Elementary Education Standards Five and Thirteen

Standard 5: Elementary teachers have an understanding of the major concepts of healthful living. 

It is very important for teachers to understand the concepts of healthful living and convey these concepts to their students.  Healthful living is important because it teaches students to make wise choices about their food, how to care for their body, and how to deal with emotional issues.  By learning about these important topics, students grow up to be wise and healthy adults.  In 4th grade, students discuss healthy and effective interpersonal communication and relationships. Students can learn to be more empathetic towards each other through the use of the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Students are able to understand the effect of being kind and respectful to one another and the effect of being cruel or disrespectful to others through the visualization of either filling or dipping from one another's bucket.  Students can also learn about bullying and how to be proactive through the use of the book Bully B.E.A.N.S. by Julia Cook.

Standard 13: Working alone, or with healthful living specialists, elementary teachers create opportunities for student development and practice of skills that contribute to good health. 

Understanding the changes that occur during puberty and adolescence is also part of the 4th grade healthful living standard course of study.  For a gifted education class, I was asked to develop a unit with an underlying concept or theme.  In this unit, I chose to focus on the theme of change. Within this unit, I incorporated healthful living lesson plans.  The unit also integrates science, social studies, language arts, and math.  By using this approach to a unit, gifted students recognize that change occurs in all aspects of our lives and that it is a very natural process.