Lesson video

Hello! My name is Ms. Wroth.

Today, we're going to be looking at the lesson called "Managing my emotions." This fits into the lesson unit "Emotions: How can we add to our emotions toolkit?" Now in this lesson, we're going to be learning about lots of different strategies that we can use to look after our mental health.

So, let's get ready to begin.

Today's lesson outcome is, I can describe several strategies to manage mental health.

Let's begin by taking a look at our ground rules together.

Laura says, "We should listen to others." And that means we're not going to interrupt when somebody else is speaking.

Andeep says, "We should respect privacy." And that means if somebody decides to share a story or their own experience that we're not going to repeat it to others outside of this lesson.

Jacob says, "No judgement !" And that means if somebody does decide to share a story or their own experience that we're not going to judge them or make comments because of it.

And Izzy says, "Choose your level of participation." And that means you can decide if you simply just want to listen or if you want to share something throughout.

All of these ground rules are here to keep everyone safe in the lesson.

Here are today's keywords.

We have mental health, grateful, and manage.

So mental health means the health of our minds and our emotions.

Grateful means being thankful for what you have.

And manage, in this context, means to find good ways to handle big emotions without them taking over.

Let's see if we can keep an eye out for these keywords in today's lesson.

Here is the lesson's outline.

And we're going to begin with what is mental health? We all have mental health.

And mental health means the different ways that we feel emotions and how we cope with them.

Our mental health affects how we feel, how we think about things, and how we act on a day-to-day basis.

Time for a check for understanding.

Let's see who can remember.

Mental health means, is it A, the different ways we feel emotions? B, being sad all the time? Or C, how we cope with emotions? Hmm.

Mental health means.

Pause this video so you can have some time to think about your answer.

Well done if you said A and C.

Mental health means the different ways we feel emotions, and how we cope with emotions.

Dr.

Elsie says, "You do not have to be happy all the time to have good mental health.

Being mentally healthy means that we feel all emotions, including sadness and anger, but that we are able to return to feeling calm and content." People with good mental health are able to do everyday things, like go to work or school, look after their bodies, and they're able to regulate their emotions, even when things feel challenging.

Time for a check for understanding.

True or false? We have to be happy all the time to have good mental health.

Hmm.

Give me a thumbs up if you think it's true or a thumbs down if you think it's false.

We have to be happy all the time to have good mental health.

Is that statement true or false? Pause this video so you can have some time to think about your answer.

Well done if you said false.

This statement is false because we do not have to be happy all the time to have good mental health.

Being mentally healthy means that we feel all emotions, but that we are able to regulate our emotions and return to feeling happy.

Some people struggle with their mental health.

They might experience strong emotions for a long time and struggle to regulate or move on.

Dr.

Elsie says, "People who struggle with their mental health might find it hard to do everyday things, like go to work or school or to look after their bodies.

And these people may need support from trusted adults, or professionals, like doctors." Okay, time for a check for understanding.

What might people struggle to do if they have poor mental health? Pause this video so you can have some time to think about your answer.

Okay, well done for having a go.

You might have said.

People who struggle with their mental health might find it hard to regulate or move on from strong emotions.

They might also find it hard to do everyday tasks, like go to work or look after their bodies.

Time for a task now.

Fill in the missing words in the paragraph.

You can use the words below to help you.

There is one word that appears twice in this paragraph! Let's see if you can spot it.

Pause this video so you can have some time to do the task and then we will go through the answers together.

Okay, well done for having a go.

Your paragraph should look like this.

We all have mental health.

Mental health means the different ways we feel emotions and how we cope with them.

We do not have to be happy all the time to have good mental health.

Being mentally healthy means we feel all emotions but we are able to return to feeling happy and can regulate or move on from emotions.

So, "emotions" is used twice.

Well done if you spotted that.

We're now going to move on to the second part of our lesson.

How can I manage my mental health? There are lots of things we can do to manage our mental health.

First, we can find things to be grateful for.

This is a really good way to manage our mental health.

And we could try writing a list of all the things that we're grateful for.

Being grateful doesn't mean pretending that everything is perfect or ignoring things that are difficult.

Instead, it's about choosing to notice the positives, even on a challenging day.

And this can help us feel calmer, more hopeful and happier.

