Plan for Instruction

Identify what you know

Know the students
Begin by thinking about the makeup of the class. Because each group of students has different learning needs, the plan for one teachers classroom may be significantly different from that of another. Teachers need to decide how to allocate time for the major learning outcomes based on the needs of their current class. In any one classroom, there is at least a three-year span in students physical, social, emotional and intellectual maturity, and their readiness or need for specific health and life skills information. Many of the specific outcomes in the health and life skills program list a number of possible contexts for exploring and discussing the outcome. Teachers should work with their students to choose a specific focus or context that is relevant to them and their community. It is also important to consider what issues might not be appropriate or should be handled with care. For example, if a particular student has recently lost a family member to suicide or a car accident, these topics should be handled with discretion and sensitivity. To make the most effective plan for the health and life skills program, identify what kind of topics and activities will best engage a certain group of students, and what focus will generate the most interest and commitment. The health and life skills program offers much latitude for choosing topics that are meaningful to students. Using the personal experiences of the students as a lesson starting point promotes a link between the practice and transfer of skills in the classroom to the home and community.

Know the community

To plan an effective health and life skills program, it is essential to identify the strengths and needs of the community in which students live. In our diverse society, there are parents who will approve of certain content and teaching methods in the health and life skills classroom, but there are also some parents who will not. Teachers must consult with school principals and parents, and keep all stakeholders advised of the content and focus of the health and life skills program. Teachers need to consider community opportunities in their planning. Look for designated weeks or months, such as Yellow Ribbon Week or Heart and Stroke Month, to address topics that complement the health and life skills program. Consider community opportunities that could reinforce and extend learning. See Teacher planning tool 4: Calendar of Designated Dates, Alberta on pages 45 of Appendix A.

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /45 2002

Gather resources
Consider available resources and how they complement curriculum outcomes. Videos, posters, novels, reference materials, commercially designed manuals, community designed programs, Web sites and resource people are all examples of resources. To meet the needs of all learners, it is essential to use a variety of resources from a variety of media. No single resource can be used to teach the entire health and life skills program for any grade level. A list of resources reviewed and authorized by Alberta Learning is available at www.learning.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/healthpls/default.asp. The list includes student support resources and authorized teaching resources. Schools need to inventory and review current resources, and make plans for compiling additional resources. It is also important to cull and discard outdated and questionable material. Make sure the material you are using is appropriate, engaging and accurate.

Organize instruction

Organization in elementary grades

The combined time allotment for health and physical education instruction for grades 1 to 6 is 150 minutes per week. Health and life skills instruction can be delivered several ways in elementary grades. Weekly classes of 3040 minutes are common. Some schools integrate specific outcomes from the Health and Life Skills Program of Studies into religion, language arts, social studies and physical education.

Organization in middle and junior high schools

The grades 7 to 9 allotment is a total of 150 hours of health instruction over the course of three years. Research strongly indicates that for health instruction to be most effective, it should occur a minimum of 50 hours each and every school year. This program of studies is designed to be delivered each year, at each grade level. Health and life skills instruction in middle and junior high schools can be organized in a variety of ways, including weekly health classes, monthly conferences, advisory programs and integration into other subject areas.

Timetabled health class

Many middle and junior high schools schedule one health class a week. This model ensures instructional time is dedicated to the specific outcomes of the Health and Life Skills Program of Studies.

46/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Conference model
The conference model is a focused school-wide initiative in which daylong conferences are organized around one or more health and life skills outcomes. The conference activities are often built around a specific theme, such as active living or healthy decision making. The activities give students a variety of opportunities to explore and practise new skills, and learn new information and ideas. A conference could be an annual event, such as a Career Fair, or could be scheduled monthly to cover the entire health curriculum over the course of the school year. Conferences are an effective way to involve community partners and build a school-wide culture of healthy living. They require extensive planning, and rely on teamwork and effective use of resources. Planning has to consider how outcomes for each level will be met. Schools using the conference model report high levels of student participation and satisfaction.

Advisory programs
Another delivery model is to use the daily advisory program for health and life skills instruction. This model can have different names, including care groups, and health and guidance groups. Typically, these programs are timetabled for 20-minute periods, five days a week. The daily contact and smaller student groups create a safe and caring environment for introducing new skills and concepts, practising skills, and completing in-class projects and presentations. This system works most effectively for health instruction when students in advisory groups are in the same grade level. Planning for cross-grade programs requires detailed long-range planning, careful tracking and effective teamwork.

