Decision-making Process - Grade 8

Decision-making Process

Time Frame

This unit will take approximately three or four hours to complete.

Foundational Objectives and Learning Objectives

Level A - Extend Knowledge Base

Foundational Objectives

Students will identify the functions of support persons and support networks.

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

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• give examples of health-enhancing behaviours that benefit from support by friends and family
• identify strategies of support for purposes of helping a peer increase health-enhancing behaviours
• identify and gather multiple sources of information
• identify selection criteria and use them to evaluate sources of health-related information
• list strategies to use in evaluating health-related information.

Level B - Make an Informed Decision

Foundational Objectives

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

Students will acknowledge the role peer support plays in making decisions and attaining goals.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• assess their current skills and abilities to act as a support person
• explore the implications or consequences of strategies to support a peer (CCT)
• render a judgement based upon specific criteria (CCT)
• establish a goal to support a peer who is trying to increase health-enhancing behaviours.

Level C - Carry Out Action Plan

Foundational Objective

Students will practise planning to support peers in responsible health action.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• construct clear, achievable goals and plan to meet them (IL)
• design action plans that support a peer
• identify the traits and skills of a person who can monitor peer support
• identify criteria and use them to assess the design elements of the action plans
• develop criteria to evaluate the implementation of action plans
• identify criteria and use them to evaluate growth in their ability to act as support persons.

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 8 Health Education and the optional units to be included. Optional units may be selected based upon student need, community need, teacher expertise, availability of resources, and s tudent interest. Review the themes used in Health Education throughout the Elementary Level, grade 6, and grade 7. Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Becoming Models Discovering Patterns Gathering Facts Applying Decisions Checking Expectations Affirming Standards Committing Self Inform students that the theme or perspective for grade 8 is 'supporting peers' and that they will be designing and carrying out a minimum of two action plans throughout the year. The sample units, Family Structures, Roles, and Responsibilities and HIV /AIDS Education, include action plans. Post a wall chart of the Decision-making Process and the six steps within Levels A, B, and C using it as a visual aid to explain that during the year students will: acquire and evaluate information to make sure they have 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 in carrying out the decisions they make.
Interactive Instruction: brainstorming	Ask students to generate a list of health-enhancing behaviours that, in their experience, did benefit or would have benefited from support by friends and family. The list is likely to be extensive and may include: stopping biting my nails increasing physical activity in my daily routine adding variety to my breakfast menu. Note: In some instances, it may be helpful to work through this learning objective in two steps. First, brainstorm a list of health-enhancing behaviours. Second, identify those items on the list that might benefit from support by family and friends. This is ear ly in the school year and much depends on the class, their experience as a group, and their experiences with Health Education throughout the Elementary Level and to this point in the Middle Level. Remind students that in grade 7 they considered the effect personal commitment has on increasing health-enhancing behaviours. When they designed action plans in the Assertiveness Unit and the HIV/AIDS Unit, or possibly other units of their choice, they focused on personal commitment. Inform students that in grade 8, the theme or perspective for the year is supporting peers. They will examine the effect peer support has on the attainment of goals to maintain or improve well-being.

Student Assessment Techniques Throughout Step 1 of the Decision-making Process, students are reflecting on what they already know about behaviours that enhance health and those that benefit from a little help from friends and family. The activities to this point in the unit act as a needs assessment.