Laura says, "I may not have lots and lots of friends, but I am grateful for the few that I do have.

They make me laugh and they care about my feelings." And Andeep says, "I don't have the latest video games, but I have the best dog in the world! And I love spending time with him." Time for a check for understanding.

How can we be grateful for the things we have? Is it A, by focusing on the things that we don't have? Is it B, by noticing the positives in our lives? Or C, by being thankful for what we have? Hmm.

How can we be grateful for the things we have? Pause this video so you can have some time to think about your answer.

Okay, well done if you said B and C.

We can be grateful for the things that we have by noticing the positives in our lives, and by being thankful for what we have.

Secondly, we can spend time outside and exercise.

Both of these things help us to manage our mental health.

Fresh air and sunlight helps our brains work better and improves our mood.

Dr.

Elsie says, "When we exercise, our brain releases special chemicals called endorphins, and endorphins help us to feel happy and calm." Laura says, "When I feel worried about school, I like to go for a walk in the park with my mum.

The fresh air helps me think more clearly." Me too, Laura.

And Andeep says, "I love playing football with my friends after school.

Even when I've had a difficult day, running around makes me feel much better." Time for a check for understanding.

Why is exercising outside good for our mental health? Tell your partner your ideas.

Pause this video so you can have some time to think about your answer.

Okay, so you might have said.

When we exercise, our brains releases special chemicals called endorphins.

And fresh air and sunlight help our brain work better and improve our mood.

Well done if you said something similar to me.

Talking about our emotions also helps us to manage our mental health.

It can help us understand why we feel a certain way and help us decide what to do to feel better.

Talking about our emotions also helps other people to understand how we're feeling so that they know how to support us.

We can talk to our friends about our emotions.

And we can share how we're feeling with them and listen when they share how they are feeling with us.

We can also talk to parents and carers, teachers and school staff, and professionals, like doctors.

Laura says, "When I talk to my mum, it reminds me that I am not alone.

This makes me feel calm and supported." And Andeep says, "At first, I felt embarrassed to tell my teacher I was feeling sad, but when I did, she helped me work out what was making me feel that way." Sometimes, we might not want to talk to other people about how we're feeling.

Until we feel ready to talk, we can write our feeling down in a diary or a journal.

Or we can draw a picture to show how we feel instead.

We can also do activities that keep our hands busy to help manage our mental health.

There are lots of different types of these activities, like knitting, arts and crafts, colouring, reading, making or playing with playdough or slime, and writing.

It could be writing a story, or writing a letter.

Dr.

Elsie says, "When your hands and brain are focused on something fun and creative, it's harder for worried or upset thoughts to bother you.

These 'busy hand' activities also make you feel proud and happy when you finish them, which further boosts your mood." Laura says, "When I feel worried, I like to do some colouring.

Focusing on staying inside the lines helps me stop worrying about other things." And Andeep says, "My gran taught me how to knit.

When I'm making something with my hands, my mind feels peaceful and quiet." Time for a check for understanding.

List three people we can talk to about our emotions.

Pause this video so you can have some time to think about your answer.

Okay, you might have said parents and carers, teachers and school staff, and friends.

Well done if your answer was similar to mine.

Time for a task now.

Create a mind map of all of the different things we can do to manage our mental health.

Try to include at least four or five ways.

Pause this video so you can have some time to do the task and then we will go through the answers together.

Okay, well done for having a go! Your mind map could look like this.

How can I manage my mental health? I can find things to be grateful for.

Exercise.

Talk to a trusted adult, teacher, or friend.

Do some "busy hand" activities.

Spend time outside.

Or write down or draw our feelings.

Well done if your mind map looks similar to mine.

This leads us on to our summary, and that means it's the end of our lesson.

Thank you for joining me today.

I've had a wonderful time with you.

We all have mental health.

Mental health means the different ways we feel emotions and how we cope with them.

We do not have to be happy all the time to have good mental health.

Being mentally healthy means that we feel all emotions, that we are able to return to feeling happy.

There are different things we can do to manage our mental health.

For example, we should find things that we are grateful for, spend time outside, exercise, talk about our emotions with others, and do some "busy hands" activities.

Here is a slide with a place that you can get support.

We have the Childline, which is a website and phone line which is able to offer confidential advice and support.