Subject integration
There are many opportunities to integrate health and life skills education into other areas of study, including language arts, social studies, physical education and family life studies. For example, the Physical Education Program of Studies contains a number of specific learner outcomes that relate directly to specific outcomes in the K9 Health and Life Skills Program of Studies. See Teacher planning tools 12 to 21 on pages 1423 of Appendix A. These tools can be used for cross-curricular planning. An integrated approach still requires that teachers plan instruction for specific health and life skills outcomes. Consider infusing aspects of health and life skills learning across the school day to complement, rather than replace, dedicated health and life skills instruction time. Schools need to explore which model of delivery will best address the curricular outcomes and needs of the school community.

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /47 2002

Choose an instructional framework

Instructional frameworks act as lenses, helping teachers clarify and enhance their instructional ideas and practices into an interrelated set of teaching tools. Instructional frameworks help teachers make wise choices about how to use an array of learning, teaching and assessment activities to best meet the learning needs and interests of students. Three instructional frameworks that are especially congruent with the instructional needs of the health and life skills program are brain research, Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences and Blooms taxonomy.

Brain research
Over the past 30 years, new technology has resulted in a dramatic increase in information available about the brain. Educators are using this information to support and inform classroom practice. Politano and Paquin (2000) outline 10 factors to create brain-compatible teaching and learning environments for health education. These factors, based on the research of Eric Jensen, are: uniqueness, assessment, emotions, meaning, multi-path, brain-body, memory, nutrition, cycles and rhythms and elimination of threats. UniquenessBrain-based learning is compatible with health and life skills education because the outcomes of the program of studies recognize and value the uniqueness of individuals. The health and life skills program encourages students to identify their strengths and needs as learners and community members. It also provides learners with several choices on how to process their thinking and represent their learning. This choice and variety permits students to work in ways that most suit their unique learning styles and developmental stages. AssessmentBecause of the wide-ranging outcomes in the health and life skills program, it is essential that good assessment drive instruction. Teachers need to find out what students know and what they need to learn. Assessment is most authentic when learning is demonstrated within the context of the classroom with real tasks and assignments that closely reflect previous work in the classroom. EmotionsThe health and life skills program explores emotions and how they affect our daily lives. It recognizes that emotion strongly affects learning, attention, memory and health. Health and life skills education helps students become more aware of their emotional states, and develop strategies for managing their emotions. MeaningThe intent of the health and life skills program is for students to create meaning, rather than just receive information. Teachers can help students create meaning by providing opportunities to explore the big picture perspective of health-related issues, and drawing links between what students are learning and how they are living.

48/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Multi-pathIn the health and life skills classroom, there are many opportunities to present rich, multidimensional, sensory experiences. The more ways teachers present information to students, the more opportunities students have to make those brain connections, and understand and remember material. Brain-bodyUsing physical activity as part of instruction helps motivate and energize students. Role-plays, cooperative games and service learning projects all help the brain learn. MemoryMemory plays an important role in learning. There are many strategies teachers can use within health and life skills instruction to help students build memories, including role-plays, reflective journals and storytelling. NutritionA number of specific outcomes in the Health and Life Skills Program of Studies address the importance of healthy food choices and how this affects learning, attention, moods and general well-being. Encourage students to eat nutritious snacks and drink water during the school day to maintain energy levels and optimum brain functioning. Cycles and rhythmsIndividual students have varying body rhythms and energy cycles. By providing choice and variety wherever possible, teachers create the most productive learning climate for all. Cycles can be positively affected through actions that emotionally engage students, such as storytelling, singing, humour and drama. Elimination of threatsA safe and supportive classroom climate is critical to engaging students in the learning process. Teachers can observe students in the classroom environment and identify common stressors that inhibit learning. Health and life skills teachers can work with students to minimize and manage the effects of these stressors.

