PERMA+ Snapshot: A Unit Study
Teacher’s Guide
Unit Study Overview
Learning Objectives:
Unit Lesson Plan:
Activity 1: PERMA+ Snapshot Introduction / 60 minutes
Activity 2: Identifying Across Elements of PERMA+ / 20 minutes
Activity 3: PERMA+ Snapshot in Movies / 30 minutes
Activity 4: Personalize Your PERMA+ Snapshot / 30 minutes
Activity 5: PERMA+ Wellbeing Action Plan / 30 minutes
Activity 6: PERMA+ Snapshot Reflection / 10 minutes
What is a PERMA+ Snapshot?
In life, we measure what matters — height, temperature, blood pressure, time, weight, money. But we often forget to measure what matters most — WELLBEING. That’s where the PERMA+ Snapshot comes in.
Grounded in the science of positive psychology, The PERMA+ Snapshot is a simple tool that helps you track where you are in each aspect of wellbeing and point to areas where you might want to make changes. This tool can monitor your wellbeing over time and empowers you to make more informed decisions to benefit your wellbeing. Just as you might track your blood pressure or weight, the PERMA+ Snapshot tool lets you quickly check in on your unique wellbeing status. Wherever you are in your wellbeing journey, know that wellbeing is dynamic; it changes over time and can be positively impacted by practicing the skills of wellbeing.
Why Measure Your Wellbeing?
SCIENCE
Positive psychology is the scientific study of human strengths and virtues — exploring who we are at our best and what makes life most worth living. After 30 years of researching what constitutes “the good life,” positive psychology founder Dr. Martin Seligman developed The PERMA Theory of Wellbeing — which includes five core elements critical to human flourishing: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments (PERMA). We believe in the mind-body connection and have added +Health to reflect that physical health — sleep, nutrition, and movement — is a vital element of wellbeing. And, a growing body of research has found that measuring these critical elements can significantly impact and improve wellbeing. The PERMA+ Snapshot provides a lens to not only understand wellbeing, but to actively strengthen it.
BENEFITS
People who measure and track their wellbeing are more likely to practice the skills of wellbeing that lead to:
SLIDE 2 — Introduction — Welcome students to their first activity on PERMA+ Snapshot. Explain that they are going to learn about the science of wellbeing and how to track their own wellbeing across 6 elements that are critical to human thriving and flourishing. Briefly overview PERMA+ as the six elements critical to wellbeing, naming each: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Mattering, and +Health. Talk about the importance of pausing, reflecting, and thinking about wellbeing.
Time — 6 Activities / 30-45 minutes each
PERMA+ Element(s): ALL
Difficulty — Easy to Moderate
Unit Outline
Activity 1: PERMA+ Snapshot Introduction
Activity 2: Identifying Across Elements of PERMA+
Activity 3: PERMA+ Snapshot in Movies
Activity 4: Anchor Words
Activity 5: PERMA+ Wellbeing Action Plan
Activity 6: PERMA+ Snapshot Reflection
Materials
• Print PERMA+ Snapshot Unit Study Pack for each student, which includes:
*option to print out individual worksheets as needed
• Print PERMA+ Snapshot Answer Key
SLIDE 3 — Overview: Welcome students to their first activity on PERMA+ Snapshot. Explain to students that this first activity will be a PERMA+ Snapshot Introduction, where they will just begin to understand the elements of PERMA+ and why it’s important to measure wellbeing.
• Things We Measure
• From Happiness to Wellbeing: The PERMA+ Framework
• How We Measure Wellbeing
• Introduction to the PERMA+ Snapshot
• Deep Dive into the Elements of PERMA+
Materials — print PERMA+ Snapshot worksheet (page 2 in Unit Study Pack) for each student
SLIDE 4 — Student Activity: Divide your class into small groups (3-5 students). In small groups, have students brainstorm all of the things they measure. Some examples are in the slide above (height, temperature, time, weight, money, etc). Give students 2-3 minutes to right down all the things they measure in life, then ask them to share and report back to the class as a whole.
