bradley, R. C., Drummey, K., Gottman, J. M., & Gottman, J. S.
(2014). Treating couples who mutually exhibit violence or
aggression: reducing behaviors that show a susceptibility for
violence. Journal of Family Violence, 29, 549-558.
Copen, C. E., Daniels, K., Vespa, J., & Mosher, W. D. (2012).
First Marriages in the United States: Data from the 2006-2010
National Survey of Family Growth. National Health Statistics
Reports. Number 49. National Center for Health Statistics.
Duchame, J. K., & Kollar, M. M. (2012). Does the “marriage
benefit” extend to same-sex union: Evidence from a sample of
married lesbian couples in Massachusetts. Journal of
Homosexuality, 59, 580-591.
Jennings, L., Skovholt, M., & Lian, F. (2013). "Master
therapists: Explorations of expertise." The developing
practitioner: Growth and stagnation of therapists and
counselors. New York, NY: Routledge.

12. Lytle, M. C., Vaughan, M. D., Eric, M. R., & Schmerler, L. D.
(2015). Working with LGBT Individuals: Incorporating Positive
Psychology into Training and Practice. Psychol Sex Orientat
Gend Divers, 1 (4), 335-347.
Moller, N., & Andreas, V. (2015). Defining infidelity in
research and couple counseling: A qualitative study. Journal of
sex & marital therapy, 41 (5), 487-497.
Salvatore, G., Alapaki, Y., Gottman, J., Julie, G., Carrie, C., &
Preciado, M. (2015). Results of Gottman method couples
therapy with gay and lesbian couples. Journal of Marital and
Family Therapy, 1-11.