Descriptive Information
Skill Emphasis (NHES): Decision Making
Grade Level: 7th
Content Area of Health: Mental Health
Content Descriptor & Sub-Descriptor(s): 4. Stress Management
4.1 How to analyze stressors
4.2 Coping strategies to reduce stress
4.3 Ways to avoid stress
Title of Lesson: Stress and Stress Management
PA Standard (Health & PE): 10.2.6 D. Describe and apply the steps of a decision-making process to health and safety issues
Curricular Connections: English - writing analysis and reflection
Adolescent Risk Behavior (if applicable): N/A
Behavioral Objective(s)
Cognitive: Students will be able to identify healthy and unhealthy ways to manage stress.
Affective: Students will work cooperatively in partner activities and respect others thoughts and strategies by listening attentively and participating in class discussion.
Skill-Based: Students will be able to describe and apply steps of the decision-making process in stressful situations by identifying their problem, considering the consequences, taking action, and reflecting on the decision and its reduction of stress.
Brief Outline of Today’s Lesson
1. Bell Ringer: “Partner Share”
2. Introduction to the Lesson
3. Content and Instructional Strategies
Coping strategies to reduce stress
Envelope Activity
Healthy and Unhealthy strategies
Stress management techniques
4 A’s
4. In-class Learning Activity: “Stress Scenarios”
4 Corner Activity
Dialogue Individual Work
5. In-class Learning Activity Assessment
Description of the Assessment
Content and Skills Criteria/Cues
Analytical Rubric
6. Final Thoughts/Conclusion to the Lesson
7. Classroom Management and Materials
Expanded Outline of Today’s Lesson
1.Introduction to the Lesson (Set Induction):
You have all been learning about stress and the types of stress that you will experience in your lifetime. Today, we’re going come up with ways to manage those stressors and decide which management style will be the most helpful for you!
2.Bell Ringer (Instant Activity): Partner Share
Students will pair up. Each student will have a minute to share with their partner something they were stressed about in the past week and how they dealt with that stress. At the end, students can share with the class and discuss their experiences.
3.Content & Instructional Strategies:
●Coping strategies to reduce stress
○Envelope Activity
■Students will work in pairs and will be given an envelope with healthy and unhealthy ways to cope with stress. As a pair, they will decide whether the given strategies in their envelopes are healthy or unhealthy and place them in their corresponding categories. If they have a strategy they are unsure about, they may leave it off to the side. Once most students have completed the envelope activity, we will go over where students put the strategies.
■Each student will be given response cards that are red, yellow, and green. To go over whether the strategies are healthy or unhealthy, we will read a strategy aloud and the students will raise the green card if they put it in the healthy category, the red card if they put it in the unhealthy category, or the yellow card if they were unsure of which category the strategy fit into. We will discuss class responses depending on where they put the strategies and if they had any they were unsure about. Why do you think this strategy is healthy or unhealthy? What strategies might fall into both categories?
○Healthy Ways (PowerPoint, Envelope Activity and Response Cards)
■Go for a walk
■Spend time in nature
■Call a friend
■Exercise
■Write in a journal
■Play with a pet
■Work in the yard
■Get a massage
■Read
■Listen to music
■Watch a comedy
○Unhealthy Ways (PowerPoint, Envelope Activity and Response)
■Smoking
■Drinking
■Overeating or under eating
■Zoning out watching TV for hours
■Withdrawing from friends, family or activities
■Using pills or drugs
■Sleeping too much
■Procrastinating
■Avoiding facing your problems
■Taking your stress out on others
●Stress management techniques (PowerPoint, Lecture, Group Discussion)
○Decision Making Skills Review
■Identify the problem
■Consider the consequences
■Take action in the situation
■Evaluate and reflect on your decision
○Accept
■Sometimes we have to accept things the way they are.
■Can you…
●Learn from the past?
●Talk with someone?
●Use positive self-talk?
●Join a support group?
○Avoid
■Sometimes you have to plan ahead and rearrange your surroundings.