Instructional Strategies/Methods	Teaching Notes Refer to the wall chart of the Decision-making Process as the class moves into the research and fact finding of Step 2.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	Use the title Creating Your Own Support System from The Need to Know Library as a helpful resource to outline what a support system is, why it is important to develop a support system, who might act as part of a support system, and when s uch a system might be important. Students need to have this 'vision' or 'big picture' of what a support system is. They also need to understand its importance to them before they can gain the skills needed to become a support person themselves.
Interactive Instruction: interviewing or Indirect Instruction: reading for meaning	As the entire grade 8 year is dedicated to supporting peers, it is appropriate to arrange students in peer partners to work toward the objectives. Pairs of students can use different kinds of resources (e.g., print, human, video, electronic, television ) to learn about ways in which people support one another. Ensure that students understand that health-enhancing behaviours apply to all aspects of health: mental, physical, emotional, and social. There are numerous ways to help students achieve the learning objectives of this unit. Be sure to specify expectations, including timelines, from the beginning. Students deserve to know exactly how they will be assessed and what criteria will be used. Some students may wish to interview experts such as mental health workers, guidance counsellors, social workers, trainers for peer support groups, or human resource experts who work in such areas as organizational development or employee assistance pro grams. The purpose of the interview is to learn about strategies used to provide support to other people. Other students may choose to view several instructional videos for purposes of identifying support strategies. Some students may have access to the Internet or journal articles featuring strategies that are useful in supporting a peer. Novels are a wonderful way to learn of support strategies used by youth. The following novels contain examples of youth supporting friends in various situations: Godfrey, Martyn (1992), Don't Worry About Me, I'm Just Crazy Shreve, Susan (1991), The Gift of the Girl who Couldn't Hear Philbrick, Rodman (1993), Freak the Mighty. These novels are annotated in the bibliography for English Language Arts for the Middle Level. Upon completion of the information-gathering stage, students might be asked to make a brief presentation informing classmates about their source(s) of information and the strategies they discovered. In some situations, it may be advantageous to have each pair of students prepare a one-page summary for each class member and the teacher. If the presentation and summary page are to be used as part of Level A assessment data, be sure each pair of stud ents knows that in advance.
Direct Instruction: demonstration	If videos have been selected for a pair of students to view, use the video(s) to demonstrate the use of the Sample Checklist for Evaluating Health-related Sources of Information (Grade 8) located in Appendix 8-A. With vide os it may be difficult to determine if the author, producer, and/or advisors are recognized members of professional health organizations. Such information may not be provided. In videos where experts are interviewed, information about professional affilia tions is not always provided. If this is the case, students should check the column 'Not Sure/Don't Know'.
Interactive Instruction: peer partners	If one or more pairs of students examined a journal article that featured support strategies, have each pair of students evaluate it as a source of information using the criteria identified on the Sample Checklist for Evaluating Health-related Sources of Information (Grade 8). Engage the class in a discussion to compare their evaluations of this one source. Inform students that their peer partner checklists contribute to their Level A mark.
Direct Instruction: demonstration	In grades 6 and 7, students added to their abilities to evaluate health-related information. One more item is added to the Sample Checklist for Evaluating Health-related Information (Grade 8) found in Appendix 8-B. If a pa ir of students explored Internet websites, use the form to determine whether 'information includes few or no references to substantiate a point or claim'.
Interactive Instruction: peer partners	If a journal article was used earlier and evaluated as a source of information, use it again here and ask each pair of students to evaluate the information contained in the article using the criteria on the checklist. Advise students to sign and date their checklists and inform them that their work is being stored in their student folder as assessment data for Level A of this unit of study. Draw attention to the wall chart of the Decision-making Process as the class proceeds into Level B, where they will practise making informed decisions. Note that students have acquired and evaluated information about support systems and support skills, which is the focus of Health Education throughout grade 8.

Student Assessment Techniques A case study or short scenario is an appropriate way of assessing the degree to which students understand the value of a support system. The students' summary sheets and class presentations are valuable forms of assessment data for determining student s' abilities to identify support strategies and multiple sources of information. The following assessment templates are available in the Templates for Assessment and Evaluation section of this curriculum guide: Checklist to Assess Student's Ability to Use Information in Reading for Meaning; Assessing Group Presentations; and Student Self-Assessment for Preparing and Conducting an Interview. The students' checklists used to evaluate sources of information and the checklists used to evaluate health-related information are excellent tools to use in assessing the degree to which students are able to evaluate information and sources of information. Student Evaluation Techniques for Level A of the Decision-making Process Assemble all of the data gathered in each student's folder and assign a mark that reflects her or his Level A achievements. A student's mark for Level A makes up one-third of the mark for the entire unit. Level B and Level C are each valued at one-thi rd of the total unit mark.

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 assess their current skills and abilities to act as support persons. Students will explore the implications or consequences of strategies to support a peer (CCT). Students will render a judgement based upon specific criteria (CCT). Students will establish a goal to support a peer who is trying to increase health-enhancing behaviours.

