Getting to Know How I Feel

Schools and Teachers

Clayton Huey Elementary School                             Teacher: Brittni LoNigro, Emily Reinsel, Viviana Escalante

Description

In 2020, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by an estimated 25 percent, with young people and women most affected. We will look at mental health, emotions, and stress and how exercising can help with how students are feeling.  Students will be researching and sharing books with their peers to answer the question: What is mental health and how can I be aware about my mental health?

Student work

Reflection

When it came to technology, Book Creator, BrainPOP, Boom Cards, and PebbleGo were the types of technology we utilized the most during this project. These resources were kid friendly and gave them reliable information when researching the topics of their choice.  Students were engaged, especially with the BrainPOP videos and Boom Card games.  BrainPOP videos were utilized to introduce the various topics to the students.  When they decided on a research topic, they used BrainPOP and PebbleGo to conduct research.  The students loved using Book Creator to keep a journal of the different topics we were learning about.  I think even before they learned about what topic we would be learning about, just knowing they could use Book Creator motivated them to do better work and be more engaged.  Everyday they were excited to come in and add to their journal new information they learned about different topics related to Mental Health.  Students loved creating their books at the end of the unit to show one topic of their choice that they decided to research more in depth.  The students were able to take ownership in their work and be creative about how they presented their research.  This kept students more engaged and excited to complete the research for their project. There were points they did not want to leave ENL because they wanted to continue working on their books. 

Students were also actively engaged in their learning because of the student-led discussions and the opportunities to brainstorm ideas based on the topic.  They were also able to constantly think about what they were learning because they were able to continuously reflect on their learning and research by adding pictures and words to their brainstorming pages in their Journal.  I found it interesting some of the discussions that came up when students were doing turn and talks as well as class discussions.  Students felt comfortable sharing situations when they have been stressed or experienced mental health issues.  I was very proud of how they felt safe to have these types of conversations with their peers.  Students also benefited from working with their peers and making connections to different pieces of the research we were doing.  For example, when watching the YouTube Video on Mental Health, I heard many students discussing how they have experienced similar situations and I thought it added to their understanding of mental health because they saw other students experiencing similar life events. I felt throughout the unit, some of the best “research” came from the students’ discussions and hearing them talk about their experiences with Mental Health. 

If I were to do this again, I do not think I would have them complete their daily check-ins in their journal online and instead do hard copies.  Half way through the project, I gave them the option to do it virtual or on paper and then take a picture of their check in to add to their book.  The majority of them wanted to do it on paper and then take a picture.  By the second week of the project, students were completing their check-in on paper and then adding a picture to their journal.  For the “I Feel Activity,” having the virtual journal was incredibly useful because they could take pictures of themselves or add emojis to represent their feelings.  At first students did not want to take pictures of themselves, however, after doing a few of the pages, they got excited and into it.  Also, throughout the project, I had to modify and adjust the lessons because some activities took longer than expected such as the “I Feel” Activity.  Originally I thought they could complete it in one 36 minute period, however, they needed two days to complete this activity.  

This unit ended up taking significantly longer than expected due to scheduling conflicts as well as giving students proper time to complete research.  Originally what I thought could be completed in 2 weeks (1 week of background information and 1 week of student research and project), ended up taking much longer (almost 2.5 weeks).  The time we completed this unit (towards the end of the school year), also played a role in how much time was needed to complete all the components.  I did not have 2 consistent weeks to complete the project and on multiple occasions, I either was not able to teach the lesson or students were absent because of state testing or field trips.  This caused the students to have less time to complete their research and create the book.  Some of the activities that I had originally planned had to be modified or removed from the unit plan.  If I were to teach this unit again, I would make sure it was during a time where I could have more consistent instruction.