Stress and Anxiety Unit

Lesson One: Learning About & Coping with Stress

Intent: To teach the meaning of stress, what stress looks like to each individual and
provide techniques students can use when they are feeling stress.
Purpose: Each student is to understand what their common signs of stress looks
like and what to do when they are feeling stress.
Objective: Students will be able to identify at least one common sign of stress they
experience and at least one technique they can use when they are showing signs of
stress.
Methods:
1. Reading definitions Linguistic Intelligence
2. Brainstorming techniques Linguistic Intelligence
3. Identifying common signs of stress Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
4. Letting go of stress technique Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
5. Exit Ticket This week when I _____________ (write in stressful situation). I
will ___________ (write in relaxation technique).
Materials:
Chart paper (outline of a body)
Post-it notes
Makers
Hand-out of definitions (Strong Smart Lesson 10.1: Letting Go Of Stress)
Exit Slip (This week when I ___________,I will ___________.
Pens/pencil
One water bottle
Water
Food coloring
Glitter glue
Heavy tape
Procedure:
Counselor will introduce themselves to the group and introduce the series.
My name is ___________ and we are going to start a special series on
Stress and Anxiety. During this special series we will be learning how to cope
with our stress and anxiety, and how to handle our mistakes. We will be
meeting once a week for 30 minutes each week. Today we are going to
concentrate on stress and how to relax when we are stressed. There may be
techniques you already use when you are stressed and you will have a
chance to share with the class what those techniques are later in our time
together.
After introducing him/herself and the topic, the counselor will pass out a pre-test for
students to fill out.
Counselor will hand out Definitions page to each student in the
classroom. The definitions are: Stress, common signs of stress and relax.
First, students will read the definition stress to themselves, then take turns
reading the definition stress to the person next to them (one student reads the
definition to their buddy and then their buddy reads the definition back to

them). Once everyone is finished reading the definition of stress, the

counselor will call on a student to read the definition of stress to the class.
Under the word stress, the counselor will instruct the students to write down
one time they were feeling stress. A few students can share their stressful
time with the class if they want.
There will be an outline of a body on chart paper. Counselor will instruct
students that they will go over eight common signs of stress that affect the
body: body or hands shake, fists clench, teeth clench up, muscles tighten,
feelings like you cant do it, feeling tired, irritability, and
scared/worried/nervous. They will highlight with a marker each sign of stress
that affects them. Counselor will read the eight common signs of stress out
loud as each student high lights. Counselor will then pass out the number of
post-its to each student according to the number of common signs of stress
they highlighted, (e.g. if a student highlighted fists clench and muscles
tighten, the counselor will hand that student two post-it notes). The students
will then come up to the outlined body on the chart paper and stick their postits on the body where they show sign of stress. (These can be pre-written on
the chart paper as a visual for students to see as they leave their post-it notes
on the outlined body.)
o Body or hands shake post-it note on the hands or the body part that
shakes (e.g. legs)
o Fists clench post-it note goes on the fists
o Teeth clench up post-it note goes on the mouth
o
Muscles tighten post-it note goes on the body part that muscles feel
tighten
o Feeling like you cant do it post-it note goes on the brain
o
Feeling tired post-it note goes on the eyes
o
Irritability post-it note goes on the body part that feels irritable
o Scared/worried/nervous post-it note goes on the brain
Repeat step number 2 for the definition relax. Read the definition of relax to
themselves, read the definition of relax to a partner, then call on a student to
read the definition relax to the class.

Create a mind jar for the class as one technique for relaxation. Take a water
bottle filled with water to almost the top, add in 1-3 drops of the food coloring
of choice (you can take a class vote, call on a random student that is
behaving to pick the color, etc.), add the glitter glue (I counted to 150 as I was
squeezing in the glitter glue), put the top on and tape the top closed. Pass
around the mind jar and have the students shake the mind jar then pass it to
the next person. As the mind jar is being passed around, discuss shaking the
mind jar when stressed, then watching the glitter fall to help relax their mind
and think about their favorite place. Have a few students share their favorite
place, as the mind jar is finishing up being passed around.
If time permits, read hand out Supplement 10.2 from Strong Start Lesson 10:
Letting Go of Stress.
As an exit slip, have pre-written on a slip of paper:
This week when I ___________ (write in stressful situation), I will ___________
(write in relaxation technique).
Evaluate: Pre/Post Data