Multiple intelligences
In his book Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner coined the term multiple intelligences to describe the many ways of knowing that all people possess. The Multiple Intelligences theory proposes that intelligence is not fixed, but continually expands and changes throughout a persons life. Gardner suggests that all people possess at least eight intelligence areas: logical/mathematical intelligence, visual/spatial intelligence, bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, musical/rhythmic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, verbal/linguistic intelligence and naturalistic intelligence. Currently, Gardner is studying the possibility of another form of intelligenceexistential intelligence. Existential intelligence involves the ability to explore complex philosophical questions.

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /49 2002

In his book for teachers, Thomas Armstrong puts Gardners Multiple Intelligences theory into student-friendly language and develops strategies for its practical application in the classroom. He talks about different kinds of smart and suggests that students need experience using all the kinds of smarts, in a range of activities and contexts. The health and life skills classroom is an ideal environment to develop students multiple intelligences. For example, during a unit on bicycle safety, students can use their: body smart to model how to ride a bike safely picture smart to design posters of bike safety tips word smart to design tip sheets on bike safety number smart to collect and display data on the relationship between safety habits and bike accidents music smart to compose a rap about bike safety and teach it to others people smart to organize a bike safety rodeo self smart to inventory their own bike safety habits nature smart to explain how to ride safely in different physical conditions, including downtown traffic, off-road trails and gravel roads big question smart to host a debate on the issue of mandatory bike helmets for adults.

Blooms taxonomy
Blooms taxonomy is a hierarchy of five thinking skills that includes: knowing comprehending applying analyzing synthesizing. This taxonomy provides a useful framework for planning instruction. The hierarchy of thinking skills helps teachers to: refine oral questioning by purposefully developing a short list of questions for a particular lesson design assignments or questions that involve students in all levels of thinking give students a range of options in the kinds of products they produce as part of a learning activity. Students can use Blooms taxonomy to: develop a list of questions about a new unit of study write questions in their response journals as they work through a unit of study work on independent projects; e.g., a student could develop research questions for independent study and propose a product to demonstrate learning 50/ Plan for Instruction 2002 Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)
Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

design questions that involve higher-level thinking; e.g., students could work in a cooperative group to design a review quiz on a unit of study and then exchange the review with another group demonstrate learning; e.g., as part of a learning conference, a student could share examples of learning at different levels.

Blooms Taxonomy

editorial mock trial discussion self-evaluation recommendation position paper panel discussion P-M-I chart

questions and answers fill-in-the-blank list map labelled diagram find label tell name recite recall list recognize define select locate show describe fact sheet timeline work sheet

public service announcement comic strip game invention news article art product discussion debate

judge critique choose rank give opinion

imagine predict adapt change combine

Evaluate
compose create invent infer design

Know Understand Apply

use demonstrate collect construct illustrate drawing map word problem diagram journal display poster model chart role-play cartoon restate identify match give examples explain discuss outline restate

Synthesis Analyze

illustration chart retelling journal response Idea builder concept map discussion

examine classify explain compare and contrast

Venn diagram matrix questionnaire survey tree diagram

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /51 2002

Sample questions and activities using Blooms Taxonomy

Division I You have a friend Knowledge recalling or recognizing information from memory Comprehension understanding meaning, changing information from one form to another, discovering relationships Define the word friend. Draw a web of related words and ideas. List 10 qualities of a good friend. Show what you appreciate about your friends by drawing a picture of you and three different friends. Draw a cartoon strip showing how you can welcome a new student to your classroom by showing friendship. Create a collage of pictures and words that show what you feel about friendship. Make up a recipe for friendship. For example, you might want to include a cup of kindness and three heaping spoonfuls of laughter. Interview two adults about their best friends from childhood. What qualities did they share? How did they spend their time together? How are childhood friends different from friends in adulthood? Design a list of questions to ask your classmates about how they handle disagreements with their friends. Use these ideas to make a tip sheet. Design a WANT AD for a best friend. Imagine you are an inventor who designs robots. How can you add to your invention so that robots are good friends? Division II Volunteers build communities Define and discuss the concept of volunteerism. List all the jobs that volunteers do in your classroom and in school. Brainstorm volunteer opportunities in your school and neighbourhood. Prepare a hallway display celebrating all the ways volunteers contribute to the school community. Division III Down with depression List common signs of stress and depression. Design a chart for recording your own mood and stress levels throughout the day. Create a Venn diagram comparing positive and negative stress or clinical depression and situational depression. What are the signs that let you know if your stress level is high or your mood is changing? Identify all the potential stress points in the school day. Develop a tip sheet for turning these stress points into positive experiences.