Instructional Strategies/Methods	Teaching Notes
Direct Instruction: structured overview	In Level B of the Decision-making Process, students explore some of the support strategies available to them. Students consider their skill levels as support persons, the effects different support strategies have on different people, and the consequenc es of various strategies. Students determine the support strategies they have the skills to carry out and the skills they need to carry out others. Exploring alternatives and consequences also reveals that some people respond to certain support strategies while others respond to quite different demonstrations of support.
Interactive Instruction: talking circle/ circle of knowledge	To initiate a solid start to this portion of the unit, ask students to recall from their experiences in Level A, some of the ways in which they can demonstrate support to a peer. They may recall some of the following: be a positive role model for peers, leading by example help a peer clarify alternatives and consequences as part of making an informed decision be a good listener (reflective listening, active listening, 'I' messages) use words of encouragement in all phases of information gathering, decision making, goal setting, planning, implementation, and evaluation demonstrate a positive attitude by phrasing statements in a positive fashion show that you care about your peer and his or her progress (e.g., by using effective communication skills, sharing time with her or him, checking in regularly) share your feelings, concerns, and experiences with your peer. Be sure to record student responses on the chalkboard or a flipchart as the list will be referred to later in the unit. If the list becomes quite extensive, it may be helpful to sort the skills into categories such as: listening caring encouraging helping sharing. A talking circle encourages each student to speak, one at a time. Students pass an object around the circle and only the person holding the object speaks. Students have the option 'to pass' if their ideas have been voiced previously in the circle. The circle of knowledge is another appropriate method.
Indirect Instruction: personal reflection	As a class, prepare an anecdotal record form or a rating scale using the students' ideas from the talking circle. Appendix 8-C provides an example of an anecdotal record form, entitled Assessing My Skills as a Support Pers on. In the next class period, arrange for each student to have a copy and ask each of them to sign and date their form. Provide class time for each student to use the form as a means of recording current (i.e., September of grade 8) assessment data about their present skill level as a support person. Note: Keep this self-assessment instrument in each student's folder. It provides valuable information that can be used later in the school year to determine growth in the student's abilities as a support person. Connect this activity of personal reflection and assessment to the next activity by pointing out that students now have a sense of those support strategies that they can already use to support a peer and those that they will need to work on throughout the year. Suggest that individual strengths and weaknesses differ and that individual preferences are also likely to differ.
Interactive Instruction: co-operative learning groups (Think-Pair-Share)	Post the list of support strategies generated by the students during the talking circle, or provide each student with a copy of the strategies grouped into categories such as listening, caring, encouraging, helping, and sharing. Ask each student to com plete the following statement. When I design and carry out my action plans in grade 8, I will find it most helpful if the classmate acting as my support person uses the following three support strategies: 1. 2. 3. Move individuals into pairs for the purpose of comparing their preferred support strategies. Move pairs into small groups of four for further comparison. Bring closure by suggesting to students that the role of a skilled support person is really two-fold. Firstly, it is important to work on one's skills to develop a repertoire of support strategies. Secondly, a skilled support person must adapt his or h er own strengths to meet the needs and preferences of the peer being supported.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture and Indirect Instruction: personal reflection	Introduce the concept of using specific criteria to aid in making a decision. Use specific criteria to help each student decide which support strategy to begin improving upon first, at the beginning of the grade 8 year. Introduce the idea of a matrix that lists the support strategies along the first column and the criteria along the top row. The chart that follows can act as a hypothetical example. Note: The sample below indicates that a good starting point for this hypothetical student is to work at improving his or her abilities to encourage a peer as he or she develops a plan to increase a health-enhancing behaviour. Support Strategies Things I do well Things I need to improve on Strategies my peer feels will help him or her reflective listening * active listening * 'I' messages encouragement during planning * X encouragement during implementation b X help refine goal statement b X help design and assess action plan share feelings b Provide time for each student to use the information gathered to prepare his or her own matrix that reflects strengths and areas needing improvement. For the right-hand column above, students should use information from the pair segment of the Think-Pa ir-Share activity described on the previous page. Let students know that their matrices will be used as part of their Level B assessment data.
Direct Instruction: demonstration and Indirect Instruction: personal reflection	As a class, use the sample matrix to develop a goal statement that reflects need for improvement and expressed preferences for support strategies. A goal statement to match the matrix above might be, 'My goal is to improve the skills needed to encourag e a peer.'. Ask each student to define a goal statement that reflects a support skill that he or she needs to improve upon and a support strategy that their partner identified as being helpful.

