Curriculum Evidence
Curriculum Evidence
Unit Plan
Subject: Health AND Physical Education
Learning area: Mental health and wellbeing
Year level: 10
Date Range: 2nd- 24th June 2015
Unit Summary: Students will learn to understand mental illnesses, as well as balancing and
integrating strategies for dealing with mental health related problems that can help them
thrive in todays world. They will focus on exploring different services available to them to
seek help for mental health related issues, managing stress, and developing strategies to deal
with problematic situations, while developing skills to promote health and wellbeing for
themselves and others.
Content descriptors that guide this plan:
English
STRAND: Literature
Sub strand: Responding to Literature
ACELT1640: Reflect on, extend, endorse or refute others interpretations of and responses to
literature
Health and Physical Education
STRAND 1: Personal, social and community health
Sub strand: Communicating and interacting for Health and Well-Being
ACPPS089: Evaluate factors that shape identities and analyse how individuals impact the
identities of others.
ACPPS095: Evaluate and apply health information from a range of sources to health
decisions and situations.
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Key activities
1. Students are asked to list any mental health conditions they can think of and symptoms
associated with them (develop a list/ flow chart on the board) providing ideas to help guide
their learning (Use text book Health Issues: actions and reactions (Riddell & Wright, 1996).
2. Mental health Continuum- Students are given a card that describes a person; they
must place this card on the continuum where they believe it fits when describing them
in relation to their mental health (Mentally well Mentally unwell).
3. Students walk up and down the continuum and see where others placed the terms;
asked to identify any card they believe belongs elsewhere and justify their opinion.
4. Students discuss factors that may cause them to move up and down this continuum.
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Assessment
Checklist used over the unit:
different people
Contribution of ideas
Week 2: Health Lesson 55 minutes
Topic
Seeking help
Equipment required
Who are you going to call? worksheet (Appendix 3)
True or false relay description, labels and questions (cut up), (Appendix 4)
False
Introduction
Recap last lesson
Discuss factors that would influence the fluctuation of mental health and wellbeing, be sure to include
body image and positive and negative relationships.
Key activities
1. In groups of 4 discuss the strategies they could use to cope with the situations mentioned that
affect mental health, provide them with more if struggling. Ask them to identify who they
would go to for help; Do they have a support network? Do they know the services available to
them?
2. Who are you going to call?- In groups of two, Students are given a worksheet with different
helpers, they are to compare them with one another by writing negative and positive aspects
about seeking help from them as well as state whether or not they would seek help from them
(Can use computers to inform their decisions/comparisons).
3. To finish off the lessons students will participate in a true/false relay (detailed in Appendix 4)
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At the completion of this lesson students will be given an A4 sheet of paper with a list of various
health services they can seek help and support from.
Assessment
Checklist- Identifying and exploring the health services that are available to them.
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the class (students at different numbers) and suggestions are made on strategies that can help their
friends deal with this situation.
Assessment:
Topic
Techniques to help deal with stress and improve mental health
Equipment required
An iphone/ ipad for each student (with the app Breathe2Relax)
Warm up activities
1. Students will briefly discuss how physical activity and healthy eating link to positive mental
health as well as the benefits of both relaxation techniques and exercise (as a stress buster and
endorphin releaser) in regards to an individuals mental health.
A handout further emphasising these benefits will be provided.
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Exercise circuit- Students will work on their physical health whilst trying to improve their mental
health, the circuit will consist of both fitness type activities and skill related activities (footballs,
basketballs, etc.)
Assessment
Checklist
Students understand the benefits of physical activity in relation to their mental health
Participation
Week 4: Health Lesson 55 minutes
Topic
Recognising mental health problems
Equipment required
Computers
Am I mad or not? Your job is to help! Worksheet (Appendix 6)
Introduction
Students are to safely and quickly run to the undercover area, where they must find a small palm card
with mental health word/s from previous class content (eg. Depression, beyond blue or reluctant to
seek help) the students must then come back to class and write everything they know that relates to
their term- they have a maximum of 5 minutes to complete this task and hand their card up.
