Lesson:
Engage (5-10 minutes):
Journal Prompt: Create a list of five daily decisions you make in your life and explain how you make these decisions.
Students should use this time to start a journal for both their journal prompts and reflections throughout the course of these lessons.
Have students list out five daily decisions that they make. Students should be prepared to explain how they make these decisions. This is a good time to remind students of the previous lesson in which they discovered what type of decision maker they are.
It’s good to prep students to share at least one of their lists with a partner or, if it makes sense, to prepare to share out to the entire class.
Apply (30–40 minutes):
Share with students why our decisions matter. This should be a brief setup for what the students will continue to think about throughout the sequence of lessons.
Discussion Questions to propose to the class or small groups.
- What does the word decision mean to you?
- When you think of the word decision, what comes to mind?
- How have decisions impacted your behavior and emotions?
- What are some ways decisions help you solve problems in your life?
Share some examples from your experiences to help connect with the students and to help them think through their options.
Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
In groups of three to four, have students read through the article (printed if needed). Suggestion: have students read the article as a jigsaw among the small group of three to four. Identify one of the four students to be the presenter.
After reading the article, students should choose one of the following prompts to discuss with the class:
- When do you stop to think about the consequences of your selected decisions? When don’t you? Explain why.
- Based on your selected decision: what kind of thoughts, actions, or behaviors would be displayed as you make your decision?
Impact of Decisions
Share with students the idea of what are small and big impacts based on your decisions.
Propose to students when presenting the impact of decisions, what are some impacts decisions can have on your life?
Reflect (5–10 minutes):
Have students review their list of decisions at the start of class to identify if they have small or big impacts. Students should be prepared to share one of the decisions with their groups.
Final Reflection:
Based on the lesson today, write down one new thing you will consider when making your next decision(s).
