Wellness & Safety Teacher Resources

Find balance in your life and encourage your class to do the same with our comprehensive set of instructional ideas and activities on wellness and mind/body well-being. Understanding the mind-body connection is key to a person’s successful development. Help young learners focus on every aspect of their personal health, whether it’s mental, emotional, physical, social, or spiritual health, with Lesson Planet’s teacher-curated resources.

First, introduce class members to the idea of whole-body health with elementarymiddle school, and high school lessons on wellness. For younger learners, a short video helps them understand how to stay healthy, and older students can watch a video on Gilbert Ryle’s The Concept of Mind about the ways emotions can affect behavior.

The negative consequences of how mental and emotional health can affect physical health can be dire. Discuss the risk factors for drug addiction with a series of case studies, and follow up with a lesson on the ways to recover from addiction to prescription or other drugs.

Maintaining learners’ self-esteem can be tricky amidst puberty, peer pressure, and daily stress. Help them reflect on their self-worth with a workbook on several challenging situations, and a lesson that focuses on keeping a healthy body image. When discussing lifestyle changes, use a resource that examines how small daily improvements can contribute to long-term success.

Students need all the support they can get when it comes to their mental and emotional health. It’s your job to help support them—and it’s our job to support you and your curriculum needs.

Showing 361 resources
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18 Items in Topic
Lesson Planet Curated

KidsHealth in the Classroom: Health Problems Series Grades 9-12

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The KidsHealth in the Classroom: Health Problems Series for high schoolers is divided into 18 lessons that examine alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; emotional and behavioral health; infectious diseases; and conditions such as diabetes,...
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10 Items in Topic
Lesson Planet Curated

Lions Quest SEL Mindfulness Resources

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The eight resources in the Lions Quest SEL Mindfulness collection focus on mindfulness, self-management, and self-awareness. Participants learn how to practice mindful breathing to focus their attention and reduce stress, how to identify...
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10 Items in Unit
Lesson Planet Curated

In Sync Personal Development: Year 9

For Teachers 9th Standards
Change is inevitable—learning how to manage those changes is the focus of the 10 lessons In Sync Personal Development unit module designed for high school freshmen. Scholars develop behaviors and strategies for identifying and expressing...
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31 Items in Topic
Lesson Planet Curated

Ken Burns in the Classroom: Hemingway

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed Standards
Hemingway: BH, AH. Before Hemingway and after Hemingway. A collection of PBS lessons, authored by Julia E. Torres, uses clips from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s documentary to EXPLORE the influence events in Hemingway’s life had on his...
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26 Items in Curriculum Set
Lesson Planet Curated

Health Smart Virginia: 8th Grade Social Emotional Health

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders investigate various health concepts, skills, and behaviors to plan for their personal, lifelong health goals. These include awareness and consequences of risky behaviors, disease prevention, overall wellness, and...
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43 Items in Curriculum Set
Lesson Planet Curated

Health Smart Virginia: 9th Grade Social Emotional Health

For Teachers 9th
To begin the Social-Emotional Health series designed for high school freshmen, a seven-page packet of activity ideas, lesson plans, and information resources provides instructors with a wealth of materials to support teaching the...
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PPT
Curated OER

The Health Triangle

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What else does physical health include besides exercise and nutrition? How can I support my mental health? Does social health just refer to relationships with friends? How are all of these questions vital to the body's overall efficiency...
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Activity
US National Library of Medicine

Mental Health Awareness Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Here is a thoughtful group assignment for researching mental health disorders. Team members focus on a different aspect of a chosen disorder: symptoms, treatments, and community resources.
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Instructional Video13:07
TED-Ed

Toward a New Understanding of Mental Illness

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
We know that as a result of early detection and intervention, we are able to make great strides in treating common diseases; however, this is not yet the case in the realm of mental illness. Explore this query with your class and touch...
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Lesson Plan
Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Road Blocks to Mental Health

For Teachers 11th - 12th
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer than half of adults seek treatment for mental health disorders. Those interested in careers in mental health investigate why this is so by looking at the stigma...
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Unit Plan
Mental Health Literacy

Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide - Version 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A 171-page curriculum provides educators with the information they need to help and support high schoolers' mental health. The curriculum targets five domains: learning how to maintain good mental health, learning about mental disorders...
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Lesson Plan
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Health Smart Virginia

Face of Mental Illness

For Teachers 10th
There are a lot of myths and misinformation out there about mental illness. Help set the record straight with a resource that debunks the falsehoods and provides high schoolers with accurate and important information about the various...
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Lesson Plan
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Health Smart Virginia

Face of Mental Illness

For Teachers 9th
To develop an understanding of the stigma surrounding mental health problems and the impact stigma and discrimination have on those who would seek help, groups investigate the symptoms of and risk factors associated with eight different...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Health Smart Virginia

Ending the Silence on Mental Illness

For Teachers 9th
To end the silence on mental illness, groups research a mental illness. They then create a scene-by-scene script, cast parts, and record a video that details the symptoms, causes, and treatment of the disorder. They also include what...
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Lesson Plan
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Health Smart Virginia

Mental Health PowerPoint and Notes

For Teachers 9th
A 15-slide presentation summarizes key concepts from the Mental Health unit designed for freshmen. Viewers record the information on the provided worksheets. The notes prepare learners for a game of jeopardy.
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Instructional Video9:06
TED-Ed

There's No Shame in Taking Care of Your Mental Health

For Students 6th - Higher Ed Standards
Stigma, shame, silence. A short, powerful video address why people don't take care of and seek help for their mental health and offers suggestions for what can be done.
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Lesson Plan
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

My Life—My Mental Health

For Students 6th - 8th
Between peer pressure, an onslaught of hormones, and brand new responsibilities, the teenage years can be emotionally volatile. Equip young adults with coping mechanisms and a safe place to discuss their feelings with a guided...
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Writing
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Health Smart Virginia

Mental Health Journals

For Students 8th - 10th
Eight prompts, designed to accompany the Health Smart series of lessons, provide high schoolers an opportunity to reflect on and learn from the issues raised by the various activities.
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PPT
Curated OER

Helping Adolescents Deal with Peer Pressure

For Teachers 12th
Designed by a mental health center, this presentation is meant to educate educators how to help teens face peer pressure. Tips are provided for identifying at-risk youth and bullying situations. This would be a poignant topic to include...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mental Health 3: Mental Health Through Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the impact and portrayal of mental illness in literature. They develop thier ideas about mental health through the arts in this the third activity on mental health.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

World Mental Health Day

For Students 5th - 10th
For this World Mental Health Day worksheet, students complete activities such as reading a passage, matching phrases, fill in the blanks, choose the correct word, multiple choice, unscramble the words, sequencing, unscramble the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Mental Health

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students define mental health and complete a worksheet about themselves.  In this mental health lesson, students evaluate themselves as they score their worksheet.  Students discuss critical thinking questions about their responses.
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Activity
Bethel School District

Health Triangle Self Assessment

For Students 7th - 12th
Measure health as a triangle, with each side representing different aspects of health: physical, emotional/mental, and social. High schoolers complete a self-assessment of their health in all three areas before scoring their progress and...
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Lesson Plan
Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Maintaining Your Health and Well-Being

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Future counselors and mental health professionals engage in two activities that give them insight into careers in human services. First, groups of four compare and contrast health and wellness apps and share their findings with the...