Teachers and school administrators often ask me for recommendations about what lesson plans or curriculum they should use in class. Many of the best health education materials are subject-specific, and I’ve collected my top choices for teaching about topics like mental health, sexuality, and nutrition on my Resources page.

Here are some suggestions for building a solid foundation for health education:

• Resource: The SEL Educator: Tools to Foster Social-Emotional Learning, Health & Well-Being in Schools

• Resource: California Health Education Framework

• Resource: CaliforniaHealthEducation.org

• Resource: SHAPE America Health Teacher Toolbox

• Resource: SlowChatHealth.com

• Resource: Life is the Future website, podcast, and YouTube channel from 2019 National Health Education Teacher of the Year Scott Todnem

• Resource: 12 Grab & Go Health Education Projects

  Resource: Model Learning Activities from the California Health Framework

• Resource: Best Practices for Health Education in Schools

• Resource: Co-constructing Class Expectations with Students

• Resource: Printable Health Education Skill Posters

• Resource: Printable Health Posters from SlowChatHealth

• Resource: Six Daily Essential Practices for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching

• Article: “What’s In a Name? The Most Important Thing Teachers Do the First Week of School”

• Article: “Teachers' Strategies for Pronouncing and Remembering Students' Names Correctly”

• Curriculum: Project School Wellness

• Curriculum: ETR HealthSmart

• TedX Talk: “This is Not Your Parents’ Health Ed Class”

• Book: The Essentials of Teaching Health Education

• Book: Lesson Planning for Skills-Based Health Education

• Book: Skills-Based Health Education

• Standards: National Health Education Standard

• Guidance: CDC-Dash: Health Education in Schools