Freifeld

Hannah Freifeld
ENG391
Dr. Hall
10 Dec. 2015
The Defense: Mental Health: The Power of the Mind
History has proven that through the years, mental health has been, and continues to be,
associated with a largely negative connotation. It is a topic that fails to be integrated into the
middle school curriculum because it is either viewed as irrelevant or too complex for middle
school students. It is imperative that our students be exposed to the social issue of mental health
to help them learn, grow, and most importantly not feel alone. The issue of mental health is one
that exists in all ages; therefore, all ages should be given the tools to face it in a healthy way.
Mental Health: The Power of the Mind will be taught in an eighth grade language arts
classroom in the Lower Moreland S.D. Throughout the three-week multi-genre unit Mental
Health: The Power of the Mind, students will be exposed to three big ideas. The first big idea is
What is the big idea about mental health? Students need to know why the issue of mental
health is relevant to them. Without purpose, the unit will lack its full impact on the students. I
believe that a portion of middle school students have a preconceived idea about mental health,
but it may be a misconstrued or nave viewpoint. Students need to know all the facts and be well
informed in order to avoid misconceptions and negative stigmas associated with mental health.
The second big idea is Why is it difficult to talk about? Mental illness is an issue that can make
people feel very uncomfortable. It puts a label on people that says they have something wrong
with them, and in turn they are somehow deemed not normal. People who suffer from a mental
illness are by no means less than any other person. Society does a good job of silencing the

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topic of mental health. There is a negative stigma attached to mental illness; why would a person
want to openly acknowledge his or her illness in a society that does nothing but bash it? Another
reason why mental health is difficult to discuss is because anything not normal is scary. Willfully
admitting thoughts and feelings that ravel in your mind makes you vulnerable to the public. The
fear of having those thoughts not match what is normal causes disconnect between you and
society. Throughout the unit, students will immerse in various texts and discussions that will
show them how to openly talk about the tough topic of mental health. The third big idea is Why
is it important to talk about? Mental health, more specifically mental illness, is not solely an
adult issue. It is extremely relevant to adolescents; whether it is a personal experience or a
relationship with a person who is suffering from a mental illness. The more difficult a social
issue is to talk about, the more important it is to discuss. Speaking up and speaking out helps
raise awareness of mental health. The first act of advocacy is listening; listening to your personal
story along with loved ones surrounding you. Giving people the time of day to show your
compassion can positively affect someones mental health. In conclusion, it is important to talk
about mental health to create an accepting and supportive society for all denominations of life.
Within my unit on mental health, there are specific core tasks that will help students
answer the big ideas generated. First, students will read, analyze, and create informational text
about mental health, specifically using the text to develop an Infographic. A large portion of
demystifying the stigmas of mental health is attributed to being well informed. Interacting with
primary and secondary texts along with producing original informative text will give both the
students and their intended audiences a plethora of important information. The more exposed the
public becomes the less mental health/illness will be difficult to talk about. Second, students will
identify what mental illness is in order to gain empathy in effort to foster a classroom

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community, specifically creating a poem, constructing a personal social media profile, and
designing a Tagxedo. Empathy is an action that is learned through modeling and doing.
Immersing in real peoples stories will show the students how they can be empathetic and
actively advocate for the matter. Through this process, it is the goal that our classroom will
ultimately function as a strong, cohesive classroom community. Lastly, students will utilize and
design figurative writing to gain perspective of the effects of mental illness to raise awareness
and create advocates, specifically producing an advocacy poster. Although this unit is largely
supported by informational text, creative texts such as figurative writing add an additional
perspective. Creative writing allows students to take the information learned and manipulate it to
highlight the abstract components surrounding mental health. Creative writing can transform
hard facts and mold them into something relatable to a wide audience. Getting the positive words
of mental health out to the audience by using student voices truly encompasses the big ideas of
the multi-genre unit.
The primary text used in this multi-genre unit plan is a Young Adult Literature novel,
Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser. In summary, the novel is centered on a fifth grade
female protagonist, Tara Sullivan. Tara expresses very peculiar compulsive actions that draw
negative attention towards her. Because of this, she is looked upon as the weird kid or the girl
with quirks. She lacks emotional and stable support from both her friends and parents due to her
physical compulsions. Later in the novel, Tara meets with a therapist who diagnoses her with
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Through the growing relationship with her therapist along with
using a variety of coping mechanisms, Tara realizes she is not a lost cause, but rather one of
many who face a barrier to overcome. Taras story is a wonderful mentor text because it takes
mental health and shows students how real mental illness impact is on even middle school

