Intellectual health learning objectives for elementary school clearly define what students will know and be able to do as a result of each lesson. These objectives focus on developing functional health knowledge, building understanding related to the dimensions of health, and applying essential health skills to real-life situations. Each objective is designed to align with the SHAPE America National Health Education Standards, ensuring that instruction is comprehensive, skills-based, and promotes lifelong well-being.

The Goal: Students explore how curiosity, creativity, and a growth mindset contribute to learning, happiness, and personal growth.

✅ Discover how creativity boosts joy and supports emotional well-being through art, play, storytelling, and self-expression.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #1 Build and Apply Functional Knowledge and #7 Practice Health-Enhancing Behaviors

✅ Practice asking questions and exploring ideas as a way to learn new things and build knowledge about themselves and the world.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #1 Build and Apply Functional Knowledge, #4 Communication, and #3 Access Valid Information

✅ Understand what a growth mindset is and how it helps them keep going, even when something feels hard or unfamiliar.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #6 Goal Setting and #7 Practice Health-Enhancing Behaviors

Functional knowledge refers to the essential health concepts students need to understand in order to build awareness of how intellectual health, creativity, and problem solving shows up in their lives. This knowledge helps students make informed choices and lays the foundation for managing this aspect of their well-being with intention and confidence.

💡 How creativity, art, and imagination make them feel

Students begin to recognize how activities like drawing, building, dancing, or storytelling bring them joy, calm, or excitement. They learn that creativity is more than fun, it’s a way to care for their well-being.

💡 Ways they can learn more and build understanding

Students explore how asking questions, listening to others, reading books, and watching videos are all ways to learn new things and grow their knowledge.

💡 Who can help them learn and expand their thinking

Students identify people in their lives, like teachers, librarians, family members, and classmates, who can help them discover new ideas, answer questions, and encourage their curiosity.

💡 What a growth mindset is and how to practice it

Students are introduced to the idea that they can get better at things with practice and effort. They learn encouraging self-talk (mantras like “I can try again” or “Mistakes help me learn”) to support their learning and confidence.

Activities are health education learning engagements that help students explore, interact with, and build deeper understanding of intellectual health, creativity, and problem solving. Each learning activity is designed to support a skills-based health approach and provide meaningful opportunities for students to explore the functional knowledge and practice the health skills.

🔎 Creative Joy Check-In

After a creative activity (like drawing, dancing, or storytelling), students do a simple self-check to reflect on how it made them feel. Use emoji charts or feeling words to help students identify and express their emotions.

→ Connects to: Understanding how creativity, art, and imagination make them feel

🔎 Learning Scavenger Hunt

Create a classroom or hallway scavenger hunt where students complete different tasks, like asking a classmate a question, reading a fact card, or watching a short video clip. Each task helps them explore new ideas and practice building understanding.

→ Connects to: Ways they can learn more and build understanding

🔎 Who Can Help? Interviews

Students interview school staff (like teachers, librarians, or custodians) or family members about what they’ve learned and how they like to learn new things. This helps students see how others can support their intellectual growth.

→ Connects to: Who can help them learn and expand their thinking

🔎 Growth vs. Fixed Mindset Story Sort

Read or watch a short story with a challenge or mistake. Then have students sort possible responses into “growth mindset” or “fixed mindset” categories and explain their reasoning. Optional: Create classroom mantras together.

→ Connects to: What a growth mindset is and how to practice it

These intellectual health project-based learning assessments are designed to measure both what students understand and how well they can apply their functional health knowledge and health skills in meaningful, real-world ways. Each health assessment idea aligns with the SHAPE America National Health Education Standards and offers students a practical, hands-on learning experience. By actively using health skills to navigate realistic scenarios, students demonstrate their ability to think critically, make informed decisions, and take ownership of their well-being.

