Slide outline for Lesson 3.3. Twelve slides. Nothing on these slides is about puberty or reproductive health; those are health class. Every "you" is general. Slide 9 carries the "tell an adult" list; Sal fills in the counselor's name and room.
Adolescence: What Is Changing and Why It Is Normal
- Lesson 3.3: Growing Across the Lifespan
- Unit 3: Growing Up, Getting Along
- Today: four things that change, a myth sort, and a rule about "normal"
- Do now: true or false, private, nobody shares: (1) Teenagers need less sleep than younger kids. (2) Your brain is finished growing by 12. (3) Mood swings mean something is wrong with you
Teacher notes
All three are false. Say so after they write, not before.
A brain at 13
- The bottom floors work
- The top floor is still being built
- That floor plans ahead and hits the brakes
- This is not an insult. It is a schedule
Teacher notes
Image: a construction site described in words: a building with the lower floors finished and lit, the top two floors open steel framing with a crane.
Come back to this image every time a student asks "why do I..."
Body (a ruler)
- Growth spurts: arms and legs first, so clumsy for a while
- Hungrier
- The sleep clock shifts later: the body wants to fall asleep later and wake later
- School does not move, so sleep gets squeezed
- Sleep window from Lesson 2.6: 8 to 10 hours for ages 13 to 18; 9 to 12 for ages 6 to 12 [Sal: confirm]
Teacher notes
Puberty questions go to health. Say the coordination line once, plainly, and move on.
Brain (a brain)
- The prefrontal cortex, the planning and braking part, keeps building into the mid 20s
- The part that feels reward and excitement is running at full speed now
- So risks feel bigger and better than they will later
- Friends nearby make that stronger
Teacher notes
Image: a plain side view of a brain with the front shaded and labeled "still building."
"The brakes are still being installed, which is why you practice using them now, not why you skip them." Say it here; a student will test it later.
Feelings (a face)
- Bigger
- Faster
- They swing
- That is chemistry, not character
Teacher notes
One minute. Do not ask anyone how they feel.
Independence (a house key)
- Wanting to decide for yourself
- Wanting privacy
- Still needing family
- Both at once. That is normal
Teacher notes
Students fill the four-part chart, handout Part 1, one line per part.
Myth or fact
- Twelve strips. Pairs. Sort into MYTH and FACT
- For each myth, one sentence: "This is a myth because ___"
- 10 minutes
- Then: stand and sort. I call a strip, you stand under the sign
Teacher notes
Image: two wall signs, MYTH and FACT, drawn as arrows.
Grade 6 and IEP/504 sort eight strips. A student who does not want to stand holds up an M or F card at the seat.
The key
- Myths: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11
- Facts: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
- Fix your sorts
Teacher notes
If more than a third stood wrong on the sleep strip (1) or the brain strip (11), reteach that slide for one minute right now.
"Normal" is a range
- Two people, both 13: one a head taller, one not yet. Both normal
- One asleep at 9, one at midnight. Both normal
- One cries at a movie, one does not. Both normal
- Same age is not the same stage. Late is not wrong
- Not a phase and needs an adult: sadness that does not lift for weeks; not sleeping for days; hurting yourself or someone else; a friend who says any of those
- Tell: the counselor [Sal: name, room], the nurse, any teacher, the office, an adult at home
Teacher notes
Students copy the rule and the list onto Part 2. This list is the one thing nobody leaves without.
The case
- A 13-year-old wants to go to a friend's house on a school night
- The parent says no. The door slams. An hour later both feel bad
- What is the 13-year-old's brain doing? What is the parent doing?
- Write one response that fits the brain at this age, and one reason
- Response bank: ask again when calm; offer a plan; name the feeling; write it instead of saying it
Teacher notes
Pairs compare. Two pairs share by choice. Land it: waiting for calm is the brake pedal.
Exit card
- 3 things that change in adolescence, one per part
- 2 myths you can now correct
- 1 question for the health teacher (optional; no name goes with it)
Teacher notes
The "1" lines go to the health teacher with no names. Two students read a "2" aloud.
Tomorrow
- Heredity, environment, and who you are becoming
- Then a review game and the Lifespan Stages Quiz (day 2)
- Bring your handouts from 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3
Teacher notes
Two of the myth strips are on the quiz.