Debrief: Wrap up the activity by explaining to students that when things matter, we measure them (e.g. water intake, height, temperature, time, weight, money). Wellbeing matters, and we are going to learn how to measure it!
SLIDES 5 — Teachers Notes: Introduce the concept of measuring happiness and wellbeing. Explain to students that measuring happiness is just as important as the other things we measure in life.
Student Activity: Have students do an independent reflection on each of the questions above. Option to have students reflect on one question at a time and share with the class, or reflect on all 3 questions and then come together as a class and share responses. These discussions can also happen in small groups or 1:1 with a student.
SLIDE 6 — Teachers Notes: Briefly introduce the PERMA+ Theory of Wellbeing. Read each of the elements in the slide above. Explain that there are 6 elements critical to wellbeing, and they are going to learn more about each and how to measure wellbeing.
SLIDE 7 — Teachers Notes: Introduce the 6 elements of PERMA+ further: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Mattering, Accomplishment, and +Health. Add one or two sentences for each element. You may want to say…
SLIDE 8 — Teachers Notes: Explain to students that they are going to learn how to measure the PERMA+ elements of wellbeing. Say to the class, “We can measure wellbeing using…” and then click to the next slide.
SLIDE 9 — Teachers Notes: “... The PERMA+ Snapshot!” Explain to students that the PERMA+ Snapshot is a tool that can help us check in on and measure our own wellbeing. The PERMA+ Snapshot is a way to check in on each element of PERMA+: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Mattering, Accomplishment, and + Health and see what areas we are doing well in and which may need some improvement. Explain that we can reflect on each element of PERMA+ on a scale of 0-10.
SLIDE 10 — Student Activity: Pass out a PERMA+ Snapshot worksheet (page 2 in the Unit Study Pack) and have students individually complete an initial PERMA+ Snapshot. Instruct them to read each question related to each element of PERMA+ and shade in on a scale of 0-10 how they are doing in each element. Tell students that it’s okay if they don’t fully understand each element quite yet, and that they are going to do a deep dive into each element to better understand what they mean. This is just an initial baseline PERMA+ Snapshot for them to start thinking about their wellbeing.
For nonreaders, you can read aloud each of the prompts for each element and assist student as needed.
Materials: PERMA+ Snapshot worksheet (page 2 in the Unit Study Pack)
SLIDE 11 — Teachers Notes: Explain to students that they are going to do a deeper dive into each element of PERMA+ (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Mattering, Accomplishment, and +Health), starting with Positive Emotions. Read the introduction to positive emotions on the slide above, and provide a few examples of when you might experience positive emotions in your day-to-day (e.g. I experience joy when it’s a beautiful sunny day, I feel pride when my students master a new skill, etc).
SLIDES 12-16 — Teachers Choice: Option to build an anchor/flip chart for your class on Positive Emotions and put somewhere in your classroom, OR fill out the following slides (13-16). You can do this as a class discussion, an individual reflection, pair-share discussion, or in small groups. Tell students that they are going to dive deeper into Positive Emotions, and introduce each of the following reflection questions.
• What do they sound like?
• What do they look like?
• What do they feel like?
• Why are they good for our body?
• Why are they good for our mind?
On the following slides (13-16), dive into each question and add answers/ideas onto an anchor/flip chart or directly into the slides.
Positive Emotions Sample Answers …
SLIDES 17-26 — Teachers Choice: Students will discriminate between positive and negative emotions to start identifying what positive emotions look like. Have students come up to the board and move the correct answer into the big box, circle the correct answer on a white board, hold up paddles/an individual whiteboard with the correct answer, etc.
Answers for each slide are in the speaker notes.
SLIDE 27 — Teachers Notes: Explain to students that they are going to do a deeper dive into Engagement. Read the introduction to Engagement on the slide above, and provide a few examples of when you might experience engagement in your day-to-day (e.g. when I’m working on an interesting project, while I’m playing the guitar, etc).
SLIDES 28-32 — Teachers Choice: Option to build an anchor/flip chart for your class on Engagement and put somewhere in your classroom, OR fill out the following slides (29-32). You can do this as a class discussion, an individual reflection, pair-share discussion, or in small groups. Tell students that they are going to dive deeper into Engagement, and introduce each of the following reflection questions.
