Decision Making Process - Grade 7

Decision-making Process

Time Frame

This unit will take approximately three to four hours to complete. The number of class periods will vary depending on whether teachers are working with 30, 45, or 60 minute periods.

Foundational Objectives and Learning Objectives

Level A - Extend Knowledge Base

Foundational Objectives

Students will use personal commitment in applying Health Education information to various aspects of daily living over which an individual has control.

Students will acquire and evaluate multiple sources of health-related information.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• list examples of health-enhancing and health-risking behaviours
• identify ways to maintain personal commitment for purposes of increasing health-enhancing behaviours
• identify sources of information and consider authority of sources
• identify selection criteria and use them to evaluate sources of health-related information (CCT)
• list strategies to use in evaluating health-related information
• recognize the importance of respecting facts, evidence, and views of others when engaging in rational discussions (PSVS).

Level B - Make an Informed Decision

Foundational Objectives

Students will develop the lifelong practice of making health-enhancing decisions.

Students will acknowledge the role of personal commitment in making decisions and attaining goals.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• be aware of the benefits of a rational decision-making process
• list ways to build support systems into the decision-making process
• identify factors that affect goals and our ability to attain them
• set goals that reflect personal commitment to increasing health-enhancing behaviours.

Level C - Carry Out Action Plan

Foundational Objective

Students will practise planning for personal commitment to responsible health action.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• identify the elements of a well-designed action plan
• construct clear, achievable goals and plan to meet them (IL)
• design action plans that feature personal commitment
• identify the traits and skills of a person who can support personal commitment
• identify criteria and use them to assess the design elements of action plans
• develop criteria to evaluate the implementation of action plans.

Unit At a Glance

Instructional Strategies/Methods	Teaching Notes
Direct Instruction: structured overview	Provide students with a list of the required units or topics for Grade 7 Health Education and the optional units to be included in their year-long program. Optional units may be selected based upon student need, community need, teacher expertise, avail ability of resources, and student interest. Review the perspectives or themes used in Health Education from grades 1-6: Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Becoming Models Discovering Patterns Gathering Facts Applying Decisions Checking Expectations Affirming Standards Inform students that the theme or perspective for grade 7 is 'commit self'. Let them know that they will design and carry out a minimum of two action plans throughout the year. It is probable that one will be in the Assertiveness Skills Unit and the ot her in the HIV/AIDS Education Unit as they are provided as sample units. However, teachers and students may design and carry out action plans in any two (or more) units throughout grade 7. In all action plans, students will be concentrating on personal co mmitment.
Interactive Instruction: talking circle/ circle of knowledge and Direct Instruction: structured overview	Review the basic elements of a talking circle (one person speaks at a time and everyone has the right to pass) and then use the circle to review students' understanding of health-enhancing and health-risking behaviours. As it is early in the school yea r, teachers may wish to structure the activity in such a way that the first 'go' around the circle has each student offering one example of a health-enhancing behaviour and a second 'go' around the circle has each student offering an example of a health-r isking behaviour. Record all suggestions on the chalkboard or flipchart as they will be referred to throughout the unit. Suggestions might include: Health-enhancing behaviours Health-risking behaviours eating foods from all food groups intra-mural or house sports at noon eating a lot of sweet snacks too much TV and not enough physical activity Debrief the talking circle activity by informing students that health-enhancing behaviours are not just isolated activities, but are an integral part of what people do every day. Explain that when people want to remain healthy, or attain better health, they need to plan ways to translate Health Education information into plans of action that are realistic for day-to-day life. Remind students that in grade 6 they considered the effect personal standards have on decision making. When they designed the action plans in grade 6, they based them on their own personal standards. Inform students that in grade seven the perspective or focus of the year is personal commitment and its effect on increasing health-enhancing behaviours.
Interactive Instruction: discussion	Provide students with a quick quiz. The purpose is to help students focus attention on aspects of their lives over which they have control to make decisions and to take action. See Appendix 7-A for a sample ten-point Quick Quiz. The questions should elict a range of 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe' responses, and spark discussion. Explore with students how some health problems are beyond their control. On the other hand, some aspects of their health are affected by the decisions they make daily and the actions they take. Use examples from the quiz to develop contrasts: for examp le, height is largely determined by genetics while how much and what they eat can affect weight; events of the day can influence feelings but their attitude to problems gives them some control; some diseases are linked to behaviours such as smoking while others are caused by germs, viruses, etc. Connect the Quick Quiz discussion to the previous talking circle activity about health-enhancing and health-risking behaviours. Behaviours are the ways in which students can exercise control and responsibility for their health. Also use the Quick Quiz and the discussion it generates to lead into the next section of the unit about personal commitment in areas of our life over which students have control.

