This packet is everything a parent or guide needs to assess Unit 06 at home — learning targets, the answers that count as correct, the mastery rubric, calibration examples, and a clipboard score sheet. No multiple-choice test: the student shows mastery through a stress & sleep self-tracking investigation, reasoning from their own data kindly and clearly. This unit is about understanding and support, never diagnosis.
By the end of the Mental Health & Stress unit, a student should be able to:
Six criteria, each judged Not yet / Approaching / Mastered (Page 3).
Track sleep and stress over time; read the patterns as data.
The student reasons from their own data supportively (Page 4).
Sleep notes, stress notes, and reflections kept distinct.
You are making a decision, not adding up points. For each criterion, decide whether the work is Not yet, Approaching, or Mastered — the column language tells you which. A criterion counts as mastered only when the student can both track the data and explain the science behind it kindly and clearly. A student carries three tokens per term; one token buys a re-do of one criterion on another day, so a single bad afternoon never sinks the unit. This unit will never label or grade how a student feels — if they are struggling, that is not a failing; encourage them to reach out to a trusted adult or professional who can help.
Accept any answer in the synonyms column — they are pre-approved as equivalent. The third column flags the confusions that look close but are not yet, so you can coach precisely.
| Canonical answer | Accepted synonyms | Common confusion / discriminator |
|---|---|---|
| The stress response | ||
| Stress response | fight-or-flight response | The body's normal reaction to a demand; not a personal weakness |
| Cortisol | stress hormone | Released to meet a demand; ordinary biology, not a flaw |
| Adrenaline | epinephrine | Readies the body for action; a normal short-term response |
| Sleep | rest & recovery | Lets the body and brain recover and helps regulate mood — not wasted time |
| Coping & support | ||
| Healthy coping | coping strategy | Ways to manage stress; distinct from avoiding or ignoring it |
| Trusted adult | a caring adult you can turn to | Someone to reach out to — asking for help is a strength |
| Professional support | counselor, doctor, or therapist | For when things feel like too much; not self-diagnosis |
| Self-tracking as data | sleep & stress log | Patterns to learn from, never a verdict on your worth |
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Understanding the stress response | Cannot describe what happens in the body during stress, or treats stress as simply a personal weakness. | Names the stress response but cannot explain the biology behind it. | Explains the stress response as a normal biological reaction — the body releasing hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to meet a demand — neutrally, without judgment. |
| The role of sleep | Thinks sleep is wasted time and cannot say why the body needs it. | Knows sleep matters but cannot connect it to how the body and mind recover. | Explains why sleep is essential — how it lets the body and brain rest, recover, and help regulate mood and stress. |
| Healthy coping & seeking help | Cannot name a healthy way to cope, or does not know who to turn to when things feel like too much. | Lists a coping strategy or two but is unsure when or how to ask for help. | Describes healthy coping strategies and explains clearly when and how to reach out to a trusted adult or professional for support. |
| Self-tracking sleep & stress as data | Does not track sleep or stress, or treats a hard day as a personal failing rather than information. | Records some sleep or stress notes but treats the numbers as a verdict rather than as data. | Tracks sleep and stress over time and reads the patterns calmly as personal data — information to learn from and share with a trusted adult, never a grade on their worth. |
| Lab technique (self-tracking investigation) | Skips the investigation or fills it in without tracking anything. | Completes the tracking but cannot explain what the patterns suggest. | Completes the stress & sleep self-tracking investigation, records the data honestly over time, and interprets the patterns supportively as evidence about well-being. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Treats the science as isolated facts; makes no cross-domain connection. | Names a link to history, reading, or writing but cannot defend why it matters. | Connects the unit across History · Reading · Writing — including Hans Selye’s early research naming the biological stress response — and defends why the connection matters. |
The split between Approaching and Mastered is data, not a verdict: a rough week is information, not a judgment. Ask “what does the pattern suggest, and who could you share it with?” — kindly.
Read these before you grade. They show what Mastered and Not yet actually sound like, plus the edge cases where you should coach rather than decide on the spot.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Understanding the stress response | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 2 | The role of sleep | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 3 | Healthy coping & seeking help | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 4 | Self-tracking sleep & stress as data | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (self-tracking investigation) | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 6 | Integration (cross-domain) | NY / Appr / Mast |
☐ No ☐ Yes — for criterion: __________ Tokens remaining: ☐ 3 ☐ 2 ☐ 1 ☐ 0
NY = Not yet · Appr = Approaching · Mast = Mastered · Unsure between two levels? Circle the lower one and note what a re-do would need.