Teaching Tool - Be Drug Free (Grade 6)

This presentation teaches students about the effects of drugs, including alcohol, cannabis, prescription drugs and tobacco.

Learning goals

  • I will identify the effects of alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs and cannabis use
  • I will learn factors that influence substance use
  • I will practice strategies for personal safety, empowering me to make healthy choices

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)

  • D1.2 describe the range of effects associated with using cannabis, other drugs, and intoxicating substances (Substance Use, Addictions and Related Behaviours). This specific expectation is also connected to the social emotional learning expectation A1.6 Thinking.
  • D1.4 identify 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 (Mental Health Literacy). This specific expectation is also connected to the social emotional learning expectations A1.1 Emotion, A1.2 Coping, A1.6 Thinking.
  • D2.4 use decision-making strategies and skills and an understanding of factors influencing drug use to make safe personal choices about the use of drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and cannabis, and about activities such as vaping, including the choice to abstain (Substance Use, Addictions and Related Behaviours). This specific expectation is also connected to the social emotional learning expectations A1.2 Coping, A1.4 Relationships, A1.5 Self, and A1.6 Thinking.

Learning activities

Drugs and their effects

This is a presentation that gives an overview of different substance that are used, addictions, and related behaviours.

Become an expert

For this activity, students will be organized into small groups and assigned a substance that they will become an expert on. They will learn about a substance and then share their findings within their groups.

What would you do?

In this activity students divided into groups and are given different scenarios based on potential substance use. They will read the scenario on the card aloud and then act out the scenario.

Be drug-free trivia game

In this activity, students are divided into two teams and will be given trivia questions about substance use. The goal is to spell "be drug-free" before the opposing team, which is done when a question is answered correctly.

Know the facts about drugs

Students will individually complete a worksheet where they will review what they know about drugs and substance use.

Fact vs. Fiction

As a whole class, students will search online for examples of substance use in media, especially in movies, music and TV shows that are popular in the class.

Supplementary resources

Curriculum connections

Ontario Arts Curriculum - Drama (2009): What would you do?

  • B1.1 engage actively in drama exploration and role play, with a focus on identifying and examining a range of issues, themes, and ideas from a variety of fiction and non-fiction sources and diverse communities, times, and places
  • B1.4 communicate feelings, thoughts, and ideas to a specific audience, using audio, visual, and/or technological aids to strength the impact on the view

Oral Communication - Ontario Language Curriculum (2006): Become an expert

  • 1.2 demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by adapting active listening strategies to suit a variety of situations, including work in groups
  • 2.2 demonstrate an increasingly sophisticated understanding of appropriate speaking behaviour in a variety of situations, including paired sharing, dialogue, and small- and large-group discussions
  • 2.6 identify a variety of non-verbal cues, including facial expression, gestures, and eye contact, and use them in oral communications, appropriately and with sensitivity towards cultural differences, to help convey their meaning

Media Literacy - Ontario Language Curriculum (2006): Fact vs. fiction

  • 1.2 interpret media texts, using overt and implied message as evidence for their interpretations
  • 1.4 explain why different audiences might have different responses to media texts
  • 1.6 identify who produces various media texts, the reason for their production, how they are produced, and how they are funded
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