Application using learning or information in new situations

Design an ad looking for a volunteer opportunity for you. Explain what kind of situation you would like, why you want to do this, and what qualities and skills you bring to the job. Over the next month, try out one volunteer activity. Design a mind map that shows what you did, what you learned and how you contributed in your volunteer position. Discuss how volunteers influence our schools and communities.

Analysis separating information into basic parts so that its organizational structure can be understood; identifying elements and relationships

Design a survey to find out how students in your school handle stress and depression. Interview several people in high-stress jobs and ask them to share their strategies for coping with pressure and change.

Synthesis combining parts into new or original patterns; involves creativity

Organize a one-day retreat for student volunteers. What kind of information and skills do they need? Design a timeline and show the different types of volunteer activities that you would like to be involved in during your lifetime. Think about how you will have different skills and interests at different stages of your life.

Discuss the impact media and advertising can have on how people manage their moods. How does advertising affect how we feel we should feel? Create a television or print ad that promotes handling stress in healthy ways.

52/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Sample questions and activities using Blooms Taxonomy (continued)

Division I You have a friend Evaluation judging the quality or effectiveness of something against standards Write a letter to your teacher arguing that best friends should be allowed to sit beside one another in class all year long. Give convincing reasons. List all the ways friends can resolve disagreements. Rank in order from most helpful strategy to least helpful strategy. Division II Volunteers build communities Do a Plus, Minus, Interesting chart on volunteering. Brainstorm solutions for some of the Minus factors. Write a letter to a volunteer who worked with you at school or in the community. Explain how they contributed to your life. Division III Down with depression Organize a debate arguing that all stressful activities in school, such as exams, should be abolished. Identify the top three strategies you use for handling stress and establish criteria for evaluating their effectiveness.

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /53 2002

Offer choice and variety

Providing students with meaningful ways to respond to new learning accommodates student differences and increases motivation. A simple tic-tac-toe menu, like the one adapted from Susan Winebrenners Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom (1992) gives students a framework for organizing their work. It could also serve as a student contract.

(See Student activity master 47: Choices for learning on page 48 of Appendix C.) Use a grid to record and assess planning and use of learning and teaching strategies. Each square in the grid can list an instructional strategy or tactic. Within a unit plan, aim to have one or two rows complete. Over a yearlong plan, aim to cover all or most of the instructional strategies.

54/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

(See Teacher planning tool 5: Instructional strategies tracker on page 6 of Appendix A.) Individual teachers can assess their own teaching by asking: What activities do I see in the classroom that promote healthy living? What language do I hear that supports a healthy environment? What products are students making that show awareness and respect for varied individual responses? How am I modelling healthy living? How does my language support healthy environments? How do I demonstrate my commitment to enhancing health in my classroom, school and community?

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /55 2002

Infuse health learning into other subjects

Reinforcing health and life skills learning through other subject areas is an efficient use of instructional time and helps students transfer their learning in meaningful ways. For example, teachers could explore literature using a theme from the health and life skills learner outcomes. Integrating common knowledge and skills across subject areas enhances learning and allows students more opportunity for practice and transfer. When there are a number of teachers working with one grade group, circulate the yearly health and life skills plan so teachers of other subjects can identify potential cross-curriculum links.

Plan the year

There are a number of formats for developing and recording an annual plan. Generally, it should be one page that clearly and concisely outlines topics and skills on a timeline. For an example of a year plan template, see Teacher planning tool 6: Year Plan on pages 78 of Appendix A.

YEAR PLAN FOR

Dates: General outcomes Specific outcomes Learning activities Assessment activities Resources September October November December January

56/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan a unit

Unit plans are more detailed outlines of the broad pieces of learning that make up a yearly plan. Teachers need to know their students, and use professional judgement and creativity to develop a unit plan that is focused, meaningful and relevant. Specify what needs to be in place for the unit to be a successful learning experience. Consider resources; allocated time; information preparation; vocabulary; instructional strategies; provisions for students with special needs; and home, school and community connections. Start with the end in mind, and build in a range of assessment activities throughout the unit. When possible, collaborate with colleagues to develop and share units. Plan ways to extend learning for students who demonstrate higherlevel expectations and to support those who need additional guided practice or reinforcement. See Teacher planning tool 7: Health and life skills unit plan on page 9 of Appendix A. This tool is organized to help teachers plan a unit of study. It has room to record objectives, instructional strategies, assessment, and links to other curriculum areas.

