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Quick Toss
Posted: January 22, 2019
In this activity from the Decision Making Module of the High School Level Curriculum, students discover what makes some decisions harder than others and learn that decisions are influenced by many factors. While generally taught after the lessons found in the Confidence Building Module, you can experience the magic of life skills education today by trying this activity with your students and seeing how engaged they become in their learning!
QUICK TOSS
STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN AN ACTIVITY THAT REQUIRES THEM TO MAKE CHOICES.
Hold a ball of yarn or rolled-up socks. Explain that you are going to ask a question and then throw the ball to a student. That student has three seconds to answer the question and throw the ball back to you. You will then repeat the exercise with different questions and different students.
Toss the ball. Begin by asking students to make easy decisions. For example:
- Which show will you watch on television tonight?
- What color would you choose for a new car?
If possible, throw the ball to every student.
STUDENTS RESPOND TO INCREASINGLY COMPLEX QUESTIONS.
As the game continues, increase the difficulty of the questions. For example:
- If you found money, what would you do with it?
- If your dog were very ill, would you put it to sleep or spend as much money as possible to cure it?
Then, ask about the process students use to make decisions. For example:
- How did you decide to wear your hair like that?
- How did you choose your after-school job?
STUDENTS DISCUSS WHAT MAKES SOME DECISIONS MORE DIFFICULT THAN OTHERS.
Discuss what students experienced during the game. Ask questions such as the following:
- What made some of the decisions easy? What made some of the decisions more difficult?
- Would it have helped to know what your friends think about the situation? Why?
- If you had more information, would the choice have been easier? What kind of information would you like to have had?
Lead students to the understanding that consequences usually make decisions difficult. Often, the more significant the consequences, the more difficult the decision.
Ask students to suggest some other factors that can influence the decisions they make. (Students might respond: peer pressure, personal beliefs, the opinions of someone they respect.) Elicit from them that such factors affect the choices they make.
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