Lesson 7.1: Your Emotional Health

Overview

This lesson focuses on identifying and managing emotions and will build skills related to practicing emotional control if a variety of situations.

Learning Targets

  • LO1: Explain how emotional health relates to overall health and wellness.
  • LO2: Describe influences on emotional health.
  • LO3: Explain each of the four parts of emotional intelligence.
  • LO4: Explain why empathy is important to relationships.
  • LO5: Describe the risks of not having good impulse control.

Preparation

Chapter Opener: Use the chapter 7 My Emotional Health self-assessment to introduce the chapter before moving on to Lesson 7.1 or assign the self-assessment as a homework task before starting this lesson.

For the Warm-Up Activity: Write the Journal Question on the board or identify (and copy as needed) the worksheets you plan to use:

For the Content Focus: Open the Lesson 7.1 PowerPoint slides or make copies of the Lesson 7.1 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 7.1 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Practicing Emotional Control.

Warm-Up Activity

Select a warm-up activity to help get your class focused and on task.

  • Self-Assessment: Have students complete the My Emotional Health self-assessment.
  • Journal Question: When is the last time you felt empathy from someone else? Describe the situation and explain how their response affected how you felt in the situation.
    • Option: Write or project the question and have students respond in their journal or on their “bell ringer” sheet as they enter class.
    • Option: Have students discuss the question with a partner or in a small group.
  • Vocabulary Review: Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to complete the Lesson 7.1 Vocabulary Review Worksheet.
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 7.1 Quiz to assess their prior knowledge.
    • Option: Collect the quiz and use it alongside a posttest to demonstrate student learning.
    • Option: Have students share their answers with a partner and then go over the answers together as a class.

Lesson Content

Review the content from the textbook lesson.

Lesson Focus: Practicing Emotional Control

  1. Give each student a copy of the Lesson 7.1 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Practicing Emotional Control.
  2. Have students work individually to complete the worksheet.
  3. After sufficient time has passed, have students work with a partner or in small groups to share their responses. After they have compared responses on the scenarios that are provided, invite each student to share their personal story and the strategy they identified. Challenge students to think of additional strategies that could be used as they are listening to each other’s stories.
  4. Option: Use the Holistic Rubric: Making Healthy Decisions to assess the individual’s ability to solve the problems presented using appropriate strategies.

Challenge Activity

Have students needing an additional challenge work on the following Thinking Critically task.

Select one characteristic of emotional intelligence. Conduct some research on how or why that element might affect someone’s emotional health. Write a one- or two-paragraph summary of your findings.

Reflection and Summary

Review the critical content from today’s lesson. Review the learning targets and ask students to answer each question posed.

Can you...

  • Explain how emotional health relates to overall health and wellness?

    Having good emotional health affects your ability to manage stress, build relationships and manage conflict, and keep emotions under control; self-confidence and self-motivation; leadership abilities; and success in academics and work life.

  • Describe influences on emotional health?

    Physical changes associated with maturation and through interactions with peers, especially on social media are the biggest influences on emotions.

  • Explain each of the four parts of emotional intelligence?

    Self-awareness is knowing your own abilities, self-management is controlling your emotions, social awareness is recognizing and understanding others’ emotions, and social skills are how well you handle relationships with others.

  • Explain why empathy is important to relationships?

    If you are not able to relate to the emotions of others, it is challenging to develop meaningful relationships or to function fully in society.

  • Describe the risks of not having good impulse control.

    People who don’t have good impulse control often struggle in personal relationships and are at higher risk of smoking, drinking, abusing drugs, gambling compulsively, behaving aggressively, and developing eating disorders.

Assessment

Complete one or more of the following assessment tasks for this lesson.

Take It Home

Share the strategies for managing emotions with someone in your home or family. Find out which strategy or strategies they use to help them regulate emotion and why.

Option: Assign the My Emotional Health self-assessment as a homework task if it was not used at the start of this lesson.