Teaching Tool - Brain Stress Response Systems - External Factors that Contribute to Stressful Feelings (Grade 3)

The purpose of this resource is to inform students about how the brain responds to stressful situations. Students will be able to learn about stressful feelings and various ways to manage these feelings.

Learning goals

  • I will explore and understand strong feelings, such as stress
  • I will understand how the brain uses fight, flight or freeze when in a stressful situation
  • I will learn how my brain helps me to think, feel and act

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)

  • D1.6 explains how the brain responds when it thinks there is a threat and how that response might affect thoughts, emotions and actions. This specific expectation is also connected with the social emotional learning expectation A1.1 Emotions.
  • D3.4 reflects on external factors, including environmental factors, that may contribute to experiencing a range of strong feelings, including uncomfortable feelings such as worry and identify ways to help them manage these feelings. This specific expectation is also connected with the social emotional learning expectation A1.1 Emotions.

Supplementary resources

  • Brain stress response system: In this lesson, students can learn about how the brain responds and the differences between fight, flight and freeze. This lesson will also help students understand how people react in scary situations.
  • Stressful feelings: In this lesson, students can explore strong feelings. Students will develop an understanding of how we can develop strong feelings in response to external factors, such as events happening in the world.

Virtual learning

  • Virtual field trips: Students can be part of virtual field trips that teach different strategies for feelings and emotions, specifically stress management and coping.

Curriculum connections: Stressful feelings

Reading - Ontario Language Curriculum (2006)

  • 1.3 identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts
  • 1.5 make inferences about texts using stated and implied ideas from the texts as evidence
  • 1.6 extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their knowledge, experience and insights, to other familiar texts, and the world around them
  • 1.7 analysing texts and explain how specific elements in them contribute to meaning
  • 1.8 express opinions about the ideas and information in texts and cite evidence from the text to support their opinions

Media literacy - Ontario Language Curriculum (2006)

  • 3.4 produce some short media texts for specific purposes and audiences using a few simple media forms and appropriate conventions and techniques

Oral communication - Ontario Language Curriculum (2006)

  • 2.3 communicate orally in a clear, coherent manner, presenting ideas, opinions and information in a logical sequence
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