Tenth Grade Health Education Unit Plan: Sex Education

Part I. Overview of the Unit

            One of the primary goals of an effective health education program is to create behavior change through the delivery of factual information with an emphasis developing and improving health enhancing skills.  It is important instruction be focused on improving health enhancing skills; it is not enough to instruct students on just the facts.  They need to learn the skills that will improve personal health and reduce health risks.

The purpose of this unit is to promote healthy, responsible, choices for students by providing them with the opportunity to engage with their peers on sexual education topics, decision making skills and other topics related to sex education.  Each lesson is designed for a 50 minute period and the unit should take place over the course of 6-7 weeks depending on the pace of the instruction.

Part II. Identification of Population

The high school currently consists of four grades (9th to 12th grade) and is located in Harlem, New York.  The majority of students live in Harlem and the Bronx, with a very small population coming from other boroughs.  These 9th graders are new to high school and are living in very urban neighborhoods.  As new students at the high school level they are thrown into situations which require them to manage their health in a way that they may not be used to (as teenagers).  It is important that students are instructed in the various ways that they can prevent the spread of disease and how they can play a part in their communities in control them.

Part III. Goals of the Unit and Objectives of the Unit

Goals:

1. Students will learn the male and female reproductive systems and understand how each functions.
2. Students will be able to recognize the characteristics of both a healthy and non-healthy relationship.
3. Students will learn that sexual abstinence is the practice of not engaging in some or all sexual activities.
4. Understand how practicing healthy habits can prevent risky behaviors that could lead to unplanned pregnancies.
5. Students will develop functional health knowledge of STI’s and the likelihood of being exposed to them by engaging in risky behaviors.
6. Students will be provided with instruction that will develop their knowledge of what HIV and AIDS re; they will also learn how to protect themselves from contracting either illness.

Objectives

Lesson 1

1. Students will identify and/or describe the basic anatomy and physiology of the human reproductive system.
   • Indicator: 7.12.2  Demonstrate a variety of healthy practices and behaviors that will maintain or improve the health of self and others.
2. Students will understand how the structures of the human reproductive system work together to create and deliver gametes for fertilization.
   • Indicator: 7.12.2  Demonstrate a variety of healthy practices and behaviors that will maintain or improve the health of self and others.
3. Students will demonstrate care and respect for their classmates and learning environment throughout the lesson.
   • Indicator: 4.12.1  Use skills for communicating effectively with family, peers, and others to enhance health.

Lesson 2

1. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to list a few of the characteristics of both healthy and unhealthy relationships.
   • Indicator: 2.12.7  Analyze how the perceptions of norms influence healthy and unhealthy behaviors.
2. Students will examine how relationships are sometimes portrayed in the media.
   • Indicator: 2.12.6  Evaluate the impact of technology on personal, family, and community health.
3. Students will be able to apply affirmative refusal skills in scenarios based on unhealthy relationships.
   • Indicator: 4.12.2  Demonstrate refusal, negotiation, and collaboration skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

Lesson 3

1. By the end of the lesson students will be able to explain what it means to be abstinent.
   • Indicator: 2.12.2  Analyze how the culture supports and challenges health beliefs, practices, and behaviors.
2. At the completion of the first activity, students will be able to list at least 5 reasons they might choose to be abstinent. 
   • Indicator: 7.12.2  Demonstrate a variety of healthy practices and behaviors that will maintain or improve the health of self and others.
3. Students will work in groups to report facts to the class on the impact of being a teen parent, socio-emotionally, academically, and financially.
   • Indicator: 1.12.1  Predict how healthy behaviors can affect health status.
4. Students will write a reflection on why they would not want to be a teen parent.
   • Indicator: 6.12.1  Assess personal health practices and overall health status.

Lesson 4

1. By the end of the fact-finding activity; students will be able to list at least 10 different types of contraceptive methods.
   • Indicator: 3.12.2  Use resources from home, school, and community that provide valid health information.
2. At the conclusion of the lesson students will work with a partner and create a web map about what they learned about contraceptive methods.
   • Indicator: 8.12.3  Work cooperatively as an advocate for improving personal, family, and community health.
3. Students will practice how to put a condom on a banana.
   • Indicator: 7.12.3  Demonstrate a variety of behaviors to avoid or reduce health risks to self and others.

 Lesson 5

1. Students will be able to identify facts and myths about STIs by participating in a review session.
   • Indicator: 3.12.1  Evaluate the validity of health information, products, and services.
2. Students will use facts sheets to work in groups of 4 to present information to the class about a specific STI.
   • Indicator: 8.12.4  Adapt health messages and communication techniques to a specific target audience.
3. Students will apply their knowledge of STIs and write a personal statement on the importance of using contraceptives to prevent the spread of STIs.   
   • Indicator: 5.12.2  Determine the value of applying a thoughtful decision-making process in health-related situations.

Lesson 6

1. Students will explain symptoms, consequences, treatment, and transmission of HIV/AIDS.
   • Indicator: 1.12.9  Analyze the potential severity of injury or illness if engaging in unhealthy behaviors.
2. Students will work with a partner to arrange HIV/AIDS risk behaviors from least to greatest after watching the documentary.
   • Indicator: 1.12.9  Analyze the potential severity of injury or illness if engaging in unhealthy behaviors.
3. Students will identify resources for HIV/STD prevention and treatment that can be shared with members of their communities.
   • Indicator: 3.12.5  Access valid and reliable health products and services.