📚 Poem: Creativity and Feelings

Students write a short poem or draw a picture-poem about a creative experience (like dancing, painting, or building something) and how it made them feel. This encourages emotional expression and helps students connect creativity to well-being.

→ Assesses understanding of how creativity and imagination make them feel (SHAPE Standards #1 and #7)

📚 Mini Research Project

Students choose a topic they’re curious about (like animals, space, or weather) and gather information by reading a book, watching a video, or talking with a teacher or family member. They share three things they learned with the class.

→ Assesses ability to learn new things and build understanding (SHAPE Standards #1 and #3)

📚 “How to Learn” Cheatcode Booklet

Students create a small booklet of tips to help others learn something new. Tips might include: ask questions, try again, listen to your teacher, or read a book.

→ Assesses understanding of how to build knowledge and who can help them learn (SHAPE Standards #1 and #3)

📚 Growth Mindset Mantra Poster

Students write a personal growth mindset mantra (e.g., “I can keep trying” or “Mistakes help me learn”) and design a colorful poster to display in the classroom.

→ Assesses understanding of growth mindset and self-talk strategies (SHAPE Standards #6 and #7)

Intellectual health learning objectives clearly define what high school students will know and be able to do as a result of each lesson. These objectives focus on developing functional health knowledge, building understanding related to the dimensions of health, and applying essential health skills to real-life situations. Every objective is designed to align with the SHAPE America National Health Education Standards, ensuring that instruction is comprehensive, skills-based, and promotes lifelong well-being.

The Goal: Students build awareness of their intellectual strengths, use creativity to solve problems and express themselves, and explore new ideas to expand their understanding of the world.

✅ Use creativity and critical thinking to solve problems, approach challenges, and create positive change in their lives or communities.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #5 Decision Making, #7 Practice Health-Enhancing Behaviors, and #8 Advocacy

✅ Explore new topics and perspectives to expand their worldview and better understand the people and experiences around them.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #1 Build and Apply Functional Knowledge and #2 Analyzing Influences

✅ Express their creativity in meaningful ways and recognize how curiosity and imagination enhance their well-being.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #1 Build and Apply Functional Knowledge and #7 Practice Health-Enhancing Behaviors

✅ Build an understanding of growth mindset and use it to set meaningful goals, reflect on progress, and embrace learning challenges.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #6 Goal Setting and #7 Practice Health-Enhancing Behaviors

Functional knowledge refers to the essential health concepts students need to understand in order to build awareness of how emotional and mental health shows up in their lives. This knowledge helps students make informed choices and lays the foundation for managing this aspect of their well-being with intention and confidence.

💡 What Creative Problem-Solving is and How it Works

Students learn that creative problem-solving means using imagination, innovation, and critical thinking to approach challenges and explore new solutions. They discover that problem-solving isn’t just about getting the “right” answer but about thinking in flexible, thoughtful ways.

💡 What it Means to Explore New Topics and Perspectives

Students understand that intellectual health involves learning about the world beyond their current experiences. They build skills to ask questions, seek out credible information, and remain open to new ideas and viewpoints, helping them grow their understanding of themselves and others.

💡 How Creativity Supports Joy and Emotional Well-being

Students learn that creativity is not only fun—it’s essential to well-being. They explore how expressing themselves creatively can bring joy, reduce stress, and support emotional health.

💡 What a Growth Mindset is and How it Supports Learning and Goal Setting

Students are introduced to the idea that intelligence and ability can grow with effort and persistence. They learn how a growth mindset helps them face challenges, set realistic goals, and keep working through setbacks.

Activities are health education learning engagements that help students explore, interact with, and build deeper understanding of intellectual health and creativity. Each learning activity is designed to support a skills-based health approach and provide meaningful opportunities for students to explore the functional knowledge and practice the health skills.

🔎 Rapid-Fire Problem Solving

Present students with a series of light and silly challenges (e.g., “How would you fix a backpack that keeps falling apart?” or “Design a snack for someone who only eats blue foods”). Give them 60 seconds to brainstorm and share solutions. This fun, fast-paced activity introduces creative problem-solving and flexible thinking.

