Teaching Tool - Making Decisions about Sexual Health (Grade 7)
These resources teach students how to make appropriate and safe decisions about sexual health. This topic will highlight the importance of consent and communication.
Learning goals
- I will explain the importance of having a shared understanding with a partner about sexual health and activity
- I will show an understanding of the physical, emotional, social and cognitive factors needed to make decisions related to sexual health
- I will explain how the physical and emotional changes due to puberty might affect relationships with others, such as family and peers
Core knowledge content
Core knowledge content provides the teacher with the background information needed to prepare and teach this health class.
Ontario curriculum expectations
Grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education (2019)
- D1.3 explain the importance of having a shared understanding with a partner about delaying sexual activity until they are older, the reasons for not engaging in sexual activity, the concept of consent, the legal age of consent, how consent is communicated and the need to communicate with each other when making decisions about sexual activity in a healthy, loving relationship. This specific expectation is also connected to the social-emotional learning expectations A1.1 Emotions, 1.4 Relationships, 1.5 Self and 1.6 Thinking.
- D2.4 demonstrate an understanding of considering physical, emotional, social and cognitive factors when making decisions related to sexual health. This specific expectation is also connected to the social-emotional learning expectations A1.1 Emotions, 1.2 Coping, 1.4 Relationships and 1.5 Self.
- D3.3 explain how the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty affect relationships with others and sexual health. This specific expectation is also connected to the social-emotional learning expectations A1.1 Emotions and 1.4 Relationships.
Learning activities
Sexual health presentation
This presentation teaches students the importance of delaying sexual activity until they are older. It will help them understand what to consider when making decisions related to sexual health. Students will also learn about the concept of consent and the skills needed to communicate with their partner(s).
Making decisions about sexual health activity
For this activity, students will use what they learned about sexual health and complete a worksheet about abstinence.
You decide
Students will work in groups and read scenarios related to sexual decision making. They will decide the next steps and what the people involved should do in each scenario.
Sexual health trivia
This activity is similar to Jeopardy and is a competition-style activity. Students will split into teams and try to answer questions under sexual-health categories. If the student in a group answers the question correctly, their team receives a point. The team with the most points by the end of the trivia wins.
Supplementary resources
- Communication (Everybody Curious): In this video, experts Nadine and Eva discuss the importance of communication, how it is an essential part of consent and how it is a skill we work on throughout our entire lives.
- Communicating clearly (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association): In this lesson, students will learn to use their relationship, self-awareness and critical thinking skills to understand the concept of consent, how consent is communicated and the need to communicate clearly when making decisions about sexual activity.
- Consent (Everybody Curious): In this video, experts Nadine and Eva discuss safety, understanding and applying strategies around consent, while also exploring the many ways consent is applied everyday.
- Educators (Sexual Health Options Resources Education Centre): This resource provides suggestions for teachers on how to incorporate the concept of consent throughout the school year. Refer to how to incorporate consent throughout the year.
- Grade 6 lesson plans (Teaching Sexual Health): This lesson reviews the anatomy, physiology and sexual reproduction studied in Grade 5 and includes information on sex and consent. Refer to lesson 1: Sex, reproduction and consent.
- Online coercion scenario activity (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association): This activity goes over how to create healthy boundaries in any intimate relationship as a key component of healthy relationships, including online relationships and real-life relationships where you are communicating with each other online.
- Puberty (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association): This lesson will help students use their relationship and self-awareness skills to explain how relationships with others and sexual health may be affected by the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty.
- Photo sharing scenario activity (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association): This activity uses a draw the line scenario to explore what consent means in a real life situation and how the violation of consent can occur when intimate photos are shared without permission.
- Responsibility and choice (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association): In this lesson, students will learn to use their relationship and critical thinking skills to understand reasons for delaying sexual activity and the need to communicate clearly when making decisions about sexual activity, including understanding consent and how it is communicated. Students will also learn to use self-awareness and critical thinking skills to understand the factors that need to be considered when making decisions related to sexual health.
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