■Can you…
●Avoid someone that is constantly bothering you?
●Avoid taking on more than you can handle?
●Leave the situation?
●Avoid talking about certain topics?
○Alter
■Sometimes changing a stressful situation in some small way can help.
●Can you…
○Ask someone to change his or her behavior?
○Tell the person how you feel?
○Change the time, place, or setting?
○Manage your time better?
○Be more assertive?
○Adapt
■By anticipating different stressors and making plans to adapt, you can be more prepared for possible stressful situations.
●Can you…
○Change your thinking?
■Could it be an opportunity? Is it worth being upset about?
○Change your feelings?
■Use relaxation techniques, picture a positive environment
○Change your actions?
■Slow down, try to exercise, talk to someone!
4. In-Class Learning Activity(ies): Stress Scenarios (Will be on PowerPoint screen)
●After learning about the 4 A’s as stress management techniques, students will do a 4 Corner activity.
○In each corner a sign representing one of the 4 A’s will be posted (Avoid, Alter, Adapt, Accept). We will read scenarios aloud to students and they will decide which A they think would be best suited to manage the stress of that situation. Once students have all moved to a corner, they will be given a minute to discuss with others who have chosen the same A why they chose that technique. Then we will briefly discuss as a class. What made you choose this technique? Do you think any other techniques would also work and why? 7 scenarios will be presented, then we will ask if anyone would like to give an example of a scenario, such as the one they discussed with a partner earlier in class during the bell ringer activity.
●Once the scenarios and discussion have finished, students will return to their seats. They will have a worksheet that will prompt them to recall the stressful scenario they discussed during the bell ringer at the beginning of class for Bring It All Together final activity.
○Students, referring to the stressor from the beginning of class, will consider each of the 4 A’s in dealing with their situation. They will list the possible (positive or negative) consequences of each A for their situation.
○Students will then pick the best A option for their stressor and create a dialogue for handling their situation. This dialogue should show the process of the decision making process by identifying the problem, listing the consequences, taking action in the situation and reflecting on whether their action was a good decision.
○We will ask students to share their dialogues and decisions if there is time and wrap up the activity by seeing if the students believed they handled their situation better with this dialogue than how they originally handled it before this class. Students can respond with response cards, green if they made improvements or red if they did not change or would not change how they handled the situation, or if time permits, we can have a class discussion about who handled their stressful situation better, why, and what strategies they used.
5. In-Class Learning Activity Assessment-Description & Criteria
●An analytical rubric will be used to grade the in-class learning activity, “Stress Scenario Dialogue” on content (Core Concepts), the progression of the decision-making process (DM) and other specific criteria.
●Students must include content specific in their dialogue and it must be accurate, show relationships between concepts and draw conclusions. The CC criteria on the analytical rubric below will be used to assess the content portion of the activity.
●In addition, students must demonstrate a personalized progression in analyzing and coping with stress. They should use the DM skill cues of: identifying the decision to be made, considering the options and consequences, taking action or making decisions, and evaluating or reflecting on the action.
●Additional criteria are characteristics of the activity that are not content or skill-related. This criteria includes: listing the consequences of each A and reflecting on how what they learned today helped them to reduce the stress in their situation
●Score the “Stress Scenarios” dialogue using the following Core Concepts criteria, skill cues, additional criteria and analytical rubric.
○Core Concepts
■Content for Stress Scenarios Dialogue shows:
●Accuracy
●Comprehensiveness
●Relationships among concepts
●Conclusions drawn
■Skill: Decision Making
●Personalized
●Shows progression through DM process:
○Identifies the decision to be made
○Considers options and consequences
○Takes action or makes decisions
○Evaluates or reflects on action
■Additional Criteria
●Consequences for each A in their scenario
●Reflection
6. Final Thoughts/Conclusion to the Lesson
Throughout the stress unit, you have learned what causes you stress and today you learned ways to cope with and avoid stressful situations. What is one healthy way you will use from now on to deal with stress? What are the 4 A’s? We hope that you take the strategies and techniques we have taught you today and incorporate them into your lives so that you can stress less!
