Grade 5 – Unit 1

Turning Stress into Strength

The Turning Stress into Strength unit invites students to explore stress, pressure, and challenges through a clear and accessible narrative mentor text. Told as a story, the experiences of Everley and Faisal help students recognize the physical and emotional signs of stress while discovering practical, healthy strategies for managing it.

As students engage with the text, they analyze how stories can communicate important ideas about well-being, self-regulation, and resilience. The unit makes explicit connections to the Health and Physical Education curriculum, Strand A1, supporting students’ understanding of factors that affect mental health, strategies for managing stress, and the role of healthy habits in maintaining emotional and physical well-being.

Structured Writing Cycle – Turning Stress into Strength

The structured writing component of this unit emphasizes writing as a tool for explaining health and well-being concepts in a clear and organized way. Using the mentor text Turning Stress into Strength, students examine how an author introduces a topic, develops ideas with connected details, and explains how strategies help manage stress.

Throughout the structured writing cycle, students are supported in generating ideas, organizing information, and writing an explanatory response that draws on both the text and personal experience. Through exemplars, explicit vocabulary instruction, and guided practice, educators support the development of clarity, cohesion, and voice in writing, while deepening students’ understanding of stress management, healthy habits, and resilience.

• Mentor Text – Turning Stress into Strength
• Educator Resource – Structured Writing
  • Instructional Slide Deck – Structured Writing
  • Instructional Slide Deck – Vocabulary
  • Colour Coded and Student Exemplars
  • Student Writing Page with Prompt