Health Smart Virginia
Face of Mental Illness
To develop an understanding of the stigma surrounding mental health problems and the impact stigma and discrimination have on those who would seek help, groups investigate the symptoms of and risk factors associated with eight different...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Maintaining Your Health and Well-Being
Future counselors and mental health professionals engage in two activities that give them insight into careers in human services. First, groups of four compare and contrast health and wellness apps and share their findings with the...
Curated OER
Discrimination and Media: Focus on Mental Health
Students explore discrimination by the media. In this media awareness lesson plan, students examine stigmas concerning mental illnesses as they are portrayed in the media.
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
What is Health?
Many indicators of health are beyond a teenager's control, but there are many changes they can make in their daily life that can improve their health. Middle schoolers think about their physical, social, and mental health status before...
Nemours KidsHealth
Stress: Grades 9-12
Everyone feels stress from time to time, but how can you move past it? A seven-page packet of activities guides high schoolers through the process of recognizing and managing their stress. The resource includes discussion topics, a quick...
Curated OER
Mental Health Scenarios
Students define various mental disorders and list some of their signs and symptoms. They identify mental disorders after being given hypothetical scenarios. They share their results with the class.
Curated OER
In Their Own Words
Students watch a video of people telling about their experiences with a mental illness. They compare and contrast the life stories they saw to reinforce how mental illnesses are biological illnesses that affect a person's thoughts,...
Nemours KidsHealth
Suicide Prevention: Grades 9-12
The teenage years are tough. Internal and external pressures lead 1 in 15 high schoolers to attempt suicide. Two activities focusing on suicide prevention provide class members with information about when and how to get help for...
Curated OER
Striking Out Stress- A "Gallery Walk" Activity
Students discuss ways to cope with stressful situations. For this mental health lesson, students identify stressful situations and how they would respond to them. Students discuss their feelings.
Health Smart Virginia
Mental and Emotional Health
The first lesson in a social and emotional health unit is designed to help seventh graders develop the skills they need to cope with disappointment and manage stress. Groups practice stress reduction techniques and share ideas for how to...
Curated OER
Our Interests
Third graders discover what mental health is. They discuss examples and draw pictures of themselves taking care of their mental health. They write a story about a time when they felt good about themselves.
Curated OER
Exposes in Different Eras: The Work of Dorothea Dix and Burton Blatt
Students discover that Dorothea Dix was the first to make the pubic aware of the terrible living conditions of people with mental illness in the 1800's. They evaluate the influence of citizen action on public policy.
California Department of Education
On Tenterhooks: Analyzing the Etiology of Adolescent Anxiety
Are the joys of childhood really that joyful? Readers take a look at adolescent and young adult anxiety. Activities include close reading of articles and a self-reflection of scholars' own fears and anxiety. Learners then create a deck...
Purdue University
Healthy Body Image: A Lesson Plan for Middle School Students
This is a very valuable lesson for middle schoolers on the importance of maintaining a healthy body image through diet, exercise, and positive mentality. The resource includes four lesson plans. The first two plans outline the physical...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Nellie Bly to Dr. Peter Bryce: 19th Century Asylum Reform
What kind of treatment could a patient expect in an asylum during the 1800's? The abusive and neglectful conditions in 19th century asylums are the focus of a lesson that examines the work of reformers Nellie Bly, Dorothea Dix, and Dr....
Curated OER
What Can I Do?
Young scholars discuss feelings and ways to deal with problems. In this conflict resolution lesson plan, students identify their feelings and learn ways to resolve conflicts with others.
Curated OER
The Abc's of Healthy Eating
Students examine healthy eating as it relates to physical and mental health. In this the abc's of healthy eating instructional activity, students discuss the effects of unhealthy eating habits. Students examine the My Pyramid Food...
Just Health Action
What Makes a Community Healthy?
Young people have an opportunity to make it a beautiful day in their neighborhoods with an activity that asks them to identify what is healthy and unhealthy in their community and develop some ideas about what they can do to fix the...
Curated OER
Calcium Counts
Students evaluate the food pyramid. In this dairy nutrition lesson plan, students identify the position of the milk group on the food pyramid, then determine their daily calcium requirement and how they can meet that requirement.
Curated OER
Laughing Matters
Is laughter really the best medicine? Middle and high schoolers discuss the truth behind this adage by reading and discussing a New York Times article about Dr. Patch Adams. They participate in a round-table debate in response to...
Curated OER
Health Education: An Integrated Approach; A Day Without Sight
Fourth graders hypothesize about the difficulties they may encounter if they did not have their sense of sight, in order to establish a sense of empathy for the disabled. In this lesson on senses, 4th graders record all of the things...
Curated OER
Mental Disorder T-shirts
Students develop a better understanding of mental health and the different types of disorders that people may experience. They create T-shirts that explain and display their learning about a specific disorder.
Curated OER
Understanding My Pyramid
Learners investigate the food pyramid. For this nutrition lesson, students view and discuss the food pyramid and the role it plays in our diets. Learners develop a three dimensional model of the food pyramid and create a nutritious meal...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Putting on Armor
Middle schoolers learn how to protect themselves from risky behaviors with a instructional activity that has them role play several scenarios and demonstrate ways that they might do to stay safe. Class members then use what they have...