Title: “Dealing with Troublesome Feelings” (Middle School, Emotional and Mental Health, Lesson 7)
Author: Health Smart / http://www.etr.org
Source: http://www.etr.org/healthsmart/about-healthsmart/sample-lessons/
Publication Date: ETR 2016 – when the website was updated
Where/how to access materials:
The Lesson: file:///Users/emily/Desktop/MS-EmotionalAndMentalHealthLesson.pdf
The CCSS by lesson: http://www.etr.org/healthsmart/f/common/emhcommoncoremslessonspdf/
The CCSS by standard: http://www.etr.org/healthsmart/f/common/emhcommoncoremsstandardpdf/
This lesson teaches about dealing with troublesome feelings and the importance of getting help when needed. Students review the benefits of expressing feelings in healthy ways and discuss why having troublesome feelings can make this hard to do. They list situations in which teens might have various troublesome feelings and describe ways to deal with these feelings. After discussing which trusted adults’ teens could talk to about troublesome feelings, they identify support people in their own lives and explain why it would be helpful to talk to a trusted adult about troublesome feelings
Lesson Objectives:
- Describe healthy ways to deal with troublesome feelings.
- Identify trusted adults to talk to about troublesome feelings.
- Summarize the benefits of talking with parents or other trusted adults about troublesome feelings.
This was the best lesson I could find for several reasons. To start, all the materials can be downloaded for free and they are applicable to the HBO’s, KSE’s, and even CCSS’s. This lesson targets the middle school age group perfectly, it offers suggestions for diverse learners (modifications and accommodations), and it lays out the complete lesson plan for teachers to access. Secondly, it addresses identifying feelings that these pre-teens may not have experienced before. This is important because this allows the students to address “troublesome feelings” in a healthy way, vs. handling them on their own. I also liked how the lesson incorporates asking for help. This is a vulnerable age where students are feeling many emotions but are still too young to access multiple resources on their own. Therefore, I like how this lesson teaches students how to access safe, trustworthy and reliable adults for help.
How you can integrate it with core curriculum:
Writing: This lesson plan incorporates a lot of writing and reflection. Also, personal journals can be distributed for students to keep their thoughts and feelings in. These do not have to be graded, but a teacher could assess progress by how many pages a student has filled out after this activity or any other mental health activities. When: Lot’s of middle schools have a homeroom they attend for the first 30 minutes of the day. This lesson can be condensed to fit within that chunk of time, and can simply stand as a “mental and emotional health reflection” lesson.
Art: painting, drawing, poem, etc. that reflect a students “troublesome feelings”. This could be a great gateway into artistic expression.
Provided by this Resource:
Key to Common Core Abbreviations Language Forms:
RL = Reading Literature
RI = Reading Informational Text
W = Writing
SL = Speaking & Listening
L = Language
The grade level follows the language form. The specific standards addressed follow the grade level, separated by commas. For example: W.7.2,4 = Writing, Grade 7, Standards 2 and 4.
For this specific lesson:
Feelings SL.6.1; L.6.6; SL.7.1; L.7.6; SL.8.1; L.8.6
Expressing Feelings RL.6.1,3,4; W.6.2,4; L.6.6; RL.7.1,3,4; W.7.2,4; L.7.6; RL.8.1,3,4; W.8.2,4; L.8.6
HBO 1: Express feelings in a healthy way
HBO 2: Engage in activities that are mentally and emotionally healthy
HBO 3: Prevent and manage interpersonal conflict in healthy ways
HBO 4: Prevent and manage emotional stress and anxiety in healthy ways
HBO 6: Get help for troublesome thoughts, feelings, or actions for oneself and others.
MEH 4.2.4
MEH 4.8.1
MEH 4.5.5
MEH 5.2.3
MEH 7.2.2