Film English
Be Happy
What makes your pupils happy? Find out with a lesson centered around this theme. Class members come up with things that make them happy and write about them in preparation for quick group project. Learners watch and discuss a short film...
Curated OER
Dog's Best Friend
Learners learn about and identify feelings of happiness, sadness and disappointment. In this feelings lesson, students have a show and tell time about their pets and discuss how it would feel if they lost their pet. Learners watch a...
Curated OER
Life's Greatest Pleasures
Students explore the meaning of what makes life pleasurable. In this social awareness lesson, students read an article that states things that people might enjoy doing for pleasure, then complete numerous activities to reinforce what...
Curated OER
Feeling Good about Ourselves
Students examine what makes them happy. In this self-esteem lesson, students work together to create a flip chart about what they think happiness is and discuss their reactions to the list. They create a name tag about who they are and...
Curated OER
Happiness is a Snip Away
In this comprehension worksheet, 11th graders read a short article about hairdressers, write reasons why hairdressers are happy, match other jobs with their work environment, complete 8 fill ins and discuss 4 career questions in groups.
Curated OER
Happiness and Well-Being
Learners explore happiness and well-being. In this personal health lesson, students determine whether governments can or should cultivate happiness as they participate in a discussion activity.
Curated OER
Happiness Essay
In this writing worksheet, students read an essay prompt about happiness. Students write an essay about what brings happiness to them and what is true happiness.
Curated OER
The Secrets of Success
In the secrets of success worksheet, learners, with a partner, read and discuss three definitions of success. Students state how they would define success.
Curated OER
A Measure of Happiness
Students share opinions about the factors that contribute to or detract from their happiness. They create survey to determine how people in their community measure happiness, and write reflections on the relationship between money and...
Curated OER
So Happy Word Search
In this word search worksheet, students locate and circle the names nine words related to happiness that are hidden in the puzzle. Words can be found forward, backward, up, down and diagonally.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Malcolm Gladwell on Spaghetti Sauce
Malcolm Gladwell discusses the food industry's quest for the perfect spaghetti sauce, and takes a bigger look at the nature of choice and happiness. [17:34]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The 3 A's of Awesome
Neil Pasricha's blog 1000 Awesome Things savors life's simple pleasures, from free refills to clean sheets. In this heartfelt talk, he reveals the 3 secrets (all starting with A) to leading a life that's truly awesome. [17:33]
PBS
Pbs: This Emotional Life: Happiness
PBS features in-depth information on the pursuit of happiness including topics such as helping yourself, helping others, and how to achieve it.
CommonLit
Common Lit: "You Can Buy Happiness, if It's an Experience" by Maanvi Singh
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...
California State University
California State Univ.: Happiness, Hope, and Optimism
California State University offers this student research paper that explains the emotions of hope, happiness, and optimism. Shows how these emotions are similiar and different and how biology affects feelings.
Library of Congress
Loc: Poetry 180: Happiness
In this non-prose piece, the poet expresses the theme that true happiness cannot be found in material items.
University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts: Aesop's Fables: "The Miser and His Gold"
Read this illustrated fable "The Miser and His Gold" to learn about a man who valued his money for the wrong reasons. Then read the same tale with different illustrations for a new perspective.
University of Florida
Baldwin Library: Katie Seymour, Or, How to Make Others Happy by Baxter
This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book Katie Seymour, or, How to Make Others Happy by Baxter (1861), a children's novel from The Religious Tract Society.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Would Winning the Lottery Make You Happier?
Imagine winning a multi-million dollar lottery tomorrow. If you're like many of us, you'd be ecstatic, unable to believe your good luck. But would that joy still be there a few years later? Raj Raghunathan describes a phenomenon called...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Happy Secret to Better Work
We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity. [12:20]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Want to Be Happier? Stay in the Moment
When are humans most happy? To gather data on this question, Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the surprising results: We're often happiest when we're lost in...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Lessons From the Longest Study on Human Development
For the past 70 years, scientists in Britain have been studying thousands of children through their lives to find out why some end up happy and healthy while others struggle- in fact, it's the longest-running study of human development...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Themes: Power & Greed: Does Money Buy Happiness?
This is a collection of Grade-Leveled texts (3-12) to address the question, "Does money buy happiness?" Select a grade level and a collection of on grade-level reading passages on the topic comes up. [Free account registration required...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller
In this play, Willy Loman, an aging traveling salesman, struggles to come to terms with his "failures," reconnect with his sons, and let go of the ideal of the American Dream. Selected (9) reading passages (grades 8-12) to pair with...