Student Assessment Techniques The degree to which a student has attained the ability to assess their skills as a support person can be determined by having her or him create a list of strategies to support a peer who is working toward increasing a health-enhancing behaviour. A var iety of techniques, including the analysis of case studies, can be used to assess a student's abilities to render a judgement based upon criteria. Each student's matrix and goal statement also provide suitable data. Student Evaluation Techniques for Level B of the Decision-making Process Gather the assessment data located in each student's folder and make a judgement by assigning a mark that reflects the degree to which the student has met the learning objectives of Level B. The student's mark for Level B contributes one-third to his or her total mark for the Decision-making Process Unit. Level A and Level C each contribute one-third of the unit mark as well.

Instructional Strategies/Methods	Teaching Notes
Direct Instruction: structured overview	Using the wall chart of the Decision-making Process, revisit the classroom activities that corresponded to the steps of Levels A and B. Provide an overview of what students will encounter throughout Level C.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	Review the process of setting goals as presented first in grade 6 and refined in grade 7. The student resource Healthwise 2 adds more to the students' concept of defining goals.
Interactive Instruction: discussion	Use the example goal statement from Level B of this unit: 'My goal is to improve the skills needed to encourage a peer.'. Have students discuss whether the goal statement is measurable, specific, and possible to attain. Encourage students to discuss wh ether the goal is specific enough to answer the following questions presented in Healthwise 2: What will be changed? By how much or how many? (where appropriate) By when? Invite students to revise the goal statement. They may develop something like, 'My goal over the next week is to improve on the skills I will need to encourage a peer during the planning phase of his or her action plan.'.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	Review the elements of an effective action plan as presented in Level C of grade 6. Clarify that the goal statement is really one of personal commitment to learning how to support a peer. Prepare students to design action plans that feature the student s practising to improve their skills and then applying them in a real situation.
Interactive Instruction: discussion	To keep a large group on track, it may be helpful to outline the students' ideas for the action plan on the chalkboard, where all can see the planning details as they emerge. Use the elements of who, what, how, why, when, and where as organizers. Throughout grade 8, where the focus is on supporting peers, action plans should include plans for practising skills as well as for applying them. An organizer such as the one below may be helpful. Element of action plan Committing self to practise skills of encouragement Supporting peer during planning phase of action plan Who The name of a person with whom I will work as I practise the skills of encouragement The name of a person I will encourage as he or she develops the planning stage of an action plan What How Why When Where
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	When the group planning session gets to the element of 'What', it may be apparent that students have a general understanding of what encouragement is but may not have many ideas about the skills needed to be encouraging. If this is the case, refer to Appendix 8-D for general information about encouragement that can be presented in a mini-lecture.
Interactive Instruction: discussion	Based on a solid understanding of encouragement, the group planning session may continue and students might generate suggestions such as: Elements of action plan Committing self to practise skills of encouragement Supporting peer during planning phase of action plan Who Person 'A', with whom I will work as I practise the skills of encouragement Person 'B', whom I will encourage as he or she develops the planning stage of an action plan What I will practise phrases that show confidence I will practise phrases that recognize effort and improvement I will practise phrases that demonstrate acceptance I will practise phrases that focus on assets I will communicate phrases of encouragement to Person 'B' How I will do role plays with Person 'A' as a means of practising phrases of encouragement. I will use appropriate eye contact, clear statements, and relaxed body language. Why Role plays will give me a chance to verbalize phrases of encouragement, which will help me more than just reading about them. Verbally encouraging a peer is something I feel I can do. We see each other daily and, after practising, I know what to say. When I will arrange for role play practise sessions with Person 'A' on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school. I will make myself available to encourage Person 'B' during the time period when he or she is planning an action plan. Where We can practise at my house. It might be better if person B chooses the location because it is his or her action plan and I am the support person. Bring closure to the group planning session of a sample action plan that corresponds to the goal statement, 'My goal over the next week is to improve on the skills I will need to encourage a peer during the planning phase of his or her action plan.'