Lesson:
Engage (15-20 minutes):
Ask your students to create a giant web diagram that identifies and connects their day-to-day decisions.
Suggested prompt:
Think about a typical day, and all the decisions you make. Your clothes to wear, what food to eat, who to hang out with, and so many other things. Create a web, starting with “Decisions I Make” in the center, and begin adding on the decisions you make in a day.
After about 10 minutes, partner or group your students to share their webs. Let them know they can continue adding to their own as they discover new ideas.
Suggested questions:
- What decisions do you make each day?
- How do these decisions impact your life in big or small ways?
- How are your decisions connected? How does one decision affect another?
Apply (20-25 minutes):
Continuing with their partners or groups, have your students read and discuss the article: Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making.
Suggested questions:
- Why are adolescents more likely to engage in risky behavior?
- Look at your web. When do you stop to think about the consequences of your decisions? When don’t you? And why?
- The article talks about changes in the brain during adolescence. It says, “All these changes are essential for the development of coordinated thought, action, and behavior.” What does it mean to coordinate your thoughts, actions, and behaviors? Are your thoughts, actions, and behavior coordinated as you make decisions throughout the day? Are there ways you could coordinate them better?
Reflection (10-15 minutes):
Give students an opportunity to continue working on their webs, adding to the decisions they make each day, and annotating their webs to specific thoughts, actions, and behaviors associated with those decisions. As students work, highlight creative or impactful ways students are reflecting on their decisions and ask them to share with the class.