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This lesson builds a foundation for understanding healthy relationships. Students explore how belonging contributes to health. They identify people with whom they belong, explore the feelings that come with belonging, and draw a picture to show how they belong with family, friends and others.
This lesson teaches that families are all different and special in their own ways. After the teacher shares a little about his or her family, students do the same with a partner. They explore how their families are similar and different, and the importance of accepting all kinds of families. Then they make a family storybook to share with others.
In this lesson, students learn about how friends can help them be healthy. They discuss what friends do for each other, how it feels to have a friend and what friends can do that contributes to health. Then they draw a picture of themselves and a friend doing something healthy together.
This lesson helps students think about different kinds of feelings. They examine pictures of kids showing different feelings, including happy, sad, angry and afraid, and match example stories with the different feelings. They learn that feelings are signals that help them know if they’re OK or if they need help, and discuss the importance of talking with trusted adults about strong feelings.
Students participate in class discussion about the need for washing hands regularly and properly to be healthy, including identifying times when they should wash their hands. They learn the concepts of germs and communicable diseases, then practice the basic steps for proper handwashing. They take home an activity sheet to remind them to practice this healthy behavior and make a pledge to wash their hands throughout the day.
Students participate in class discussion about the need for healthy teeth and ways to keep teeth healthy. The teacher defines plaque and cavities and explains the reasons for flossing. Students observe a demonstration of how to floss teeth, then practice the steps for brushing teeth properly. They make a pledge to brush their teeth twice a day.
In this lesson, students learn about dressing appropriately for different kinds of weather. They draw different clothes they wear at different times of the year or for different kinds of weather, and discuss how they decide what to wear based on what the weather is. They also learn about sunburn and what they can do to protect themselves from it.
This lesson focuses on the importance of getting enough sleep and rest. Students solve a riddle to identify what happens to their bodies when they sleep. They talk about how much sleep children their age need each night and examine their own sleep schedules. They make a plan to keep track for a few days of how much they sleep and how rested they feel and make changes if needed to help them get the right amount of sleep.
This lesson explores the idea of being safe. Students define what being safe means and the feelings that come from being safe, then they draw things they do to be safe in their daily lives. They learn some simple questions to ask to evaluate how safe they feel in a given situation. Then they identify and draw people who can help them be safe.
This lesson teaches about safety rules for walking and crossing the street. Students review and practice steps for both walking safely and crossing the street safely. They affirm the importance of obeying traffic signs and using crosswalks, then complete an activity sheet to identify street smart choices.
This lesson focuses on having a safe route for going places. Students learn that it’s important to plan a safe way to get somewhere, such as school or home, and identify safe places along the route where they could go if they needed help. They discuss how walking with someone is another way to be safe, and take home a family sheet to help them discuss safe routes and havens with their parents or guardians.
This lesson teaches about being safe when riding in a car. Students use a poem to review safety rules to follow as a passenger, including how to wear a safety belt correctly. They practice advocating for safety belt use by sharing what they would say to convince a younger sibling to follow passenger safety rules, including responding to specific excuses. They complete an activity sheet to identify car smart choices.
This lesson helps students understand safety rules when riding a school bus. Students review when they might ride a school bus and the differences between a school bus and a car. They learn safety rules to follow when waiting for, riding and exiting a school bus. They practice applying the rules by giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to actions described in various scenarios and explaining how following the safety rules would correct the situations that are unsafe.
This lesson helps students understand playground safety rules. Students list things they enjoy doing during play time and think about ways they might be hurt on the playground. They brainstorm a list of safety rules to follow when they are on the playground. Then practice applying the rules by giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to actions described in various scenarios and explaining how following the safety rules would correct the situations that are unsafe. They finish the lesson by completing an activity sheet that allows them to apply the rules they learned.
In this lesson, students explore fire safety issues. They learn the definitions of “danger” and “emergency” and discuss how fire is one kind of emergency. They examine a picture to identify fire safety hazards in the home and suggest what should change to reduce the risk. They learn two basic safety rules for preventing fires, complete an activity sheet to identify fire smart actions, and take home a family sheet to help them discuss fire safety with their parents or guardians.