To assess the instructional effectiveness of a unit of study, Politano and Paquin (2000) suggest that teachers ask themselves: What am I doing that is working well? What do I want to reconsider or stop doing? What do I want to do more of? Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)
Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /57 2002

Plan a lesson

While unit plans define the broad details of instruction and student learning within a given context, lesson plans outline how to teach a particular concept. Some lessons are presented to the whole class and provide a basis from which other lessons can evolve. Follow-up lessons could include individual sessions with students who have specific needs, small groups focusing on specific skill development or large discussion groups. Ask the following types of questions when planning a lesson. What is the purpose or curriculum outcome of the lesson? What teaching and learning strategies are most effective? What will students be doing? When? What specific skills do students need to develop or improve to be successful? What resources will be most appropriate for various groups in the class? How much differentiation is feasible and appropriate? How will the success of the lesson be evaluated? How does this lesson connect to other curriculum areas or units of study? How does this lesson connect to home and the community? See Teacher planning tool 8: Health and life skills lesson plan on page 10 of Appendix A. This tool is designed to address these questions. It provides a framework for organizing instruction of single or clustered learner outcomes.

58/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for combined grade classrooms

The challenge in organizing health and life skills instruction in a combined grade classroom is to ensure that all learning outcomes from each grade level are covered. There are three recommended strategies for organizing instruction for a combined grade classroom: cycle topics by grade, combine similar concepts, regroup for instruction.2

Cycle topics by grade level

If your school has combined grade classrooms for several consecutive years, it is possible to organize a cycling of topics and specific outcomes by grade level. For example, in a combined Grade 56 classroom, half the Grade 5 and half the Grade 6 outcomes are taught one year. The remaining outcomes are taught the following year. This ensures that when students finish Grade 6, they have completed all outcomes for both grade levels. This planning requires a school-wide curriculum scope and sequence spanning two to four years. It is essential to keep track of the outcome clusters taught each year. Keep tracking documents in the cumulative file of each student to record the outcomes covered during that year. This ensures that by the end of Grade 6 or Grade 9 (or whatever grade division the school is organized on) all curriculum outcomes are covered.

Combine similar concepts

There are a number of health and life skills concepts that extend from one grade level to the next. Combining these similar concepts facilitates whole group instruction because students are able to work together on a variety of activities. Focus on the common learning experiences, and the overlap of knowledge, skills and attitudes between the two grade levels of curriculum. When concepts do not overlap enough to allow whole class instruction, teachers can: provide separate instruction for one grade group while the other grade group works independently on such tasks as learning centres, seat work or viewing curriculum-related videos develop independent projects that extend over a period of time. These projects may include one or more components assigned as homework.

Regroup for instruction

Regrouping for instruction can be handled in a number of ways. In elementary grades, regrouping might involve: students from a combined grade class joining students of the same grade level from other classes for the health class each week an additional teacher providing instruction for one grade level group while the regular classroom teacher provides instruction for the other grade level group. Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)
Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /59 2002

In junior high, regrouping may mean team teaching or regrouping around a special interest or need, such as assertiveness training, study skills or gender issues. For more ideas on how to organize instruction in combined grade elementary classrooms, see Edmonton Public Schools Combined Grades Manuals (1999).

Accommodate student differences

Students learn in different ways and at different rates. Each student comes to class with varying interests, experiences, developmental maturity, background knowledge and skills. What is important is that within each lesson, there is something for everyonesomething that meets the needs and learning styles of each and every student. In Brain-based Learning with Class, Politano and Paquin describe an effective approach for accommodating student differences as shared experience, individual response. Lessons begin with a whole-group activity, then students choose from a variety of ways to process their thinking and represent their learning. This allows students to work on the same concept in ways that most suit their individual learning styles and developmental stages. Teachers of health and life skills can accommodate a wide range of student needs by providing choice and variety. Younger students need more variety in instruction and fewer choices for responses. Older students need less variety in instruction and more choices for responses. Politano and Paquin (2000) suggest that when planning, the question to ask is not, How can we best teach? but, How can our students best learn? Accommodating student differences does not mean attempting to offer a different course to each student. Instead, classroom experiences can be differentiated by offering choices, and by varying teaching and assessment methods. Learning supports for students with special needs, including English as a second language (ESL) students, could include: alternate formats for print materials, such as audiotapes, large print, talking computer books and read alouds a scribe for written tests duplicated notes access to computers with word processors content-area spelling and vocabulary word lists peer support questions to guide or focus reading demonstrations or modelled examples extra time to complete work highlighted or underlined sections in textbooks specific assistance with organization graphic organizers visual prompts and pictures.