Part IV. National Health Education Standards

Explanation of how curriculum alignment with the National Health Education Standards:

Standard 1: Lesson #1 will focus on increasing student’s functional knowledge of the human reproductive systems. This activity was chosen with thinking around the lack of functional health education students may or may not have received to this point.  In lesson #3 students will have a chance to look at how being a teen parent could affect their lives and the status of their own health in the future. 

Standard 2: In lesson #2 students will have the opportunity to explore the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships; which I feel is very important since teenagers may be experimenting in relationships with their peers.  They will have a chance to analyze these characteristics and practice refusal skills in related scenarios based on unhealthy relationships.  They will also learn what abstinence is and how others may influence this personal choice. 

Standard 3: Although students will be able to participate in three fact finding activities using sources found in their communities.  They will also use a computer to find resources that they can share with a family member or peer, on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Standard 4: It is important for students to develop affirmative effective refusal skills that they can use in “real life” situations.  Students will have the opportunity to learn these skills and practice them in scenarios created by them.  In these activities students will work in partners or small groups to create and practice the scenarios.

Standard 5: Throughout the unit, students will have multiple opportunities to reflect on what they are learning.  An example of this is in lesson #5 where students will be able to write personal reflections on the importance of using contraceptives to prevent the spread of STIs.    

Standard 6: In lesson #3 students will think about their life goals and explain how becoming a teen parent could affect meeting these goals.  In this same lesson students will be able to reflect on their personal beliefs to come up with 5 reasons why they may want to practice being abstinent.

Standard 7: Understanding STIs and how they can negatively impact a healthy lifestyle is crucial and must be included in any health education program.  By improving their functional health knowledge of STIs, I am aiming to impact their decisions making regarding healthy sex practices regardless of whether or not they are engaging in these behaviors or not.  In lesson #4 students will have the opportunity to learn about various contraceptives and will practice putting a condom on a banana.

Standard 8: Lesson #6 requires students to use the internet to find places in their communities that they can share with friends, peers, or family members.  Students will also have the ability to reflect on the quality of these resources and whether or not there is need for an improvement of them. 

Part V. Differentiated instruction

While there are many different types of learners in every learning environment, I think that the first type of learner that I will need to be mindful of is the student with learning disabilities for example students who will need supports to help them stay on task and keep up with the instruction.  While there are a plethora of teaching strategies to use for students who fall into this “bucket”, it would be most ideal to let them have access to the lesson plan so that they know what is coming up, allow them to move their learning space throughout the lesson to avoid restlessness, and in some situations allow them the opportunity to work with a partner that will help them stay on task for certain activities.  Learning materials will also have to be differentiate in that article would need to be broken up into smaller chunks; too many words on the page with not be ideal for this type of student-would make it incredibly hard for them to focus.  Noise cancelling headphones would be helpful as well during times of independent work and assessment; this would help eliminate many distractions as well.  Consistent check-ins with these students to monitor their learning progress and on-going positive reinforcement would be ideal as well.

Another student that I would have to take into account would be the student who may have had some experience or sexual trauma or the students who might be already sexual active.  Statistics would show that in any classroom there would be a student who has been exposed to sexual trauma and it would be wise to have some sort of policy on allowing students to step out of lessons.  It would be wise for me to make agendas public and accessible so that students would know what was coming up in the next lessons.  I would have to be mindful of how information was delivered and be prepared if students disclosed sensitive information.  In that type of situation I would have to be diligent in reporting it to school administration because by law I am a mandated reporter.  This would mean that at the beginning of the unit I would need to set all students up for success by having them set the norms for the next couple of lessons.  I would also have to before any instruction took place, make sure that I sent consent forms home to parents with an outline of what students would be learning over the next 6 weeks.

Part VI. Coordinated School Health Program

Sex education is a crucial part of health education and in my opinion must be included in a high school health education curriculum.  While this topic could make some individuals uncomfortable, it is the job of the health educator to advocate for the students that they serve in their learning community.  This unit was written with my 10^th graders in mind; however I think that this unit can be taught to students in any of the secondary grades (9-12).  I would like to think that students entering into high school would have had this instruction already but I would not want to take a chance on that and would plan to teach this unit.  It is a fact that students will be exposed to this in some way through friends and peers in and out of school, through the media, and in some cases their households.

In a coordinated school health program, the health educator should seek out school administration to present them factual information that would support the need for sex education.  The first person I would seek out would be the school counsellor or social worker.  Again without asking her to disclose private information, I would inquire as to whether or not this type of education would be needed at our school.  Getting this information out of her, I would then ask for her support in getting this unit into our curriculum.  The second person I would most likely seek out would be the school nurse.  Without asking for them to share private information, I would inquire as to how many students sought her out for information on sex, pregnancy, and STIs.  Again collecting this data and getting this person on board would be increase the strength of argument for a unit on sex education to be included in the health curriculum. 

Hopefully with these individuals on board it would be easy for me to get other school officials to see why we would need this type of instruction for students who were in the early part of their high school career and would be moving on to college or life after high school as independent adults.  If all of those pieces were to fall in place, I would then ask for permission to do some sort of outreach with parents and families to get on board as well.  A paper survey could go out attached to a letter that had factual information about the sex education of our student population and that of young people their age across the country.  Sharing factual information about what our student knew and did not know, I believe would help convince parents that they should want their children to receive sex education.

Part VII. Unit Plan Map