Healthy Living

Lesson 1

The learning target in this lesson was for the students to understand that components of healthy living.  We began by making a KWL chart. I was pleased to see that they students knew that healthy eating and exercise were important. One students mentioned drinking water instead of sodas.  We made a list of all the healthy living components that we would be talking about this month: staying fit, healthy eating, staying well, getting enough sleep, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol. Students ended the lesson by naming the three healthiest parts of their lifestyle and picking two areas that would like to improve. We will be revisiting these goals later. 

Lesson 2

The goal of this lesson was for students to be able to explain the benefits of physical activity and personal fitness. We began by discussing the heart. Students learned that the heart’s job was to pump blood throughout their bodies. That as a muscle, physical fitness makes our heart stronger. We also discussed the other benefits of exercise including having more energy. Next, we discussed example of physical activity. We listed all the physical activities that they students so to stay fit. Students then discussed with their shoulder partners what they do from the time they leave school until they go to bed. As the students shared out, I created a T-chart to categorize which actives were physical and which were not. I asked they students to think about ways they could make changes in their daily lives to be more active. Most of my students are involved in sports which is great. To conclude this lesson, students made posters that advocated physical fitness by encouraging other students to be physically active and to suggest ways to be more active. 

Lesson 3

The goal for this lesson was for the students to learn how eat healthy. To segue into the lesson, I read the book Good Enough to Eat.  Next, we reviewed the food pyramid. Students did a sorting game to make sure their understood foods that would fall into the pyramid categories. Finally, the lesson wrapped up with the students creating a health meal using a template of table setting.

Lesson 4

The focus today was for the students to learn how to stay well.  We began this lesson by reflecting back to when someone in our houses were sick. Students shared their experiences. I informed the students that even people who have healthy behaviors sometimes get sick.  Next, we discussed how diseases are spread.  Students learned that diseases are caused by germ like viruses and bacteria. Also that sneezing and coughing without covering your nose and mouth will spread germs.  I was quite proud of my Oscar winning performance as I demonstrated how coughing and sneezing spread germs .They were lots of moans and groans from the audience so I think I got my point across. I ended by reinforcing that healthy habits can help you stay well. The students loved their closing activity for this lesson. They had to create a comic telling others how to stay well and avoid spreading germs.

Lesson 5

Sleep was our focus today. The target was to make the student understand that their bodies have to have the proper of amount of sleep in order for them to be at their best. I began by polling the students about how much sleep they thought they should get each night. There was wide range of answers. Next, we did a shared reading of article from KidsHealth.org about sleep. Students were surprised to learn that the recommended amount of sleep for them was 10-11 hours per night. We watched a slide show where students have to guess which animal got the most sleep. There were several surprises for the students.

Lesson 6

This next lesson is near and dear to my heart. My goal was to convince my students never ever to smoke. We began by identifying tobacco and tobacco products.  I made it clear to students that there was a legal age for buying tobacco products. Next, we read the book Smoking Stinks. We discussed the book and how the character Maddie was affected by her grandpa’s smoking.  This led into a discussion of how tobacco hurts body organs and systems. We talked about the Respiratory System and the Circulatory System.  I shared some old cigarette ads with students. They noticed how the people in the ads didn’t how the effects of smoking including yellow teeth. Next, students had to explain how tobacco hurts the body by completing a student page naming the body systems and how tobacco affects the systems. 

Lesson 7

The target for this lesson was understanding the dangers of alcohol. I used a lesson from our health curriculum for this lesson. We began by linking back to a previous lesson and reviewing the dangers of smoking. As part of that lesson we talked about the body systems that were affected by smoking. Students were asked what body systems do you think would be affected by alcohol and why? The students’ responses were mostly on target.

As we began to learn to the dangers of alcohol, we first identified alcohol as a drug. We discussed the differences between a drug and medicine.  Next, we talked about the effects of alcohol and other drugs on the body. This lesson specifically discussed how alcohol affects the digestive, circulatory, muscular, and nervous systems.

It was interesting to hear students share their knowledge of alcohol. Most of them have seen their parents drink.  Some have seen their parents drink a lot! Many had older brothers or sisters (not of legal drinking age) that drink. It was a very good discussion! It is so important that students know how to be responsible with alcohol. The lesson concluded by the students writing a lesson to themselves pledging never to use alcohol. 

As usual with Classroom Champion lesson, I feel I made a difference in students’ lives this month! Thank you Classroom Champions! We still have to watch Alex's video next week and respond to her challenge! This was a busy month!