Student Assessment Techniques Throughout Step 1, students are reflecting on what they already know about behaviours that enhance health and those that put an individual's health at risk. The activities to this point in the unit essentially act as a needs assessment for the teacher .

Instructional Strategies/Methods	Teaching Notes
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	Explain that 'health action' refers to the appropriate and responsible application of Health Education information in various aspects of daily living. Health action means making decisions based upon accurate and current information. It also means defin ing a goal, and designing and carrying out an action plan to attain that goal. Personal commitment to a goal increases the likelihood of attaining that goal. Include ways to maintain personal commitment in the mini-lecture. Some examples are: persevere set realistic goals keep a record of progress celebrate successes, learn from mistakes get support from friends and/or family think positively, believe in yourself. Post this listing on the classroom wall. It will be referred to again in Level B.
Direct Instruction: structured overview	Prepare a wall chart of the six-step Decision-making Process and use it as a visual aid to explain that, during the year, students will: acquire and evaluate health education information to make sure they know the facts they need to make informed health-related decisions gain skills in decision making for health, recognizing that it is not always easy to make wise decisions practise applying Health Education information appropriately and responsibly to help them carry out the decisions they will make. Remind students that they have progressed through Step 1, reflecting on what they already know about health-risking and health-enhancing behaviours. Point out that they are now in the beginning stages of Step 2, where they will find out more about heal th action, the Decision-making Process, and personal commitment. Post the wall chart; it will be used in this unit and throughout the year.
Interactive Instruction: brainstorming	In grade 6, students generated a list of health-related print and non-print resources that might be available in their homes, the school, and the community. As a quick review, ask students to brainstorm a list of print and non-print resources in three categories: local, provincial, and national. Below is an example of one way to record student responses: Print resources Non-print resources Local Provincial National     Local Provincial National     Debrief the brainstorming activity and connect it to the next activity by asking students to suggest strategies they might use to determine which of the above sources of information are reliable and which are not. Students are likely to mention strategies to use in evaluating the author and the source of health-related information. See a Sample Checklist for Evaluating Health-related Sources of Information (Grade 6) in Appendix 6-A for criteria presented in grade 6.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	A Sample Checklist for Evaluating Health-related Sources of Information (Grade 7) is provided in Appendix 7-B. Note the addition of the following criterion for use in considering the author as a reliable source of informat ion: 'The author is a recognized expert in the discipline in which the author is writing.'. Contact the grade 6 Health Education teacher to find out whether students designed their own checklist for evaluating sources of information. If so, add the new criterion to the checklist they created last year to show respect for their previous work. A second option is to have students create a new and/or refined checklist for use throughout this year. A third option is to use the sample provided in the Appendix.
Direct Instruction: demonstration	Earlier in the unit, students worked with a quiz that was designed to get them thinking about aspects of their lives over which they have control. Use three or four teacher-selected print and non-print resources on topics such as physical activity, hea lthy eating, and smoking to demonstrate the use of the class-designed checklist or the checklist provided in the Appendix.
Interactive Instruction: peer practice	Bring to the classroom several resources about physical activity, healthy eating, and smoking. These are aspects of a student's life where he or she can exercise personal commitment. Provide pairs of students with a resource and a checklist (or rating scale) for evaluating sources of health-related information. Rotate the resources so each pair of students has an opportunity to evaluate two or three resources. The debriefing of this peer practice session is important. Facilitate a comparison of student findings. The value lies in students sharing with one another information such as: where they found the author's credentials in a particular resource how they decided whether an author's educational background prepared him or her to be an expert on physical activity, healthy eating, or smoking where they located the copyright date how they determined whether the author was a recognized expert in the area of physical activity, healthy eating, or smoking.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture OR compare and contrast	In a mini-lecture, a variety of facts, evidence, and viewpoints can be presented about healthy eating, physical activity, and smoking. It is not difficult to gather a variety of resources that contain similar and conflicting facts, evidence, and viewpo ints. Remind students of the importance of making decisions that are based upon current and accurate information. Evaluating the source of information is one of the first steps in the process.
Interactive Instruction: brainstorming	Ask students to brainstorm a list of strategies they might use to evaluate information about healthy eating, smoking, physical activity, or any health-related information. Examples might include: ensure that the information is current (copyright is within five years) beware of personal observations or testimonials that are not supported by reliable scientific data search for information based upon sound scientific data read/listen to ensure that statements that sound like, or read like, truth or fact are actually supported by evidence; if not, such statements are the view or opinion of the author search for ambiguous statements or claims watch for over-generalizations examine any visuals to determine their purpose or intent find out what group or organization funded the research and explore its agenda or mandate. Debrief the brainstorming session by providing students with two additional strategies: search for use of loaded words determine whether this information is consistent with other reliable sources of information on the same topic. Encourage students to develop their own checklist or rating scale, perhaps using appropriate computer software. A Sample Checklist for Evaluating Health-related Information (Grade 7) is provided in Appendix 7-C.
Interactive Instruction: peer practice	Have students, with their peer partner, use all of the above criteria to evaluate the information contained in the two or three resources they originally evaluated. These are teacher-selected resources previously evaluated by pairs of students as a sou rce of information and later in comparing and contrasting facts, evidence, and viewpoints. It is important that the resources reflect a range of information (i.e., expert information, reliable information, and non-reliable information). Advise students that their evaluation of the information in two or three resources will be used as part of their Level A assessment. Use the wall chart of the Decision-making Process to point out for students that they have completed Level A, where they added to their skills of acquiring accurate and current information and learned more about personal commitment. Review ways in which student assessment data was collected in Level A. There are no surprises here if students were informed along the way, each time an in-class activity was to be saved as assessment data. Indicate student assessment plans for Level B as they enter into Steps 3 and 4 of the Decision-making Process.

