Stress management is an interdisciplinary study, equally at home in any part of the curriculum. Stress management is essential at the secondary level, as teenagers deal with changing bodies, dating, greater academic demands, and a growing desire for independence. Sadly, few teenagers receive training in stress management. Few even receive instruction as to the source of stress, its meaning, and the fact that it comes in positive and negative forms.

The stress management lesson plan presented here targets secondary grades. In a separate article, we presented a simpler stress management lesson plan for elementary students. Both lesson plans were prepared by a career educator with more than 40 years of teaching experience.

Stress Management Lesson Plan

The outline that follows is a basic stress management lesson plan. The thorough teacher will prepare, fleshing it out with helpful detail and resource materials.

1. Subject: Interdisciplinary; Social Skills; Language Arts/Writing

2. Duration: 3 days

3. Description: This lesson is ideally presented at the outset of the school year to prepare students for stress management that can build. Students watch a video portraying one or more instances of debilitating stress; learn the meaning of stressor and list possible stressors together; discuss and list common teenage stressors, including academic stressors; and then write an essay or creative fiction about personal stress. Students type rewritten work in a word processing program, and post on a class web page. Finally, students participate in small group discussions of proactive ways to respond to stressors and turn them from distress to eustress, prepare and perform short skits demonstrating their grasp of the information.

4. Goal: Students will understand both distress and eustress, be able to identify stressors in their lives, and actively respond appropriately. They will conscientiously exercise top stress management techniques.

5. Objectives: Students will be able to cooperate in listing possible stressors and identifying those that are of a personal nature to teenagers. Students will be able to write an essay or creative fictional work that clearly demonstrates their grasp of stress management. Students will be able to instruct younger students on stress, including appropriate responses to stressors and other stress management techniques.

6. Materials: Paper; pens; dictionaries; computers; web page.

7. Procedure - Day 1: The teacher writes “Stress Management” on the board. Then the teacher shows the video illustrating a teenager or adult experiencing debilitating, harmful stress. At the end of the video, the teacher asks students to look up “stress”, “stressor”, “eustress”, and “distress” in their dictionaries and paraphrase the definitions in everyday language. (Example: “Stress is how you respond to unusual demands made on your body, mind, or emotions. Stressors are the unusual demands themselves.”) The students take notes during this process. The teacher gives one example of a stressor: (”You must clean your very dirty room before you may go to the mall.”) Then the teacher says, “Let’s divide into groups and brainstorm other stressors for five minutes.” At the end of the time, write students’ ideas on the chalkboard. Explain that, “What we do when those things happen is called stress.” Set ten minutes for students to list as many personal stressors as they can. Assign completion of the lists for homework.

8. Procedure - Day 2: The teacher writes “Stress Management” on the board. The teacher gives an unannounced quiz, asking students to define “stressor”, “stress”, “eustress”, and “distress”. The teacher tells the students that stress management is a way to train yourself to respond appropriately to any and all stress. You manage stress. Students write rough drafts of essays or creative fictional works about personal stress they recognize in their own lives, using reality-based examples. When students have completed rough drafts, they type final drafts in a word processing program, and post on a class web page.

9. Procedure - Day 3: The teacher writes “Stress Management” on the board. A panel of students leads a discussion on appropriate ways to respond to both good and bad stress. Emphasize ways to control that response: deep breaths; positive thoughts; clenching and unclenching hands. (More ideas elsewhere on this website.) Discuss ways of turning distress into eustress. (See suggestions elsewhere on this website.)

10. Assessment: Did students cooperate and contribute throughout the stress management study? Did they show respect for one another’s persons and thoughts? Evaluate each student’s final writing. How well did students understand stress management? How thoroughly did they develop their ideas? Did they submit the quality of work that would be expected in other disciplines?

Three days of brief stress management training is a beginning, but you will want to follow through with daily reminders. All teachers should urge students to help one another practice stress management at a practical level.

Whatever you teach, you will find a place for stress management within its framework. Stress management is vital, but few students receive lessons in stress management.

This stress management lesson plan targets elementary grades. In a separate article, we will present a stress management lesson plan for secondary students.

Stress Management Lesson Plan

The steps that follow present a simple, basic stress management lesson plan.