60/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Make as few modifications as possible for individual students. Instead, focus on making modifications for groups of students with similar learning needs. Maintain the original concept or intent of the lesson. Make activities meaningful, and lessons clear and straightforward. This benefits all learners.

Locate complementary programs

There are a number of established programs that support the learning outcomes of the Health and Life Skills Program of Studies. No one program can deliver all learner outcomes for that grade level, but several programs offer activities and instructional strategies that can support and enhance health and life skills instruction. When choosing a program for your school or classroom, it is essential to do a correlation with the curriculum outcomes, and ensure that the content and philosophy of the complementary program are congruent with the mandated health curriculum. Lions-Quest Skills for Growing Program, Risk Watch and Toward a Safe and Caring Curriculum are used to support health and life skills instruction in many schools throughout Alberta. Two Alberta Learning publications, Teaching for the Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Supporting the Social Dimension can also be incorporated into the health and life skills program.

Lions-Quest Skills for Growing Program and Lions-Quest Skills for Adolescence Program
(developed by Lions Clubs International, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National PTA, Quest International) The goals of the Lions-Quest programs are to: engage students, families, schools and community members in creating learning environments based on caring relationships, high expectations and meaningful involvement provide opportunities for young people to learn the emotional and social skills needed to lead healthy and productive lives promote a safe, healthy approach to life, free from the harm of tobacco, alcohol and other drug use celebrate diversity and encourage respect for others. Since the introduction of Lions-Quest in Alberta, over 11,000 teachers have been trained to use these materials. Workshops are organized on an as-needed basis, frequently with the support and assistance of local Lions clubs. Many school districts may have Lions-Quest affiliate trainers who provide inservices to district schools.

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /61 2002

The activities in these two programs correlate with the health and life skills learner outcomes in the sections on Personal Health, Expressing Feelings, Interactions, Group Roles and Processes, and Volunteerism. Parent and community partnerships outlined in these programs support many of the goals of the comprehensive school health approach.

Risk Watch
Risk Watch is an injury prevention program developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). It is promoted and supported throughout the province by a Risk Watch Implementation Network that includes representatives from fire services, school jurisdictions, regional health authorities and other partners, and is coordinated by the Fire Commissioners Office. The program has five teaching modules for grade levels prekindergarten to Grade 8. Each module targets eight major risk areas: motor vehicle safety fire and prevention choking, suffocation and strangulation prevention poisoning prevention falls prevention firearms injury prevention bike and pedestrian safety water safety. The modules offer learning activities that encourage children to promote their own personal safety, as well as that of their friends, families and communities. The teaching modules also include background information, statistics and ideas for community involvement.

Toward a Safe and Caring CurriculumATA Resources for Integration: ECS to Grade 6
(developed by the Alberta Teachers Association) The Safe and Caring Schools project (SACS) is a comprehensive violence-prevention and character-education program aimed at encouraging socially responsible and respectful behaviours. A series of seven resource binders for ECS to Grade 6 help teachers integrate violence-prevention concepts into the Alberta Program of Studies and the Western Canadian Protocol Initiatives for elementary schools. The activities are integrated across the curriculum, with a special focus on language arts. The SACS program can help teachers address a number of outcomes in the Health and Life Skills Program of Studies.

62/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

The lesson ideas, strategies and tips for teachers are organized into five topics: Building a Safe and Caring Classroom Developing Self-esteem Respecting Diversity and Preventing Prejudice Managing Anger and Dealing with Bullying Working It Out Together.