→ Explores: Creative problem-solving and thinking outside the box

🔎 Peer Teaching Gallery Walk

Each student creates a short how-to demo (e.g., how to fold an origami crane, draw a cartoon, or juggle). During a gallery walk, peers rotate between stations and learn from each other. This helps students build confidence, share knowledge, and experience the joy of learning.

→ Explores: Curiosity, communication, and sharing knowledge with others

🔎 Creativity for Joy
Students plan and lead short creative experiences purely for fun—like making friendship bracelets, doodling challenges, or dance breaks. Afterward, they reflect on how it felt to create and why joy is an important part of intellectual well-being.

→ Explores: Creativity as a tool for joy, self-expression, and emotional well-being

🔎 Growth Mindset + Goal Matching

Provide students with everyday scenarios (e.g., struggling with a test, learning a new skill, getting critical feedback). Ask them to identify a growth mindset response and set a relevant goal that would help them move forward. This reinforces how mindset and goal setting go hand in hand.

→ Explores: Growth mindset thinking and connecting it to meaningful goals

These intellectual health project-based learning assessments are designed to measure both what students understand and how well they can apply their functional health knowledge and health skills in meaningful, real-world ways. Each health assessment idea aligns with the SHAPE America National Health Education Standards and offers students a practical, hands-on learning experience. By actively using health skills to navigate realistic scenarios, students demonstrate their ability to think critically, make informed decisions, and take ownership of their well-being.

📚 Creative Problem-Solving Project

Students identify a health-related issue in their school or community (e.g., lack of hydration, limited movement breaks, conflict during lunch) and design a creative, realistic solution. They walk through the problem-solving process and present their idea to the class.

→ Assesses ability to apply creative thinking to real-world challenges (SHAPE Standards #5 and #8)

📚 Curiosity-Driven Research Project

Students choose a topic they’re curious about and conduct a mini research project using a mix of sources—first-person interviews, books, articles, and videos. They present what they learned and reflect on how asking questions helped them grow their understanding.

→ Assesses ability to explore new topics and build knowledge (SHAPE Standards #1 and #3)

📚 Joy Through Creativity Showcase

Students design and present a creative project (art, music, storytelling, movement, etc.) that represents one way creativity brings them joy or supports their emotional well-being. They include a short written or recorded reflection on the experience.

→ Assesses understanding of how creativity supports well-being (SHAPE Standards #1 and #7)

📚 Growth Mindset + Goal Setting Project

Students reflect on an area they’d like to grow in and set a personal intellectual goal. Over several weeks, they track their progress, reflect on their mindset, and evaluate how they responded to challenges along the way.

→ Assesses ability to use growth mindset to support goal setting (SHAPE Standards #6 and #7)

Intellectual health learning objectives for high school clearly define what students will know and be able to do as a result of each lesson. These objectives focus on developing functional health knowledge, building understanding related to the dimensions of health, and applying essential health skills to real-life situations. Each objective is designed to align with the SHAPE America National Health Education Standards, ensuring that instruction is comprehensive, skills-based, and promotes lifelong well-being.

The Goal: Students build personal awareness of their intellectual habits, explore how curiosity and creativity support well-being, and practice thinking strategies that help them learn, grow, and solve problems.

✅ Engage in thoughtful and civil discourse to explore new ideas, consider diverse perspectives, and grow their understanding through respectful dialogue and debate.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #1 Build and Apply Functional Knowledge and #4 Interpersonal Communication

✅ Demonstrate a love of learning by setting ambitious goals, embracing intellectual challenges, and showing a growth mindset in academic and personal pursuits.

→Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #6 Goal Setting and #7 Practice Health-Enhancing Behaviors

✅ Apply creative problem-solving strategies, including design thinking as a human-centered design model, to explore innovative solutions to real-world health issues.