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students. The text focuses on stigmas, internal effects of mental illness, alienation, therapy,
advocacy, and most importantly how to continue living with a mental illness. Kissing Doorknobs
serves the larger theme by bringing to life the realities of living with a mental illness and the
importance of mental health in a way that middle school students can understand.
The following genre pieces of this unit plan were modeled after the readings and
strategies from Blended Genre, Altering Style by Romano.
The first genre piece is a Tagxedo, a creative writing piece composed of words and short
phrases. The purpose is to have students depict words that make them different in an abstract
fashion. Students will type their text into the textbox and the app will generate it into a shape.
They then can change the shape and formatting in a way that expresses their personalities. It is a
preliminary activity that forces students to think about all of the traits about them that may not be
normal to societys standards. Any words that they incorporate into the Tagxedo are ways that
both they and society define them. Like living with a mental illness, the students can either
choose to let those words control them in a debilitating way, or let them be the driving force to
advocate and stick up for all aspects of who they are. This assignment is to take on the individual
perspectives of each student; there are no right or wrong depictions. The tone can be taken into a
multitude of directions depending on the route each student wants to take. It can be serious, lighthearted; it depends on how the student views himself or herself. The language used is supposed
to be informal and creative. This will allow the students to write what is on their minds without
having to fit into any sort of structural mold.
The second genre piece is an Infographic, a multimodal approach to the traditional
informational writing piece. The purpose is to have the students use research to inform the
audience about a particular mental illness. A large portion of mental health is being well

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informed. The more people know about the good, the bad, and the ugly, the better people can
take appropriate action to better themselves and others. A large reason there is a high level of
ignorance toward mental illness is because people do not know a lot about mental disorders. The
Infographic provides the opportunity for students to learn about a variety of illnesses so they can
educate themselves and their intended audience (peers, parents, educators, the public). The genre
piece will be written in a third-person point of view. Since it is an informational writing
assignment, the students have to present their research in a nonbiased manner. It is expected that
it will be from the students perspectives, for they are responsible for taking their research and
summarizing it into student language. Formal language and a serious tone are to be utilized in
creating the Infographic. The goal of this genre is to inform the audience about prevalence,
severity, trends, etc. of a particular mental illness. It is a serious topic and therefore the
information should be portrayed in a professional manner.
The third genre piece is a free-verse poem, in which students will respond to the
following prompt: From your perspective, describe what a person with a mental illness looks like
(Ex. What I think a person struggling with depression looks/acts like). The goal of this genre
piece is to get students to think about a life other than their own. Mental illnesses originate
internally, but can produce external effects. This assignment is not meant to be easy; it is
supposed to challenge the students in looking at life in another persons perspective. The students
can either write the poem as them describing someone else, or take the different approach of
writing as if they were the person suffering from a mental illness. Either path will force the
students to think outside of the box. The tone is geared toward being serious, but it is flexible
depending on the approach the student wants to take. It is up to the writers discretion as long as
the student is appropriate and respectful of the depiction of others. Language is a very critical

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component for this writing assignment. Students are expected to use figurative language to
express voice and literary techniques. This is the perfect opportunity for students to express
themselves through writing and explore the creative side to the social issue.
The fourth genre piece is a social media profile, which students will create a personal
profile to promote positive mental health. The objective of creating a social media profile is to
integrate a relevant concept for an eighth grader into a middle school curriculum. At this point in
the unit, the students have become fairly well versed in what mental illness is, but have not
looked at how to take personal care of them. A healthy mind does not necessarily mean a mind
without illness, it branches out to how we live our daily lives. The students will fill out various
information about themselves, including people and activities that they enjoy doing. In addition,
they will respond to two prompts: What makes you truly happy? and What do you do to take
care of yourself? The students are writing it from their perspective because it is reflecting who
they are as individuals. It is an informal writing assignment so the tone is to be light. The
language is to depict a positive and appropriate portrayal of what the student enjoys.
The fifth and final genre piece is an advocacy poster, a multimodal approach for speaking
up and speak out for positive mental health. Students will have the option to create a traditional
tangible poster or digitally create it using Piktochart or another approved website. The purpose of
this assignment is to promote awareness and advocacy, along with answering the following
question: What can you do to bring awareness to mental health? After almost coming to the
end of the unit, the students now need to take their knowledge and apply it to a real world
scenario. Learning the ins and outs of mental health will be for not if they do not advocate for the
cause. It is the students responsibility to inform the public about mental health to break the
silence, end the judgment, and create an accepting community. The perspective should be a

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combination of the students personal thoughts along with the professional take learned through
their research. The poster is to be written with formal structure and language because it is
essential that the audience get a clear and concise message. The language should be professional
and supported by research culminated throughout the unit.
The multi-genre unit plan Mental Health: The Power of the Mind is designed to not
only inform students on the realities of mental health, but to create a more empathetic
community all around. Tolerance is not something people are born with, it is learned. Though
this unit, it is my hope that students will understand the importance of being well informed and
not being too quick to judge. Though mental health can be a difficult topic to integrate into the
middle school curriculum, it is imperative that our students understand the importance of it to
become well-rounded and active individuals in their community.

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