Lesson Two: Learning About & Coping with Anxiety

Intent: To teach the students about what anxiety looks like and provide the students
with coping skills to help them alleviate the feeling of anxiety should it occur.
Purpose: Students experience anxiety, the purpose of this lesson is to help them
identify the signs and symptoms and to help them develop healthy coping habits.
Objective: Students will be able to identify at least one sign/symptom of anxiety as
well as 1-2 coping strategies.
Methods:
1. Video - visual/spatial
2. Identifying signs/symptoms - verbal/linguistic
3. Identifying coping strategies - verbal/linguistic
4. Role playing - bodily/kinesthetic
Materials:
Computer w/ Internet and projector (YouTube video)
Pre/post tests
Pen/pencil
Role play scenarios
Procedure:
Counselor will introduce themselves and review previous lesson
o Last lesson was over stress - who can tell me a sign/symptom of
stress? Who can tell me a coping strategy for stress?
The counselor will introduce today's topic
o Great, today we are going to build off the topic of stress and talk about
anxiety. Before we explore the topic as a class were going to do a
pretest and then well watch a video
o YouTube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6CX3mqOa6k
(stop it at 7:30ish)
o Take a minute and think about a time when you felt anxious. how did
you know you were feeling anxious? what did you notice about your
body? What did you notice about your mind?
o Create a list with the students - have them provide the signs and
symptoms they came up with when they were thinking about when
they felt anxious (create a list for all to see)
Heart beating
Overwhelming thoughts
Feeling sick
Chest pain
Headaches
Feeling shaky or dizzy
o Now we have an idea of how our bodies react to anxiety, how do we
cope or deal with these symptoms? What are some things that have

helped you cope or some things that you think would help you cope if
you ever felt the signs/symptoms of anxiety? (Create a list or have the
students come up and add to the list - depends on class size and time)

Identify triggers/feeling of anxiety

Breathing (4/7/8 or square breathing or shallow breathing or
others)
Music
Telling others about it - parents, friends, counselors
Positive self talk
Challenging thoughts
Discuss situations where students have higher feelings of anxiety.
o What situations make you feel more anxious? Think about when
you're in school, are there classes or times of the day you feel more
anxious? How about outside of school?
Role play - provide scenarios for volunteers and have the class discuss
signs/symptoms of anxiety they notice as well as different ways the students
in the role play could cope. (Do 2-3)
Thank everyone for sharing, contributing, and participating

Role-play scenarios:
A student ordering lunch - one student is ordering, one is taking the order
A student not wanting to physically go to school - one student is the student
resisting going to school, the other is the parent interacting with the student
A student has a speech 6th period - one student can be the student giving the
speech and one can be another student or teacher
Evaluate: Pre/Post Data

Lesson Three: Coping with Anxiety Continued

Intent: To teach coping skills and strategies, to educate and normalize. We want
you to walk away with three coping strategies
Purpose: To continue students understanding of anxiety and to assist students in
identifying coping strategies.
Objectives: Students will be able to identify three coping strategies.
Methods:
1. Write down something that makes them anxious - intrapersonal intelligence
2. Show a video- spatial intelligence
3. Happy Place/ relaxing music- spatial/ musical intelligence
4. Share resources/ facts about anxiety- logical intelligence
5. Throw it away activity- bodily kinesthetic/ logical intelligence
Materials: Markers, writing paper, pencils/pens, garbage can, comp/tech, pre-post
Procedure:
Counselor will ask students to raise their hand if theyve felt anxious.
Counselor will have students write down one thing that has made them
anxious.
Counselor will next show a YouTube video:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpePI-CmDCE)
Counselor will explain that a happy place is a made up or real place where
you can go if anxious. Counselor will share an example and then give
students time to visualize their own happy place. Counselor will then ask
questions:
o What did that feel like?
o How did it help you?
o What was your happy place?
Counselor will then have students draw their happy place remembering all of
the specific details. Students may also cut out pictures from magazines of
things they love or make them happy.
o Counselor will play relaxing music for student:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDwtH_RwPNU)
Counselor will then split students into groups to share their pictures/creations.
Counselor will share identified resources and provide a handout of resources,
coping strategies, and facts.
Counselor will hand out post-test and collect.
Throw it Away Activity: Counselor will have students take the paper that has
their moment when they felt anxious on it and throw it away as they walk out
the door. Counselor will instruct students to remember this moment and tell
themselves, I can do this when any doubts/anxiety appear.
Evaluate: Pre/Post test