Student Assessment Techniques Using case studies or video clips is one way of assessing the degree to which students can identify strategies of personal commitment and/or recognize the importance of respecting facts, evidence, and views of others. These objectives can also be asse ssed by providing students with short scenarios and having them identify the strategies of personal commitment evident in each scenario or describe how facts, evidence, or views of others were respected or important in each scenario. Articles, clippings, advertisements, and editorials can also be used as assessment tools. To assess the degree to which students can consider authority of sources and evaluate information, teachers might provide each student with a health-related topic and a listing of several sources of information. Have students indicate which sources are suitable for the topic in question. Students may also be asked to categorize the sources as expert, reliable, and not reliable. An example of sources follows for the topic of healthy eating. The student is provided with a list of sources such as: Cana da's Food Guide from Health Canada (copyright date included), pamphlet from Saskatchewan Health (copyright information may be included), brochure from the school health nurse and produced by Saskatchewan provincial nutritionists (copyright date may be included), book title available in neighbourhood book stores (bibliographical and author information included), article from a medical journal (bibliographical and author information included), article from Seventeen magazine (author information a nd copyright date included), clipping from local newspaper (author information and copyright date included), a brochure that accompanies a food product or a food supplement product available in local food and drug stores (limited information included). In this unit, students evaluated the information in two or three resources about physical activity, healthy eating, or smoking. These data indicate each student's ability to use criteria to evaluate health-related information. Student Evaluation Techniques for Level A of the Decision-making Process Student achievement of the learning objectives for Level A make up one-third of a student's overall mark or grade for the Decision-making Process Unit. The other two-thirds of the student's mark comes from Levels B and C. Use all of a student's assess ment data gathered throughout Level A and convert it into a mark that will contribute one-third toward that student's total mark for this unit of study.