Key activities
Am I mad or not? Your job is to help! (Bringing all of their knowledge, to the final
assessment task) Using computers students are to complete the activities outlined on the
what is wrong- your job is to help! worksheet. Encourage students to use a range of sources
including beyond blue and headspace organisation websites to diagnose the problem.
Assessment
Summative assessment: Typed scenarios and diagnosis.
Palm cards allow for further gauges of learning.
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ASSESS UNIT WORK AGAINST CONTENT DESCRIPTORS- provide students with rubric.
The focus class chosen for this unit plan is a grade 10 class from Kings Meadows High
School, the class consists of an even amount of male and female students and one student
Brittany has an intellectual disability, which causes her some learning difficulties.
Mental health has been chosen as the topic as teaching it in a school setting allows the
students to learn about and respond to mental health issues in a positive, safe and supportive
environment, and they are provided with opportunities to build and practice relationship
skills.
The content within these lessons needs to be taught as it allows students to explore their own
values and attitudes in regards to mental health and the stigma that surrounds them, as well as
understand the signs and seriousness of mental illnesses. It is appropriate for these year 10
students to learn this content as it provides them with the information for themselves and
others, identifying mental health related symptoms, coping strategies, seeking help and
recognising mental illnesses.
Students with a disability should have access to the same opportunities and choices in their
education that are available to a student without disability. It is important to note that not all
students with a disability will require adjustments to the curriculum, instruction or
environment (ACARA, 2014), which is why the content is the same for her; however she
may complete the work at a slower rate (carrying over to the next class).
Vygtskys Zone of proximal development can be defined as "the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in
collaboration with more capable peers" (Vygotsky, 1978). This theory guides the use of
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group work throughout this unit plan as this method allows the students to bounce ideas off
one another and the students who struggle intellectually can bridge the gap and extend their
intellectual knowledge and ability.
The use of technology throughout the lessons enhances the effectiveness of the teaching by
allowing the students to work independently and it also transforms the ways that students
think and learn giving them greater control over how, where and when they learn (ACARA,
2014). A negative aspect of the practical lesson is that it may be limited by access to
technology.
Personal and social capability supports students in becoming creative and confident
individuals with a sense of self-worth, self-awareness and personal identity that enables
them to manage their emotional, mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing, with a sense of
hope and optimism about their lives and the future. (ACARA, 2014)
The content descriptors and the activities allow the general capability personal and social
capability to be met. The students develop their self-awareness by developing reflective
practices, their self-management by expressing their emotions appropriately and become
confident, resilient and adaptable. The activities also influence their social awareness by
allowing them and encouraging them to appreciate diverse perspectives and their social
management by encouraging them to work effectively and collaboratively and make
decisions of their own accord, as well as appreciate individual similarities and differences.
The cross-curriculum priority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures is
embedded throughout this unit plan in regards to the students identifying their individual
identities and how they shape others, in particular content descriptor ACPPS089.
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The various activities allow for a range of learning opportunities to occur for the students
such as exploring their values and beliefs in regards to mental health and wellbeing and then
explore the dynamic nature of mental health, identify the different types of help available to
them and help them overcome barriers that stop young people from seeking professional help
such as: stigma, embarrassment, shame, inability to recognise they have a problem, unsure
about where to seek help and what will happen, and the belief that no one can help them.
Other opportunities involve using their knowledge about services and people available to
them to explore their values and attitudes with regards to emerging problems.
The learning activities link well to the content descriptors and objectives of this unit as they
allow the above to be achieved and the worksheets the students complete require them to
critically evaluate the information they source and ensure they are reliable and relevant.
Different modes of assessment have been used throughout this unit plan as Walt Honey
(1992) suggests that using one mode of assessment for a range of purposes is like using a
hammer for everything from brain surgery to pile driving (Earl, 2003). The use of Summative
assessment at the completion of this unit plans provides an indication of the extent to which
learning has taken place.
Reference list
ACARA, 2014, The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. Retrieved from:
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/healthandphysicaleducation/Rationale
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Vygotsky, L,S., (1978) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
(Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press)
Often students will place the Life of the party card at the Mentally well end of the continuum,
however, research shows that excessive partying, dangerous alcohol use and sexual
promiscuity are indicators that the young person is having mental health difficulties. This
behaviour if it is ongoing, should be a flag for teachers, parents and friends that the young
person is not coping.