Teaching for the Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Grades 112: A Resource for Teachers of Health and Life Skills, and Career and Life Management
(developed by Alberta Learning) This teaching resource on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder supports selected outcomes in the K9 Health and Life Skills Program of Studies. The goal of this resource is to increase students awareness and understanding of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and the importance of healthy life skills in its prevention. The teaching resource is organized around three themes: understanding relationships dealing with emotions and feelings managing risks and making personal choices. Each theme provides experiential activities that reinforce curricular concepts and broaden students understanding of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevention and its relationship to healthy life skills. Each divisional theme has Teacher Backgrounders as well as Student Activity blackline masters. Assessment tools and strategies are presented at the end of each theme and include a sample scoring rubric. These activities can be integrated into a comprehensive health and life skills program.

Supporting the Social Dimension: A Resource Guide for TeachersGrades 712

(developed by Alberta Learning) To support the explicit teaching of social competencies, this resource provides division-level indicators and/or outcomes in grades 7 to 12. These skills are taught through all subject areas, including Health and Life Skills. The resource also includes illustrative examples and performance measures for each division as well as recommended resources.

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /63 2002

The goals of this resource are to: aid in the development of effective and developmentally appropriate strategies for social learning encourage and support the development of a supportive, safe and caring school environment that nurtures the social development of children teach and reinforce the attitudes, values and behaviours of positive family, community and social life, and ultimately, of responsible, productive citizenship. Teachers may use this document to identify opportunities for teaching social skills across the curriculum. They can adapt the related exemplars and resources to emphasize social competencies in their own planning and instruction.

Endnotes

2. Adapted with permission from Edmonton Public Schools, Combined Grades Manual 4/5 (Edmonton, AB: Resource Development Services, Edmonton Public Schools, 1999), pp. 43, 44, 45. Alberta Learning. Teaching for the Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Grades 112: A Resource for Teachers of Health and Life Skills, and Career and Life Management. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Learning, 2002. Alberta Learning. Supporting the Social Dimension: A Resource Guide for TeachersGrades 712. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Learning, 2002. Alberta Teachers Association. Toward a Safe and Caring CurriculumATA Resources for Integration: ECS to Grade 6. Edmonton, AB: The Alberta Teachers Association, 19982001. Armstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000. Bennett, Barrie and Carol Rolheiser. Beyond Monet: The Artful Science of Instructional Integration. Toronto, ON: Bookation Inc., 2001. Edmonton Public Schools. Combined Grades Manuals. Edmonton, AB: Resource Development Services, Edmonton Public Schools, 1999. Edmonton Public Schools. Planning for SuccessElementary. Edmonton, AB: Resource Development Services, Edmonton Public Schools, 1996. Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. 10th anniversary ed. New York, NY: BasicBooks, 1993.

Selected bibliography

64/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998. Lions-Quest Skills for Adolescence Program. 3rd ed. Newark, OH: Lions-Quest/Lions Clubs International, 1985, 1988, 1992. Lions-Quest Skills for Growing Program. 2nd ed. Newark, OH: Lions-Quest/Lions Clubs International, 1998, 1999. Manitoba Education and Training. Success for All Learners: A Handbook on Differentiating Instruction. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Education and Training, School Programs Division, 1996. Marzano, Robert J. et al. Teachers Manual: Dimensions of Learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992. National Fire Protection Association. Risk Watch: Safety Program for Grades Pre-K and K. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1998. National Fire Protection Association. Risk Watch: Safety Program for Grades 1 and 2. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1998. National Fire Protection Association. Risk Watch: Safety Program for Grades 3 and 4. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1998. National Fire Protection Association. Risk Watch: Safety Program for Grades 5 and 6. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1998. National Fire Protection Association. Risk Watch: Safety Program for Grades 7 and 8. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1998. Politano, Colleen and Joy Paquin. Brain-based Learning with Class. Winnipeg, MB: Portage and Main Press, 2000. Winebrenner, Susan. Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom: Strategies and Techniques Every Teacher Can Use to Meet the Academic Needs of the Gifted and Talented. 1st ed. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc., 1992. Winebrenner, Susan. Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom: Strategies and Techniques Every Teacher Can Use to Meet the Academic Needs of the Gifted and Talented. Revised, expanded, updated ed. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc., 2001.

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada

Plan for Instruction /65 2002

66/ Plan for Instruction 2002

Health and Life Skills Guide to Implementation (K9)

Alberta Learning, Alberta, Canada