Health: Healthy Habits Grade 12

Lesson Objective: To expand students’ thinking about healthy habits and encourage integrating at least one new habit into their daily lives.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

Materials:

• Access to a laptop or device (iPad) for each student.*
• Pre-prepared Google doc so that you (or a student notetaker) can organize the list of healthy habits (separated into domains of wellness). You should share the document with the entire class before the lesson. It may be beneficial to change your settings so that each student needs to make a copy upon opening.
• Graphic organizer for S.M.A.R.T. goal setting as needed

* It is possible to make this a paper-based activity but will require pre-printing checklists of habits so that students can rate their current activities.

Starter:

As students enter class, have a “Do Now” written on the board: 

“There are 8 Major Domains of Wellness: Physical, Intellectual, Spiritual, Emotional, Social, Occupational, Financial, Environmental. Open your laptop and using either Google Docs or a notes feature, work to come up with one healthy habit for each of these domains that someone could integrate into their daily life.”

*You can have students work in pairs, taking into consideration the challenge of identifying one in each area, the amount of time you want to allow for the starter activity, as well as the number of students in your class. 

Main: 

• Discuss what the phrase “Healthy Habits” means, and how it can tie into aspects beyond fitness and nutrition.
• Use the list students made during the starter activity to create a whole class list. Aim to have a few habits in each of the categories. As you discuss each habit, you or a student notetaker can add it to the Google doc under the correct domain. Go around the room and ask each student to share ideas they came up with during the starter activity.
• Once you've compiled the list, have students make a copy of the Google Doc. You should then instruct students to go through the list of habits, and bold any that are currently a part of their daily lives. When students are done, they should share their copy of the Google Doc with you.
• Ask for volunteers to share any of the habits they bolded that they may already be implementing. Discuss the positive impacts of those habits, and the students’ feelings around them. 
  • For example, suppose a student works out every single day. In that case, you can discuss the obvious physical benefits and the positive feelings that results from knowing they completed a workout each day.
• Each student should choose a healthy habit from the list to implement for the next 30 days. It should not be bolded or something they are not currently doing. 
• Discuss S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Sensitive) goal setting as a class. Have each student work to develop a goal that meets the SMART criteria. You, the teacher, should circulate the room and help students who are struggling writing their goal (they may benefit from a graphic organizer for SMART goal setting). Have students who finish quickly pair up and discuss and fine-tune their goal with a partner.
• Assign a journal activity for the next 30 days. Students should write short, daily entries outlining their progress toward their identified goal. Encourage them to be honest. Slip-ups or missing a day when trying to implement new habits are an important part of the learning process. These journals should be graded for completion only, rather than progress toward the goal. Identify dates over the next 30 days for progress checks.

Feedback:

As an end-of-class activity, students should write their first journal entry at the bottom of their shared Google Doc with you. Ask them to include their goal, reasoning behind choosing the habit they chose, and any feelings they have about the 30-day challenge. 

You can also ask that they include any anticipated challenges or difficulties, or any support they might need to complete the assignment.

Extension:

Students create a presentation about the habit they chose and the goal they set for the past 30 days. The presentation should cover the benefits of the habit and their experience. They can use their journal as evidence for their presentation. 

Encourage them to be creative with their presentation medium. They can present in a variety of forms, and should not be limited to a Powerpoint format. Think video journal, interactive activity relating to their habit, poster, etc. This is a great place to allow students to be creative and think outside the box with how they want to share their information.

Written by Maria Tollezo

Education World Contributor

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