Grade 7 Sample Lesson: What’s Really Going On? Understanding Mental Health

Considerations for Lesson Planning 

Location: Classroom

Strand: Healthy Living

Topic: Mental Health Literacy

Students:

  • Students from East Asia, where English is not their first language and have limited English proficiency

    • Consideration: Foster a supportive, affirming, and safer learning environment for the diverse identities of students.

  • A student is South Asian, new to Canada and the school, and has an anxiety disorder (AD)
    • Consideration:
      • Incorporate strategies to support the student who is new to Canada and is beginning to learn English.
      • Incorporate strategies to support the student with AD.

Supports:

  • Access to translated vocabulary and/or accompanying visuals.
  • Collaboration with a multilingual learner (MLL) support teacher and/or a special education resource teacher.

Lesson: What’s Really Going On? Understanding Mental Health 

Lesson Overview

Through engagement in small and large group discussions and analysis of scenarios, students learn about the relationship between mental health and mental illness and possible signs of mental health challenges.

Overall and Specific Expectations

D1: D1.6

Learning Goals

  • We are learning to understand the relationship between mental health and mental illness.
  • We are learning to identify possible signs of mental health challenges.

Materials

  • Access to a shared document (for example, chart paper and markers, online interactive tool)
  • Sticky notes or paper
  • Teacher Resource: Recordable Anecdotal Recording Chart
  • Translation of key content for accessibility (for example, Think Pair Share questions, key terms, scenarios, and guiding questions)

Assessment for Learning

Use the Teacher Resource: Recordable Anecdotal Recording Chart to observe students' responses during small group and whole group discussions to provide verbal and written feedback of students’ understanding of the relationship between mental health and mental illness and possible signs of mental health challenges. 

Minds On

Share the learning goals with the class and co-construct success criteria with students. Consider posting the success criteria in the learning space for reference throughout the lesson.

Review classroom agreements for respectful conversations to create a safer environment to ensure all students feel safe enough to share their thoughts throughout the lesson.

Distribute two sticky notes or paper to each student. Divide students into pairs and have them select a place in the learning space to engage in conversation. Use the Think Pair Share strategy (consult Teaching Strategy Descriptions) and the following teacher prompts to have students reflect on what they know about mental health and mental illness.

Teacher Prompts:

  • “What do you think mental health means?”
  • “What comes to mind when you hear the term mental illness?

Pairs share their ideas with each other. Have pairs write their ideas on their sticky note, one idea per sticky note. Then, have pairs join another group to form a group of four and share their ideas before engaging in the whole class discussion. Provide students with sufficient time. 

Facilitate a whole class discussion on student understanding of mental health and mental illness. Record the responses on a digital board or chart paper.

Post the following statement for students to reference. Read the statement aloud to provide students with an introduction to the topic of mental health and to set the tone for learning: 

“Today, we’re going to learn about mental health and the stigma around this topic. The words we choose can make a big difference in how people feel about seeking help and support. The term mental illness is often misunderstood and can have a negative connotation. Many people associate it with something scary, permanent, or something that makes a person "different". This stigma can make people feel ashamed or afraid to talk about their struggles. Instead of saying mental illness, we can say mental health challenges or mental health struggles. This is because mental health is like physical health. It exists on a spectrum, and everyone experiences challenges at some point. Just like we wouldn’t shame someone for catching a cold or breaking a bone, we shouldn’t shame someone for struggling with their mental health.”

Action

Use a digital slide presentation or anchor chart to explain the following key terms:

  • Mental Health: The way we think, feel, and handle daily life. Just like physical health, mental health can be strong or need extra care at times. Taking care of it helps us cope with stress, build relationships, and enjoy life.
  • Mental Illness (Or Mental Health Challenges): A health condition that affects a person’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviours in a way that makes daily life more difficult. Examples include depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Just like our physical health, a person can be mentally healthy, even if they have a diagnosed mental illness, by taking care of their mental health.
  • Stigma: Negative or unfair beliefs about something or someone. Stigma can make people feel embarrassed or afraid to ask for help. We can reduce stigma by talking about mental health in a supportive and understanding way!
  • Support Systems: The people, places, and resources that help us when we’re struggling. These can include:
    • family and friends
    • teachers, school counsellors, trusted adults
    • doctors, therapists, helplines
    • community and online resources

Create groups of four to five students, considering student needs and relationships to create a safer environment for them to analyze various mental health scenarios. Provide each group with three short scenarios of fictional students experiencing mental health challenges, and the guiding questions. Have groups choose one scenario and generate ideas about ways they might help the student. Circulate around the groups to provide clarification and support their understanding of the task.

Scenarios: 

  • Scenario 1: “I’ve been feeling really stressed all the time, and I don’t know why. It’s making it hard to sleep and concentrate in school. What should I do?”

  • Scenario 2: “My best friend has stopped hanging out with us and seems really down all the time. I want to help, but I don’t know how.”

  • Scenario 3: “I’m starting to notice I get extremely upset when I don’t get perfect grades or I make a mistake playing piano. I’m constantly worrying about my future, grades, and what others think of me. I’m also getting frequent headaches and stomach aches. I’m not sure what to do.”

Guiding Questions: 

  • What signs might show that this person needs support?
  • Who might they go to for support?
  • How might you help them access support?

Consolidation

Have groups share their responses from the Action activity. Provide additional insights to clarify students’ understanding of mental health, mental illness, and possible signs of a mental health challenge. 

After groups have shared their response, have them select one of the scenarios and illustrate how they would show the person they care, and how they would support them in considering accessing help. Provide groups with the option to write the dialogue or illustrate it via images.

CRRP Strategies Embedded in the Lesson 

Components of this lesson are designed to foster a supportive, affirming, and safer learning environment for students from East Asia for which English is not their first language and have little English acquisition.

  • Key content is translated ahead of the lesson to ensure accessibility of material, regardless of English Language acquisition.
  • Purposeful groups based on student needs allow students to use a preferred language to express their ideas, promoting peer interaction and support. Small and large group discussions and student reflections emphasize critical reflection, encouraging students to explore and share their identities, experiences, and perspectives and how these facets of their identity contribute to an inclusive and affirming environment.
  • Circulating among groups helps to support groups where there are more student needs.

Components of this lesson are designed to incorporate strategies to support the student who is South Asian and new to Canada and is beginning to learn the English Language.

  • Key content is translated ahead of the lesson to ensure accessibility of material, regardless of English Language acquisition.
  • Intentional groupings provide peer support.
  • Circulating among groups helps to support groups where there are more student needs.
  • Providing a choice of tasks provides an entry point for the student to best demonstrate their understanding based on needs and interests. 

Components of this lesson are designed to incorporate strategies to support the student who is new to the school and has an anxiety disorder.

  • Classroom culture and learning agreements established and clarified at the beginning of the lesson help to foster a sense of belonging.
  • Student is allowed to select where they sit to help them feel more comfortable and less overwhelmed.
  • Strategic pairing of students provides the student with a trusted peer with whom they can work.
  • Circulating though the space with frequent check-ins provides support as needed.