• What does it sound like?
• What does it look like?
• What does it feel like?
• Why is it good for our body?
• Why is it good for our mind?
On the following slides (29-32), dive into each question and add answers/ideas onto an anchor/flip chart or directly into the slides.
Engagement Sample Answers …
SLIDES 32-42 — Teachers Choice: Students will discriminate between engaged and not engaged to start identifying what engagement looks like. Have students come up to the board and move the correct answer into the big box, circle the correct answer on a white board, hold up paddles/an individual whiteboard with the correct answer, etc.
Answers for each slide are in the speaker notes.
SLIDE 43 — Teachers Notes: Explain to students that they are going to do a deeper dive into Relationships. Read the introduction to Relationships on the slide above, and provide a few examples of relationships in your day-to-day (e.g. I feel super connected to my students, I love spending time with my siblings, etc).
SLIDES 44-48 — Teachers Choice: Option to build an anchor/flip chart for your class on Relationships and put somewhere in your classroom, OR fill out the following slides (45-48). You can do this as a class discussion, an individual reflection, pair-share discussion, or in small groups. Tell students that they are going to dive deeper into Relationships, and introduce each of the following reflection questions.
• What do they sound like?
• What do they look like?
• What do they feel like?
• Why are they good for our body?
• Why are they good for our mind?
On the following slides (44-47), dive into each question and add answers/ideas onto an anchor/flip chart or directly into the slides.
Relationships Sample Answers …
SLIDES 49-58 — Teachers Choice: Students will discriminate between engaged and not engaged to start identifying what engagement looks like. Have students come up to the board and move the correct answer into the big box, circle the correct answer on a white board, hold up paddles/an individual whiteboard with the correct answer, etc.
Answers for each slide are in the speaker notes.
SLIDE 59 — Teachers Notes: Explain to students that they are going to do a deeper dive into Mattering. Read the introduction to Mattering on the slide above, and provide a few examples of when you might experience Mattering in your day-to-day (e.g. when I volunteer for a local organization, when I help a student learn something new, when I’m helpful around the house at home).
SLIDES 60-64 — Teachers Choice: Option to build an anchor/flip chart for your class on Mattering and put somewhere in your classroom, OR fill out the following slides (61-64). You can do this as a class discussion, an individual reflection, pair-share discussion, or in small groups. Tell students that they are going to dive deeper into Mattering, and introduce each of the following reflection questions.
• What does it sound like?
• What does it look like?
• What does it feel like?
• Why is it good for our body?
• Why is it good for our mind?
On the following slides (61-64), dive into each question and add answers/ideas onto an anchor/flip chart or directly into the slides.
Mattering Sample Answers …
SLIDES 65-74 — Teachers Choice: Students will discriminate between Mattering and Not Mattering to start identifying what engagement looks like. Have students come up to the board and move the correct answer into the big box, circle the correct answer on a white board, hold up paddles/an individual whiteboard with the correct answer, etc.
Answers for each slide are in the speaker notes.
SLIDE 75 — Teachers Notes: Explain to students that they are going to do a deeper dive into Accomplishment. Read the introduction to Accomplishment on the slide above, and provide a few examples of when you might experience Accomplishment in your day-to-day (e.g. completing a project, setting goals and working towards them, trying something new)
SLIDES 76-80 — Teachers Choice: Option to build an anchor/flip chart for your class on Accomplishment and put somewhere in your classroom, OR fill out the following slides (77-80). You can do this as a class discussion, an individual reflection, pair-share discussion, or in small groups. Tell students that they are going to dive deeper into Accomplishment and introduce each of the following reflection questions.
• What does it sound like?
• What does it look like?
• What does it feel like?
• Why is it good for our body?
• Why is it good for our mind?
On the following slides (77-80), dive into each question and add answers/ideas onto an anchor/flip chart or directly into the slides.
Accomplishment Sample Answers …
SLIDES 81-90 — Teachers Choice: Students will discriminate between Accomplishment and Not Accomplishment to start identifying what Accomplishment looks like. Have students come up to the board and move the correct answer into the big box, circle the correct answer on a white board, hold up paddles/an individual whiteboard with the correct answer, etc.
