
Session 1 · THRIVE: Tune In
What drains us, what recharges us
- 10 minHook: show a phone battery icon at 12 per cent. How do you behave when your phone is this low? What about when you are this low?
- 15 minBattery audit (private): shade your own battery and list your drains and chargers from this week.
- 15 minClass 'drain or charge?' sort with anonymous examples: a late group chat, a walk with the dog, a fight with a sibling, footy practice, a quiet sit, a tournament weekend. Some go in both piles. Why?
- 10 minPose the big question and write three questions of your own about sleep, screens or stress. Post them anonymously on the class wonder wall.
Session 2 · THRIVE: Habits
Why do we get sleepy?
- 10 minRead the first half of 'Why you get sleepy'. Model sleep pressure: add one cube to a jar for every two hours awake, and empty it during sleep.
- 15 minBody clock walk: stand in a line from 6 am to midnight and act out what your body clock is doing (cortisol up in the morning, melatonin up in the evening).
- 15 minLearn the ruler-drop reaction test. Practise with a partner and agree on a fair method (same hand, same height, three tries, take the median).
- 10 minSet up your seven-night sleep and reaction log. Decide when you will do the ruler test each day.
Getting started
Use the picture battery and a word bank of drains and chargers if writing is a barrier.
Stretch
Predict what your reaction times will look like after short nights compared with long nights, and explain why using sleep pressure.
Checkpoint
Every student has a private battery audit and a sleep and reaction log ready to start.
Activities for this week
- Battery audit: What really drains me, and what really recharges me?
- Ruler-drop reaction test: Does the amount I sleep change how quickly I react?
Useful this week
- All Right? ↗ Simple ideas from Aotearoa for noticing how you feel and looking after your wellbeing.
- Sit Less, Move More, Sleep Well: guidelines for children and young people ↗ The official NZ advice on sleep, movement and screen time for ages 5 to 17.
- Screen time and sleep ↗ How screens affect melatonin and sleep, with practical tips.
- Sleep needs in teenagers ↗ Why the teenage body clock shifts later and what helps.