Anxiety Management

Date: June 9, 2016

Class: KIN 355
Grade Level: 6th grade
Time: 10:20 am
Targeted NASPE Standard(s):

Teacher: Lillian Marshall

School: School of Awesome
Equipment Used: Large gym space

Identifies components of physical activity that provide opportunities for reducing

stress and for social interaction. (S5.M2.6)
Identifies stress-management strategies (e.g., mental imagery, relaxation
techniques, deep breathing, aerobic exercise, meditation) to reduce stress.
(S3.H14.L1)
Specific Objective: Students will engage in activities that help them to manage
anxiety.
Concomitant Objective: Students will be able to verbally tell me one way that they
can manage future anxiety.
Time
Procedures Followed
Materials
Warm Up: This activity does not need to warm up
0
Minutes because for the purpose of this activity we need to go from
static to active quickly and then introduce ways to be able
to calm the body down.
Transition: When I say go find a partner and go stand
45
Second together over on the baseline by the wall. Ready, go!
s

1
Minutes

30
Second
s

Set Induction: How many of you have ever felt anxious?

Take a moment to think about an experience when you felt
uncomfortable, stressed, or anxious and then discuss
what made that experience difficult with your partner. Who
can share what happens to their body when it undergoes
anxiety?
Learnable Piece: Today I will be using physical activity to
simulate the symptoms of anxiety, such as shortness of
breath and elevated heart rate, after which we will be
exploring some strategies that you can use to help

yourself calm down the next time you are anxious.

30
Second
s

45
Second
s

4
Minutes

Presentation of New Material/Directions: You may be

thinking to yourself, "why is this important?" And that is
because when your body feels stressed and you have an
appropriate way to let that stress out, it helps your body to
be able to manage additional stress immediately, but it
also helps you to have a strategy for managing stress in
the future.
Transition: When I say go you are going to spread out on
the base line using your helicopter arms. "Ready, go!" It is
really important that you are in your own space, and a
place where you will not be touching any of your peers,
because we will be doing some physical activities that
involve needing the full extension of your limbs, and
having your own space will prevent you from hurting
yourself and others.
Activity: For this for simulation everybody is going to do
some jumping jacks. After you're finished with the jumping
jacks you're going to turn around and face the wall that is
behind you. Then you are going to place your hands gently
against the wall with your arms fully extended and press.
This does not mean that you turn around and smack your
hands against the wall or any other part of your body, as
this could hurt you. When you press your hands against
the wall, you should be exerting pressure, but not so much
pressure that your wrists hurt. If you feel so inclined, you
can bend your arms into doing a push up against the wall,
and then come back to the straightened position. Again
this does not mean that you push all of your weight against
the wall so forcefully that you smack your chest your face
or your nose against the wall. When I say go, everybody is
going to do 15 jumping jacks. "Ready, go!"

Remind everyone to turn and do the arm exercise against

the wall when they have completed their jumping jacks
Observe methodology to maintain safety protocol
Turn to your partner and discuss what you noticed about
your body when you begin to do the anxiety management
exercise, "Ready go!"
Who can tell me what they observed?
Everybody show me that his or her arms can still be
extended to a full helicopter position before we do the next
simulation.
Wait to see that everyone has space
This simulation is going to be focused on heart rate. For
this activity you are going to sprint all the way to the halfcourt line and then back to the baseline. Be sure to slow
your running before you reach the baseline, so that you do
not overextend the baseline and run into the wall, as that
could hurt you and if you fall over it could cause somebody
else to get hurt as well.
Because everybody is at a different level of athleticism, I'm
going to modify this just a bit to allow everybody to be
successful. When you get back to the baseline, take 5
deep breaths. Stand up straight and breathe in deeply
through your nose, your mouth should be closed. Be sure
to fully inhale and hold the breath for three seconds before
you release [demonstrate]. If you are feeling really out of
breath you can pace around a little bit, perpendicular to
the baseline, and you can put your hands on top of your
head to increase your lung capacity.
Once you have finished your 5 deep breaths, turn to your

partner and talk about what you noticed your body doing
during this calm down process.
Who can share what they observed?
Half Court Line

Base Line
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Students *
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1
Minutes

45
Second
s

Wall

Possible Modifications:
Change the distance of run
Increase stamina by engaging in more and varied activity
Incorporate more breathing exercises
Lesson Review: How did this calm down exercise
compare to the previous calm down exercise?
What is one thing that you can do to help your body come
down the next time you feel anxiety?

Notes: