This lesson plan focuses on grief and loss in a unit plan of Inequity.

Have a revision of the concepts of last lesson for 5 minutes, focusing on resilience. Include the following: There are a number of well proven ways to build resilience, but they boil down to three core strategies, which are:

Accept the reality, be willing to face what is really happening. Often, it is when we accept all the difficulties that we find the strength and means to deal with them.

Find a purpose. Even in extreme situations, those who can find some personal meaning are more likely to survive. In the midst of anxiety and pressure it can be useful to reconnect to a sense of purpose.

Improvise – if what you are doing isn’t working, try something else. Sounds obvious, but we can easily get stuck in a rut, or keep hoping that someone else will change things first. So look for different ideas and use any available resource.

We know that people often forget to do these things when stressed, so this is a helpful reminder. However pressured you are feeling, it is useful to use these approaches to help get through.

Design a task where the students can learn the following information without just copying the notes: Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. The more significant the loss, the more intense your grief will be. You may associate grieving with the death of a loved one—which is often the cause of the most intense type of grief—but any loss can cause grief, including:

Divorce Relationship breakups Loss of health Death of a pet Serious illness of someone close Loss of a friendship Moving home

Add this task in: Gallery Walk #2: Students write down/ draw an activity / strategy they do to help manage grief / loss. These activities/ strategies are posted around the room. Whilst sticking up their note students walk around the room viewing different activities other students do.

Make this class discussion activity into a more engaging activity: What were the various types of activities / strategies to manage grief / loss? Were they different? Why / Why not? Why is it important to allow a person to manage grief / loss in their own terms?
What support networks are available/ accessible to those dealing with grief / loss?

Writing task: 200 words minimum: Why are support networks import in both managing stress and coping with loss and grief? (give examples of different support networks and the services they provide)

Find a way to include this video throughout the lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgzEGWJvkWM

Overview

This 60-minute lesson for Year 10 students aligns with the Australian Curriculum (v9) for Health and Physical Education under the Personal, Social and Community Health strand. The focus is on understanding grief and loss within a unit on Inequity. The lesson builds emotional resilience and introduces strategies to manage grief, fostering respectful relationships and personal wellbeing.

Australian Curriculum Links

ACPPS100: Investigate emotional responses in a range of situations and consider how to manage them (Year 10).
ACPPS102: Plan and use interpersonal skills to initiate and negotiate roles and responsibilities when working with others (Year 10).
ACPPS094: Analyse factors that influence identities and assess how identities can change and influence health and wellbeing (Year 10).
ACPPS095: Evaluate health information and make decisions to enhance their own and others’ health, safety and wellbeing (Year 10).
ACPPS096: Examine the impact of emotional responses on behaviours and relationships, and discuss strategies to manage emotions (Year 10).

Learning Intentions

Understand grief as a natural response to different types of loss.
Recognise and articulate strategies that build resilience.
Explore and reflect on personal and community support networks.
Develop empathy and respect for diverse ways of managing grief.
Communicate ideas effectively in written form.

Success Criteria

I can describe what grief is and identify different types of losses.
I can explain strategies to build resilience and relate them to grief.
I can actively participate in a Gallery Walk to share and learn ideas.
I can discuss the importance of managing grief uniquely for each person.
I can write a clear, supported response about the importance of support networks.

Resources Needed

Whiteboard or Smartboard
Sticky notes and markers for Gallery Walk
Printed or digital copies of key definitions (optional)
Video playback equipment
Paper and pens for writing task

Lesson Plan

1. Welcome and Revision of Resilience (5 minutes)

Teacher Activity: Briefly recap the last lesson’s key content on resilience.
Key points to cover:
- Accept the reality of the situation
- Find a personal purpose
- Improvise when necessary
Student Activity: Quick partner share – "Can you think of a time you used one of these strategies?"
Differentiation: Provide sentence starters for students needing support (e.g., "One way to accept reality is...").

2. Introducing Grief and Loss – Interactive Task (10 minutes)

Teacher Activity: Introduce grief with the definition: “Grief is the natural emotional suffering experienced after a loss.”
Engagement Strategy: Use an interactive concept mapping activity on the board:
- Ask students to brainstorm different types of losses (e.g., death, divorce, moving house).
- Add student ideas to a shared map without copying the definitions directly.

3. Video Integration (10 minutes)

Teacher Activity: Play the video about grief and managing loss.
Viewing Tips: Pause at key moments to highlight connections to resilience strategies and grief types.
Student Activity: Note down one new idea or feeling they had watching the video.
Differentiation: Allow students to draw a key takeaway if writing is challenging.

4. Gallery Walk #2 – Sharing Strategies (15 minutes)

Student Activity: Each student writes or draws an activity/strategy they use to manage grief/loss on a sticky note.
Teacher Activity: Place all notes around the room as stations.
Interactive Movement: Students walk around viewing and reading all notes.
Purpose: Promote peer learning and validation of diverse coping strategies.
Differentiation: Offer examples or sentence starters for students who struggle to think of strategies.

5. Whole Class Guided Discussion (10 minutes)

Discussion Prompts:
- What different strategies did you notice?
- Were some strategies similar or very different? Why might that be?
- Why should we allow people to grieve in their own way?
- What kinds of support networks have you heard of or used?
Teacher Role: Facilitate and connect discussion points to personal, social, and community health.
Differentiation: Use a think-pair-share approach for quieter students.

6. Writing Task – Individual Reflection (10 minutes)

Task: Write at least 200 words explaining why support networks are important in managing stress and grief.
Prompts to include:
- Examples of support networks (family, friends, counsellors, community groups)
- Services they provide (listening, advice, practical support)
Assessment: Mark for clarity, relevance, connection to resilience and grief concepts.
Differentiation: Provide a writing scaffold that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion structure.

Differentiation Strategies

Visual supports with videos and concept maps.
Sentence starters for oral and written tasks.
Alternative output modes (drawing, speaking) for students with writing difficulties.
Peer support and collaborative learning activities.
Extension tasks for advanced students: research a community support service and report back.

Assessment and Feedback

Formative assessment through class discussion and Gallery Walk participation.
Written task used as summative formative assessment to assess understanding.
Provide constructive feedback focused on the use of concepts and clarity.

Reflection and Closure (Last 2 minutes)

Quick exit question: “What is one new thing you learned today about grief or managing loss?”
Collect responses on sticky notes or verbally.

This lesson plan ensures students engage deeply with the topic of grief and loss, building empathy, resilience, and reflective skills aligned with the Australian Curriculum's Health and Physical Education goals. The use of interactive and varied activities contributes to an inclusive learning environment that respects diverse experiences of grief.

Grief and Loss

Teaching Instructions