.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture and Indirect Instruction: personal reflection	One way to connect the group planning session with the next activity is to draw attention to the element of 'Who'. Review the traits of an effective support person. Review the traits that were identified as particularly important for affirming personal standards in grade 6 and supporting personal commitment in grade 7. Provide each student with a list of the traits of an effective support person. Ask individuals to sign and date their lists and to check off or circle the traits they would like in a person who could support them in designing and carrying out action pl ans throughout the year. Note: Two sample units for grade 8 include action plans. They are the Family Structures, Roles, and Responsibilities Unit and the HIV/AIDS Education Unit. Encourage students to share their ideas with one other person in the class. This technique often helps students clarify and refine their choices. Gather the one-page lists of traits and file them in students' folders. They provide valuable information that can be used when students are considering whom to approach as the support person for their action plans.
Direct Instruction: mini-lecture	Before moving into the last stages of Level C, of the Decision-making Process, review the following important information: 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 after the implementation phase the action plan design elements are assessed using the rubric found in Appendix 8-E the action plan implementation is evaluated using the rubric located in Appendix 8-F.
Interactive Instruction: peer practice	Divide the class into pairs and give each pair the Sample Rubric for Evaluating the Elements of a Support Peer Action Plan found in Appendix 8-E. Have students assess the action plan they designed as a group to attain thei r goal regarding encouragement. They can use the copy of the action plan posted on flipchart paper. If this is a homework assignment, each pair will need a handout version of the action plan. Advise students that their signed and dated assessments will be used as part of their Level C assessment data.
Interactive Instruction: reflective discussion	Provide each student with a copy of the Sample Rubric for Evaluating the Implementation of a Support Peer Action Plan located in Appendix 8-F. Referring to the encouragement action plan, discuss the usability of the rubric . Discuss any necessary refinements. For example, are additions needed to evaluate a 'support peer' action plan as compared to a 'commit self' action plan? Make refinements as needed.
Interactive Instruction: talking circle/ circle of knowledge	Close the unit by asking students for suggestions on how their performance as a support person might be evaluated. They may suggest some or all of the following: self-evaluation evaluation by the peer I was supporting evaluation by the peer who was supporting me. Review the anecdotal record form, Assessing My Skills as a Support Person, located in Appendix 8-C. Suggest that, while this was a useful tool in Level B to assess students' current skills and abilities to act as support p ersons, it is too general to use for evaluating their performance as support persons throughout a specific period of time and for a specific peer's action plan. Use the sample form Assessing Skills as a Support Person, found in Appendix 8-G, to illustrate how the original form can be revised and made much more useful in terms of assessing performance.

Student Assessment Techniques An appropriate way to assess students' abilities to construct goals and design action plans is to have students outline how a 'supporting peer' action plan is different from 'affirming standards' and 'committing self' action plans. Students' abilities to identify the traits of a support person can be assessed by asking students to design a cartoon strip to identify the traits of a person who can monitor peer support. In each student's folder is located a rubric used to assess the design elements of a class-developed action plan. It is an appropriate assessment tool for determining if students can identify criteria and use them to assess the elements of an action pl an. Having students describe, in written or oral fashion, how to evaluate the implementation of a support peer action plan is one way of assessing their ability to evaluate the implementation of an action plan. Students' abilities to evaluate their growth as support persons can be assessed by having students outline ways in which they might assess growth in their ability to act as support persons. This outline might be a written paragraph or an explanation pr epared on an audio tape. Ask students to include the criteria they might use in such an assessment and how they would determine these criteria. Student Evaluation Techniques for Level C of the Decision-making Process Examine all of the data gathered for each student throughout Level C. Assign a mark based upon that data. A student's Level C mark contributes one-third to his or her total mark for the Decision-making Process Unit.