Decision-making Process Level B - Make an Informed Decision 3. State the challenge. Explore alternatives and consequences. 4. Make a decision. Set a personal goal. Learning Objectives Students will be aware of the benefits of a rational decision-making process. Students will list ways to build support systems into the decision-making process. Students will identify factors that affect goals and their ability to attain them. Students will set goals that reflect personal commitment to increasing health-enhancing behaviours.

Instructional Strategies/Methods	Teaching Notes
Direct Instruction: structured overview	Inform students that the next class period or two will be spent concentrating on the skills of Level B of the Decision-making Process. Point out Steps 3 and 4 on the wall chart.
Direct Instruction: compare and contrast	The student resource Healthwise 1 outlines some 'types' of ineffective decision makers. They are: the avoider the impulsive doer the fatalist the intuitive type the procrastinator the clutterbug. Contrast the benefits of the Health Education Decision-making Process to the above list in terms of making decisions to increase health-enhancing behaviours.
Interactive Instruction: discussion	Provide students with the following challenge: 'The challenge is that sometimes I do not follow through on my action plan.'. Suggest that one reason people are not able to follow through on their plans is that they built in inadequate support. Discuss ideas for building in more supports. Suggestions may include: identify a person who is likely to be a good support rather than identifying a friend identify more than one support person identify a family member as you are likely to see them more regularly for check-ins and encouragement designate specific check-in dates to meet with the support person designate specific 'celebration' plans throughout the action plan to celebrate steps toward the goal, not just completion of the plan do not be afraid to ask for help (willingness to ask for help is a sign of maturity) keep a written record (i.e., chart, graph, journal) make a visual reminder of your goal (e.g., slogan, picture, poster). Note: Record student suggestions throughout the discussion. Reference will be made to these ideas later in Level B.
Interactive Instruction: co-operative learning groups (Think-Pair-Share/1-2-4)	Review the factors that affect decision making. Make sure each student understands what is meant by each of the nine or more factors. See Level B of the grade 6 Decision-making Process Unit. Provide each student with a list of the factors and ask them to indicate which of these factors are also factors that affect their ability to attain their personal goals. Ask each student to join another student to work as a pair. In pairs, they are to do two things: compare factors that affect their ability to attain goals identify strategies to overcome barriers to attaining personal goals. Arrange the pairs of students in groups of four. They are to do three things: compare factors that affect the attainment of goals compare strategies to overcome barriers to attaining goals identify additional strategies to overcome barriers to attaining goals. Debrief the co-operative learning activity by having the groups present their strategies for overcoming obstacles to attain goals. As small groups report, record the strategies in three columns: strategies to build in support strategies to build in personal commitment other. Remind students of the previously reported strategies for maintaining personal commitment. Compare these strategies to the student-generated strategies in the 'build in personal commitment' column above. Also, connect students' efforts to the work they did earlier related to building support into action plans. Compare their flipchart of ways to build supports into action plans with their strategies in the 'build in personal commitment' column above.
Direct Instruction: structured overview	Before moving into the next activity of writing goals, take a moment to tie the foundational objectives of Levels A and B together. Key concepts to this point in the unit are: there are many aspects of their lives over which students have control behaviours (health-enhancing and health-risking) are the way students can exercise that personal control students can establish goals to increase health-enhancing behaviours and improve or maintain their health personal commitment increases the likelihood of attaining goals building support into action plans increases the likelihood of attaining goals.
Direct Instruction: demonstration and Interactive Instruction: peer practice	Review tips for writing goals as presented in the grade 6 Decision-making Process Unit in Level B. Review the concept of personal standards, also presented in grade 6. Refer to the flipchart posted following the mini-lecture in Level A of this unit and note that one way of maintaining personal commitment is to have realistic goals. Present pairs of students with a card that identifies a situation in which they have personal control (e.g., physical activity, healthy eating, using tobacco), a personal standard, and a strategy for maintaining personal commitment. Ask pairs of studen ts to create a goal statement about personal responsibility that reflects personal standards and personal commitment. Sample cards may include: physical activity, good health, set realistic goals healthy eating, companionship, set realistic goals tobacco, money, set realistic goals physical activity, friendship, get support from your friends healthy eating, family, get support from your family tobacco, honesty, think positively. To get students started, teachers might provide the class with a sample such as the following: If the card says, 'tobacco, companionship, set realistic goals', the corresponding goal statement might be, 'My goal is to take an extra large soft drink to Jennifer's house on Friday night and drink it gradually throughout the evening rather than bein g pressured into smoking.'. To smoke or not to smoke is something over which students have control. The author of this goal statement values companionship so he or she intends to accept the invitation to Jennifer's house to watch movies with a group of fr iends. Soft drinks are legal, available, and desirable among this age group so using it as an alternate to smoking makes the goal realistic. Advise students before they set to work that their goal statements will be used as part of their assessment data for Level B.