1. Subject: Interdisciplinary; Social Studies; Language Arts/Writing

2. Duration: 2-3 days

3. Description: This lesson works well any time of year as a way for students to learn stress management. Students listen to a story about stress, list possible stressors together, learn to identify personal stressors, and then write a story about personal stress (or draw a picture). Once all stories are completed, students post them on the class bulletin board or web page, and then participate in a discussion of proactive ways to respond to stressors.

4. Goal: Students will understand what stress is, be able to identify stressors in their lives, and respond appropriately. They will consistently exercise good stress management techniques.

5. Objectives: Students will be able to work together to list possible stressors and identify those that are personal. Students will be able to write a brief essay or draw an illustration of personal stress. Students will be able to help each other respond appropriately to stressors and practice stress management.

6. Materials: Paper; pencils or pens; crayons or markers; dictionaries; bulletin board or web page.

7. Procedure - Day 1: The teacher writes “Stress Management” on the board. Then the teacher reads or tells a short story illustrating a child experiencing stress. A story of a school bully can be very useful for a lesson in stress management. The teacher ends the story by defining “stress” and “stressor” in simple terms for the students. (”Stress is how you act when something happens to you. Stressors are the things that happen.”) The teacher gives 2 or 3 examples: (”You must clean a very dirty room before you may play.” “You are having trouble understanding a math problem.”) Then the teacher says, “Let’s brainstorm other things that might be stressors.” Students take turns. Write students’ ideas on the chalkboard. Once everyone has had a turn to share, explain to the students that, “What we do when those things happen is called stress.” Pass out paper and have students list as many personal stressors as they can. Encourage use of the dictionary for spelling.

8. Procedure - Day 2: The teacher writes “Stress Management” on the board. The teacher asks volunteers to define stressor and stress. The teacher tells the students that stress management is a way to make yourself respond appropriately to stress. You manage it. Students write brief essays/stories describing a form of stress in their personal lives, with real examples. Younger students draw pictures to illustrate personal stress. When students have completed paragraphs or pictures, they post their work on the class bulletin board. Students who are apt at word processing type a final draft and post it on the class web page, or print and post it on the bulletin board.

9. Procedure - Day 3: The teacher writes “Stress Management” on the board. Discuss how we each have different stressors and we each respond differently to them. Talk about good ways to control that response: deep breaths; happy thoughts; clenching and unclenching hands. (More ideas elsewhere on this website.)

10. Assessment: Did students cooperate and contribute during the brainstorming process? Did they respect each other’s ideas? Evaluate each student’s final writing or drawing. Did students understand stress management? Did they take time to develop their ideas and submit quality work?

A few days of stress management training is only a start. Follow through with daily reminders. Urge students to help one another with stress management at a practical level.

If you have read many of the articles on this blog, you will understand that stress is not the demands made on you, but your response to those demands. You will know that there is beneficial eustress and detrimental distress.

In this article, we give five stress management suggestions - ideas for practical stress management.

1. Stress Management Suggestion #1 - Moderation

Earn a reputation for moderation. Never go overboard on things. This is a big step toward stress management. Many people who have too many demands made on them need only look in the mirror to see whose fault it is. Don’t fill your schedule too full. Don’t plan too much work - or too much leisure. Keep meal preparation moderate. Keep your social life moderate.

2. Stress Management Suggestion #2 - Commitment

Make commitments. Don’t live a life that is always in a state of change. A person who is committed to marriage, for example, reduces the stressors of marriage. Commitment eases the number of decisions that must be made daily. Great strides can be made in stress management by making up your mind to commit to certain things.

3. Stress Management Suggestion #3 - Ranking

Give an importance ranking to responsibilities and activities. If something of lower ranking demands attention, you can enjoy stress management in the knowledge that it is not entirely necessary. Too often, it is the lower ranking matters of life that cause stress. If you know where they rank in importance to you, you will be more relaxes about them.

4. Stress Management Suggestion #4 - Prediction

Those who proactively plan life are often able to predict heavier than normal demands and be ready for them. A student who plans assignments, for example, can predict when more time will be required in a given subject. It may be that a paper will come due, or an exam may be on the schedule. The proactive planning allows the student to be in control rather than undergo stress. Taking action to plan life makes stress management easier.

5. Stress Management Suggestion #5 - Nutrition

A healthy body is much better equipped for stress management. Eat a healthy, energizing, nutritious diet to support the activity level demanded by your schedule. A body that is not low on fuel will stand stronger in the face of stressors.

Stress management can be difficult. There is no question about that, but following the suggestions given here will jump start your efforts.