Junior High Health Education
Mental and Emotional Health
Overarching Question:
What does healthy/unhealthy mental health look like?
National Health Standards:
Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention.
Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid health information and health-promoting products
and services to enhance health.
Priority Benchmarks:
Identify and categorize signs and symptoms of mental health issues and investigate management
techniques including community resources.
Demonstrate ways to communicate care, considerations, and respect for self and others.
Concepts/Content
Signs and Symptoms
Disease and Disorders
Emotions (including anger)
Decision Making Process
Community Resources
Stress
Stress Management Techniques
Self-esteem/Self-image
Coping Skills/Defense Mechanisms
Bullying
Roles in a bullying situation
Respect
Communicate care and
consideration
Strategies to deal with bullying
Skills
Identify
Identify and Categorize
Identify and Recognize
Understand and explain (in relation to
mental health)
Explore and Investigate
Understand and explain
Identify
Define and explain
Differentiate and demonstrate
Identify and explain
Identify and demonstrate
Identify and demonstrate
Demonstrate
Explain and demonstrate
Guiding Questions:
What factors influence the way we feel about ourselves?
What is stress and how does it affect the body?
What are emotions and how can I express them in a healthy way?
How do I react to various emotions?
How do my decisions affect my Mental/Emotional Health?
What are my stressors? Stress responses?
What is the relationship between emotions and stress?
What are positive and negative ways to deal with stress?
What are some mental health issues and how are they treated?
Where can I go in my community to find help?
How can untreated mental or emotional issues impact my future?
What is bullying and why does it happen today?
Can you explain a variety of bullying situations?
What does respect really mean and how can I show it?
What can I do to deal with a bullying situation as the victim or the bystander?
What are the short and long term effects of bullying on mental and emotional health and personal
wellness?
Who do I turn to for help to deal with a bullying situation?
Formative Assessment Ideas:
Signs and Symptoms
Bag activity with signs and symptoms of stress as a pre and post test to understand signs and symptoms in
general.
Have them use those signs and symptoms to pick out the ones common in a variety of mental illness
(depression, anxiety, etc.) and write a sentence using those words to describe their relationship to
depression.
Have them make a graphic organizer of a certain disease or disorder and web the signs and symptoms
associated with that disease or disorder.
Disease and Disorders
Have them research a variety of common mental/emotional diseases and disorders and later have them
categorize the ones they have chosen into emotion-mental-disease-disorder categories. This could be
done as groups to see if they understand the difference between mental/emotional and the
diseases/disorder properties.
Emotions
Use the emotions ball as a large group check-in.
Use the ABC graphic organizer and ask them to list as many emotions as they can that correlate to each
letter of the alphabet (x is difficult)!
Use the Anger Ball as a group and then a quick write after the activity for students to identify facts around
anger.
Decision Making Process
Have them write a quick write after they use a scenario of their choice in the decision making process and
have them write how that decision could affect their mental/emotional health in the present and future.
Community Resources
Have them with a chart of various mental and emotional disease and disorders and research what
professionals deal with each issue and where in their community they could go for help. (Chart)
Use extra phone books for the research if you have them.
Invite community members in that deal mental/emotional issues (a variety of titles from social workers,
counselors, psychologists, etc.) and have students make cards with each professional and what they treat
and where they are after the fact.
Stress
Bag of signs and symptoms of stress…have them put together a list of the signs and symptoms and do a
summary of a stressful situation that could cause them to occur and why.
Stress Tree or let the kids come up with their own metaphor for stress, stress management, and body’s
response to stress
Stress analysis of the character in Homeless to Harvard.
Anger guided reading assignment with Scholastic books. Write a summary of learning or graphic
organizer of their choice to identify and how to recognize anger triggers. Can also include techniques on
how to deal with anger.
Have them write a comic or a children’s books around anger or another emotion like they are teaching
someone younger how to recognize and deal with strong emotions.
Stress Management
Stress tree
Have students make a short CD of relaxing music with their voice doing some progressive relaxation
techniques.
Have groups create their guide to dealing with stress in whatever form they want and present.
Make a class book of individual stress management techniques.
Have them write a short story of a character with stress and include how that character dealt with the
situation negatively first and the result---and then tries again (using a coping skill rather than a defense
mechanism) and the better result.
Self-esteem/Self-concept
Have them create something personal around who they are…coat of arms (5 categories you can choose
such as What are you good at? What would other people say about me (good things), Family and friends?
Things they like to do for fun? Places they have been or want to go….can be anything so kids get a chance
to showcase themselves.
Brown bag activity: have them bring one thing from home in a brown bag (or whatever) and have them
present why they brought it and why it is important to who they are as a person.
Defense Mechanisms/Coping skills
Make cards of various coping skills and defense mechanisms and have the kids sort into categories. Write
a short quick write using 1 of each on how it is positively or negatively related to dealing with stress.
Bullying (use bullying curriculum)
TORN activity; write the outline of a ginger bread man on a large piece of paper in the front of the room.
Slowly tear away pieces of the paper by saying things like “paper, your so ugly”, Paper, your too fat,
Paper, this seat is saved for someone else, Paper, where do you shop?, Paper, you are too dumb to pass
this class….etc. Each time you say something, you rip a piece of the paper. You can name this character,
but paper was the way I did it. Then give students the pieces (larger, not too small) of the pieces you
ripped and have them say something positive to paper like, Paper, you can sit here, Paper, nice shirt,
paper, you would be great at volleyball and have them tape paper back together. Have them do a quick
write about how this is related to the effects of bullying (emphasize the fact that even after bullying, there
are still scars and gaps as they never really get all put back together and feel 100 better….that is what you
are hoping to get from them in the quick write).
Types of Bullying
Quick write as to all the ways someone can be bullied
USE ALL THE BULLYING CURRICULUM>>>lots of quick assessments or quick writing assignments to check
for understanding.
Role Plays
District Curriculum Recommendations:
Bullying Ball
Values Ball
Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders curriculum
Lets Get Read Video and Curriculum
Homeless to Harvard video
Metlife Foundation Read for Health Program: Taking Action to
Stop Bullying
Stress Bag Activity (signs and symptoms)
Team up on Technology book of activities
Progressive Relaxation CD
More than Sad Video
This is Life! Hand on health book
Mental and Physical wellness cards
Am I normal curriculum binder
Monster video on anger
Chicken Soup books
Totally Tolerant- Scholastic book
Bouncing back: Scholastic Book
Depression scholastic book
Out of control Anger control scholastic book
Etiquette power point
Relationships Communication Mini Unit
Web based lesson binder on Character Education (respect)
Bullying and harassment cards
Daily character warm-up cards
Arm/wrist blood pressure cuffs
Teen Safety: When you are alone DVD
Adina’s Deck DVDs and discussion guides
Cyberbullying 3 pack DVD- Discovery
Making healthy decision DVD- Discovery
TASKS/ASSESSMENTS:
Summative Assessment:
Bullying Story…to be developed from what Renee did….
Mental health scenarios/studies
Draft Updated 6/21/12