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STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT
NHES 1 Core Concepts
Grades K-2
Twenty Ways to Stay Healthy: Brainstorming and Counting Lower-elementary students can practice
their brainstorming and counting skills by creating a list of twenty ways to stay healthy. Older students
can identify more ways—thirty, forty, or even fifty! Students can begin their list by brainstorming. When
they finish brainstorming, they can go back to count and consider each idea (Why and how is this
healthy?) and add more ways. Teachers can post the list in the classroom as a reminder of the children’s
ideas, leaving room for them to add more ideas.
Assessment The poster or list students make is the assessment task for this activity. For assessment
criteria, students should provide accurate information and draw conclusions about connections between
behaviors and health (e.g., When I exercise, I feel better). (Construct: Intention to act in healthy ways.)
Grades 3-5
Kids with Asthma Bill of Rights The American Lung Association has developed a bill of rights for kids
with asthma. Teachers and students can access it at the American Lung Association website
(www.lungusa.org). Teachers can use the bill of rights to help all children learn about asthma. This
activity links to NHES 8, advocacy.
Assessment For an assessment task, students can investigate and make plans for an asthma-friendly
school. Students can present their plans to other students, faculty, school administrators, and parents or
caregivers. For assessment criteria, students should provide accurate information and draw conclusions
about connections between behaviors, policies, and health. (Construct: Perceived behavioral control.)
Grades 6-8
Youth Zone from the American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association
(www.diabetes.org) features a Youth Zone to help students lean about diabetes and how to manage it.
Students can work in small groups to investigate a diabetes topic and report their findings to the class.
This activity helps students understand diabetes and how to support classmates and family members with
diabetes.
Assessment The reports and presentations students make are the assessment task for this activity. For
assessment criteria, students should report accurate information and draw conclusions about connections
Telljohann/Symons/Pateman, Health Education: Elementary and Middle School Applications (McGraw-Hill Higher
Education, 2007) www.mhhe.com/telljohann5e
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between behavior and health. Students also should give at least three examples of how they can support
others who have diabetes. (Construct: Perceived behavioral control.)
NHES 3 Access Information, Products, and Services
Grades 6-8
Kids’ Health for Teens Middle-level students can get answers, advice, and straight talk from the Kids’
Health for Teens website (www.kidshealth.org). Students can access information on a wide variety of
personal health and wellness topics, including body systems, common infections, asthma, allergies,
tattoos and body piercing, dental work and braces, acne, sleep, and healthy diet and exercise habits.
Students can work individually, with partners, or in small groups to investigate a personal health and
wellness topic to present to class members. This activity links to NHES 1, core concepts.
Assessment The students’ presentations and reports are the assessment task for this activity. For
assessment criteria, students should provide accurate information, draw conclusions about connections
between behaviors and health, and explain where they got their information and why their information
sources were valid. (Construct: Perceived behavioral control.)
NHES 7 Self-Management
Grades K-2
Scrubba Dubba! Children’s books about personal health and wellness topics provide many opportunities
to link language arts and health education lessons. Books about taking a bath include:

Bubble Bath Pirates (Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Viking Books, 2003).

Do Pirates Take Baths? (Kathy Tucker, Albert Whitman & Company, 1997).

Harry the Dirty Dog (Gene Zion, HarperCollins Publishers, 1984).

Keeping Clean (Vicki Cobb, Harper, 1989).

Scrubba Dub (Nancy Van Laan, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003).

Squeaky Clean (Simon Puttock, Little, Brown and Company, 2002).

The Dirty Cowboy (Amy Timberlake, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003).

Tub Toys (Terry Miller Shannon, Tricycle Press, 2002).
Teachers can read these books to discuss the importance of regular bathing and personal cleanliness.
Assessment For an assessment task, students can work individually or in pairs to write poems, songs, or
raps about taking a bath. For assessment criteria, students should provide healthy reasons for bathing as
a part of their poem, song, or rap. (Construct: Intention to act in healthy ways.)
Telljohann/Symons/Pateman, Health Education: Elementary and Middle School Applications (McGraw-Hill Higher
Education, 2007) www.mhhe.com/telljohann5e
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Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Bed? Teachers can use many children’s books about getting a
good night’s sleep. Examples include:

Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Bed? (Barney Saltzberg, Candlewick Press, 2005).

Good Night, Sam (Marie Louise Gay, Groundwood Books, 2003).

Otto Goes to Bed (Todd Parr, Little, Brown and company, 2003).

The Napping House (Audrey Wood, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1984).

The Yawn Heard Round the World (Scott Thomas, Tricycle Press, 2003).

Good Night, Monkey Boy (Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2001)
Teachers can read the books with children to discuss the importance of setting a regular bed time and
getting plenty of sleep.
Assessment For an assessment task, students can make their own personal book about bedtime at their
house. Students can illustrate the steps they go through (e.g., brushing their teeth, taking a bath, reading
a story) to get ready for sleep. For assessment criteria, students should explain healthy self-management
steps for getting a good night’s sleep. (Construct: Intention to act in healthy ways.)
Grades 3-5
I Love What I See and Hear! Investigate the National Eye Institute’s Vision School Program for grades
4 through 8 (www.nei.nih.gov/education/visionschool) and the National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders’ I Love What I See and Hear teacher’s guide for grades 3 through 6
(http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/education/teachers). Children can learn about self-care for their eyes
and ears through interactive lessons.
Assessment For an assessment task, students can demonstrate various ways they can take care of their
sight and hearing. For assessment criteria, students should be able to demonstrate at least three selfmanagement skills. (Construct: Perceived behavioral control.)
Grades 6-8
Health in Schools: Info for Kids and Teens Middle-level students can check out self-management and
core concepts for health at www.healthinschools.org/students/index.htm. Common health topics for teens
include acne, ADD/ADHD, anxiety, asthma, diabetes, dental health, eating disorders, mononucleosis,
medications, sexuality, sun damage, and yeast infections. Each topic has links to other reliable sites where
students can find more information.
Assessment For an assessment task, students can teach each other. Students can select a topic on which
they will be “teacher for the day.” For assessment criteria, students should provide accurate information,
Telljohann/Symons/Pateman, Health Education: Elementary and Middle School Applications (McGraw-Hill Higher
Education, 2007) www.mhhe.com/telljohann5e
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concentrating on health-enhancing self-management strategies for middle-level students. (Construct:
Perceived behavioral control.)
Managing and Understanding Acne Early adolescents often must deal with a new range of problems in
middle school, including acne. Two excellent resources for students and teachers are the Acne Resource
Center (www.acne-resource.org) and “Why Do I Get Acne” at Kids’ Health
(www.kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/skin_stuff/acne.html). At the Acne Resource Center, students can
learn about the prevalence, causes, prevention, and treatment of acne. The site also contains information
on the psychological effects of acne, a topic of interest to teachers and parents. Teachers should address
any teasing that develops about students’ acne and raise the importance of acting as a friend during the
changes of adolescence. Teachers also can link lessons about dealing with acne to NHES 2, analyze
influences, in looking at the way attractiveness—even among teenagers—is portrayed in the media.
Assessment For an assessment task, students can develop a fact versus fiction activity or a game about
understanding and managing acne. For assessment criteria, students should provide accurate
information, dispel myths about acne, and explain health-enhancing strategies for dealing with acne.
(Construct: Perceived behavioral control.)
Telljohann/Symons/Pateman, Health Education: Elementary and Middle School Applications (McGraw-Hill Higher
Education, 2007) www.mhhe.com/telljohann5e