Resource Review 1
The resource I found will be used for grade 3 health education. The name of this resource is Coping Skills For Kids – Managing Feelings and Emotions For Elementary-Middle School | Self-Regulation. It is a Youtube video which can be found here (https://youtu.be/Vs-MyQgfH3A ). I originally was planning to find a meditation resource for students, and I did, but I saw this video in the suggested videos on the side, and thought that covering the management of emotions would be a great idea for grade 3’s! I also chose this grade level as this is the ideal grade I’d like to teach! I believe that it is not only important to talk through/about emotions with young children, but also teach them the importance of identifying them and knowing that feeling all emotions is okay. I know most men in society today have grown up believing that their emotions should be silenced and bottled up inside as they may believe that showing emotions is weak and non masculine; this is completely invalid, however! All individuals should know how to manage and deal with their emotions and know when it’s time to reach out for help, and it all starts with the discussion of them here in the classroom! I believe that this is a strong resource as it provides many different strategies on how to manage emotions and breaks it down into 3 big steps, as well as some signs you might be feeling a certain emotion. They are tips that students can reflect on when they’re feeling flustered, for example, and think back to these strategies to cope with and manage their emotions during difficult times. I also really like this resource and think a strength in it is that it also provides strategies for when you are feeling positive emotions as well in a feelings thermometer like smiling, keep listening, and helping someone else. I think this is important so that even when students feel like they are on top of the world, they can continue to enjoy that whilst still being humble. Overall I could not find any critique’s for this resource. I believe it informs in a trauma-sensitive manner, and allows children to tap into their problem-solving mode where they can identify certain coping strategies. This resource doesn’t get too indepth to any cultural factors, so there are not really many beliefs to apply to the cultural humility appropriateness. I was happy to see the cultural diversity throughout this short video as well. This resource greatly covers the dynamics of emotions and would be understandable and comprehensible for grade 3 level. This resource can match greatly with outcome DM3.1: Demonstrate the importance of investigating information for making informed decisions related to healthy foods and physical activity, one’s “inner self”, helpful and harmful substances, healthy family and home, safety at home, and impact of violence, and indicator (a): Critique decisions made by someone (e.g., community situation, character in a story) who did not investigate the information/facts before making a decision, and compare it to those made by people who did. In class, we would have a discussion on emotions and what some of those look and feel like. Looking at the outcome, we would be hitting the decision making regarding “inner self” as students will be exploring how to manage their own emotions and how to cope in the moment. The activity in class could be looking at certain scenarios of children dealing with emotions. The student would identify the emotion(s), and some strategies that the children can use to manage them. I think this is a great idea as children can separate their emotions from the children, and still be able to identify some emotional management strategies–the children in the scenarios who experience these emotions may have a harder time using any of these strategies as their survival brain may be in power over the thinking/learning brain. This activity allows students to look at emotions and coping strategies without necessarily having to feel them.
Resource Review 2
The resource that I have chosen is the children’s book Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder (https://youtu.be/VSwD7qArzz0?t=15). This book would be suitable for a grade 3 health education class. I discovered this book this semester in my ECE 325 class. One of our assignments was a group project where we had to make invitations for children and another group used this book, and I thought the book was amazing!
I chose this resource as today there are so many images and people themselves that are modelling to young girls–and everyone really–what the “perfect” body looks like and what’s acceptable and what “should be” strived for in society. However, these images can leave a really negative impact on youth as they may start to see themselves as less than or unworthy. I believe that this book counters these ideas of perfection and introduces children to a new viewpoint on body image they may have never heard of before. This book stands out as it introduces and normalizes normal body features that have been shunned in society today.
This book is a strong resource as it is a simple read with deep concepts; it is suitable for all grade levels. This book is very inclusive as it contains a diversity of races, ages, genders and sexual identities, and abilities (one with glasses, in a wheelchair, or with medical needs like someone with diabetes). This book also emphasizes that no body type should be considered the norm, but every body and their features should have their place and be loved and important: color(s) of skin (freckles, patchy skin, etc), hair type and color and location, face structures, and body weight. This book shows these strengths through the pictures. The pictures contain many typical oppressed ideologies in society like breastfeeding in public, homosexuality, exposed body hair for women, etc, giving them a place demonstrating that everyone has a body and it is their own to express. We may or may not understand, but we must accept and value them as a human and who they are on the inside because our bodies are only a part of who we are.
Overall I think this resource is a great one. The only challenge that this resource may bring is the topic itself of body image. Students in my classroom may struggle with body image. If I were to bring this resource into the classroom it would be my responsibility to notify my students of the topic and how this might make some feel uncomfortable, and at any time a child will be allowed to leave without permission. Setting up a supportive space and environment for students can help with these uncomfortable topics.
My critique for this resource is on trauma-sensitivity. I think this resource is a really good one when talking about body image. There isn’t an individual who is singled out because of a certain feature of their body. There are rather multiple individuals with different body types, hair types/locations, and overall different ways of expression. Body image can be difficult for some children who have endured trauma around this topic, but this resource does a great job at making it trauma-sensitive; the teacher also has to do their part to ensure the class is comfortable around this topic as previously mentioned.
This resource meets outcome USC3.2: Examine the spiritual dimension of the “inner self” and determine the importance of nurturing it, and indicator (f): Describe the “inner self” as that which is important but only visible to others if chosen to be (e.g., ideas such as “It matters more who you are on the inside than how you look on the outside”). The resource and outcome/indicator work well together as students can learn that their inner self is what’s truly important rather than physical appearance.
