Length
60 minutes
Curriculum Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.6
Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, identifying important issues that remain unresolved.
Key Vocabulary
- Stress
- Academic stress
- Test anxiety
- Stress at work
- Endorphins
Instructions
- First, start this lesson by asking students what stresses them out. As the discussion progresses, write common stressors on the board.
- When the list on the board is complete, ask students if stress can be controlled. Explain that indeed it can and that today's lesson will focus on teaching them how.
- Now watch the lesson Coping with Stress: Techniques, Attitudes & Reducing Exposure, focusing on key terms and the following ideas from the video:
- 0:41 - What is the real definition of stress? By just learning the definition, what can we already tell about stress in relation to 'getting worked up over everything'?
- 2:53 - How can preparation beyond studying help you deal with academic stress? What are some examples of this?
- 4:09 - Why do you think it's so important to follow specific steps when dealing with stress at work? Why is cooling off so important, for example?
- 5:58 - What are some ways of dealing with stress in general? Why do you think these have so much in common with just remaining healthy?
Activity
- Have students silently journal about a stressor they are dealing with right now. Assure them their thoughts will remain private. Ask them to focus on how the problem makes them feel.
- Once students have completed their journal-write, practice some stress-relief exercises with students. You may choose to put on relaxing music. Depending on your class, you could have them do any or a combination of the following:
- Breathe deeply
- Gently massage their own scalps
- Jumping jacks
- Draw a peaceful scene
- After having completed the exercises, have students return to their journal and write about how they feel now. Better? In what ways? Have them concentrate on physical sensations.