This lesson teaches what to do to reduce the risk of injury during a fire. Students learn and practice staying low to avoid smoke and stop-drop-and-roll safety actions to follow if their clothing catches fire. They complete an activity sheet to reinforce their learning. The lesson also includes an optional review and practice of school procedures to follow in case of fire or another emergency.
In this skills-based lesson, students review the definition of an emergency. They learn the steps for calling 9-1-1 to get help when needed, see the skill modeled and then have an opportunity to practice the correct procedure for calling for help in an emergency.
This lesson helps students understand school rules around bullying and why bullying is wrong. They identify the difference between teasing and bullying, then the teacher reviews school policies and the consequences for bullying at school. They build their understanding of bullying by discussing questions and creating drawings of how bullying makes targets feel, what bullies do and how to report a bullying situation to a trusted adult. They practice how to ask for help with a bullying situation, and take home a family sheet to help them discuss bullying with their parents or guardians.
In this lesson, students celebrate the safety smart actions they have learned and advocate to help others be safe. They assemble previously completed activity sheets into a book that can be used to share the safety smart message with their families and others.
This lesson helps students identify appropriate (safe) and inappropriate (unsafe) touch, understand that they are not at fault if someone touches them in inappropriate ways, and seek help if this happens.
This lesson teaches the importance of eating a healthy breakfast. Students learn how breakfast provides fuel for the body and contributes to good health. They distinguish between healthy and less-healthy breakfast foods. They complete an activity sheet to remind them of the rewards of eating a healthy breakfast.
This lesson reviews the importance of water for health. Students think about when and why they drink water, and discuss the benefits of drinking plenty of water each day. They make a plan to encourage and support each other in this healthy behavior by making and wearing badges that will remind them and others to drink water.
In this lesson, students set a nutrition goal to eat breakfast every day or to drink more water. They examine reasons people might not eat breakfast or drink water and brainstorm solutions. Then they learn some simple steps for setting a goal and choose one of these healthy behaviors to work on.
This lesson helps raise students’ awareness of the importance of moving their bodies. They discuss how their bodies have changed in the last year, with a focus on how they are faster and stronger. They learn about why physical activity is important for a growing body and perform some active exercises to experience how activity affects the body. They draw 3 ways being active and moving their bodies helps them feel better, get faster and become stronger. They take home a mini-poster to remind them to keep moving their bodies to help them grow and be healthy.
This lesson helps students explore how being physically active contributes to health. They discuss how doing more physical activity and less sitting can help them stay healthy, and analyze how often they sit and when they could move during the day. They complete an activity sheet to remind them to move more and sit less, and take home a family sheet to help them talk with their parents/guardians about ways to increase their physical activity.
In this lesson, students learn about the different ways tobacco and its smoke can hurt the body. They talk about how the body reacts to smoke and the physical effects of tobacco use. They define secondhand smoke and explore how it hurts the body too, and identify actions they can take to avoid it, including moving away in a safe way. Then they make a booklet to show what they’ve learned about staying away from tobacco and secondhand smoke, and take home a family sheet to help them talk with their parents or guardians about tobacco and family rules around tobacco use.
This lesson explores why people smoke. Students listen to and participate in telling an interactive story about a first grader who wants to understand tobacco use. Through the story they explore why kids start smoking and why it’s important for them to stay tobacco free.
In this lesson, students share the tobacco-free message with others. They identify the benefits they get from being tobacco free, then make and wear wristbands in support of being tobacco free. They explain what being tobacco free means to them, and practice what they could say to convince someone their age to stay away from tobacco.
This lesson explores how families can support students in being tobacco free. Students identify ways their family members can help them be tobacco free and protect them from secondhand smoke, then practice how they could ask for support from their families for being tobacco free. They take home a mini-poster to remind them of their choice to be tobacco free.