Answers for each slide are in the speaker notes.
SLIDE 91 — Teachers Notes: Explain to students that they are going to do a deeper dive into +Health. Read the introduction to +Health on the slide above, and provide a few examples of +Health in your day-to-day (e.g. exercising 60 minutes a day, meditating, eating a well-balanced diet, getting at least 8 hours of sleep).
SLIDES 92-96 — Teachers Choice: Option to build an anchor/flip chart for your class on +Health and put somewhere in your classroom, OR fill out the following slides (93-96). You can do this as a class discussion, an individual reflection, pair-share discussion, or in small groups. Tell students that they are going to dive deeper into +Health, and introduce each of the following reflection questions.
• What does it sound like?
• What does it look like?
• What does it feel like?
• Why is it good for our body?
• Why is it good for our mind?
On the following slides (93-96), dive into each question and add answers/ideas onto an anchor/flip chart or directly into the slides.
Health Sample Answers …
SLIDES 97-106 — Students will discriminate between Healthy and Not Healthy to start identifying what +Health looks like. Have students come up to the board and move the correct answer into the big box, circle the correct answer on a white board, hold up paddles/an individual whiteboard with the correct answer, etc.
Answers for each slide are in the speaker notes.
SLIDE 107 — Overview — Explain to students that many people think that wellbeing is just about being happy, but we really want to get good at seeing all the different elements of wellbeing in action (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Mattering, Accomplishment, and +Health). Tell students that they are going to look at pictures and decide which element of PERMA+ is reflected, and that doing this will help them access ALL 6 elements in their lives, not just “being happy”.
• Identifying Across Elements of PERMA+
• My Flourishing Day
Materials — print My Flourishing Day worksheet (page 3 in Unit Study Pack) for each student
SLIDES 108-126 — Teacher’s Choice — Read the statement that describes the picture above. Then, have students come up to the board and move the correct answer into the big box, point to the correct answer, circle the correct answer on a white board, or hold up paddles/an individual whiteboard with the correct answer, etc.
You can also print the slides and do them 1:1 with a student.
Answers for each slide are in the speaker notes.
SLIDE 127 — Student Activity: Explain to students that now that they have a good sense of the difference between the different elements of PERMA+, they are going to do an activity called “My Flourishing Day”. Hand out the My Flourishing Day worksheet to each students. Instruct students to get in pairs and call to mind a wonderful, amazing, awesome day in their lives. In pairs, instruct them to take turns “interviewing” each other about their flourishing day and fill out the worksheet on how they were feeling in each element of PERMA+ on that day.
Materials: My Flourishing Day (page 3 in Unit Study Pack)
SLIDES 128 — Overview: Tell students that they are going to take the concept of wellbeing and the PERMA+ Snapshot a step further. Explain that they are going to move from pictures and one element of PERMA+ to really thinking about overall wellbeing in some characters in famous movies.
• PERMA+ Snapshot in Movies
• Create Your Own Scene
Materials — print Create Your Own Scene worksheet (page 4 in Unit Study Pack) for each student
SLIDES 129-137 — Teacher’s Choice: Click on the slide to play the clip from the famous movie scene. Quickly debrief the scene by asking 2-4 questions related to the PERMA+ elements, such as:
• How much positive emotion did you see in the scene?
• Was the character engaged?
• Were the relationships positive or negative?
• What was the character’s health like?
• Were they mattering in this scene?
• Did they feel a sense of accomplishment here?
Then, read the question in the slide and ask students how they would rate the character’s wellbeing in the scene. Students can come up to the board and move the arrow back and forth on the scale to the welbeing score they think the scene portrays, write a number from 0-10 on a paddle/individual whiteboard and hold it up, etc. Discuss as a class what contributes to the characters’ wellbeing score in the scene.