Student Assessment Techniques The verb phrase used in the first learning objective of Level B is 'to be aware of' the benefits of a rational decision-making process and it does not necessarily have to be assessed. Asking students to generate a list is one way of assessing if stude nts are able to list ways to build support systems into the decision-making process. Another option is to provide students with two or three scenarios and have them identify the ways in which supports were built into each scenario. Likewise, a paper and p encil test can be used to assess students' abilities to identify factors that affect goals and their ability to attain them, or scenarios can be used as an alternative. Each student's goal statement about personal responsibility, designed to reflect perso nal standards and personal commitment, is also assessment data for Level B. Student Evaluation Techniques for Level B of the Decision-making Process Gather the assessment data and make a judgement, converting the data into a mark that reflects the degree to which each student has attained the learning objectives of Level B. A student's mark for Level B contributes one-third toward his or her total mark for the Decision-making Process Unit. Levels A and C are also valued at one-third each.

Instructional Strategies/Methods	Teaching Notes
Interactive Instruction: discussion	Review the elements of a well-designed action plan as presented in Level C of the grade 6 unit on the Decision-making Process.
Direct Instruction: demonstration	Select one of the goal statements formulated by a pair of students in Level B to reflect personal standards and personal commitment. As a class, develop an action plan to meet that goal. For easy reference, post the flipchart that lists ways of maintai ning personal commitment and the flipchart that lists ways to build support into action plans. The element of 'how' in an action plan's design includes keeping a record of progress and planning rewards or celebrations along the way. Check-in dates and cel ebration dates fall within the element of 'when' as one designs an action plan. Post the action plan on flipchart paper as it will be evaluated later in Level C.
Interactive Instruction: peer practice	Provide pairs of students with the sample goal statement from Level B about watching movies, drinking soft drinks, and not smoking. Have student pairs develop an action plan to meet the goal statement and to make a personal commitment. Advise students that their action plans will be used as part of their Level C assessment data, and that the elements of a well-designed action plan are the criteria that will be used in assessing their action plans. See Level C of the Decision-making Process Unit for gra de 6.
Interactive Instruction: brainstorming	Facilitate a brainstorming session to review the traits of an effective support person. See Level C of the grade 6 Decision-making Process Unit. Debrief the brainstorming session by asking students to identify the traits of a support person that are particularly important for encouraging efforts to maintain personal commitment. While identifying these specific traits, students may refine existi ng traits or add new ones. Their suggestions may include someone who: has a positive attitude will offer encouragement for each step you take toward your goal will point out and celebrate your accomplishments.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	Bring closure to this portion of the unit by reminding students that identifying a support person is an important part of designing their action plans. Their support person may be any one of the following: aunt and uncle classmate cousin guidance counsellor neighbour other relative parent sibling teacher youth leader.
Interactive Instruction: discussion and peer practice	Review the criteria to use when assessing an action plan. See the chart located in Level C of the grade 6 Decision-making Process Unit where students began to examine the elements of an action plan and how they might look in a plan that is not likely t o be very effective compared to a plan that is quite likely to be effective. Provide each pair of students with a copy of the chart and allow time for them to make additions and deletions to improve their original action plan. Provide each pair of students with a copy of the Sample Rubric for Evaluating the Elements of an Actio n Plan (see Appendix 7-D). Advise students that their self-evaluation will be used as part of their Level C assessment.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture and demonstration	Grade 7 students do not implement an action plan in the Decision-making Process Unit, but they do carry out a minimum of two action plans in other units. The Assertiveness Skills Unit and the HIV/AIDS Education Unit are sample units that include action plans. In the Decision-making Process Unit, students develop the criteria to use in evaluating the implementation of action plans later in the school year. Begin with the action plan developed by the class as a whole in the early stages of Level C. Ensure that all students can see the flipcharts that contain the action plan details. Prepare students for the work ahead of them with the following informatio n: assessment is the process of gathering information evaluation is the process of making a judgement the action plan is assessed in the design phase the action plan is evaluated using the Sample Rubric for Evaluating the Elements of an Action Plan (see Appendix 7-D) the implementation of the action plan can be evaluated using a rubric or rating scale.
