Did you know Stress can actually be helpful???  Yes, but only when you view the stress as motivator.  This little fun fact along with many other helpful strategies and facts taught throughout our 6th grade stress unit can be very beneficial for our middle school kids dealing with an array of stressors in their lives.  Check out our stress unit below.

Day 1 (you will need an hour long class)

1.  Cup Stacking Tournament (you will need cup stacks or something similar)

To get the kids really stressed out, we show them the video below on how to do the cycle stack.  Just once and then tell them they will have 20 minutes to practice the Cycle Stack and then we’ll have a cup stacking tournament!

During tournament and practice, please heckle students.  Tell them to hurry up and go faster.  Just to add to the stress:)

2. If time permits, have a discussion about what was going on with their body and mind during the tournament (physical, mental and emotional effects of stress)

Day 2

1.  Journal:  How did you feel during the Cup Staking Tournament?  Think about what was happening with your body and mind.  Be specific.

2.  Discuss-talk about journal question and write down the various things that happened to the students when they were (or were not) feeling stress.  Talk about how these feelings are our bodies way of preparing us to deal with a stressor.  It’s called the fight or flight response.

3.  Hand out Stress Reduction Packet.  We use selective pages from the Stress Reduction workbook for teens by Gina M. Biegel (picture below).   The pages we use from the text are