Overcoming Obstacles
Making and Evaluating Decisions
It's time to decide. Class members review the decision-making process (define the issue, gather information, develop alternative, and analyze the consequences). Groups then decide which of the six characters they have chosen for the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Exploring Alternatives and Considering Consequences
Before making important decisions, it's imperative to consider alternatives and the possible consequences of choices. The third activity in the fallout shelter activity begins by asking participants to consider the possible positive and...
Overcoming Obstacles
Gathering Information
What facts are essential, and what facts are irrelevant when making a decision? As class members continue with the Fallout Shelter exercise, groups develop questions and interview the 10 volunteers acting as candidates for the bomb...
Overcoming Obstacles
Starting the Decision Making Process
The takeaway from a lesson on decision-making is that the more significant the consequences, the more complex the decision. Class members brainstorm a list of factors they consider when making decisions and then create a flow chart of...
Overcoming Obstacles
Developing Personal Power
The final lesson in the series teaches participants that they can use their personal power to bring about positive change. The class engages in a series of activities that reveal the kinds of personal power they have, including the power...
Overcoming Obstacles
Establishing What's Important
Being true to oneself can be difficult when faced with pressure from others. In this lesson, participants first list what they value and then role-play a series of scenarios that test these values. To conclude, individuals list three...
Overcoming Obstacles
Setting Expectations
Learning to work together respectfully is one of those life skills learned through practice. The second instructional activity in the series has groups attempt to complete an activity and then discuss the obstacles they faced. Using what...
Overcoming Obstacles
What Is Overcoming Obstacles?
Just like becoming proficient at playing an instrument or sport requires practice, so too does developing the skills to overcome life's obstacles. That's the big idea in the first lesson in a life skills course. To begin, participants...
TeenMentalHealth
Know Before You Go Teacher’s Guide
A 124-page guide provides instructors with what they need to know before launching a seven-lesson thematic unit designed for high school seniors on issues they will face after graduation. Topics covered include mental health and...
Nebraska Department of Education
You're Fired!
Is willing to learn. Follows directions. Takes the initiative. The big idea in this career development lesson is that the work habits that make one successful in school are the same as those required to succeed in a career. Class members...
Florida Department of Health
Understanding the Risk of Substance Abuse Unit
Teenage brains are different! Understanding that the teenage brain is still developing and thus more impacted by substance abuse is the key concept in a three-lesson high school health unit. Participants learn about how the brain and...
Florida Department of Health
Exploring Healthy Relationships Unit
A four-lesson unit on healthy relationships begins by helping individuals develop a positive sense of self-worth by identifying their own positive characteristics. Participants also examine data from the YRBS Online Tool about the...
Facing History and Ourselves
Identity and Choices
Timshel! Thou mayest! is the big idea in a activity that reminds learners that they have choices about how they present themselves to others. To begin, individuals rate the degree to which the choices they make each morning are...
Beyond Benign
Decision Graphic Introduction
E is for economics, environment, and social equity. The fifth installment of a 15-part series has scholars first considering ecological impacts, such as determining how much water it takes to produce a can of soda. They then use decision...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Role Playing Relating to Big Decisions
While most high schoolers are too young to vote, they still need to learn the skills needed to solve problems. The ninth resource in a 10-part civics series presents class members with four "What Would You Do?" scenarios that have them...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Voting and Participation in Decision Making
"If you don't vote - you don't count." That's the big idea in this resource about voting and participation in the democratic process. The three included activities focus students on being informed voters, practicing voting for their...
Nemours KidsHealth
Obesity: Grades K-2
Kids Health presents two lessons that encourage them to move their bodies and eat balanced meals. In making smart choices, learners list five exercise activities to replace screen time. Pupils discuss types of food and categorize them as...
Nemours KidsHealth
Alcohol: Grades K-2
Two lessons focus on alcohol's effects on the human body and encourage participants to make responsible choices. First, scholars identify five adults they can turn to for guidance and craft a construction paper hand that lists the...
Workforce Solutions
Survivor Island
Decisions, decisions! Small groups decide on their dream career then enter a scenario that challenges them to make another big decision—if stranded on a deserted island, who would be saved or fed to the sharks. Because decisions are...
Workforce Solutions
Plan a Vacation
Challenge scholars to plan a vacation with a $5,000 budget. Learners review costs of transportation, meals, and entertainment while considering the number of people and destination. Worksheets provide information and well-organized...
Health Smart Virginia
Decision Making
Researchers have discovered that when making decisions, teens' brains function differently than the brains of adults. After reading an article about this research, middle schoolers learn about a five-step decision-making process and...
Health Smart Virginia
Summative Assessment
As a summative assessment of the Health Smart unit, middle schoolers create a five-chapter autobiography demonstrating what they have learned about self and social-awareness, decision-making, and communication skills.
Health Smart Virginia
Surviving High School Awareness Campaign
To demonstrate what they have learned in the Health Smart unit, sophomores design a resource for incoming ninth-graders that includes what they consider the most important information they gleaned from one of the eight topics studied.
Health Smart Virginia
Mental Health Journals
Eight prompts, designed to accompany the Health Smart series of lessons, provide high schoolers an opportunity to reflect on and learn from the issues raised by the various activities.