Health

6^TH GRADE:

This class will focus on the importance of overall wellness within the student’s life. The curriculum is based on the Great Body Shop, which is a comprehensive health program utilized grades one through six. Over the course of the year, we will examine and discuss resolving conflicts, friendships, staying safe, drug use and abuse, discovering ones self, puberty, nutrition, exercise and stress, and life management skills. In addition to the curriculum, there is a strong parent component where the kids will come home ready to share and discuss ideas and thoughts from our class discussions. During the year, note taking, study skills and time management will also be taught.

7^TH GRADE:

Seventh grade Health is in the process of integrating the Michigan Model for Comprehensive School Health Education along with the ”Amazing Alternatives” section of the Project Northland program for alcohol and drug education . Throughout the curriculum, the students will be developing cooperative skills, realizing risk taking behaviors, and applying positive decision-making abilities. The fundamental wellness concepts of Social, Mental and Physical Health that were introduced the previous year will be built upon. Students will practice note taking and test-taking skills while exploring and understanding topics of self esteem, nutrition, reproductive systems, stress management and substance abuse. Seventh grade students will be assessed via class participation, quizzes, group and individual projects, and creative writing assignments.

8^TH GRADE:

The eighth grade health curriculum focuses on assuming responsibility for one's own health, a charge which middle school students increasingly assume. Safety, stress management, nutrition and the responsible use of medication are some of the topics addressed with this maturing self reliance in mind. A lot of our classroom time is spent talking about how and why people make the decisions they do. Good decision making depends on having the right information, attitude and skills, and these points are emphasized throughout the lessons on tobacco, marijuana and alcohol which corm the second part of the course. The role of peer pressure and strategies to stand by one's own decisions are discussed. Role plays and brainstorming responses to various scenarios further challenge students to find words to deal with uncomfortable situations. Students are encouraged to discover reasons for non-use that really apply to them, so that they can decline involvement with conviction.