Teaching Tool - Seeking Help from Professional Helpers (Grade 6)

The purpose of these resources is to inform students about seeking support and where they can seek support in the school or community.

Learning goals

I will understand the various ways I can seek support in the school and community

Core knowledge content provides the teacher with the background information needed to prepare and teach this health class.

Grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education (2019)

D1.1 demonstrates ways of being inclusive, respectful and accepting, and describes how this benefits everyone, including themselves. This specific expectation is also connected with the social emotional learning expectations A1.1 Emotions, 1.4 Relationships and 1.5 Self.
D1.4 identifies people, resources and services in the school and the community that can provide support when a person is dealing with mental health issues and choices or situations involving substance use and addictive behaviours, and describe how to access these supports. This specific expectation is also connected with the social emotional earning expectations A1.1 Emotions, 1.2 Coping and 1.6 Thinking.

Exploring identity art: The following video discusses an art task that will help foster socio-emotional learning skills and mental health among the students. This activity can help create a safe space where students feel comfortable seeking support or discussing mental health.
Self-advocacy: Students reflect on how they can seek support through the self-advocacy cards, which can help them feel more comfortable seeking support when needed. Each prompt can be asked over various days. This is a helpful minds-on activity.
Stop the worry: In this lesson, students can complete an activity that encourages them to make a list of potential worries, and who they can reach out to for support to help them cope with these worries.

Community of support: This activity can be used in person or online. Teachers can use the guiding questions to help students brainstorm their community of support.
Community support - mental health and well being: This online resource created by the District School Board of Niagara provides a wide range of community agencies that are available if and when students are in need of professional support for their mental health.

1.3 use elements of design in artworks to communicate ideas, messages and understandings
2.1 interpret a variety of artworks and identify the feelings, issues, themes and social concerns that they convey