Interactive Instruction: discussion	Work through the elements of the class-developed action plan (who, what, how, why, when, where). Urge students to generate a list of indicators that an evaluator might look for as evidence that each element of the action plan has been implemented. Some of the following may arise during the discussion: Question Indicators Who What evidence is there that a support person was involved throughout the implementation of this action plan? Student log includes signature of support person(s) at start date, check-in dates, celebration date(s), and end date. What What evidence is there that the goal was attained? Student log includes goal statement accompanied by student's evaluation of his or her implementation and personal commitment. How What evidence is there that the step-by-step plan was followed? Student log includes: details of step-by-step progress details of student's action and how he or she might be feeling. Why What evidence is there that these plans progressed toward the goal? Student log identifies possible barriers or obstacles and how they were overcome. When What evidence indicates that the proposed timelines were followed? Student log includes: dates and times of each step within the action plan check-in dates celebration dates signature of support person at dates and times of check-ins and celebrations. Where (if applic- able) What evidence is there that the action plan was implemented in the arranged location(s)? Student log includes: meeting dates with staff at facility/agency to arrange for available times signature of support person from the facility/agency. Generating indicators is difficult work. Encourage students and anticipate some degree of frustration. When the large-group discussion has resulted in indicators for the implementation of each element of the action plan, project an enlarged version of the Rating Scale Template found in the Templates section of this curriculum guide. Explain that a rubric can be developed by describing what a rating of 1 might look like, what a rating of 2 might look like, and so on. A Sample Rubric for Evaluating the Implementation of an Action Plan is provided as Appendi x 7-E. Note: Consult with the Information Processing teacher, if available. It may be possible for some grade 7 students to work with the Information Processing students who are learning to design tables or who are beginning to work with macros or other features. Consult with the teacher who teaches Middle Level Keyboarding in the school. It may be possible for students to create a rating scale or rubric within the context of that course. It is not necessary for every student to be involved in the design of the rating scale or rubric. The important thing is that each student is involved in the development of its contents.
Interactive Instruction: reflective discussion	When the rating scale or rubric has been designed, use it to evaluate the action plan developed by the class during this unit. Some refinement to the instrument may be required.

Student Assessment Techniques Having students assess a sample action plan is an appropriate technique to use in assessing their ability to identify and assess elements of a well-designed action plan. Students' abilities to construct goals can be assessed by providing students with a few poorly constructed goal statements and asking students to rewrite them so they are clear, measurable, attainable, realistic and so on. Students' abilities to design and assess action plans can be assessed through self-assessment, when the pairs of students assess their action plans about soft drinks, movies, and smoking. The teacher can also assess the same plans. Teachers can assess the degree to which a student can develop criteria by observing the involvement of the student during the developmen t phase. If the class works as a whole and the teacher facilitates the process, it is difficult to monitor each student's contribution. It may be fairer to the students to assess them at the knowledge level rather than the application level. This means as king each student to list appropriate criteria to use in evaluating the implementation of an action plan. Student Evaluation Techniques for Level C of the Decision-making Process Assemble all of the assessment data gathered for each student throughout Level C. Based upon the data, make a judgement and assign a mark that reflects the degree to which the student attained the learning objectives of Level C. To determine a student's mark for the Decision-making Process Unit, use the marks for each of Levels A, B, and C and weight them each at one-third. For example, if a student earned 75% in Level A, 70% in Level B, and 65% in Level C, her or his mark for the entire unit is 70%.