Lesson Four: Learning from Mistakes & Failures

Intent: To teach students that mistakes and failures are part of life and that they
present great opportunities for growth.
Purpose: Mistakes and failures can sometimes contribute to stress/anxiety.
Everyone makes mistakes, that being said the purpose of this lesson is to help
students recognize making a mistake as a positive growing experience rather than a
negative event.
Objective: Students will be able to identify a time in their life when they have
grown/learned from a mistake or failure and learn how to apply similar strategies in
the future.
Methods:
1. Video Visual/Spatial Intelligence
2. Written reflection Linguistic Intelligence
3. Partner sharing Interpersonal Intelligence
4. Large group discussion - Interpersonal Intelligence
5. Motivational Poster/Paper - Visual/Spatial Intelligence
Materials:
Computer and projector for video clip, paper, pens, art supplies (markers, crayons,
colored pencils, etc.)
Procedure:
Counselor will re-introduce him/herself and ask the group to come up with a
few things that they learned last time. The counselor will then introduce this
weeks topic: making mistakes/failure, and how to learn/grow from it.
Define mistake - an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment
caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.
Allow for students to help provide definition
Define failure - a lack of success, a falling short
Allow for students to help provide definition
Make sure students know that failure can look different for different
people
The counselor will ask students to think of a time when they have made a
mistake or had a failure in their life. It does not have to be an academic or
school mistake/failure, but it can be.
Once the students have had a minute to think about a mistake or failure, the
counselor will ask students to write a brief written reflection. Some potential
items to address in the brief written reflection:
What was the mistake/failure?
How did you feel while it was happening and/or after it happened?
After students have written their reflection, the counselor will ask students to
pair up with someone else in the class. They will discuss their mistakes or
failures and how they felt about them.
Once students have shared with their partners, the counselor will bring the
topic to a large group discussion. At least a few students should share what

they talked about in their reflection and/or during their discussion with a
partner.
After the large group sharing is complete, the counselor will show the Michael
Jordan Failure commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKfbP7oxPrM. Once the commercial is
over, the counselor will ask for student reactions. Some questions to ask
could include: What did you think about what Michael Jordan says throughout
the commercial? What part really stuck out to you? What do you think he
meant when he said he succeeds because he failed over and over and over
in his life? Any final thoughts on the commercial?
EVERYONE makes mistakes and fails, it is what you do with those
failures and mistakes that makes difference. Dont give up, dont be too hard
on yourself - use mistakes and failures to grow and improve in the future!
Upon completion of the commercial discussion, the counselor will ask
students to add to their reflection from earlier in the lesson. Encourage
students to think of what they learned from the mistake or failure or how they
have grown from it.
Once students are finished with their reflections, the counselor will ask
students to share as a large group. The counselor will share that continuing to
strive for a goal/success beyond mistakes, failures, and obstacles is called
perseverance. Ask students to provide a definition of perseverance and
examples of times they have shown it. Can bring back to the Michael Jordan
YouTube clip - he definitely showed perseverance
Define perseverance - continued effort to do or achieve something despite
difficulties, failure, or opposition
If time permits, students will then make a motivational poster/sheet. The
counselor will encourage students to be creative and put information on the
poster that will encourage persistence and growth in the face of mistakes and
failures.
Student will discuss information gained from the unit.
Students will be given a post-test at the end of the lesson to help determine
what students learned during the unit

Pre-Test
Three symptoms I experience when I am anxious or stressed are:
1._____________________________________________
2._____________________________________________
3._____________________________________________
I can identify when I am stressed or anxious.
Yes
No
Three coping skills I can use when I am anxious or stressed are:
1._____________________________________________
2._____________________________________________
3._____________________________________________
One thing I have learned from a past mistake or failure is:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
______________
I know of at least one adult I can talk to at school when I need help coping with my
anxiety or stress or when I am dealing with a mistake or failure.
Yes

No

Post-Test
Three symptoms I experience when I am anxious or stressed are:
1._____________________________________________
2._____________________________________________
3._____________________________________________
I can identify when I am stressed or anxious.
Yes
No
Three coping skills I can use when I am anxious or stressed are:
1._____________________________________________
2._____________________________________________
3._____________________________________________
One thing I have learned from a past mistake or failure is:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
______________
I know of at least one adult I can talk to at school when I need help coping with my
anxiety or stress or when I am dealing with a mistake or failure.
Yes

No