Personal hygiene is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. First graders need to learn good hygiene practices to maintain good health and a positive self-concept. In this evidence-based health education lesson, the teacher uses the "Maurice the Mouse" poster to teach personal cleanliness to young learners.
As grade 1 students delve into this lesson, they discover that doing positive actions to keep their bodies clean helps them look good and feel good. By washing their hands, brushing their teeth, and bathing, they protect themselves from germs and bacteria that can cause illness. Also, when they smell nice and look neat, their friends are happy to be around them.
"As grade 1 students delve into this lesson, they discover that doing positive actions to keep their bodies clean helps them look good and feel good."
In another adventure of Davey Doddle, grade 1 students learn the proper way to keep clean. Davey continues to drive on the Road to Good Health when he passes by a young man named K.C. doing something strange by a waterfall. He isn't swimming but scrubbing himself with a bar of soap.
Davey decides to stop to talk to K.C. and learns that he is spending way too much time keeping himself clean. Davey tells him that while keeping clean is important, one doesn't have to do it all day long. He also teaches him that getting dirty while working or playing is okay, but one should clean up immediately afterward.
To further emphasize the importance of personal hygiene, the teacher displays new items on Maurice's mirror. These include a bar of soap, a toothbrush, a comb, and a washcloth. Grade 1 students get to demonstrate the use of these items. While they do, the teacher stresses the significance of daily grooming.
Finally, the students read a poem titled "Mirror, Mirror," which reminds them that keeping clean is a positive action that makes them like what they see when they look in the mirror.
Through this engaging SEL lesson, teachers can help young learners understand what personal cleanliness means and how to apply it in their daily lives. By promoting healthy hygiene habits in first graders, teachers can help them stay healthy and confident inside and out.
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