After reading this book to the class and possibly lecturing on it, the activity planned would be students writing a letter to a part of their body that may need a bit more love. This would be personal and students would not be obligated to share their letters, but rather keep it personal and for themselves. This can look like writing a letter to their hips, hair, mind, or whatever the student desires. The teacher could also read their letter aloud to demonstrate that it’s okay to talk about our struggles.
Resource Review 3
For my third resource, I have chosen the Youtube video Wellbeing for Children: Healthy Habits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhpCdqOtuj0). This video will be used for a grade 3 health education class. I found this video by looking on Youtube for a health video for kids. I wasn’t really wanting to touch on nutrition as it can be a sensitive topic, but I’ll have to eventually in my career as a teacher so I figured why not now while I have the guidance!
I chose this resource because it touches on why it’s important to take care of our bodies regarding the food we eat, the amount of activity that we get, as well as the amount of sleep that we get. These factors are truly the basic needs one needs before they can strive any further according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I also feel like in society today, people tend to lose the importance of caring for their wellbeing in all dimensions, so bringing this resource to students can inform them to prioritize these basic needs daily before anything else.
This resource is strong because it doesn’t single anybody out. This resource talks on what foods we should eat more of and less of rather than saying these foods are bad for you for example. This is also a strong resource as it is designed for elementary students so they can actually relate to the concepts throughout the video. This video is also racially and ability diverse showing that it doesn’t matter who we are, we can all be healthy.
Although I think this is a very educational video for children, I do see some shortcomings throughout. The video suggests eating the rainbow in fruits and vegetables everyday and avoiding or limiting sugary foods. However, some families may not be able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables financially, and also considering the high prices of fresh foods these days. It may be problematic and some children may have the idea that if their family cannot afford these fresh foods, they’re not healthy. I also believe this is where a snack cart provided by the teacher can come in if possible, and even a breakfast program at the school so that students can be meeting their basic nutritional needs. Another shortfall of this video is the length of sleep suggestion and importance, especially where it mentions quietness when sleeping. Although it is important to get enough sleep, some children may not be getting enough sleep due to circumstances out of their control. Are their parents arguing all night? Is it freezing because the power bill wasn’t paid? Do they have younger siblings that cried all night? Do they have a place where they can relax enough to sleep? Every family dynamic looks different and not always in the benefit of sleep duration. Some children may also like to fall asleep to noise and cannot sleep when it is quiet.
I will be critiquing this resource in accuracy of content. I would say the legitimacy of the content is great. The resource provides accurate information in regard to nutritious foods, sleep quantity, and physical activity time. The resource also avoids singling out any individuals. I wouldn’t say anything in this resource is wrong, just that some of the points could be expressed in a different way to avoid any and all traumatic triggers. This, again, brings me to the quiet 10 hours of sleep, as well as eating the rainbow everyday. These factors may not be accessible for children and we may not know why. I would word this in a different way to avoid the potentiality of children thinking they are less than.
This resource meets the outcome USC3.1: Determine the role of a variety of healthy foods and physical activity on the health and development of the mind, body, and immune system, and indicator (f): Examine the roles of diet and physical activity on a healthy mind, body, and immune system and (g): Determine that foods provide essential nutrients for health. The resource fits this outcome/indicators as the video talks about the importance of certain healthy habits of many different dimensions of health.
The activity for this resource would be based on this video and further lessons on nutritious foods and their benefits, activity and their benefits, as well as several different healthy habits. Students would then construct their own single day agenda consisting of a meal plan for the day, as well as daily activities ensuring they can move their body in one way or another aiming for at least 60 minutes. The plan will be an idealistic one with no cost limits and such. This way students can craft healthy habits that are personalized and beneficial to them.
Lesson Plan
Name: Ms. Chornomitz
| Grade: 3
Subject: Health Ed. |
| Content:
Students will be introduced to ways in which they can manage and control their emotions–happy and sad–as well as some coping strategies. They will look at scenarios where a child may be having some strong emotions, and students will identify these and ways in which the child can cope with or manage their emotion(s).
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| Outcomes and Indicators:
Outcome: DM3.1 Demonstrate the importance of investigating information for making informed decisions related to healthy foods and physical activity, one’s “inner self”, helpful and harmful substances, healthy family and home, safety at home, and impact of violence. Indicator: (a) Critique decisions made by someone (e.g., community situation, character in a story) who did not investigate the information/facts before making a decision, and compare it to those made by people who did.
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Prerequisite Learning:
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| Lesson Preparation
Equipment/Materials
Advanced Preparation
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| Presentation (developed for a 30 min class)
Set: (10 mins) – Do tune in activity: hand out students printed small hearts. The students will color their hearts in accordance to what emotions they are feeling and why. For teacher purposes, draw colored hearts on the board and write their emotion next to them (ex: blue heart=sad) so teachers can get an idea how the students are feeling today – Play the Coping Skills For Kids – Managing Feelings & Emotions: https://youtu.be/Vs-MyQgfH3A Development: (10-15 mins) – Point out to students that there are many strategies to manage and control emotions–BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE – Pull up emotion thermometer on smartboard for coping strategy ideas while students work on activity: il_fullxfull.3318475748_63ou.jpg ; can also bring up a list of emotions to remind students of some – Students will work on the emotions scenarios sheet either individually or in partners or groups (teacher’s preference or give students the option). Worksheet found here
Closure: (5-10 mins) – Ask students to share one strategy they’ve learned today to manage emotions – Students will hand in their emotion scenarios for assessment – Clean up any coloring supplies used |
