Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.1F Grade 4 CPI 5

 

Standard: 2.1 - Wellness

 

Strand: F -  Social and Emotional Health 

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 5 - The student will discuss the causes of stress and demonstrate ways to deal with stressful situations.

 

Grade: 4

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        MATHEMATICAL STRESS - Give students a very complicated oral math problem to complete. Speak clearly but faster than usual, and do not answer student questions as you pose the problem. Carefully observe the class as you read the problem. After a short period of time, explain that you are more interested in their reactions to the situation than the solution to the problem. Discuss how the students felt when trying to solve the problem, especially because you were reading quickly and refused to stop or slow down. As students describe the physical and emotional symptoms they experienced, explain that they were under stress. Brainstorm other situations that might cause individuals stress and list. For each situation, students develop a list of healthy and unhealthy ways to deal with the stress. Using this list, each student selects one stressor he/she experiences and writes a brief plan to reduce stress and deal with the stressor.

Variation: Students predict what might cause stress at various stages of life. Based on the predictions, students create a time line indicating different stressors occurring at the various phases of life and suggest ways to deal with each.

Variation: Invite a panel that includes representatives from various life stages to discuss ways they handle stress in their everyday life.

 

·        STRESS FREE ME - Students create a poem, story, song, or comic book that focuses on a character coping with stress in positive, healthful ways. Students share the creative works with classmates.

Variation: Students draw a picture of themselves in a stressful situation. Then they draw a second picture illustrating the effective use of coping strategies to address the same situation. Frame the pictures and display them.

 

·        COPING AND TV - Students view three or more different kinds of television shows (e.g., comedy, news, sports, cartoon, commercial, mystery, drama, documentary, children’s show) and look for situations in which a coping skill enters into the plot. Students keep a log of the shows they watched and the types of situations and skills used. At the end of the viewing week, students who watched similar shows compare their reactions. Pose the following question: “Does TV accurately portray the stressful situations and appropriate responses?”

 

·        SOCIAL STRESS REDUCTION - Ask: “How can friends help when you are feeling stressed out?” List the ideas on the board and explain that one of the most important qualities of a friend is the ability to listen. Brainstorm other characteristics of a good friend. Divide the class into pairs, and assign each pair a positive characteristic of a friend. Each pair develops a role-play that illustrates the characteristic. Qualities might include the following:

 

 

Variation: Students brainstorm a list of people who may be supportive when someone feels “stressed out.” Include parents, school, and community resources on the list. Students draw a picture of a person providing help during stress.