SLIDE 138 — Student Activity: Hand out the Create Your Own Scene worksheet (page 4 in the Unit Study Pack). Instruct students to create their own “movie scene” snapshot of their wellbeing from a moment in their life by drawing pictures, writing words, etc. It could be from their flourishing day that they thought of in the last activity, or it can be another high point, a low point, or just an ordinary day that they want to reflect on. Once they create their own scene, have students rate their own overall wellbeing on a scale of 0-10 for that “scene”.
SLIDE 139 — Overview: Explain to students that as they are getting better at completing the PERMA+ Snapshot, it’s important to understand what their OWN ratings mean. What does a 1, 5, 10 score mean when we are rating our wellbeing? Everyone’s wellbeing is unique to them, and coming up with words and phrases that best suit YOU is important to measuring your own wellbeing. Explain that they are going to start thinking about “anchor words” for their own PERMA+ Snapshot. Engagement may look different for some of us, so we are going to start to identify what each element means for us individually.
Just like when you step on a scale, 100 lbs always means 100lbs. When you measure something with a ruler, 6 inches is always 6 inches. We want to make sure our 5 on a PERMA+ Snapshot is always our 5, and a 10 is always our 10. When we measure things that matter, it’s important that we are accurate and consistent.
Explain to students that they are going to look at a few examples of anchor words for each PERMA+ element, then create their own anchor words for each element.
For students who may need additional support, you can also have them fill in their anchor chart using visuals (e.g. emojis, colors, etc).
• PERMA+ Anchor Words Examples
• Create your own PERMA+ Anchor Words
Materials — print My PERMA+ Anchor Words worksheet (page 5 in Unit Study Pack) for each student
SLIDES 140-157 — Teacher’s Notes: Reintroduce each element of PERMA+ and remind students what they are experiencing and striving to feel. Read the examples for Student #1 and Student #2 of what PERMA+ anchor words may sound like for different ratings.
Student Activity: After reintroducing each element of PERMA+, instruct students to go back to their My PERMA+ Anchor Words worksheet and complete their anchor words for one section at a time: What does a 1 sound/look like? What does a 5 sound/look like? What does a 10 sound/look like? Give students 2-3 minutes (can do less or more depending on student needs) to complete their anchor words for each element of PERMA+.
SLIDE 158 — Overview: Explain to students that no matter where their wellbeing is, they are not stuck! There are things we can do and skills we can practice to improve our wellbeing and boost our PERMA+ Snapshot score. Explain to students that they are going to start identifying some of the things that can boost each element of their wellbeing.
• PERMA+ Snapshot Action Plan
• Class PERMA+ Snapshot Action Plan
Materials — print PERMA+ Wellbeing Action Plan worksheet (page 6 in Unit Study Pack) for each student
SLIDE 159 — Teacher’s Notes: Remind students that no matter where their wellbeing is today, they are NOT stuck. We can always take action on our wellbeing to feel better.
SLIDE 160 — Student Activity: Hand out the PERMA+ Wellbeing Action Plan worksheet to each student. Instruct students to brainstorm simple actions they can take to boost each element of PERMA+ when they want to improve their wellbeing and feel better.
You may want to start by providing some examples:
SLIDES 161-166 — Class Activity — Once students have completed their own PERMA+ Snapshot brainstorm, go through as a class and collect some answers and ideas for each element of PERMA+. Ask students what they can do as a CLASS to boost each element of PERMA+. Type in answers to the bullet points in the slide above.
Optional: Create a class-wide PERMA+ Action Plan on a bulletin board or a flip chart with ideas for how to boost each PERMA+ element as a class.
SLIDE 167 — Overview:This final activity is really about setting up a time, schedule, and practice for repeatedly taking a PERMA+ Snapshot. Like you might track weight, height, or money over time, it’s important to track wellbeing over time.
• Tracking your PERMA+ Snapshot over time
Materials — N/A
SLIDE 168 — Teacher’s Notes: Hold a class discussion on how students can keep tracking their PERMA+ Snapshot. Do they want to do one every Friday morning? Set a time once a month to do one as a class? At the end of every day? You can determine a routine as a class, or offer students the option to create a plan that works for them. Emphasize the importance of tracking and measuring wellbeing, and how they know have the knowledge and skills to be able to take action to improve their wellbeing!
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