→ Related SHAPE America Health Standards: #2 Analyzing Influences and #8 Advocacy

Functional knowledge refers to the essential health concepts students need to understand in order to build awareness of how intellectual health and creativity shows up in their lives. This knowledge helps students make informed choices and lays the foundation for managing this aspect of their well-being with intention and confidence.

💡 Why Civil Discourse and Diverse Perspectives Matter

Students learn the value of engaging in respectful conversations with people who think differently. They explore how civil discourse builds understanding, deepens knowledge, and supports personal and collective growth. This knowledge lays the foundation for applying communication skills like active listening, empathy, and thoughtful dialogue.

💡 What a Growth Mindset is and How it Impacts Learning

Students learn that a growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, practice, and learning from mistakes. They explore how this mindset supports perseverance and connects directly to effective goal setting.

💡 What Design Thinking is and How it Promotes Human-centered Problem-Solving

Students are introduced to the principles of design thinking, a creative and iterative process rooted in empathy. They learn how this model can be used to understand problems, generate innovative ideas, and design solutions that make a meaningful impact.

Activities are health education learning engagements that help students explore, interact with, and build deeper understanding of intellectual health, human-centered problem solving, and creativity. Each learning activity is designed to support a skills-based health approach and provide meaningful opportunities for students to explore the functional knowledge and practice the health skills.

🔎 Mini Debates on Low-Stakes Topics

Students engage in light, structured debates on playful topics (e.g., “Is cereal soup?”). These debates provide a safe space to practice active listening, respectfully disagree, and consider multiple perspectives.

→ Connects to: Why civil discourse and diverse perspectives matter

🔎 Books as Windows into Diverse Perspectives

Through reading short stories, articles, or excerpts, students explore how different people experience the world. This activity emphasizes the importance of curiosity, empathy, and learning through others’ lived experiences.

→ Connects to: Why civil discourse and diverse perspectives matter

🔎 Growth vs. Fixed Mindset Scenarios

Students review everyday situations—like failing a test or being left out of a group—and describe what might happen next through a growth mindset vs. fixed mindset lens. They then reflect on how mindset influences goals and learning outcomes.

→ Connects to: What a growth mindset is and how it impacts learning

🔎 Design Thinking Game

Introduce students to the basics of design thinking through a creative challenge (e.g., redesign the school backpack or improve morning routines). Students move through each phase—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test—to solve a real-world problem with empathy and innovation.

→ Connects to: What design thinking is and how it promotes human-centered problem-solving

These intellectual health project-based learning assessments are designed to measure both what high school students understand and how well they can apply their functional health knowledge and health skills in meaningful, real-world ways. Each health assessment idea aligns with the SHAPE America National Health Education Standards and offers students a practical, hands-on learning experience. By actively using health skills to navigate realistic scenarios, students demonstrate their ability to think critically, make informed decisions, and take ownership of their well-being.

📚 Civil Discourse & Reflection

Students engage in a structured debate on a meaningful or controversial topic. After the debate, they write a reflection on what they learned, how their perspective may have shifted, and why engaging with different viewpoints matters.

→ Assesses ability to engage in civil discourse and widen understanding (SHAPE Standards #1 and #2)

📚 Intellectual Health Goal Project

Students set a personal intellectual health goal (e.g., building a new skill, challenging a limiting belief, or engaging in regular creative work). They track their progress over time, reflect on their growth, and evaluate the impact of a growth mindset.

→ Assesses ability to apply growth mindset and goal setting (SHAPE Standards #6 and #7)

📚 Design Thinking Health Challenge

Students use the design thinking process to identify and solve a real-world health-related problem. From empathizing with the people involved to prototyping creative solutions, this project puts problem-solving and creativity into action.

→ Assesses ability to identify a health issue and design a human-centered-based advocacy (SHAPE Standards #5 and #8)