7. Classroom Management & Materials
¨Classroom Materials
o Handouts/Worksheets: Healthy/Unhealthy Strategies and Envelope, Response Cards, 4 A’s Handout, Dialogue Worksheet, Grading Assessment Form, Analytical Rubric
o Other Materials: 4 A Signs for 4 Corner Activity
¨Classroom Management
o For Content Delivery: Traditional seating or teach assigned seating
o For In-Class Learning Activity: Students will be partnered with who is sitting near them based on class size and seating arrangements. During 4 corner activity students will be free to move throughout the room to the designated corner, the A’s will be located in areas that can accommodate the size of the class but still have students close enough to facilitate discussion.
Content References
CCSSO-SCASS Health Education Assessment Project (2006) Assessment Tools for School Health Education, ToucanEd Inc., Santa Cruz, CA.
Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Stressful scenarios Flashcards - ProProfs. (2010, September 30). Retrieved from
Activity Reference(s)
KINES468 MONTHLEY PACKET FALL12, PSU (F13), PSU Bursar, ISBN: 2818440125522; contains Instructional Strategies; based on textbook by: Duncan, L.C. and Eckert, C. (2006) Strategies to Inspire Learning-Voices from Experience, Teaching Concepts, Downingtown, PA. (Thin Spiral Packet)
Paglione, M. 4 December 2013, 4 Corners, The Pennsylvania State University, Kines 468-Fall 2013.
Read, B. 4 December 2013, 4 Corners, The Pennsylvania State University, Kines 468-Fall 2013.
Appendices
Unhealthy Ways to Cope With Stress
SmokingDrinking alcohol
Binge eating
Skipping meals
Zoning out watching TV for hours
Withdrawing from friends, family, or activities
Using pills or drugs
Excessive sleeping
Procrastinating
Filling up your time to avoid facing problems
Taking out your stress on others
Healthy Ways to Cope With Stress
Go for a walkSpend time in nature
Call a friend
Exercise
Write in a journal
Play with a pet
Work in the yard
Get a massage
Read
Listen to music
Watch a comedy
The 4 A’s[MP1]
Stress management strategy #1: Avoid unnecessary stress
Not all stress can be avoided, and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed. You may be surprised, however, by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.
■Learn how to say “no” – Know your limits and stick to them. Taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.
■Avoid people who stress you out – If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.
■Take control of your environment – If horror films make you anxious, turn them off. If traffic’s got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.
■Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion.
■Pare down your to-do list – Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.
Stress management strategy #2: Alter the situation
If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Figure out what you can do to change things so the problem doesn’t present itself in the future. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.
■Express your feelings instead of bottling them up - If something or someone is bothering you; communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same.
■Be willing to compromise - When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you’ll have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.
■Be more assertive - Don’t take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. If you’ve got an exam to study for and your chatty roommate just got home, say up front that you only have five minutes to talk.
■Manage your time better - Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead and make sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.
Stress management strategy #3: Adapt to the stressor
If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude.
■Reframe problems - Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favorite radio station, or enjoy some alone time.
■Look at the big picture - Take perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month? A year? Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.
■Adjust your standards - Perfectionism is a major source of avoidable stress. Stop setting yourself up for failure by demanding perfection. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to be okay with “good enough.”
■Focus on the positive - When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective.
Stress management strategy #4: Accept the things you can’t change
Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change.
■Don’t try to control the uncontrollable - Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.
■Look for the upside - As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.
■Share your feelings - Talk to a trusted friend or make an appointment with a therapist. Expressing what you’re going through can be very cathartic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.
■Learn to forgive - Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments.Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.
Bringing it all Together
Use your stressor that you shared in the bell ringer activity to fill in this worksheet. Analyze each of the four A’s (Avoid, Alter, Adapt, and Accept) and the potential outcomes from each. Pick the best option and explain why you chose the option you did.