Inner Strength Builders

Lesson Overview

Curriculum Area: Health and Physical Education
Year Level: Year 4
Duration: 50 minutes
Content Description:
ACPPS033 – Identify and practise strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing

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WALT

We Are Learning To identify personal strengths and learn strategies to build emotional resilience and confidence in ourselves and others.

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Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Name at least three of their own personal strengths
• Understand that strengths can be emotional, social or physical
• Recognise strategies to build emotional resilience (such as positive self-talk or seeking support)
• Celebrate strengths in themselves and others with respect and empathy

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Vocabulary Focus (Dyslexia-Friendly Font Option)

For students with dyslexia, printed materials use OpenDyslexic font or will be available in a digital format with the option for text-to-speech.

Key terms for today:

• Strength
• Confidence
• Resilience
• Support
• Positivity

Visual word wall cards with symbols and emojis will also be used for word association.

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Materials Needed

• Large posters of “Our Strength Garden” (template prepared beforehand)
• Sticky notes in multiple colours
• Markers/pencils
• Printed worksheets: “My Strength Shield” (in OpenDyslexic as well)
• Warm-up cards with emotion faces
• Calming music playlist (background use)
• Whiteboard and markers

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Lesson Structure

1. Welcome and Warm-Up – (5 minutes)

Activity: "Emotion Check-In Circle"

• Students sit in a circle.
• Each student draws an emotion face card from a deck (happy, nervous, excited, frustrated, calm, etc.)
• They share: "Today I’m feeling _ because _."
• Teacher models this first to set tone for possible vulnerability.
• Reinforce that all feelings are normal and part of being resilient.

Differentiation:
Students with expressive language difficulties can point to feeling cards instead of speaking.

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2. Direct Instruction – (10 minutes)

Mini-Lesson: What is Strength?

• Shared reading of a big book story: “Koala Finds His Strength”, an original story written for the lesson. (Printed in dyslexia-friendly font)
  • A short illustrated narrative about a young koala who learns that strength is more than muscles—it's about kindness, trying again, and staying confident.
• Discussion questions:
  • What kinds of strength did Koala show?
  • What makes someone emotionally or socially strong?

Introduce three types of strengths:

1. Emotional Strength (e.g., being calm during challenges)
2. Social Strength (e.g., helping friends, asking for help)
3. Physical Strength (e.g., being active, strong body)

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3. Guided Activity – (15 minutes)

Task: "My Strength Shield"

Students decorate a personal shield template divided into four sections:

• Top Left: “One thing I’m good at”
• Top Right: “A time I was brave”
• Bottom Left: “A kind thing I’ve done”
• Bottom Right: “Something I love about myself”

Encourage colour, creativity, and doodles. This artwork celebrates self-identity and perseverance.

Differentiation:

• Students with literacy needs can dictate their ideas to the teacher or peer-buddy (use voice typing if preferred)
• Sentence starters for scaffolding provided: “I feel strong when...”, “I helped someone by...”

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4. Group Sharing and Reflection – (10 minutes)

Activity: “Strength Garden Growth”

• Each student writes one strength from their shield on a sticky note and places it on the class poster “Our Strength Garden”
• Teacher reads out each one, reinforcing language of empowerment and connection
• Discuss what makes each strength special and how everyone’s strengths help the class grow

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5. Wrap-Up and Closing Reflection – (10 minutes)

Final Question: “What strength will you grow more this week?”

• Students write their answer in their Health Journals or on a class reflection board:
  • “This week, I will grow my strength of _______ by _______.”

Play a 1-minute calming breathing exercise with gentle music as students reflect.

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Extension Activities

For fast finishers and high achievers:

• Personal Strength Poem: Write a short acrostic poem using the word S-T-R-O-N-G
• Scenario Discussion Cards: Role-play how to show emotional strength in tricky situations (e.g., "Your friend leaves you out", "You make a mistake during sport")
• Peer Mentorship: Pair with a Year 2 student later in the week to help them identify strengths

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Assessment

Formative:

• Observation of shield designs and group sharing
• Student responses during discussions
• Individual reflection response – used as a check-in for emotional understanding and application

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Cross-Curriculum Links

• English: Speaking, Listening, Narrative Understanding (link to story)
• The Arts: Visual design of strength shields
• Personal and Social Capability (General Capability): Managing emotional responses, understanding self and others

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Additional Notes

• Ensure culturally inclusive examples of strength (family roles, cultural traditions, storytelling)
• Use First Nations perspectives if applicable — e.g., connecting strength to Country, ancestors, or kinship roles
• Check-in with learners post-lesson for emotional safety, particularly if conversations around confidence or struggle are sensitive

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Prepared by: AI Teaching Assistant – Human-centred support for Australian learning environments.
Focus: Celebrating student identity and developing lifelong strategies to support social-emotional wellbeing.