Lessons And Strategies On Choice – Secondary

Lessons and Strategies on CHOICE

 Tools:  May use the strategies below with:

1.  any general decision-making as a class or with an individual learner
   
2.  Problem-solving 
3.  Conflict resolution 
4.  any situation/story to analyze choices made by character/s. 

Printable documents:

• C.R.O.S.S.ROADS™ Decision-Making Process – Explanation
• C.R.O.S.S.ROADS™ Decision-Making Process Worksheet
• C.R.O.S.S.ROADS™ Decision-Making Process Planning 
• Choice Chart - Use with any story or situation to guide learners in recognizing that choices are being made.
• Choice Option Chart -  Use with any story or situation to help learners recognize that there are always choice options.
• The Right Questions Poster -  Use the three questions with any story analyzing if the character/s decisions.

  In the stories and videos below analyze the choices being made by going through the steps in the C.R.O.S.S.ROADS ™ Decision-Making Process.   ( click on green link above to get copy of decision-making process worksheet)

  For quick classroom lessons on Choice, an easily accessible resource Is the Chicken Soup series of books.  Most of the short stories may be used for illustrating and analyzing choices.Full Text Archive of Chicken Soup for the Soul  

  www.chickensoup.com/stories  Is the official website that posts free stories every week. 

 Videos: 

• Marshmallow Test    3:27 min.   Several kids wrestle with waiting to eat a marshmallow in hopes of a bigger prize -  Making choices!  Replicating research study by Stanford University.  Background on the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment  
• Stories, T.V. Spots - Values -  Select from any of these very short video clips to analyze the choices being made.  EXCELLENT!
  Below are just a couple to go to quickly.
• Honesty -Pass It On   1:00 min.   Teenage boy makes decision when finding purse.
• Do The Right Thing   1:00 min.  Peer Pressure can be used as a positive force, as seen in this scenario!  Watch as a group of teens influence their friend to do the right thing while hanging out at a music store.
• I Believe   1:30 min.    Video about believing.  Make the choice to believe!  We all have dreams of what we would like to become someday or something we would like to accomplish in our lifetime. Unfortunately, self-doubt can often take over, keeping us from realizing our dreams. The truth is, with a little hard work and choosing to believe in ourselves, anything is possible. 
• Amazing Teacher Making Powerful Choices -   11:57 min. High school science teacher models positive choices to life’s challenges.    
• Decisions  5:25 min.  – Short video of two teenagers meeting and how their choices determine relationship -  Surprise ending! 
• Post It - short film    7:31 min.  –  Two young adults meeting;  Shows lots of choices being made.  
• Deli -  Choosing our responses  - Compliments:  30 sec.   Great for discussion on choice in choosing our responses.   

 Literature Lessons:
Since Choice is an integral part of every story, the decision-making process steps may be applied to analyze the choices being made and the consequences.
Questions for Discussion:

• What choice was most critical to the outcome?
• What other choices (options) were there?
• What was the critical point in the story where the choice made affected everything afterwards?
• How would the outcome have been affected if a different choice had been made?
• What effect did the choice have on the others in the story?
• Were there seemingly smaller choices made that affected the main one?   If so, what were they?
• What choice would you have made and why?

 Reflection: (Select one.)
Have learners draw or write about:
I agreed/disagreed with the choice to……because…..
For my own life, the story made me think…….
The decision that stood out was…..

 Human Brain Development and How it Relates to Choice for Teenagers:

• Insight into the Teenage Brain:  Adriana Galvan at TEDxYouth@ Caltech  -  9:42 min.  Dr. Galvan is speaking to a teenage audience about adolescent brain development.  The focus is on the teenage brain development in making decisions. 
• Article and Lesson:
  Teens and Decision Making:  What Brain Science Reveals  -  Article by Scholastic about brain science and decision-making.
  Teacher Lesson Plan and Activities for Article
  Teens and Decision Making  - Teacher Guide  -  Includes:  Before , Comprehension exercise, Critical Thinking, Discussion Questions, Writing Prompt,  Worksheet for Article
  The information within this article can help teens see the value of taking a moment to think before they act as a means to making smarter and more rational decisions. These steps can help protect them against making "bad" decisions, such as using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, all of which carry serious risks of health and other consequences.