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2. Students will normally place those terms that describe mental illnesses such as
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PMS etc at the Mentally unwell end of the continuum. It is
important to emphasise that just because someone has been diagnosed with a mental illness
does not necessarily mean they are mentally unwell. The majority of people who are
diagnosed, receive professional help and maintain their treatment regime can be mentally
well. You can use the analogy that it is just like a person suffering from asthma - if that
person takes their medication as prescribed and lives a healthy lifestyle they can manage their
asthma and it will have little or no impact on their physical health. It is exactly the same for a
person who is diagnosed with a mental illness.
3. Feeling blue, feeling flat, feeling down, grieving, upset etc. are all naturally reactions to a
variety of situations and are all part of the natural fluctuations that occur in relation to
people's mental wellbeing. However, if someone is feeling flat, blue, down or grieving for an
extended period of time (more than two weeks) then this is when it starts to become a
concern. It is important to remember that one in five students in your class will experience a
depressive episode before they are 18 and prolonged feelings such as these are an early
indicator of possible depression.
Appendix 2:
Schizophrenia
Bipolar disorder
PMS
Personality disorder
Psychotic
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Confident
Connected
Risk taker
Feeling Down
Feeling Blue
Feeling Flat
Lonely
Happy
Excited
Post Natal
depression
Disconnected
Sad
Upset
Suicidal
Grieving
Perfectionist
Anxious
Shy
Appendix 3:
Who are you going to call?
Below is a list of people you may want to seek help from if suffering from a mental illness.
Your job is to list the positive and negative aspects (if you can think of any) that may
encourage you, or hinder you from seeking support from them; it is important to note that
different problems may require seeking help from different individuals and services. You
must also note whether or not you would seek help from them. If you do not know what is in
their job description (professional confidentiality factors, etc.) you may use a computer to
help inform you. There are blank spaces at the bottom for you to list any other places that you
may seek help and support from.
Positive
Parents
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Negative
Sibling
Teacher
School
counsellor
Telephone
hotline
Doctor
Online
Mental health
professional
(eg.
Psychologist)
Appendix 4:
True/false relay
Establish relay teams. Teams are to one at a time run to the other end of the playing area and
grab a question from their hop and come back and answer the question as a team, either true
or false and put it in the correct hoop.
While the team member is running to pick up the question the other team members must
perform an exercise, such as squat, lunges, star jumps, etc.
TRUE
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FALSE
ANSWERS
1. FALSE- There are more services and community support systems than ever
before. People with mental illnesses live active, productive lives.
2. TRUE
3. FALSE- People with mental illnesses are much more likely to be the victims
of crime; they are no more violent than anyone else. You probably know
someone with a mental illness and you dont even realise.
4. TRUE
5. FALSE- you can do a lot, starting with how you act and speak. You can
create an environment that builds on peoples strengths and promotes
understanding.
Appendix 5:
Listed below are 10 problem situations that young people are faced with, imagine they are your
friends in these situations and then rank them according to how concerned you are and whether or not
you believe they need professional help. (1 being not very concerned and do not need help, 10 being
severely concerned and should seek professional help)
2
3
4
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things for the past few weeks. She even forgot to bring her
text book for an open book exam.
Every Tuesday you friend is late for homeroom
5
6
7
8
9
10
Appendix 6:
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injury. My life goes into a massive downward spiral, I start drinking, doing drugs and
dont care about anything. I just cant cope with life without basketball. What is
wrong? Please help!
2. Hi my name is Ann- I am 18 years old and have been modelling since I was 14. I am
forever trying to look my best, particularly focussing on keeping my weight down. I
have become obsessed with my appearance and now rarely eat and when I do, I find
myself forcing myself to vomit. I am becoming tired and extremely thin. What is
wrong? Please help!
3. My name is Mia- I have just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. I have been looking
forward to this moment or years but find myself not wanting to touch or hold my
baby. I am continually crying and am now worried that I could hurt my baby. What is
wrong? Please help!
4. My name is Johnny- I am 21 and cant control myself. One day I feel fine and the
next I feel like the entire world is against me. My feelings are so unpredictable. What
5.
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