Health Education Lesson Plan #1

Title: Feelings and Mental Health

Big Idea: Health is Personal Power

9-12 Unit Cluster Enduring Understandings

Health is important and personal actions will impact themselves and others
Internal and external factors influence personal and community health
Choosing health resources require critical evaluation and analysis
Refusal, negotiation, and collaboration skills will enhance the health of self and others
There are barriers that can hinder healthy decision-making
Several factors influence the formation, achievement and evaluation of a long term personal health plan
People have the power to create change

Essential Questions

1. What is health?
2. What prevents people from practicing healthy behavior?

Standards

Delaware Health Education Standards

Students will understand essential health concepts in order to transfer knowledge into healthy actions for life.
Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology and other factors on health
behaviors.
Students will demonstrate the ability to access information, products and services to enhance health.
Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or
reduce health risks.
Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.
Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health.
Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.
Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.

Lesson Summary

Students write about a strong feeling they have experienced, and through volunteer
discussion, they learn about the connection between feelings and mental health. Students
then work with a partner to role-play scripted feelings.
Students will know… Students will be able to…
how expressing feelings relates to mental describe how feelings relate to mental health
health express feelings in health-enhancing ways
positive ways to handle emotions

Time:

One 55-minute lesson

Materials and Preparation

Copy student page (one for each pair of students)

Scripted feelings
Make feelings Cards (one for each group)
Teacher page: Feelings and Mental Health
Background Page: Emotional Health

Resources and Web Links

http://www.healthteacher.com

Teaching Steps

Connection to prior Knowledge:

Students write a paragraph about a strong feeling they have experienced. The paragraph should
include:

 the feeling that was experienced.

 the cause of the feeling.
 the reaction to the feeling.

When students have finished their paragraphs, tell them to draw a circle around the feeling,
underline the cause of the feeling, and draw a box around the reaction to the feeling. Discuss
the paragraphs with a partner.

 Is it easy or difficult for you to identify your feelings? Why?

 Can you easily identify the cause for your feelings? Why?
 Was your reaction positive or negative? Explain

Teaching Steps

Discuss the connection between feeling and mental health

1. Using the paragraphs written previously, record on the board the connections between feelings
and our mental health that the partners found.

Connections to stress: (Use teacher page listed above)

 Feelings are clues to mental health

 Feelings are neither good or bad
 We can control our reactions to feelings
 Choosing positive reactions enhances mental health

2. Students analyze feelings using feelings cards

Teacher Page: Feelings Cards (Healthteacher.com)

Divide class into groups of two or three students. Give each group a Feelings Card to complete.

3. With your group, reflect, summarize, and discuss the group’s responses to each situation.
4. Each group should present their situation and answers to the class.
5. Class discussion:
 Which feelings are most difficult to respond to?
 What happens when we react to strong negative feelings without thinking
 Is there more that one positive reaction to feeling? Why?

6. Write a 3-2-1 reflective piece.

 Write 3 ways that we can respond to feelings
 Write 2 positive ways to respond to feelings
 Write the positive reaction that you like best. Why?

Assessment for Lesson

1. Students work with a partner to complete a script.

Student Page: Scripting Feelings (Healthteacher.com)

Have students work with a partner to complete the script. Ask volunteers to role-play their scripts. Class views
the role-plays and provides feedback using the questions below.

 Was the reaction positive or negative? Why?

 What other reactions could have been used?

3. Students will complete a written reflection on the presentations. Include the following
information:

 How voice volume, tone, and communication style was used to express the emotion?
 How effective were the groups in expressing emotion and suggesting other ways that the
emotions and situations might be better handled?
 How might the presentations be improved by using positive ways to handle emotions?
 Discuss how emotions and ways of handling them affect your health.

Criteria for Assessment

Student work demonstrates proficiency by showing the ability to:

describe the connection between emotions and mental health.
Student work demonstrates the ability to:
identify positive ways to handle emotions.

Teacher Notes