Grade 2
A Healthy Body

A Sample Unit on Emotional Support

Lesson Plans | Additional Internet Resources

Unit Introduction: A Healthy Body

Being sick is a reality in a child's life. Yet sickness can be quite mysterious to children and is often a source of worry — even when worrying is unwarranted. It is important for students to learn how sickness may sometimes be prevented, how we can control diseases, and how we can cope — or help others cope — with sickness. The strand A Healthy Body teaches students how nutrition, physical activity, leisure and good hygiene practises constitute proper body care, helping to prevent, fight or control diseases. Activities within this strand, and integration with other strands, help students develop an understanding of the roles played by family, friends, members of the community and health professionals in providing support and medical care to people who are ill. Teaching these topics through the Decision-making Process enables students to apply information in daily life, and to take into account positive and negative pressures which may affect the ways we take care of ourselves.

Grade Level Perspective

"Discovering Wellness Patterns" is the grade 2 perspective. Within this unit, students look at cause and effect relationships between emotional support and well-being. The three-level Decision-making Process is used with that perspective in mind, as students focus specifically on emotional support to people who are ill.

HIV/AIDS Education

This sample unit incorporates HIV/AIDS education, a required part of the Elementary Health Education program. Parents have the option to withdraw their child from classes which deal with this component of the program. In this unit, lessons which incorporate HIV/AIDS education are clearly identified. Alternate arrangements should be made for students who do not attend those lessons.

Current Health-related Information

Health-related information changes rapidly and publications must be updated constantly. For this reason, we do not suggest specific pamphlets in this unit. Instead, we provide names and addresses of organizations where accurate, up-to-date information may be obtained. For information on AIDS and other infectious and non-infectious diseases, contact the following organizations and ask for information on specific diseases, including information on prevention:

National AIDS Documentation Centre 1565 Carling Avenue Suite 400 OTTAWA, ON K1Z 8R1 Fax: (613) 725-9826 Internet Site:

Health Canada Publications Unit Communications Branch 13th Floor, Section A Brooke Claxton Building, Tunney's Pasture OTTAWA, ON K1A 0K9

Posters and pamphlets can also be obtained from Local Health Districts. Please note that such publications will provide teachers with up-to-date information. They should not be used in the classroom unless they match the age appropriate instructional guidelines and objectives of the HIV/AIDS component in the curriculum.

Gathering Resources

This sample unit suggests the use of fiction and non-fiction resources on the following topic:

• showing compassion towards people who are ill, including people who are affected by HIV/AIDS

Students who do not attend HIV/AIDS education classes might read and respond to another story related to the topic of moral support for people who are ill.

Specific titles are suggested in the activities only as examples. These and other appropriate titles are listed in Health Education: An Initial List of Implementation Materials for the Elementary Level, 1998. Additional instructional materials to support this curriculum will be listed in Health Education: A Bibliography for the Elementary Level, scheduled to be published in the spring of 1999.

Teachers are encouraged to investigate possibilities for using resources suggested in other lists of materials, such as the bibliographies accompanying the curriculum guides for all other areas of study.

In addition to the school's resource centre and the public library, teachers might check the following sources for instructional materials:

• children's magazines
• Internet sites
• television and radio programming
• brochures

It is also important to access local human resources such as health professionals, parents, or Elders. As in all subject areas, care is required when arranging for guest speakers and classroom presenters. It is the responsibility of teachers to clarify with the speaker the content and objectives of the presentation.

Unit Overview

It is assumed in this unit that students are already familiar with the Decision-making Process at this point. The purpose of the grade two perspective, Discovering Wellness Patterns, is to help students become increasingly independent in using the steps within Level B of the Decision-making Process. In grade two, the steps within Levels A and C guide instructional planning but are not formally taught.

Links Across Strands - An Example

The topic of the grade 2 sample unit Food for Thought is primarily related to the strand A Healthy Body. However, some of the activities link this topic to the three other strands of the elementary health education curriculum.

Taken from: Health Education: A Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level (Grades 1-5)
Sample Grade 2 Unit