Fourth Grade Curriculum Resources
Standard of Learning
4.3 The student will describe and evaluate the effects of alcohol, inhalants, tobacco, and drug use on the family and community. Key concepts/skills include:
- the impact on self, family, and community;
- the short- and long-term consequences of drug use;
- acts of violence and the use of weapons;
- laws related to illegal alcohol and tobacco use.
Understanding the Standard
The student will describe the impact that drug and alcohol use has on individuals, families and communities.
Essential Knowledge and Skills
The student will:
- describe how drug use affects someone physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. (harms your mental and physical health, changes the way you think and feel – you may get bad grades, go to jail, feel frightened, confused, or angry, etc.)
- identify how drug use affects family relationships and may cause a financial burden on the family. (violates family trust, causes financial strain, drug user may steal from other family members, etc.)
- determine the effect drug use has on the community. (increases crime, gangs, drunk driving crashes, negatively impacts the economy, etc.)
Sample Lessons
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
Grades: K-5
Police officer led program of classroom lessons that teaches youth how to resist peer pressure and live drug and violence-free lives. Includes active learning strategies. Focuses on decision-making skills. Includes 9 lessons.
Contact: http://www.dare.com
LifeSkills Training
Grades: K-5
Model substance abuse prevention and competency enhancement program focusing on the major social and psychological factors causing substance use and abuse. Teaches drug resistance skills, personal management skills, and general social skills. Focuses on self-esteem, decision-making, influence of media, stress, communication, and assertiveness issues.
Contact: http://www.lifeskillstraining.com
Cost
Protecting You/Protecting Me
Grades 1-5
Model 5-year alcohol use prevention curriculum designed to reduce alcohol-related injury and death. Includes student’s intentions not to drive with an impaired driver; focuses on risks of using alcohol; and includes parental involvement.
Sponsor: Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Contact: http://www.pypm.org
Cost
Substance Abuse Influences
Grades: 4-6
There is no other area in the schools today that commands more public attention than that of substance use and abuse. This particular activity shows that substance abuse education is more effective if it focuses on processes of decision making rather than problems.
Sponsor: Ask Eric
Contact: http://www.eduref.org (select lesson plans – health – substance abuse prevention)
Free
Additional Instructional Resources
- Al-Anon/Alateen - http://www.al-anon.org
- American Council for Drug Education - http://www.acde.org
- TheAnti-Drug.Com - http://www.theantidrug.com
- Center for Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws - http://www.udetc.org
- The Cool Spot - http://www.thecoolspot.gov
- DEA State Fact Sheets - http://www.dea.gov/pubs/state_factsheets.html
- Drug and Violence Prevention - http://dave.esc4.net
- Drug Education Lessons - http://www.edhelper.com/cat70.htm
- Federal Drug Data Sources - http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/sources.html
- Global Youth Network - http://www.unodc.org/youthnet
- HealthTeacher.com - http://www.healthteacher.com
- Health Web - http://healthweb.org
- Inhalant Abuse - http://www.inhalant.org
- Monitoring the Future - http://www.monitoringthefuture.org
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving - http://www.maddva.org or http://www.madd.org
- National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information -http://www.health.org
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
- National Inhalant Prevention Coalition - http://www.inhalants.org
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov
- National Institute on Drug Abuse - http://www.nida.nih.gov or http://www.drugabuse.gov
- National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign - http://www.mediacampaign.org
- Parenting is Prevention - http://www.parentingisprevention.org
- Partners for Substance Abuse Prevention - http://www.samhsa.gov/preventionpartners
- Partnership for a Drug-Free America - http://www.drugfreeamerica.org
- Safety – http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/health.htm(health & fitness 3-5)
- SAMSA Model [Drug Prevention] Programs - http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov
- Straight Scoop News Bureau - http://www.straightscoop.org
- Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) - http://www.saddonline.com
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) - http://www.samhsa.gov
- Teachers: The Anti-Drug - http://www.theantidrug.com/teachersguide/resources.html
- U.S. Department of Education, Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program - http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/
- U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Criminal Justice Reference Service - http://www.ncjrs.org
- U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org
- Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Education Section - http://www.abc.state.va.us
- Virginia Department of Education, Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program - http://www.safeanddrugfreeva.org
- Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (Office of Substance Abuse) - http://www.dmhmrsas.virginia.gov
- Virginia Department of State Police - http://www.vsp.state.va.us
- Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation - http://www.vtsf.org
Assessment Ideas
The student will:
- list five ways drug use affects individuals, families, and communities.
- explain how drug use affects someone physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally.

