1st Grade Health

• Introduction to Health
  Students learn that taking care of our health means taking care of our mind, body, brain, and relationships. There are many things we can and already do to keep our bodies happy. 

• Communication | Listening
  Students begin to learn about healthy communication by developing the skills and rationale for listening. Listening keeps us safe, it helps us learn, and good listeners are good friends. Students will identify pictures of good listeners and read, Why Should I Listen? 

• Communication | Speaking
  Effective communication is important so we can ask for help, speak up when something isn’t right, and have healthy relationships. We use our words and bodies to communicate; we speak clearly and with confidence. Students practice responding to various scenarios, we read Speak Up, and draw pictures of adults who we can ask for help. 

• Communication | Setting and Respecting Boundaries
  Students brainstorm different examples of physical boundaries, as they learn what boundaries look and sound like between people. We communicate our boundaries with our words and body language, and sometimes our boundaries change. It is always our job to respect the boundaries of others and to ask for permission before coming into someone's personal bubble. We read Miles is the Boss of His Body and watch: Boss of My Body.

• Communication | Boundaries II
  We listen to a song about setting boundaries and remember the words used in the song to communicate boundaries. Students apply their communication skills as they practice setting boundaries and listening to the boundaries that are set by others in a series of role plays (i.e playing tag with a friend who is pushing instead of tagging, or being called a nickname that you do not like). 

• Handwashing
  Students learn basic skills for preventing illness and consider the impact of their behaviors on others. Stopping the spread of germs helps to prevent us from getting sick and is a way that we show our classmates, friends, and family that we care about them. We read a book about Simon who is a germ’s best friend and do a fun activity with paint to learn proper handwashing techniques. 

• Hygiene
  Hygiene behaviors are the things we do to keep our bodies clean, to help prevent us from getting sick, and to help us feel our best. We do hygiene because we love our bodies and deserve to feel good in our bodies. Hygiene practices can also be a great way to help us calm ourselves or feel ready for the day. Students determine which hygiene practices they do every day, most days, and every so often. 

• Dental Health
  We read, The Tooth Book, and learn fun facts about teeth. Students learn that there are some foods that help to make our teeth healthy and strong, and circle the pictures of foods that they like to eat and the foods that they would be willing to try. Finally, we practice brushing a fake set of teeth for two minutes while listening to, The Tooth Brushing Song. 

• Being Prepared
  Students learn about taking responsibility for making sure they are dressed properly for the weather and prepared for the activities of the day. 

• Food!
  This lesson is derived from an intuitive eating framework that seeks to help young people tune back into their internal cues. We read, Listening to My Belly and draw pictures of foods that we enjoy eating that are crunchy, chewy, hard, soft, sweet or sour, and round. 

  • Additional Resources for Parents & Caregivers on Intuitive Eating

    • Kids Eat In Color

    • How to Raise an Intuitive Eater

    • What Is Intuitive Eating?

    • How to Help Your Child Practice Intuitive Eating

    • Nicole Cruz, RDN, Nourished Together

• Identifying Feelings
  Students notice their current mood and realize that many of them in class feel differently, even though they are doing the same thing. It's normal for our feelings to be different from someone else's, for our feelings to change throughout the day, and for us to have more than one feeling at once. Students practice noticing feelings by discussing the feelings of children in various pictures, and coloring a picture of the current mood. 

• Calm Caterpillars
  We can’t always control how we feel, but we can control what we do with our feelings. When we notice how we are feeling, we can then do something to help make ourselves feel better, that’s called coping. Student's brainstorm different activities that help them to feel calm when they are having a hard time, and pick their favorite calming activity to put in their "calm caterpillar". 

• My Senses
  Using the book, We All Feel Anxious Sometimes students will learn how to use their five senses to feel calm and grounded. 

• My Strong Mind
  We read My Strong Mind and talk about all of the ways the main character uses her strong mind to have a positive influence in her life. Students will identify their personal strengths and those things which they would like to improve upon and learn the affirmation “My Challenges Help Me Grow.” 

• Bodies
  Please see the tab below with detailed information about the bodies lesson.  

• Bones
  Students play a fun game where they look at the leg bones of various animals and guess who they belong to. They review the foods, activities, and choices that keep their bones strong. To encourage trying new things, students pick something from the list that they don’t already do (or eat) that they would like to try. 

• Pedestrian Safety
  While The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that children always walk and cross streets with an adult prior to age 10, we know that some 1st graders may have opportunities to be around roads without an adult. They learn the basic principles of pedestrian safety; how to walk down the road or in a parking lot and how cross the street safely. We learn to never chase after objects (or pets) into the road and to ask adults for help. 

  • Additional Resources for Parents & Caregivers on Pedestrian Safety

    • Pedestrian Safer Journey

• Decision Making
  We read A Spot of Responsibility and discuss what it means to be responsible. Students apply what they’ve learned throughout the year by responding to various health-related scenarios in a Decision Making Board Game. Students remember that sometimes the best choice is asking for help. 

• Summer Health Bucket
  We review the topics covered in 1st grade health and then students will their “summer bucket” with all of the things they need to stay healthy during the summer. 

*Lessons may not be taught in the order shown, and some lessons are missed due to snow days, field trips, and other events. 

The bodies lesson is adapted from a lesson within the Health Relationships Project Curriculum. You can learn more about their curriculum here: www.pcavt.org/csaprevention. A video overview of the lesson is below as well as a handout with more information.  

• Lesson Plan

  • Worksheet: Who Can I Ask For Help

• Opt Out Form

Additional Resources for Caregivers:

• 10 Tips for Parents to Teach Children about Body Safety and Boundaries 

• Teaching Kids About Their Bodies

• The American Academy of Pediatrics 

  • What's Normal, What's Not?

• The CDC

• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

• The Boundary Song

• Books to read at home:

  • Yes! No!

  • Hands Off Harry

  • Can I GIve You A Squish?

  • We Ask Permission

  • Amazing You!